Max Russo Novels & Stories

I was born just one minute after Tiara, but the world treated that one minute as if it lasted a lifetime. She was the star. I was the shadow. She was flawless. I was the afterthought. She was loved. I was forgotten. Even by Reagan de Russo, heir to the wealthiest family in the country and the man I had secretly loved for the past ten years. But to him, there was only Tiara. And when he proposed to her, I knew my quiet little dream had finally died. Until that day came. The day Tiara left him at the altar. The day the world stopped turning for just a second. The day the man who had never even glanced my way, turned to me and asked me to take her place. I knew what I was. An escape. A damage control. A backup plan. And I... I was too tired of being strong. So I said yes. We married. Without love. Without a future. Just a one-year contract and a life of make-believe in front of flashing cameras and watching eyes. But the longer I stayed by his side, the harder it became to tell what was real and what was just part of the performance. Because for the first time... Reagan saw me. But can love truly grow from the ruins of lies, old wounds, and the shadow of a woman who’s always been his first choice? Or will I always be… only the second best?

At the annual Mafia Summit, my childhood sweetheart, Salvatore Russo, falls victim to an aphrodisiac slipped to him by a beautiful spy from a rival family. And I, the cherished daughter of the most feared Don in the west, willingly become his antidote. That night, he drives me to the edge of breathless surrender, again and again. "Principessa, what did I ever do to deserve your favor?" he mutters. From that moment on, his love consumes me whole, making me forget what loneliness ever felt like. But in the third year of our marriage, someone sent me a private video of a man and a woman. It's from Rosa Conti, the same woman who once drugged Salvatore. In the video, Salvatore's voice is thick with desire. "Darling, of course I remember. The one who should've been in my bed that night was you." Then, Rosa sends me another voice message, taunting, "Arianna Moretti, for three years, he's been dulling your claws, turning you into something soft and spoiled. Everything he did was just to bring me back." However, she doesn't know that when I love Salvatore, I don't mind surrendering to him. And when I no longer love him, he'll face my fiercest vengeance.

It was the third year of my marriage to Antonio Rizzo, Don of the Rizzo mafia family. He kept a younger woman on the side and had everyone keep it from me. They all said I was his first love, his weakness, the treasure he brought back from Cocily. However, when he got drunk, he laughed and told the family members, "I love Elena, but she's a bit boring in bed. She's just not wild enough. "You all know how it is. Men like a little excitement, like Caterina. She's young, beautiful, and knows how to have fun." The boy who had sworn in church at 17 that he would love me forever now held a young, beautiful blonde in his arms as he coaxed her, "As long as Elena doesn't find out, you can do whatever you want." The day I left, everything seemed normal. No one noticed anything unusual. The maid, Maria Russo, even smiled and asked me, "Signora, are you going shopping?" I smiled lightly and nodded. "No need to prepare dinner tonight." Antonio did not know that the 'boring' Elena he spoke of was the daughter of the Santoro mafia family. The women of the Santoro family never forgave betrayal.

Elena Russo has always lived life by the rules: excel at work, stay loyal, and follow a plan. Engaged to Matteo Ricci, the perfect fiancé, her future seems secure—until Damon DeLuca steps back into her life. Damon, cold, confident, and dangerously magnetic, isn’t just any man. He’s her family’s rival and now, her new business partner. From the moment he walks into her world, Elena feels the undeniable pull of something she shouldn’t want. Working alongside Damon is a battle of wits, sarcasm, and tension. Every glance, every challenge, and every subtle flirtation threatens to unravel her carefully controlled life. But the real danger isn’t just business—it’s Matteo. Elena thought she knew everything about her fiancé, but a shocking betrayal forces her to question everything she believed. Suddenly, the line between love and hate blurs, and the man she’s been trying hardest to resist may be the only one who truly sees her. In a world of corporate power, family rivalry, and forbidden desire, Elena must decide: stick to the life she planned or risk everything for the man who makes her heart race. Enemies. Business partners. Dangerous chemistry. One choice that could change everything.

I’m Isabella Russo, the mafia princess everyone loves to hate. Adrian Moretti—ice-cold underboss in a tailored suit—was sent to “discipline” me. I torched his villa, wrecked his meetings, even tried to make him lose control. At night, he did. Against glass, leather, marble—he taught me surrender and I hated how much I craved it. Then I learned the truth: Adrian was only a mask. His real name is Leon Moretti—heir to the empire and the fiancé promised to me since birth. It should have been a fairytale. Except my parents crowned a miracle sister who wasn’t a miracle at all. Elena slipped into my room, my heirloom, my future—and into his arms. When I was framed, caged in a walk-in freezer, whipped for a lie, he chose her. So I sold the engagement for $200M, left a single recording as proof, and vanished. By the time Leon becomes Don, he finally listens—to the tape that proves Elena’s an impostor… and to the echo of my footsteps leaving him for good. Now the most dangerous man in New York is done being careful. He’s hunting the woman he broke.

"You can never run away from me Cristina, never," were his words. And she was ready to prove them wrong. So to save herself from a dog she sold herself to a lion. Cristina DeCarlo, a young actress, was living a life under the clutches of Vincenzo La Russo, a political leader who was anything but a dog. On a fateful night, she broke all his boundaries and ran away only to fall into the hand of a man who was none other than the biggest Mafia in the country. Roman Scuderi, a mafia lord who was hidden in the shadows yet just the initials of his name were enough to shake the world. A man feared by all. But she was ready to make a deal with him as long as he could protect her from Vincenzo. ###Excerpt### "Why did you cage me?" Cristina asked the man who was sitting in front of her, watching her as she stood in the sexy black dress holding the iron bars of the cage she was in. At her words, he stood up and walked up to her. "Because I'm afraid if I don't, you, my little dove will ascend too high in heaven where this devil can't reach you," he replied in his sexy voice and pulled her towards him to share a kiss.

She was supposed to be dead. Seven years ago, Aria Moretti vanished the night her entire mafia family was slaughtered in a coordinated massacre that shook New York to its core. The world mourned the loss of the Moretti empire. Her enemies celebrated. Everyone assumed the sheltered nineteen year old princess had burned with the rest of them. They were wrong. Aria survived pregnant, alone, and running for her life. She fled to Lagos, gave birth in hiding, and spent seven years becoming someone her father never allowed her to be: dangerous. Now she’s back. Not for closure. Not for peace. For revenge. But the moment she steps foot in Manhattan, she collides with the one man she never expected to see again Dante Russo, the soldier she loved and was forced to betray to survive. He’s no longer the loyal soldier from her father’s organization. He’s a self-made billionaire by day and the city’s most powerful crime lord by night. Ruthless. Untouchable. Still devastatingly attractive. He demands she marry him. Not for love for survival. Dante needs a wife to legitimize his expansion into international markets. Aria needs his protection and access to his network to hunt her family’s killer. Six months. One contract. No feelings. No lies. Except Aria is hiding the biggest lie of all.

Synopsis: Not all betrayals should lead you nowhere. Max, my fiance, abandoned me on the red carpet, approached my claimed younger sister Fiona, and escorted her to the priest right in front of my eyes. In the end, he married her with the blessing of my parents. It's really hilarious how these people encouraged me to marry him. If that wasn't tragic enough, Fiona then splashed filthy water all over my beautiful wedding gown. I had no royal roots as the daughter of a prostitute, so I didn't argue or fight since I knew it would never end. But they all seem to forget one thing: a diamond was just an ordinary stone until a polisher revealed its worth. Life couldn't have treated me better by giving me the name Diamond, and I knew I wasn't destined for a dead end. I am the diamond, and I am waiting for the lucky one to polish me and reveal my real brightness. Do I need a polisher? Will I find someone to help me get back at those who have betrayed me? Or will I become my own polisher, shaping my own destiny?

What do you do when the person you've always loved is the same person who keeps hurting you the most? That's something Allison McConnell would like to know. Allison has had feelings for Derris Fox for as long as she could remember. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one. As a musician and actor known worldwide, Derris was the dream of every girl and popular as he was, he was way out of her league. Allison thought she was doomed to be just one of his many fangirls until fate caused them to cross paths. Unfortunately, what would have been a dream come true for her turned out to be a nightmare after circumstances led to Derris developing an intense dislike for her causing him to treat her badly. Still struggling with issues at home along with her complicated relationship with Derris, Allison also has to handle being the object of affection of the equally handsome Max Crest, Derris' best friend which inadvertently puts tension between the two friends. As tensions heightens and Allison battles her feelings and enemies alike, will she make the right choice or will a sinister plot by a clingy ex ruin her chances at ‘happily ever after’?

Hurt and betrayed by the man she had a one-night-stand with and was starting to love, Elaine Matthews is devastated to learn that she's fallen pregnant for him. Worse, she doesn't know him from Adam, nor did she have a way of reaching out to him. Plus, they didn’t part ways amicably.Five years later, Elaine moves to New York in search of greener pastures with her four-year-old son. When she snags an interview with one of the top-leading publishing firms in New York, she receives a rude shock when she discovers that the father of her son is in fact her boss, and to make things even more devastating, he recognizes her and tries to right the wrongs that happened between them five years ago.But this new life is uncertain as Elaine finds it hard to tell him that they have a son together. Worse, the more time she spends in his arms, the guiltier she feels. Will she learn to let go and tell the truth, or will her secret keep her from enjoying this new fun-filled life? What would be Max’s reaction? Would he believe her?