Hands Down

In a world where power is king and betrayal a currency, Francesca Marino is a woman with a mission. Haunted by the brutal death of her parents, she has spent years honing her skills, waiting for the day she can exact her revenge on those responsible for their murders. Her path leads her straight to Vincenzo Lombardi, a man with bloodstained hands and buried secrets. Drawn into his world in the guise of deceit, Francesca expects a ruthless opponent. What she finds instead is a man who is both captivating and intoxicating. When their worlds collide, passion flares and the thin line between hatred and love is blurred. With truths long buried exposed, Francesca finds herself compelled to face it all—her retribution, her family, and the man whose destruction she had promised upon. With the past breathing down their necks and the future hanging by a thread, will Francesca and Vincenzo weather the storms, or will love be the ultimate casualty of a war written in blood? Power is seductive, betrayal inevitable but love? The deadliest of all the weapons.

On the day I miscarried and suffered from haemorrhage, my husband posted a photo of a newborn’s tiny feet on his Instagram Story. The caption read: “Welcome, little angel. Daddy will always protect you.” With trembling hands, I called him. “The baby’s gone. Can you come to the hospital?” On the other end, I heard a baby crying, followed by the man’s impatient voice. “In that case, take good care of yourself. Louise just gave birth and needs someone to care for her. I can’t leave. “Besides, the dead shouldn’t compete with the living for affection. Got it?” He hung up right after. I broke down alone on the hospital bed, and when I finally wiped away my tears, I dialed the number of his sworn enemy, Levi Snow. “Marry me, and the entire Wright Corporation will be my dowry. All I want is for you to bring Finn Yeaton down. Do we have a deal?”

Who are you?" I sluttered, attempting to take a step back but my feet seemed rooted to a spot. The mysterious man smiled, his eyes glinting in amusement, "I am someone who knows you," he said, his voice dripping with an otherworldly intensity. "I am someone who has been waiting for you." I looked around, I was surrounded by lifeless Bodies, slaughtered brutally by something worse than a monster, "What happened here?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice steady. The mysterious man chuckled, the sound sending shivers down my spine. "They are dead, you killed them all." He said, his eyes glistening in happiness, "You've become the person I knew you would be." I felt a pang, I looked at my hands, they were covered with blood. However, the question remains: did I really kill all these people? If yes… then who am I? Read on to find out!

Discovering this piece of information out, I groan without thinking about it and then everyone stares at me.  Quickly, I turn to Arabella and that is when she raises her voice after winking at me, and states with a smirk on her lips, “I agree, it is to die for.” At that moment, I know our match is perfect.  After we finish dinner, I scoop her up and carry her upstairs, while kissing her passionately in front of all the onlookers.  Unable to take my hands off her, I kick the door open to the bedroom and then walk in quickly.  I throw her down on the bed and kick off my boots before climbing on top of her.  When I gaze into her eyes there is a fire inside and I realize that I have never seen that particular look there before.  She pulls my head down and wraps her fingers in my hair, while she returns my hot kisses everywhere.  Feeling the pressure in my pants, I break our kisses off suddenly and straighten up.  With a confused and hurt look in her eyes, she asks, “Do you not want me?” Julian the Alpha King has a secret. One night when he goes to save some of the humans from being massacred, he meets Arabella and feels drawn to her like no other before. However, when she finds out that werewolves exist, she runs from him repeatedly. After all, she thinks he is the big bad wolf.

"What do you mean. I have to marry you?"I asked as he faced me with a very dirty glare. "You'll just have to accept it missy". "What if I don't?"I asked folding my hands underneath my breast. "Then you'll have to pay me the money you owe me" "But I don't have such money " I whined. "Then face the consequences. You'll get jailed"His thick voice sent shivers down my spine. "You said it's just a few months stuff right?"I asked taking my eyes down to the ground. "A year to be precise" Well I'm Brianna Salvador and I just landed myself in huge trouble. I didn't mean to break his car. I just got angry so I hit it so hard with a rock and it broke. Brianna Salvador is a half American and half Filipino, she's out to make ends meet and prove to her parents that she can also become independent but when she gets herself into a huge problem she's forced to get married to an Italian demigod Diego De Lucas. Is an Italian business man out to take what belongs to him. He's inheritance is siezd by his grandmother and the only way to get it back is if he gets married and begins a family. He meets Brianna in a very odd way and decides to marry her to get his fortune back.

Ethan Hayes and I grew up together, but we ended up resenting each other for a lifetime. He blamed me for taking matters into my own hands, forcing his memories back, and causing his true love to jump off a building. I blamed him for going back on his word. He promised to love me forever, but after losing his memory, he fell for someone else. In the early stages of our ten-year marriage, we were as cold as strangers who knew each other too well. When I got diagnosed with ALS, everyone in town urged him to divorce me. He only carried me to a chapel, knelt among the burning candles for an entire day and night, and prayed for a miracle. On my deathbed, he held me through the night, his forehead against my cheek. "I've done my duty to you in this life," he whispered. "If there's a next one, I hope you don't make me remember. Just let me be with her." Tears slid down my face. I finally got it. I shouldn't have chained him down with our teenage love, dragging him through a whole life. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I found Ethan. This time, I chose to let him be with his true love instead of waking his memories.

He owns her body. She owns his secret. Only one can break first. From children to lovers. From lovers to people separated by hierarchies and bound by oaths. Daya and Night rule as Alpha and Shadow of the most feared pack in all of Eyriena. But beneath the throne lies a dangerous obsession neither of them can fully escape. "Let me go, Night," I met his gaze, forcing my voice to remain calm despite the urgency rising within me. His hand cradled my cheek with deceptive gentleness, but his grip around my waist was like iron — unmovable. The raw power of a hybrid radiated from him. “No.” His voice was low and commanding. “I’ll say when you can leave. And right now, I need you here.” His lips trailed heat down my neck, my pulse betraying me. His hands slid expertly down, finding the buttons of my shirt. His fingers worked skillfully, undoing them one after another, revealing my bra — barely holding in my full, straining breasts. “Mine," he murmured possessively, eyes locked on the soft mounds rising beneath... As ancient secrets unravel and a deadly curse tightens its hold, Daya must choose either to betray the only man she's ever loved — or lose herself completely to his dark side. In this world, love demands blood.

Walking through the hall, my wedding dress on when I heard them, my own mate with another. He was to mark me on our wedding night but instead I kicked the door open, my wolf pressing to the surface as she growled out in anger as he pushed the Omega to floor of the room. "I reject you Beta! I, Dahlia Selene Knight, reject you Beta Christopher Lee Parker because you are an absolute piece of shit!" I felt the tether snap, he went to reach for me but I swung my dress around, turning and running down the hall then out the doors and into the woods. Tears streaming down my face as I ran when I run smack into a wall. Wait, he isn't a wall. Before I fall back onto the ground strong hands wrap around my waist, stopping me instantly, looking up to see the most beautiful honey colored eyes I'd ever seen before. Alpha Damien Allister Diaz, the Alpha to our rival pack, known to be the most ruthless of Alphas, he lost his mate 5 years ago when she was delivering their baby. They both passed and he became a monster to all the bedtime stories told to young wolves. "What have we here? And all dressed up to get married I see. You wouldn't be Beta Parkers betrothed now would you?"

He leaned in, inhaling her sweet scent as his hands traveled from her back to her waist, and then down to her thigh. She felt her breath hitch as she let out a small gasp. "We shouldn't be doing this." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Then tell me to stop." His voice was low, daring, as his fingers traced slow circles on her skin. *** Lucy had always lived life on her own terms, until the night everything changed. One moment, she was free; the next, she was bound to Barry Cooper, a cold, dangerous man who ruled the underworld with an iron fist. She never expected to be trapped in a world of power struggles, deceit, and unspoken desires. But as the lines between captor and captive blur, Lucy realizes she’s caught in a deadly game, one where trust is a luxury and survival is not guaranteed. Will she escape the ruthless mobster who owns her… or will she become his greatest obsession?

Jessica Cooper was poor in every sense of the word-her slum apartment didn't feel safe anymore, she could barely feed herself or afford good clothes-and after quitting her job, she had nothing to fall back to. Her hope is rekindled when she gets hired by a Billionaire CEO to be his housekeeper. Daniel Snider, an infamous player in the business world was known to reckless, impulsive, self-conceited and irresponsible. His position was handed to him on a platter of gold, so he doesn't see the need to be responsible, until his father gives him an ultimatum; get married, settle down and prove to me that you're responsible enough to handle the company or loose everything you own. Daniel is desperate to prove himself to his father and gain back his position, so he proposes a deal to the maid because he has a secret of hers in his hands which could destroy her. The question is, would Jessica agree to be his contact wife?