Mutual Pining Novels & Stories

Lena Moretti was raised to be obedient. Her family's decades-old blood debt to the Crane dynasty means she's always been a transaction waiting to happen. On the eve of her arranged wedding to Julian Crane, the golden heir of the most powerful family in the country, he reveals his true nature in a brutal act of violence that shatters every illusion she had about her future. She tries to flee. Instead she collides with Ezra Crane, Julian's younger brother, the disowned black sheep who built a shadow empire from nothing and has returned with one purpose: to annihilate his family from the inside. Ezra offers her a devil's bargain. Marry him instead. He'll shield her from Julian. He'll hand her the tools to destroy the people who sold her like property. In return, she plays his devoted wife while he wages a secret war against the Crane dynasty. What starts as a cold alliance of mutual destruction becomes something neither of them can control. His obsession with her isn't strategic. It's visceral, possessive, all-consuming. And her feelings for the man the world calls a monster aren't part of any deal she agreed to. But they're both hiding things. Lena carries information that could accelerate Ezra's revenge. Ezra knew about the blood debt before he ever touched her and married her partly to weaponize it. When these secrets detonate, the fallout is catastrophic. Lena disappears, pregnant with his child, and uncovers a twenty-year-old secret her mother took to the grave, a truth that reframes the entire war between the Moretti and Crane families. She returns not as anyone's wife, weapon, or pawn. She returns as the woman who holds the only truth that matters. And every powerful person in both dynasties will kneel before she's done.

“But listen to me.” His voice lower, filled with hunger. “When those six months are over, if he doesn’t choose you—if you realize he can’t love you the way I do—you’re mine. I won’t hold back anymore. I won’t watch you waste yourself on him. I’ll come for you with everything I have. Every weapon. Every ounce of desire. Every piece of me that already belongs to you.” My chest tightened. “And when that time comes,” he growled, his face so close I felt his breath on my lips, “I won’t let you run. I will never let you go because you’ll be mine, wholly down to your soul. There will be no escape. Six months, sweetheart. That’s all the freedom you get. After that—” His lips brushed my ear. “—you’re mine. Whether you like it or not.” **** Elise thought her life was finally falling into place. She turned down her father’s company to work as executive assistant to Marcus Grey—the boy she’s loved since childhood, now the powerful CEO she’s devoted her life to. But when Marcus proposes to another woman, Elise’s world crumbles. Then comes Sebastian Deluca, Marcus’s tattooed, ruthless, long-estranged brother. He’s everything Marcus isn’t: dangerous, magnetic, and determined to take back his place in New York. But, there's something odd about him. Something changed since he arrived. Tied by secrets and mutual desire to expose Marcus’s fiancée, Elise and Sebastian form an alliance. But as sparks ignite between them, Elise must choose: remain loyal to the boy she thought she loved, or risk everything for the man who sees her as more than a shadow. Some loves are safe. Others are consuming. Which one will she survive?

I was the Falcone family's top consigliere. Their brain. And today, I was walking away—handing over the books to every legitimate business I ran, severing my final tie. My protégé couldn't understand. "You're the future of this family, Aurelia. You can't just leave." I shook my head with a bitter smile. They didn't know. I'd been secretly married to the Don, Vittorio Falcone, for three years. I thought my looks, my mind, and everything I gave him would be enough to win all of his love. A hit at the docks three months ago showed me the truth. I took thirteen bullets. Emergency. I needed the family surgeon—which required Vittorio's direct order. I called him over a dozen times. But when he finally answered, all I heard was a soft, breathless voice on his end. "Vittorio, we haven't cut my birthday cake. Will you hold my hand and cut it with me?" That voice. My best friend. The woman Vittorio once had a crush on. Carina. In the safe house, weak from blood loss, I dug the bullet out myself and had one of my men rush me to a family clinic. Right before they wheeled me into the OR, Vittorio burst in—carrying Carina. Twisted ankle. Needed a doctor. Now. My surgeon was dragged away. The antibiotics came too late. The wound got infected. I fought for my life for a week. When I woke up, I stared at my phone. Not a single message. The tears finally came. I understood. I was just the woman he'd been forced to marry after he was drugged and slept with me. A scandal averted. All he cared about was my value and his reputation. And me? The secret princess of the Rossi family, who gave up everything to build his empire. All for nothing. So I prepared four parting gifts. A celebration of our mutual destruction. Then he'd never see me again.

My mafia boyfriend, Finn, is always bickering with his childhood friend, Amanda. For my birthday, she brought me a bullet vibe. "Here. For round two, just in case. I know his stamina better than anyone." He tossed a bottle of pale foundation at her. "Slap some more on. Maybe then someone will actually want to touch you." They shoved each other on their way out, slamming the door behind them. The candles on the cake burned down to nothing while I sat alone at the dining table. The first time our families sat down for a formal dinner, she smiled and slipped him a small bottle of lube. "Take it. So you don't make the poor girl suffer." His face darkened. "Better than you crying at night, hugging a body pillow." This time, Finn had arranged a private island vacation. A mutual friend quietly gave me a heads-up, telling me he was planning to propose on a cliff at sunset. After a seven-year marathon, I told myself this was it. The finish line was finally in sight. I dressed meticulously, putting on my most expensive dress, and walked toward the helipad. I pulled open the helicopter door. Amanda was already in the co-pilot's seat. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Chloe, you're here? I'm claustrophobic, so you don't mind if I sit up front, right?" Finn, gripping the controls, turned to look me over. "Chloe, you sit in the back. I'm worried she'll have a meltdown and start scratching and biting. It'll ruin the mood." Before I could say a word, Amanda was already arguing with him. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm a burden?" "It's not the first time I've thought so. Why are you being so dramatic today?" Their back and forth was so practiced it felt like a script they had rehearsed a thousand times. In that moment, the exhaustion of the past seven years washed over me. And for the first time, I realized I didn't want to say yes to his proposal anymore.