Ransom Center Austin

By day, he's Chicago's most powerful billionaire. By night, he's the city's most dangerous protector. Elena Moretti has spent years fighting for the forgotten—rescuing at-risk youth from the violence that claimed her brother's life. She doesn't trust wealth, power, or the men who wield them. So when enigmatic billionaire Dante Salvatore walks into her struggling community center with a check that could change everything, she knows there's a catch. Men like him don't save neighborhoods out of the goodness of their hearts. But Elena doesn't know Dante's secret: by night, he becomes The Sentinel, a masked vigilante dismantling the criminal empire that murdered his sister. As their worlds collide and attraction ignites between them, Elena begins investigating the vigilante whose methods both terrify and fascinate her—never suspecting the man she's falling for and the man she's hunting are one and the same. When a ruthless crime syndicate discovers The Sentinel's identity, Elena becomes the bait in a deadly trap. Dante must risk everything to save her, but when Elena uncovers the truth about the man behind the mask, she's forced to decide: Can she love someone who lives in shadows? And can a man who's spent years seeking vengeance ever truly step into the light? In a pulse-pounding tale of passion, danger, and redemption, two wounded souls discover that the most dangerous risk isn't fighting for justice—it's fighting for love.

In a modern city governed by ancient bloodlines, an uneasy peace holds between vampires and nekos—two species bound by centuries of rivalry, betrayal, and war. Though the violence has quieted, resentment festers beneath the surface, and whispers of rebellion begin to circulate among the vampire clans who believe their power was unjustly stripped away. Maverick Delacroix, the disciplined heir to one of the most influential vampire families, has been raised to value control above all else. Loyalty to his lineage is not a choice but a duty etched into his very existence. Across the divide stands Odessa Kingsleigh, a sharp-witted neko diplomat trained to protect her people at any cost. Burdened by history and responsibility, she knows that trusting a vampire—especially a Delacroix—could unravel everything she has worked to preserve. When rising tensions force secret negotiations between the two factions, Maverick and Odessa are drawn into reluctant cooperation. What begins as a strategic alliance quickly deepens into something far more dangerous. As they navigate political intrigue, veiled threats, and the weight of ancestral hatred, their connection grows—challenging everything they have been taught to believe about enemies, loyalty, and destiny. But love in a divided city is never private. As extremist forces on both sides push for war and long-buried prophecies resurface, Maverick and Odessa find themselves at the center of a conflict that could destroy the fragile balance holding their world together. Choosing each other means defying their families, their cultures, and the expectations carved into their blood. With rebellion looming and trust in short supply, they must decide whether history will repeat itself in bloodshed—or whether their forbidden bond can forge a future neither species dared to imagine.

My husband, Alex Carter, is a top AI engineer. He one day gets drugged by a new intern at his company, and one night of chaos follows. He calls me the next morning, his voice hoarse from a hangover and filled with unfamiliar panic. "Em, I messed up. But don't worry. I gave her enough money to disappear from this city." After ten years together, I believe it is just a momentary lapse in judgment. Six months later, Alex's company suffers the worst cyber attack in its history, with core data hanging by a thread. I rush back from a fragrance exhibition in Astral, only to witness a scene at the data center entrance that sends me into shock. Alex stands outside the tightly sealed door, his face showing a weariness and guilt I have never seen before. The doctor says that the intern, Brooke Anderson, is three months pregnant and has spent 72 hours with him in the high-radiation server room. Now, she shows signs of miscarriage. Later, Brooke gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The entire Carter family is ecstatic. I remove the wedding ring that has accompanied me for ten years, my fingertips turning ice cold. I dial the number saved with only one letter "S" and say, "Mr. Sullivan, I accept the collaboration you proposed last time." A low, soft laugh comes from the other end of the line. "Ms. Emma Shaw, that's a wise decision."

I glared when his hand reached again to my neck. Our faces only an inch apart. His big hand was almost wrapping it whole. His thumb massaging my throat like a feather. "And when I thrust inside of you, I want to hear you scream my name. Every name of mine." "Dante. Adriano. Sol. Di. Angelo." His thumb stroking the center of my neck while uttering every name he owned. His eyes hooded in heat, lust clouding the windows of his soul. "And when you cum, it'll be Dante you moan." --- Hailynn Fleury is a talented painter. Growing up as an orphan, she and her best friend Ethan, always wanted to get back to the people that helped and cared for them. When one of her friends convinced her to auction her paintings at one of her charity events, it didn't take much persuasion knowing the money would go to the orphanage. On the night of the auction, her future took another turn when she saw a handsome man holding a gun. Later finding out that he was a mafia boss with an intention of keeping her from thereon. Witnessing him pulling a trigger to someone would have been the mafia boss' wisest decision to never let her go. Except that he couldn't touch the girl knowing the promise he had with his cousin. Dreams of bedding the girl is no longer an option. But how will he treat his ragazza, really? Find out how both of their lives took a turn- with the aspiring artist and the Italian mafia boss.

Blurb _“Rejecting the most powerful boy in school was my first mistake… surviving his obsession might be my last.”_ Isabella has spent years hiding the truth behind quiet smiles and long sleeves. At home, her older brother Victor controls every part of her life with fear and violence, leaving her with scars no one else can see. Transferring to Ravenwood High was supposed to be her escape. Instead, it becomes the beginning of something far more dangerous. When Nate, the school’s powerful and ruthless king, sets his sights on her, Isabella becomes the center of an obsession she cannot escape. Nate believes she belongs to him. But Jacey, Nate’s mysterious rival, sees something different in Isabella...someone worth protecting. As Nate’s obsession grows darker and Jacey’s hidden world begins pulling Isabella deeper into danger, the secrets she tried so hard to bury begin to surface. And when the truth about the abuse she has suffered finally comes out, Isabella realizes that surviving her past may only be the beginning of her fight. Because in a world where love can become possession… And protection can hide dangerous secrets… Isabella must decide who she can truly trust. Before her scars destroy everything. Trapped between obsession and protection, Isabella must face the truth about her past before it destroys her future. Because some scars never heal. And some people will burn the world down just to own you.

My childhood friend promised to marry me once we came of age — but at my wedding ceremony, he gave my wedding ring to my stepsister, Summer Hugh. At the time, it was Victor Lowell, the fearsome mafia heir, who saved me by publicly announcing he had loved me for years. In the five years we had been married, he would fulfill every wish I had, even those I mentioned offhand. I truly believed I was the center of his world. All that changed when I stumbled across a top-secret folder as I was cleaning his bookshelf. The very first page was a file on Summer, with three red words printed in bold, “Top protection priority.” It was followed by a mission report I knew too well. On the night of the mission, there had been an attempt on my life. My blood had almost run dry before I was saved. When I woke up at the hospital, I found out that I had lost a baby I did not know I had been carrying. I wept bitterly in Victor’s arms, but I did not tell him about the baby. I did not want him to worry about me more. Now, I finally found out — Summer had been attacked that night as well, and Victor’s orders had been: “Save Summer first.” My tears soaked into the paper, smudging his handwriting. “Alright,” I said softly but firmly into the silence. “If my marriage had been a lie all along, I’ll disappear from your life. Forever.”

One maiden, one Luna, one drop-dead gorgeous Alpha from hell. It is all Elizabeth Milkhart can think about when she is summoned to the dreaded Blackwood Castle to be a surrogate mate for the infertile Luna, Cassandra Blackwood. Elizabeth believes it had to have been a misunderstanding, humans in the dreaded castle were unheard of, and yet, there she was, bending over and being probed and dressed by the royal consorts for the mysterious Alpha’s viewing. Her presence in the pack causes tension and it is all Elizabeth can do not to run to the hills screaming as she is thrust deeper and deeper into the web of lies and deceit that shrouded the castle, at the center of which was Ezra Blackwood. She knew he wasn't good for her, and yet, Elizabeth finds that try as she might, she just couldn't get the brooding werewolf King with searing gray eyes out of her head. Wild, Quiet, and blonde. That was how Alpha Ezra Blackwood liked his women. It was what had made him settle for the love-torn marriage with Princess Cassandra. He is content to drink his mornings and sulk his nights away until the ravishing redhead falls right into his lap. Literally. Elizabeth Milkhart is the only human the powerful Alpha can't seem to get out of his mind, even when he knows he is bad for her. In and Out like the other surrogates, that was all she had to do right? Wrong. Ezra finds himself falling for the human before long, a fate he wouldn't admit even to himself, vowing to destroy her utterly before it happens and she him.

Accused of stealing recipes from my own sister, Cora, I was ruthlessly cast out from the healing center—by my own fated mate, the Alpha Kellan. So I came home to my grandma's herb farm. Riding my wild horse, Shadow, wherever the hell we want to go. But now the whole pack is scrambling to find me. In my past life, at the Alliance's Grand Potion Competition, my sister always managed to submit the exact same rare potion recipes as me, just a little bit earlier. They all called me a shameless thief, a plagiarist who stole my own sister's work. Even my own parents got on stage to vouch for her. And Kellan... he threw the exile order in my face. His eyes were ice. He stripped me of my title for "dishonoring the pack" and shattered our mate bond right in front of everyone. The agony tore my soul apart. I wanted to die. My family called me a disgrace and cast me out. The betrayal shattered my wolf. I lost my mind. In the end, one of her fanatics shot me dead in the street. A silver bullet laced with wolfsbane. As I died, I still couldn't understand how she could get inside my head and steal my recipes. Then I opened my eyes. I was back. The day before the competition. This time, my mind is filled with nothing but the wild. Let's see what kind of potion my 'genius' sister can come up with now.

After working abroad for several years, I returned home, only to have my parents arrange a blind date for me. He was tall and strikingly handsome, honest in character, steady in demeanor, and came from an excellent family background. In short, the perfect candidate for a husband. I told myself that sooner or later, marriage was inevitable, so I settled on him. The day before the wedding, I went to the church—only to be stunned by the sight before me. The entire place had been transformed into something sinister and grotesque. The walls were plastered with terrifying photos of corpses, the floor littered with wax figures of severed arms and legs, and even the flowers had been dyed black, dripping with blood-red stains. But the most infuriating part was the image hanging right at the center of the church—an AI-generated picture of me, pinned beneath my fiancé, as he whipped me. My whole body trembled with fury. I stormed at the staff still working on the decorations, ordering them to stop immediately. Just then, his best friend, Nina Cullen, walked in. "Don't stop. Yves prefers this wedding style." I froze, staring at her in disbelief. "How is that possible? Who in their right mind would decorate something as joyous as a wedding with gore? This is insane!" Nina only gave a cold, arrogant laugh. "That's the theme. If you want to marry him, you'll have to accept it." Speechless, I immediately called Yves. "Yves, I'm not interested in getting married in a haunted house. You'd better restore the church to normal; otherwise, this wedding is off."

I married my vampire husband ten years ago and gave him a half-blood heir, abandoning my career as a painter to become a full-time mother. Fortunately, my son inherited my talent. At just six years old, he held his first solo art exhibition, inspired by the theme "My Mother." But he never let me attend, and he never let me see his paintings. My husband said my presence would make Luke nervous---that I should stay home and do the housework as a good wife and mother, and wait for them to come back. I told myself he was just young and didn't know better, that he was only pushing back against my discipline, not truly rejecting me. Until the day I snuck into the gallery wearing a surgical mask pulled low. In the center of the crowd, my husband held our son's hand while tenderly pulling a woman in a red dress into his arms. He turned to the guests and announced: "This is Luke's mother---my wife." The three of them stood together, beaming with perfect happiness. And I---the one who'd stayed up all night setting up this exhibition---stood before the paintings while not a single person recognized me. That was when I finally understood. My seemingly gentle, caring vampire husband had long ago given our son a replacement mother. And I was nothing more than the human nanny who'd served her purpose by producing an heir.