The Penguin Press

I had just been discharged from surgery for a collapsed lung when my boyfriend took me to a childhood friend’s birthday party. At the party, he yanked off my ventilator and used it to inflate party balloons. My chest seized violently, as if my lung had been torn open. Justin Miller turned to Sophie Shaw proudly and said, “See? This is so much easier than blowing them up with your mouth.” I gripped the doorframe. I was gasping as my vision blurred. “Justin, I need that to survive! I can’t breathe!” His expression darkened. “Sophie was kind enough to invite you to her birthday party. Know your place! Besides, she put in a lot of effort for this day and spent hours preparing for it. Are you really going to ruin the celebration?” I struggled to speak through the pain. “Is her surprise more important than my life?” I extended a trembling hand toward the ventilator, but Justin waved it aside. He said impatiently, “I already checked. You won’t die from holding your breath for just a moment. Don’t be so selfish!” At that moment, pain stabbed me in the chest, and I used every ounce of my strength to press the emergency call button my brother had given me.

His hands feel cold against my hot skin and it won’t be wrong to say that he is doing his best to trace my wrists sensually while he removes the handcuff from my right hand. I hold my breath back when his teasing fingers touch my palm in a slow motion. Heat shoots down to my core, making me press my thighs together as he closes the distance between us and whispers in my left ear. “ Why are you squirming, hot lips?” ******** When Valentina Morgan joined hands with the enemy to take down the Mafia of her own boyfriend, little did she know she will be facing the biggest manipulator in all history, Matteo Vitali. He is every bit of the type of controlling men she hates but the six feet four, sex on legs man, can attract even the dead. And soon she falls in line of the people wondering if they should let go of everything and enjoy the nights of passion in the arms of the biggest manipulator_____Matteo Vitali wanted Valentina Morgan, the moment he laid his eyes on her pouty pink lips and when she is in his hands, he will be damned to give up this chance to bend her at his will even if he has a secret which can break her beyong repair, because he admits. “ She's mine ”

To earn a place in the Nostra family, I forge a new identity. The night my lie unravels, Don Nostra looks at me as if I'm dirt at the bottom of his shoe. I press a razor blade to my wrist. "Kick me out of the family, and I'll die right here." "Fine. Since you want to be my wife that badly, I'll give you what you want," Lorenzo Nostra snickered. After that, he brings home woman after woman. He forces me to kneel outside his bedroom door, saying, "Watch and learn. This is how you please your Don." The stinging pain in my knees is nothing compared to the chill in my heart. When he is done, he towers above me. "All this for a title," he says with a sneer. "You really put up with anything." Enduring him becomes the only way I can survive this world. Then, one day, he walks in with a civilian girl named Maria Romano. "Go. Bring her the heirloom Madre left behind," he commanded. This time, I refuse. I turn and walk away, never once looking back. When Lorenzo uncovers the truth, he loses his mind and begs me to come back.

I woke up, and I was 28 again. I had twin heirs, and my husband was Santino, Veridia's most feared Mafia Don. He sat at the head of the Commission of the Five Families. His sharp profile was a fixture on the cover of the underworld's most exclusive magazine for several consecutive issues. Even the oldest Valerian families were lining up to offer him their daughters. All the women in Altoria envied my good fortune. But the first thing I did after waking up was pick up the divorce papers, the ink still fresh, and handed them to his childhood sweetheart, Jessy. "My lawyer will handle the divorce. The properties and assets are yours. Santino is yours. The children are yours, too." Sitting across from me, Jessy couldn't believe it, her eyes wide with shock. "Are you crazy, Alessia? Is this some kind of trick?" "How could the woman who has been Donna for six years give it all up so easily?" I lowered my gaze, my tone calm. "Since they all prefer you, I figured it was time to step aside." "Just have Santino sign it and press his signet ring into the wax seal." "Once the divorce is final, I'll leave Veridia for good." This time, I would not make the same mistake. I would never again be a Donna in name only.

Adrian Vale is a well known and respected CEO, recognized for his excellent leadership skills , strict discipline, and picture-perfect public persona. Pressured and emotionally blackmailed by his ailing mother, he agrees to get married out of guilt, not love. However one, reckless night at a club changes everything. As he found out, he had spent the night with his future wife’s step brother! He swears to bury the secret but a pregnant man would not be the easiest thing to hide. Adrain suffered a rare genetic disorder which caused a gestational sac to carry a baby! Adrian was pregnant! With his future brother-in-law’s child. A little moment of vulnerability brings the secrets to light, his marriage falls apart, the press makes a big deal out of it, his mom cuts him off, and the father of the baby wants Adrian to terminate the pregnancy but Adrian refuses. He chooses the baby. Betrayal tears his family apart. His empire starts to fall apart and his life becomes endangered, the second he birthed this son through a high risk surgery. What happens when blood is needed to save Adrian’s life bu only one person can give it. Will Adrian accept this person’s help? Can love really blossom from scandal, self-sacrifice, and a truth that just won't stay buried?

"Get away from me, don't touch me" Angelina cried. As i pinned her to the wall, and watch her as she struggled to leave my arms, she noticed the huge grin on my face. " You bastard, I repeat, don't you dare touch me" An evil smile which was evident on my face, and i said. "Why don't you want me to touch you, am all yours remember" he whispered into her ears which made her weak he could hear her heart beat so loudly and watch her as she grits her teeth which made him press her the more on the wall "because you know I affect you so much" He is Xavier Knight, he is a god, he is not gonna obey a woman. Especially not the woman he want to have, as his own. HE IS XAVIER KNIGHT HE IS MEAN, HE IS CRUEL, ESPECIALLY, HE LOVES BREAKING FINGERS He is the next king of planet Jupiter, No one controls him. And the girl, Angelina, She's mine, and am for her. She's pure, am the evil, She's the light, am the darkness. She adds laughter to my world. As for me, i add fear to the hearts of those who my cross path. And am greedy for her, for bringing her to my world, which is full of darkness, which I know will hurt her. But remember!!! No one touches what is "MINE"

When small-town girl Emma LaRue won a vacation to an exclusive tropical island, a last minute cancellation meant she would be going by herself. Shy and studious, she never had time to fall in love, and often wondered if she was just meant to be alone. However, that all changed when a handsome stranger literally walked into her life while on the beach and sparks began to fly. New York’s most eligible billionaire bachelor Jack Saunders thought this vacation would be the perfect escape, one last hurrah, before taking full control of his father’s company. When an innocent Emma didn’t recognize him, he figured that he might get a chance to have a vacation from being rich. He didn’t tell her about the cars, the yacht, or the penthouse. All he did was let her fall in love with him. Soon, Jack found that he was the one falling in love with Emma. When they enjoy a fantasy marriage ceremony on the beach, they thought it was a bit of harmless fun before returning to their normal lives. A bittersweet goodbye was supposed to be the end of their perfect vacation romance, but when photos of the ceremony were leaked to the press, everything changed. Feeling lied to and thrust into a world of wealth and privilege, Emma must choose between following her dreams or following her heart. Will she be content at being nothing more than the billionaire’s wife, or will she return to her normal life with only memories of saltwater kisses?

"That's going to conclude our session today" "Please, come back tomorrow, miss Athena. I enjoy your visit, especially when it's in this lone alone" He rasped, voice raspy as ever. Sadistic was his way of analyzing her features and expressions, he finds amusement in her suffering. Then she won't suffer. "don't forget that they're cameras here and all your sessions is being recorded Nyx, along with the guards out there, they just need me to press this button to make them walk in, "she said, locking her eyes with him as she showed him the red button of the instrument of the recording room. She eyes him silently." I don't have a problem with that " he paused before he continued" but I have one when you come to my cell, showing off your genius ass to the other prisoners, Doctor " he spoke. as she looked at him weirdly, until realization hit her. So the villain can be jealous. Interesting. "Jealous much? " "Yes, after all, you're my therapist, not theirs right ??" "maybe?" she paused taking a deep breath, "but what can I say? It seemed to me that the Villain is jealous. Goodbye, Mr. Nyx." She stood up, arranging her papers before walking toward the door. She was leaving him hanging on her words. The villain of her story.

Yvanna Summer dreamed of marrying a billionaire as it was the only way she could think of she could be of help to her deprived family. Indeed she married one, Norman Paul dela Vega, who inherited his grandfather's multi-billion corporation. She endured her ruthless and cold-hearted mother-in-law and busy husband. Living with Norman for the past seven years, Yvanna kept her mouth shut despite the unfair treatment she received from everyone in the mansion. One morning, Norman came home from his one-week election campaign and handed her a duly signed divorce agreement. His reason? Yvanna failed to do her job being his wife. But that was not the case for her. She knew deep inside, that she was the wife material for every man. "Five million dollars for those who can give me the exact address of my wife's whereabouts!" He announced with conviction in the middle of his press conference. "Another five million dollars for those who can bring her to me alive and unscratched." Norman found her, wearing an elegant evening gown, and was the most gorgeous woman who joined the festival pageant. Without wasting a second of his time, Norman bought her flowering offer worth ten million dollars, in exchange, SAVING THE LAST DANCE for him. They got the chance to talk and claimed her to be his wife. Unfortunately, Yvanna remembers nothing about him. What would Norman do in this kind of situation?

Receiving a glass of wine from her sister on the night before her wedding was the worst mistake Annalisa could have ever made. Unknown to her, the drink had been spiked, setting her up into having a one night stand with a stranger. But the stranger had been none other than Cristiano Morano, a powerful and ruthless man who controlled half of the city's underworld. To make matters worse, he was also the sworn enemy of her fiancé. Annalisa thought she was going to lose it all, her career and her life, when a scandal about her unfaithfulness broke out. Not only that, she found out her fiancé had been cheating with her blood sister. As her family were about to announce their disowning in a press conference, a dashing man from the audience had come out and said he was going to take responsibility for Anna. They got married, but Cristiano had stated a condition in the contract she signed; He would have full control over her life and career. Would a timid girl like Annalisa survive in Cristiano's world? “You’re mine now, Annalisa. And I always get what's mine.” “W-what do you mean?” “I mean I'll break you,” Cristiano said, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “And then, I'll put you back together again, my way.”