The People We Keep

WARNING: This book contains 18+ content for violence, explicit sexual content, strong language, etc. At 24, Callie had seen her fair share of cruelty in the world and struggled to survive. But it wasn't until her uncle, buried in gambling debt, sold her off to Vincent Baros, the ruthless mafia boss, and ruler of the Ashen City, that Callie fully understood what cruelty and hardship really were. Vin wasn't one to keep toys, but the moment he met Callie he was intrigued. After he took her in as his personal slave, Vin's curiosity turned into something deeper... something stronger. How could a woman keep such an innocent view of the world despite facing its darkness? And how could a cold and broken soul find warmth and love once again? Find out as we dive deeper into Vin and Callie's story in The Mafia's Songbird.

Meet Myra. She is a sweet and very kind person but can be sassy and badass when needs to be. She believes in the phrase lives and lets others live their life peacefully. The only thing she hates the most is being bullied and can do anything to stop weak people from getting bullied. But she is the girl of many secrets. People believe that they moved out from California to New York to move on from her mother's death but the truth was different. Now meet Anthony Walker, the football captain and the Qatar baller of the team. He has all the girls fall on their knees for him and all the boys envy him. He is the mystery of his school and likes to keep to himself and his friends. He is also the alpha of the pack and has his share of secrets. Read the book to know what happens when they meet.

His large hand wraps around my throat just enough to make my pulse race, pinning me to the rain-slicked cabin wall as thunder rolls outside. “We can’t keep doing this,” he growls, but his hips grind against mine, hard and insistent, while his free hand slips under my skirt to find me already soaked. I whimper, arching into his touch, craving the sharp sting of his palm across my ass, the way he commands me to come for him like I’m his dirty little secret. My father’s best friend, the man who’s been in my life forever finally breaking every rule to claim me roughly, deeply, until I’m trembling and marked by him. What begins as one reckless, forbidden night spirals into an addiction of heated stolen moments, whispered dominance, and raw need… until the truth crashes down, pregnancies and betrayals threaten to shatter us, and everyone we love demands we end it. But how do you walk away when the only person who owns your body and heart refuses to let go?

There's an unspoken rule in my household—everyone has to engage in a drinking competition during the holidays. Whoever gets wasted first will have to pay off one year's worth of house and car mortgages for the other two siblings. In the first year, I collapsed after my first glass of alcohol. I had to pay the house mortgage for my oldest sister, Dahlia Zeller. In the second year, as soon as I picked up my glass, I fainted right away. Since then, I had to pay off Jasmine Zeller, my second sister's car loan. For the next 20 years, I've always been the loser. In the end, my wife, Jean McCarthy, is forced to jump off a building because of the huge debt I've racked up. The debtors keep dumping paint onto my residence, forcing me to deter away from it. Ransacked by guilt, I end up damaging my stomach from overdrinking when I attempt to train my alcohol tolerance. As a result, half of my liver has gotten removed. When I'm on the verge of death, I hear my parents snickering outside my ward. "Don't you think we've laced too many sleeping pills in his drink? He almost didn't wake up back then!" "It's fine. He's an idiot who merely thinks he has a low alcohol tolerance. Our family still relies on him for financial survival, you see. We can keep drugging him so that he'll keep getting wasted." When I open my eyes again, I've already gotten reborn in the timeframe when I'm sitting at the dining table in the 20th year.

"And Action!” I slowly lick my lips as I glance across the room at Trevor lying on the bed. His bare chest glows under the spotlights and practically begs to be touched. Can I keep myself under control? What am I thinking? I have to keep myself reined in. I don't want to ruin anything between us. We are good friends and nothing more, but I can't confess to him I've had wet dreams of him almost every night. Tiffany, a struggling up-and-coming actor, finally gets the break she has been wishing for and wins the leading role in a new drama. Her sexy co-star, Trevor, is someone she is familiar with and knows from her initial days of her first drama. They barely had any scenes together during that first drama, but they've developed a friendship and share the same agency and manager. When the fans initially saw them together, they immediately wanted them to be a couple. This new drama provides them exactly that. With her dreams finally coming true, will Tiffany be able to keep her secret hidden? Or will the intimate scenes with her handsome co-star unravel everything she has worked so hard to hide?

I’m Lyra, Lower Princess of the Maelie people along the Pearl Coast. My people live for the sea, our very livelihoods depending on its bounty. It’s why my father bows to the Sea-King Alpha, to appease him. As humans, we fear the wolf shifters who rule over land and sea alike, but now, the Sea-King Alpha asks too much. He seeks a bride. And my father sends me. Cassian Oliver, the Sea-King Alpha, is known as cruel and ruthless, and I fear the day I must lay eyes on him… and lie in his bed. My sister says I will not even survive the night. But then I see him…. I’m stunned by his handsome face, his tall, chiseled body, and something stirs inside me. Is it possible that I will survive my fate to be joined to this merciless wolf-ruler?

"I've purchased you, which only means one thing; I own you. I own every bit of you, Margarette. Your body, your heart, and even your soul. You are mine. And no one can take you away from me." Possessive, cold-hearted, and ruthless. That's Xavier Ivanov, a Russian Mafia boss or also known as the devil himself. He cares no one but himself. He kills people for money and satisfaction. He runs illegal businesses and is one of the most influential yet dangerous people in the world. People were afraid of him. They despise his existence. He's a living Satan, and people tremble upon seeing him. It was quite impossible to tame a devil like him. No one can tame Xavier, or so they thought. Margarette Ferrero. She is a total opposite of him. An angel sent from above and was bound to burn an evil like himself. She is sweet, loving, yet naive. Being purchased by a powerful mafia boss from the dark market, Margarette was supposed to fear him. However, that was the total opposite of what she felt. Oddly, she felt safe and saved. And Xavier was beyond amused and enthralled by the naive girl. People were afraid of him, but that is not the case with Margarette. He's her saviour, her angel, and her owner. No one owns her but him. Two people with different personalities, different worlds, and different stories to be told. Is it possible to find love amongst the odds? Does love know no boundaries? Or was it all just an illusion? When secrets begin unfolding themselves and then the past that was buried six feet below the ground resurface, will the love be strong enough to keep the two people together? Or will the past change what is present?

That's how people are born in our world, heartless. One needs to destroy his own heart in order to rule! “You really have a heart of stone!” Andrew Parker, the powerful and dangerous throne holder of Parker’s married a woman whom he saw just once. Having a nature of hell, he was never seen smiling. Diana Fernandez was his self arranged bride and there was no going back. How do you think this marriage will treat the both? We live in a world where the word love is foreign, darling!

Once again, my wife, Claire Winters, stabbed me with a silver needle. A reporter tracked me down and asked, "Louis Sterling, wasn't your wife, Claire, one of the winners of the National Inspiration Awards from ten years ago? She won the reward for saving you during the earthquake and ending up paralyzed from the waist down, right?" I stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Louis, we're from a TV station, and we're producing a tenth anniversary special about the earthquake." I rubbed my arm, which was covered in tiny needle marks, and looked her straight in the eye. I replied, "That's fine, but can you keep the cameras discreet? Claire isn't used to being in front of so many lenses." However, I never expected that on the very first day of the live broadcast, I would be dragged onto the trending charts and torn apart online.

On the day of our wedding, Hansel Lennox's childhood sweetheart, Nara Sullivan, threatens to jump off a building. He ignores her and proceeds with the wedding. Then, he panics when she really jumps off the building. From then on, he goes to the church more and more often, turning into a pious believer. He even forces me to copy scripture and kneel while praying in the name of repenting for my sins. He makes me lose my child. The day I miscarry, I ask him for a divorce. However, he says we both owe Nara this, so we have to repent together. He uses my family to threaten me and keep me by his side. I waste my whole life for his sake. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to our wedding day. This time, I'm going to push Hansel to Nara. I want to be the one who forces him to convert.