Irene Cara Illness Novels & Stories

POWERS SERIES (BOOK TWO) ”I’m only here until my father’s debt is paid. I’m not your property,” I said, though my voice faltered under his piercing gaze. Owen smirked, stepping closer, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “Funny, because the moment you stepped into my territory, you became my property, mia cara, and I do not let go of what’s mine until I’ve taken everything I’m owed—and more.” Mae has spent her entire life trying to clean up her father’s messes. But when his largest debt lands her in the hands of Owen, the most feared Mafia Don in the country, her life takes a maddening turn. Owen built his empire on blood, power, and his unwavering belief that family is nothing but a weakness. Mae’s fierce loyalty and willingness to risk everything to protect her deadbeat father—and track down the mother who abandoned her—makes her more interesting than she already is. Trapped in a web of danger, desire, and impossible choices, Mae has to decide: How far will she go to save the people who’ve already let her down? And how long can she resist the pull of the man who claims to own her?

To protect his biological child, the mafia Don deliberately announces to the world that my fiance is his long-lost son. A Rolls-Royce pulls up outside my house. My fiance stares at his custom-tailored suit, his entire body trembling with excitement. I'm about to tell him it's all a lie when he shoves me aside and brushes off his sleeves with disgust, like he's touching something filthy. "Stay away from me. I can smell the poverty on you from here!" "Since I'm the Don's son, our engagement is over. An unwanted nobody like you isn't even fit to lick my boots." I try to explain, but he pulls out a check and slams it against my face—the sharp paper edge slices across my cheek. "Here's a million dollars. Consider it a breakup fee, and don't bother me again. We're not from the same world anymore." Watching the check flutter down into the mud, I quietly dim my phone screen. On it is a text from my father, the mafia Don. "Mia cara figlia, bear with it a little longer. Papa will bring you home soon to take over the family." Since he wants to burn every bridge between us, fine. He can have all this fortune on a silver platter. Whether he'll live long enough to enjoy it is another question entirely.

For a $5 million research stipend, I agreed to let the System install an empathic link inside my body. "Subject. Are you sure you want to proceed? Once installed, the procedure cannot be reversed. This is a prototype. Side effects are not fully characterized." I looked at the sidewalk-stall clothes my girlfriend Cara Lake had bought herself, and the drugstore-grade makeup on her vanity. I nodded. That night, while she was out at her bar job. A current came up out of nowhere inside me. My whole body lit up with a sickening pleasure that did not belong to me. Seven times. A few days later I waited near the club where she worked. I overheard her with her friends. "Cara. You're something else. Pouring La Prairie into a plastic bag and using it like that? Faking poor like a champion. Doesn't Adam ever notice?" "Notice? He's stupid. He'll believe anything I say. His father got hit by a car, lay in bed without the money for treatment, died alone. I told Adam I couldn't help. He stayed up all night comforting me. I almost died laughing." The laughter went into me like a knife. I got out of there. The tears came on the walk home. I picked up the phone. "Professor. I'll go to the classified institute. I'll go now."

My mom has been brainwashing me with her "quid pro quo" rule. Apparently, I must work hard in earning money just to get whatever I want. A round of doing the dishes earns me 50 cents. Mopping the floor once grants me one dollar. If I get a full score in my exams, that'll be five dollars. In order to buy a pair of white sneakers that I had had my eye on for a long time, I spent three months picking up trash from the streets. I lived like a maid who was paid on one-time services in this home. When I was a high school senior, I fainted during my homeroom period due to long periods of malnutrition. Even though my doctor suggested to my mom to pay attention to my nutrient intake, she began calculating the costs in front of my sick bed instead. "Your hospitalization costs 300 dollars. On top of that, you have a 200-dollar medical bill to settle. All of these costs will be reflected on your wedding gifts in the future, Emily." But when I turned my head, I saw a student sitting on the bed being fed chicken noodle soup by her own mother. Said mother was so heartbroken by her daughter's illness that she kept shedding tears as well. At that moment, my outlook on the world, that I had been maintaining for 18 long years, finally crumbled into dust. It turned out that not all children needed to work hard just to feel their parents' love. After getting discharged from the hospital and returning home, I finally sobered up the moment I noticed the sneakers that my younger brother, Arnold Baird, wore that cost several thousands of dollars. Then, I tore the family portrait into pieces and didn't hesitate to fill in the university that was located the furthest from home when it was time for me to submit my post-graduation details. Ten years later, my mom calls me on the phone. She starts crying to me how Arnold has swindled her out of her pension. Apparently, he's even sold the house just so he can elope with his girlfriend. Not only is my mom alone now, but she doesn't have a place to stay as well. I just smile as I throw her a piece of rag. "You want to live with me, huh? No problem. You'll earn 50 cents for every window you wipe. You can earn your rent like this."

"You're mine, cara mia. All of you…" Stephan whispered huskily into my ear. I could feel the warmth of his breath against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. I could smell the faint scent of his cologne, mixed with the heady aroma of sweat and desire. His large, strong hands were wrapped around my body, one of them trailing slowly down my thigh. I felt completely consumed by him, unable to escape the heat of his touch. My heart was pounding… “But I have a fiance." Although I was loving every moment of this, I couldn't bring myself to accept what he laid before me. “And he loves me so much, Stephan. I can't do this to him. I—” His next response left me in bewilderment. “Shssh—” He hushed me, placing a finger across my lips. "I'll pay him off…" •••••••• Even though I knew it was wrong, I felt my heart racing at the thought of him. I was engaged to someone else, a kind and caring college student who had always been there for me. But this man, this powerful and mysterious billionaire, had awoken something in me that I couldn't ignore. I knew that I was playing with fire, and that it could all go up in wild flames. But I was willing to take the risk, because I knew that this was something I had to explore. Every inch of it. I had to find out what lay at the end of this dangerous path

“Let go of me,” I trembled but found the strength in my voice to speak. “You…You don’t have the right to treat me like this!” He chuckled, and his eyes flashed emerald as I felt his grip tighten over me. “Oh, do you think that, cara mia? You don’t even know who I am,” and then he leaned in, close enough that I could taste the aroma of alcohol from his breath. “I think you’ll find that I can do whatever I want to you, whenever I so desire.” … Alicia Stevens, orphaned and struggling in the system never imagined her life would change until she was abducted. When a connection she never knew of is exposed, her life is interrupted by the entry of two dangerous men. Acker Madden, a dark horse in the realms of the London underworld. Mikael Serrano, the head of the most powerful mafia in Italy. Two underworld crime bosses who want the power she is connected to. Though Alicia tries to escape them, she finds herself trapped by her own desires, and consumed by a life she never wanted in the first place. With enemies and betrayal surrounding her, Alicia becomes a willing pawn in a game where she is the loser. But Alicia is determined to be the queen in the end, even if it means abandoning her own heart. What happens when the girl the two men never thought they could want, becomes the only weakness and the only thing keeping them sane?

Everyone knows that the mafia Don's only son, Antonio Gatti, gets to choose a completely new mistress of his own once every three months. Women who are in dire need of money and have no other option left in life will flock to Antonio's wife, Martina Russo, to apply for the position. If they get to spend a night with Antonio, they'll receive a million dollars. Those who are capable of giving birth to his heir will receive half of his family fortune. There are so many women who want to latch onto Antonio as their ticket to wealth. As for me, Martina, I become the hottest piece of gossip in the entire mafia underworld. "Just what sort of lethal leverage does the Gatti family have over Martina to the point that she can tolerate her husband's whims to this degree?" Everyone is very sure that I will submit to the Gatti family's influence and live a humiliating life for as long as I draw breath. That is, until Antonio brings a young woman named Camilla Ferrara home one day. Camilla is an ordinary woman, and yet she's capable of transforming Antonio, a cold-blooded and violent man, into a completely different person. He gets rid of all his other mistresses for her sake. He cleanses every inch of himself three whole times because she claims that he's filthy. Antonio has become obsessed with Camilla. He tells me, "Camilla is a pure and innocent angel; unlike you, whose hands are completely stained with filthy blood. Your heart is as dirty as the rest of you." He seems to have forgotten that I've done those filthy things just so I can get rid of all the obstacles in his way in order to protect the Gatti family's legacy. On the day Mamma passed away from her illness, Antonio prepared a huge fireworks show that's capable of lighting up the entire sky above New Wis City just to celebrate Camilla's birthday. After that, I find out that Antonio has the gall to dump my mamma's ashes into the fireworks assembly on Camilla's birthday. They end up combusting alongside the rest of the fireworks that night. I toss the divorce agreement in his face with all my might. At the same time, I unlatch the safety on the pistol that's hidden in my sleeve before pointing it at him and Camilla. "I'm giving you two choices right now. Option one—sign the divorce agreement and file for a divorce with me, which entitles me to half of the Gatti family's fortune. Option two—die together with your beloved mistress so that you can go to hell and apologize to Mamma there."

When my best friend and I realized we had been reborn and traveled back several decades, we locked eyes, collapsed into each other's arms, and sobbed, shouting that we wanted to break off our engagements. The entire neighborhood whispered that we had lost our minds. But only we knew the truth. In our past lives, this was the day everything was sealed: she married a battalion commander, Ned Stark, and I became the wife of a high school teacher, Robbie Stark. My husband betrayed me. For the sake of that pretentious whore, Scarlett Wheaton, he stole my university admission letter and let her take my place on campus. The world mocked me as a failure, and Robbie stood by in silence. After we married, every time he touched me, he would immediately write another love letter to Scarlett—atoning for his supposed guilt. "Scarlett, even if I can't be with you in this life, my soul will always belong to you alone." Even my own child despised me, calling me an ignorant village woman, urging me again and again to divorce so that his father could be with his "true love," Scarlett. And my best friend, Rachel Croft—born the daughter of a factory director—was tricked by her husband, Ned, under the pretense of buying a house. He drained her savings and her wages for twenty long years. It wasn't until she fell gravely ill and went to sell the house that she discovered the deed he had given her was a forgery. The real house—the one paid in full—was in Scarlett's name. One of Scarlett's dresses cost more than my friend's entire monthly salary. When Rachel begged to reclaim what rightfully belonged to her, she was met only with contempt from Ned and her child. "All you ever care about is money. You're nothing like Scarlett, who isn't materialistic at all. Your illness is retribution," Ned had said. "Exactly. Only someone as noble and kind as Scarlett deserves to be my mother!" her child had said. Rachel and I both spent our lives working ourselves to the bone, only to end with nothing—dying bitter and broken from the injustice. But this time, fate has given us another chance. I will go to university. Rachel will become a wealthy woman. This time, without us paving the way, those shameless men and that wretched woman think they can still live happily ever after? Dream on.

Malin Holstin is the daughter of Liam and Angel Holstin and the twin sister of Quinn. She and her sister are the 5th and 6th children born to her parents. After her brother took over as Alpha, her older sister became the acting Luna until Rich found his mate. Malin has led a charmed life, always protected by her father and three older brothers, never needing to take on much of a role in the pack since first Leana, then Emlyn, took the role of Luna. Cohen Forte is the second child and first son of Cara and Rik Forte. He took over as Alpha nearly a year and a half ago. His pack is well established and is flourishing. The only thing he is missing is his Luna. Cohen realizes that Malin is his mate before she’s old enough to feel the pull of the mate bond. He and one of his friends and fellow Alphas, Emerson, realized that they are each mated to one of the twins. While Cohen has been around Guardians all his life, not only his mother and sister, but also having been raised with the neighboring packs who also had Guardian children, it’s very different when you realize that your mate is a Guardian, especially when she’s assigned to your pack right before a war. Malin may inherently know how to fight and protect her mate and pack, but she has no clue how to be a Luna. Cohen couldn’t care less about her lack of knowledge, he’s just thrilled to finally have his mate know that she belongs to him. Can Malin learn what it takes to be a good Luna so that she can be the mate that Cohen deserves and the Luna that this pack desires?

***Completed*** Cara Anderson She is an orphan whose parents died when she was five and then she was sent to foster home which was nothing but a living hell for her. There is one thing which she can’t tolerate or even witness and that is Violence. Chase Adams Violence is his second name. He is most feared bully not only in college but in town. He is cruel, cold and dangerous. Rumours says he has been to juvenile center but reason is unknown. He is called soulless delinquent, monster and much worse. But does he care about it? No he doesn’t. He doesn’t care what people think of him. Not many are capable of standing in front of him and saying a whole sentence without stuttering, and he likes it that way. He likes seeing fear in other’s eyes, he likes it when people try to stay as far away from him as possible. But everything changes when a new student crosses paths with him and messes with his heart, his feelings. He wants to stay away from her seeing the fear in her eyes she has for him, but he can’t fight the urge to touch her, hold her and be close to her. She urges him to think about changing his ways which he would never ever do for anyone. She is scared of him and his possessiveness but she is the only one who can break all the barriers and see right through his darkest soul and cruelest heart, which he doesn’t appreciate at all. Will she be able to tame the monster or is he going to ruin and break her even more than she already is?