Smoke And Steel の小説・ストーリー

In Chicago's underworld, power is currency and loyalty is bought in blood. Jameson Connelly needs a wife to claim his throne. Catarina Vitale needs an escape from her gilded cage. Their arranged marriage should be simple—a business transaction, nothing more. Except nothing about this is simple. To the world, Catarina is the perfect Italian princess: refined, untouchable, ornamental. The truth is far more dangerous. She's been trained since childhood to wield blades with lethal precision, her family's most lethal weapon hidden behind designer dresses and polite smiles. When Jameson discovers her midnight blade work and weapons collection, all bets are off. He's grumpy, commanding, and impossibly sexy—everything she shouldn't want. She's lethal, sarcastic, and hiding secrets that could shatter his world. The attraction between them is instantaneous and absolutely forbidden. But their marriage has painted targets on both families' backs. Rival factions circle like sharks, and assassination attempts multiply as quickly as the stolen glances between newlyweds. When Jameson's uncle emerges as a threat from within, Cat must decide how far she'll go to protect the man she's sworn to resent. And Jameson must choose between the empire he's always wanted and the woman he never expected to need. In a world where trust is weakness and love is a liability, they'll have to forge something stronger than steel to survive. A gritty slow-burn mafia romance featuring grumpy meets curvy, sharp banter, dangerous secrets, and the kind of tension that burns hotter than any fire.

On the day my dad, the Don of the Capone family, comes to the orphanage to take me home, I show up in a tactical helmet and a bulletproof vest. "I'm not going home with you. You're definitely doing this to trick me into getting married to a perverted old geezer in a marriage alliance. I bet my adopted sister has made preparations to start fake-crying anytime by loading up on her eyedrops." My dad is amused, to say the least. "Why would any of that happen? Silvia is nothing but welcoming you to our home! Also, our family isn't a lowly organization that deals with human trafficking." But I refuse to believe my dad at all. On the way home, I keep typing something on my phone. My mom, the Donna, leans over curiously. "Are you writing a diary entry?" "Nope. I'm writing tips on 'How to Survive the Mafia.'" 1) My food will definitely be poisoned. 2) If I get close to a staircase, I'll definitely get pushed down the stairs. 3) I'll get framed for something that I've never done before. My parents swear to me that none of the things I've written will ever happen. They tell me that my adopted sister, Silvia Capone, has a great personality, and things are amicable in the family. However, everything changes when Silvia brings me a glass of juice before lunchtime and insists on watching me drink it. Instead, I dump the juice into a nearby vase of flowers. Just as my parents are about to scold me for wasting the juice, smoke begins drifting from the flowers inside the vase. Then, they start wilting rapidly. I calmly leave a bright red checkmark behind the "poison" tip. As my parents stare at the dead flowers, they can feel color draining from their faces. "You should send the juice to a chem lab for analysis."

I become a firefighter after getting abandoned by my ex-wife, who's a domestic abuser. At first, I thought the heroic Captain Cassadee Flack will be my salvation. But at the blazing scene, the warehouse explodes for the second time due to the scorching temperature. What makes things worse is that the oxygen in my tank will deplete soon. I reach out to Cassadee for help, only to witness her passing the last spare oxygen tank to Colin Halfpenny, the teammate standing next to her. "This is Colin's first time entering a blazing scene. He's terrified, whereas you have enough experience under your belt to deal with this situation. You should hang on for a while longer." I'm choking on so much thick smoke to the point that I almost suffocate from it. Angered, I point at the blinking red light on the control panel. "If I keep suffering from the lack of oxygen, my brain will eventually die! This is the standard procedure of a rescue mission!" Cassadee wears an impatient look. "Why are you being this petty? I promised Colin's dad, who sacrificed himself for me, that I'd take good care of Colin! Can't you be more empathetic? "I thought you could endure pain the best! Back then, you didn't even let out a groan when your ex-wife broke your rib! How is it possible that you can't endure such a small difficulty in this mission? "I finally understand what kind of person you actually are! Someone who's grown up in nothing but pain and misery is bound to be selfish!" I no longer utter a single word to Cassadee. Instead, I use all of my strength to press the emergency SOS button on my helmet. "Command center, please send help immediately. The on-site commander has demonstrated severe misjudgment in handling the situation. I request compulsory intervention."

Calen was a benchwarmer on the university swim team, someone who never actually competed. The captain, Karl, was everything he wasn’t, a campus golden boy. Three records broken. A new girlfriend every other week. One night, Calen realized he’d left something behind and went back to the locker room. That was when he heard it. Ragged breathing. Strained, barely held back. And beneath it… the slow, awful sound of metal bending under pressure. He pushed the door open. Karl stood with his back to him. His bare muscles writhed beneath his skin, moving wrong, his spine standing out in sharp ridges. His fingers were dug deep into the steel locker, nails tearing through metal, leaving long, brutal gouges. The air was thick with the smell of blood… and something wild. Predatory. Karl snapped around. His eyes burned gold in the dark. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and when he bared his teeth, the canines were far too long. Far too sharp. He ran. He barely took two steps before something crashed into him from behind, slamming him to the floor. Karl’s weight pinned him down, his body radiating heat… too hot, almost painful. A low voice brushed his ear. “You saw something you weren’t meant to see.” “I won’t say anything….” Karl lowered his head, his nose grazing his neck as he inhaled slowly, deeply. “…You smell fucking irresistible.”

“Don’t you ever resist me again,” he breathed, his words brushing my skin like fire. One hand held my wrists captive above my head; the other traced the line of my throat, caging me against the wall. I looked up at him. My tormentor, my weakness, and the man I craved like sin itself. --- A fire stole her childhood. A contract stole her freedom. Now, a man dressed in a suit that costs more than her life is about to steal her heart. And possibly destroy what’s left of her soul. Evie remembers nothing before the fire, only the smell of smoke, the sound of screams, and a name she can’t forget. Years later, her life is a cycle of debt, slavery, and forced silence. She works herself to the bone while living in the shadow of her perfect cousin, never realizing she was born into a secret far darker than her life. Until the night she’s traded — like property to repay an old family debt — to a man no one dares to speak about. A man whose reputation bleeds power, cruelty, and blood. But instead of chains, he offers her a deal. Marry him, obey him. And never ask questions. Just business. But every time he touches her, the line between fear and longing blurs. His presence unearths flashes of her past, and memories that burn her alive. Because her husband is not who he seems. And the fire that destroyed her life didn’t happen by accident. As their marriage turns into a war of control and desire, Evie finds herself caught between the man who owns her and the truth that could set her free. But freedom comes with a great price. And love is the priciest thing she's ever had.

I hid behind the study curtains, heart racing with a fragile, trembling joy. In my hands: an ultrasound photo—two heartbeats—and a no-limit black card. Alessandro had given it to me last night, his lips on my neck, calling me his Donna, his queen. Tonight, I was going to tell him about the twins. "The Petrov family needs to see my good faith," his voice drifted in, smooth as velvet. "Vittoria arrives Thursday. I’ll announce the engagement then." My blood froze. "What about Elena?" someone asked. "She’s been with you three years. She manages the books, dug that slug out of your side herself. Is this fair to her?" "Elena?" He leaned back in the leather chair, cigar smoke curling around his jaw. "She’s like a trained hound, Salvatore. After the Rossi family got wiped out, I pulled her from the gutter, gave her a gun and a bed. Have you ever seen a hound leave its master? I could kick her, and she would lick my boot and ask for another." My nails sank into my palms, crumpling the ultrasound. "Aren’t you afraid she’ll leave?" Marco, his Capo, asked. Alessandro paused. Then he said: "She would die for me without question. How could she ever leave?" Those words struck my chest like two 9mm rounds. I didn't wait. I ran through the cemetery, past the tombs of dead Dons, and hurled that card into the Hudson. I vanished into the night with his heirs in my womb and three years of lies in my throat. "I'm sorry, my babies," I whispered to my belly. "Mommy was a fool." But I wouldn't be a fool anymore.

ICE: The Alpha’s Unwanted OMEGA BOOK 3 "I told you to stay off my ice, Parker. The next time you cross the red line into my territory, I won't just break your skates. I'll break your wolf." Ethan Carter is the undisputed King of the Mysticfall winter league—a brutal, dominant Alpha who rules the arena and his pack with an iron fist. He needs a political alliance with the powerful Bennett family to secure his territory's hunting rights before the full moon freezes the valley solid. What he doesn't need is the intoxicating, infuriating presence of Collins Parker back in his den. Collins is a fierce, defiant omega from the northern hills who refuses to kneel to any captain. He thought his bond with Ethan was a sacred vow spoken to the moon. Instead, he got a one-way ticket to exile and a shattered heart when Ethan chose a blood-contract wedding with Chloe Bennett over their mate-bond. Driven away to the frozen border cabins of Skydrivee with two young pups and his pride torn to ribbons, Collins swears he is done chasing a ghost. He scrubs Ethan's scent from his furs, sharpens his steel blades, and prepares to run the winter wilderness alone. But a true Alpha’s mark can never be fully erased. "You sold your body to a rival house to save your franchise, Ethan. Don't look at my pups. Don't come near my bed. You chose your altar. Now sleep on it."

Ayden blade. The CEO of ayden enterprises world wide runs a three hundred million steel company in Germany. Known by all and feared by many. There was no one in the business who didn't know him. Falling in love with his high school friend whom he parted ways with five years ago and unwillingly meeting with her after so many years. There are ups and downs in their relationship but Ayden is willing to put up with anything just to make things right between. Realizing that he had fallen in love with her long ago. Finally reaching a point of unrequited love. There is a lady who pops up in his life and tries to seperate him and his one true love Brianna Zachary. But can true love really speak for Ayden this time after she has been embarrassed by this woman. Brianna showing how fearless she is doesn't show any sign of concern as she acts like nothing happened when she was hurting deep down. Ayden is angered by this asking for his brothers advice where his brother delvin blade concludes that he should end her once and for all. Ayden asks his brother to give her time when within this period she conides with briannas luster Mr mandez where she promises to let him have Brianna while she gets to keep Ayden blade for herself. Things don't go as planned as Brianna has a freak accident and Ayden is left looking for the blood of the person who dares to hurt his woman.

She froze, breath caught, facing the storm in his delinquent brown eyes. He leaned over her, hands gripping the rail, boxing her in. The air was thick, too heavy to breathe. Her gaze locked on his unwilling, yet unable, to look away. The closer he leaned, the harder her heart pounded. She bit her lip, nerves twitching. No matter how far she ran, he always found her. “Why do you keep chasing me?” she asked, barely above a whisper. Her voice trembled, as if volume might shatter her. He didn’t answer. Silence roared between them. His cold and expressionless never left her face. “Do you like me?” she pressed, ignoring the disinterest in his eyes. She needed something. He gave a soft tut, then brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, twirling it lazily. The touch was light, but his closeness made her pulse race. “‘Like’ is a bit heavy, Tinkerbell,” he murmured, voice low and indifferent. The nickname slipped out like smoke, mocking, yet oddly tender. He leaned in, close enough for her to feel his heat. Close enough to unravel her. But his eyes stayed dark. Empty. She swallowed hard, unsure what hid behind them. “It’s strange,” he added, voice softer now. “But you’re the first woman I’ve ever aknowledged as a lady, Snow White.” — She was the good girl. Quiet. Overlooked. Her life, a shadow. No warmth. No safety. For a moment, she thought she’d found love, someone who saw her. Someone worth clinging to. But he broke her. When he left, he took her love and her self-worth. She hated herself after that. Then she started to rebuild. And that’s when Zachary Gonzalez appeared. Mysterious. Magnetic. Dangerous. Everything she shouldn’t want.

Where do you want me to touch you?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his gray eyes. “Please, touch me here,” I said as I took his hand and slowly guided his fingers beneath my panties. I moaned deliriously when I felt the heat of his fingers caressing my wet slit directly. **** I almost had a one-night stand with a stranger at my graduation after-party once. Almost broke a promise I made to my dead mother. He wasn’t like any other guy I’d come across. He had this sadness and arrogance hidden behind his beautiful eyes that made me fall for him. But within minutes of meeting each other, things changed drastically between us. He said words that made me feel humiliated, but that wasn’t the worst part. Neither was it the way he pulled away from me like I was something dangerous. It wasn’t even the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about him afterward. The worst part was seeing him again nine months later, standing inside my 'house' while my father smiled and said: “This is your new stepbrother.” Zephyr Knox was never supposed to become my family. He was cold, cruel, self-destructive, and completely addicted to pushing people away before they could leave him first. Loving him was like holding fire in my bare hands and convincing myself the burns were worth it. I thought they were. Until secrets started destroying us. Until our parents found out about us. Until the smoke around us stopped being romantic and started becoming deadly. People say forbidden love ruins lives. I’ve come to the conclusion that they were right. Because loving my stepbrother didn’t just break my heart. It almost killed me.