The Steel Man

She returned to bury her father. Instead, she was forced to marry his enemy’s son. - Rosalind Marlow returns to New York to settle her father’s affairs, once one of the city’s most feared mafia bosses, only to find he died beside his greatest rival… and left behind a contract binding her to the rival’s son. Viktor Marino is cold, calculating, and infuriatingly magnetic. Rosa has no intention of becoming anyone’s pawn, not in grief, not in business, and definitely not in bed. But Viktor plays a long game, and with every stare, every challenge, he pulls her deeper into a world of secrets, power, and heat. She was raised to be untouchable. He was born to conquer. And in the space between vengeance and desire, who is going to lose control first? (Contains mature and dark content) ***** EXCERPT ‘Why would you want to leave this behind?’ he growled in my ear, his chest rumbling against my back. Because I can’t trust you. Because I don’t know what I want. ‘Because it’s cruel,’ I whispered. And then he pulled away, leaving me trembling, desperate, and furious.” ❦

Arabella, a twenty-four year old girl who fled from New York because she always got violence from her stepfather. Choose to settle down in Los Angeles and become a bartender at Eflic, which is the city's biggest bar. Hers life changes 180 ° when she meets Stevano. Handsome mafia who suddenly came to Eflic and took her forcibly. And indirectly Bella must be caught in the man's black life.

"Apakah dengan tidur bersamamu, aku bisa melupakan rasa sakit karena patah hati, Mr. Vandara?" Aline bertanya dengan nada lirih. "Aku akan memberikanmu yang terbaik di ranjang. Kau akan bisa melupakan pria itu." Darmo Vandara berucap mantap. Digenggam kedua tangan Aline. "Hanya akan ada seks. Tidak melibatkan perasaan apa pun. Aku tidak bisa menjanjikan cinta untukmu, Mr. Vandara. Aku tidak pernah menyukaimu." "Tapi, kau akan membutuhkanku di tempat tidur untuk memberikanmu kepuasaan seksual." Darmo Vandara mempererat tautan jari tangan mereka. "Kau akan tergantung padaku. Hanya aku yang bisa melakukannya untukmu, Aline." Darmo kian mantap berbicara. Semakin bertekad juga dalam membuktikan kata-katanya. …………………... Darmo Vandara sudah menyukai Aline Whitney bahkan sebelum wanita itu bekerja di perusahaannya. Harta berlimpah dan status sebagai pengusaha muda kaya di New York, tak membuat Aline bisa mencintai balik dirinya. Darmo memilih menunjukkan sikap egois dengan menyingkirkan semua pria mendekati wanita itu. Hanya ia seorang yang bisa memiliki Aline. Dan, ketika wanita itu mengalami patah hati, Darmo menawarkan tidur bersama sebagai bentuk pelampiasan. Idenya pun disetujui oleh Aline. Darmo Vandara memberikan kepuasaan yang bisa membuat Aline semakin dekat dengan dirinya. Ia terus berupaya memenangkan hati wanita itu. Akankah berakhir pada sebuah ikatan yang sakral? …………….

Athur Paker, seorang mahasiswa sekaligus ceo di perusahaan ternama di dunia yang memiliki sifat dingin. Dia lelaki yang sangat ahli dalam bermain pisau, dia juga lelaki yang suka dengan darah. Sehari saja dia tidak bermain dengan darah maka nafasnya akan sesak dan tubuhnya akan melemas. Namun saat bertemu dengan Shena, dia langsung tertarik dengan gadis itu, gadis yang cantik dan manis yang sangat ceria. Shena yang sama sekali tidak tertarik dengan pacaran, menolak Athur mentah-mentah saat laki-laki itu mengajaknya pacaran. Namun bukan Athur namanya kalau tidak bisa mendapatkan apa yang dia inginkan, dia memaksa Shena untuk menjadi miliknya, walaupun Shena tidak menginginkannya sama sekali. Shena yang awalnya hidup baik-baik saja, berubah menjadi sangat rumit karena kehadiran Athur si psikopat tersebut. Dia tidak bisa lari dan tidak bisa pergi dari Athur. Namun siapa sangka mereka berdua dulu adalah teman kecil? Apa yang akan terjadi jika Shena tau Athur adalah teman kecilnya? Masalah apa yang akan Shena dapatkan setelah mengetahui semua tentang Athur?

VIOLET-He left me because of his secrets that he refused to share with me. He didn't care how he shattered already broken pieces and left a mess. My family was the one to put me back together with their love & care. And now I'm a completely different person, the girl who was abused & the woman who was left behind are nowhere to be found. Now I'm here with an armor that I'd built in his absence, with a heart incased behind walls of steel & I refused to let him fool me again. He might've been the one to heal my body with his soft touches but my heart was too tender to believe in him again despite that one dream that could be possible only with him. He says he'd his reasons, that he'll do anything for my forgiveness. But should I trust him again? Should I give him the chance he's begging for? Or should I just fool him like he did me & get what I really want? COLE-I made a mistake when I left her. But now I'm back to beg for forgiveness. The problem is My broken princess has turned into one with steel heart & ironclad armor. She doesn't care about my sweet words or tender touches anymore. She's not the woman I'd left behind. She knows how to hurt me & she hurts me where it's fucking painful. She says she won't forgive me but she'll have to because there was nothing else I wanted more than her forgiveness. I'll do anything she wants, give her everything she needs except that one thing that she really wanted from me. For the second time I'll do something she'll hate me for but at least I'll have her where I wanted her. By my side-In my heart-As my wife.

Bagi Rezal Mahesa, masih melajang di usia 32 tahun bukanlah sesuatu yang memalukan. Dia sudah nyaman hidup mulus tanpa lika-liku percintaan yang memuakkan. Pekerjaan yang menjanjikan seharusnya bisa membuatnya berpikir tentang indahnya sebuah rumah tangga. Namun Rezal tidak berniat untuk mencari dan memilih untuk menunggu, membiarkan Tuhan yang menjalankan skenario indah untuk hidupnya. Sampai akhirnya muncul gadis muda yang merupakan mahasiswa magang di kantornya. Meskipun ragu, tapi batu besar di hati Rezal perlahan mulai terkikis. Sikap Naya yang unik, konyol, dan dewasa di satu waktu berhasil membuat hatinya menghangat. Apa Rezal harus menyiapkan gedung pernikahan mulai dari sekarang? *** Viallynn

"I saved his life with a lie. Now, I have to live it—or die in his bed." Noah Bennett is a nobody, a starving survivor in a kingdom of ice. When he finds the poisoned, half-dead King Ethan Walker in a frozen ravine, he makes a desperate, split-second choice to secure his future. He pitches his voice high, binds his chest, and claims to be a maiden named Abigail. He expected a reward and a quiet escape. He didn’t expect the King to wake up with a terrifying, soul-deep obsession. Now, the "Angel of the Ravine" has been brought to the palace in a carriage of gold and silk. Ethan Walker is a man of cold steel and dark hungers, a King who pampers his "Abigail" with a devotion that feels like a chokehold. He wants his savior. He wants a Queen. And he wants her—him—in his bed before the moon turns full. As the wedding bells toll, the stakes reach a breaking point: The Lie: One torn gown or one slipped word will lead Noah to the executioner’s block. The Lust: Ethan’s touch is electric, a "Good Turn Bad" obsession that makes Noah’s heart hammer for all the wrong reasons. The Trap: The King’s traitorous brother is watching, the General is suspicious, and the Silver Wolf of the north is howling for the truth. In a court of vipers, Noah is playing the most dangerous game in Aethelgard. He must navigate the King’s possessive "Silk Noose" while hiding the truth beneath his robes. But as Ethan leans in to claim his "bride's" neck, Noah realizes the most terrifying secret of all: The King might already know. And he might like the lie even better than the truth.

On the very day I sold my company shares to raise money for my wife’s medical treatment, my phone flashed with a notification about a trending post. "My husband or my lover, which should I choose?" An anonymous reply shot to the top of the comments. "Why choose? I want both." What followed was a casual, shameless confession. A staged car accident right after the wedding, a fake overseas treatment plan, parents who helped maintain the lie, and millions siphoned off under the excuse of life-saving medical fees. The money was never for treatment. It funded luxury vacations, hotel suites, and a long-term affair. Someone asked if she was afraid her husband would find out. Her answer was chilling. "Why would I be afraid? He thinks he took my first time and swore to take responsibility for me forever. He doesn’t know it was just a repair surgery I did for his sake." The post ended with a vacation photo. A woman in a bikini, smiling under the sun. And on her waist, a tattoo with the letters 'NG.' The same tattoo worn by my wife.

My best friend, Cassidy Braun, earned a modest monthly salary of 2,800 dollars, only to constantly trash her doting husband with an annual income of 600,000 dollars, labelling him a broke loser. “That incompetent husband of mine can’t even afford a 20-carat diamond ring! “I have the looks that can bag me a billionaire. I must have been out of my mind to marry that piece of trash.” I chimed in. “You’re right. You’re practically a goddess. Only a Greek God stands a chance with you.” Eventually, Cassidy left her husband and hooked up with a trust-fund kid, just as she wanted. A year later, she was scammed out of every penny she owned and diagnosed with cancer. Fragile and broken, she came to me. “I heard that ex-husband of mine remarried and that he’s loaded now. Judging by the way he used to worship the ground I walked on, I bet he’ll drop the woman in a heartbeat if I ask to get back together.” I gave a dismissive nod while running my fingers along the new Birkin bag my husband had bought. “Oh, absolutely. He’s pretty wealthy now.”

I buried him myself. I stood at his grave with dirt on my hands and grief in my throat as I said goodbye to the only man I ever thought I would love. Kael was my betrothed, my mate, the boy who grew up beside me and became the person I built every future around. When the war took him it did not just take him — it took every version of myself that existed because of him. Years passed. The moon goddess, in her mercy, gave me something I never asked for — a second chance. Rowan was not supposed to happen. He was patient where I was resistant, steady where I was broken, and present in every way I had convinced myself no one would ever be again. I did not want to love him. And then I did not know how to stop. I was finally learning what it meant to choose life again. When Kael walked back through my door. Alive. Unchanged. And completely unable to explain where he had been. Now I am torn between a love that was written into my soul before I was old enough to understand what souls were, and a man who chose me quietly and completely when I had nothing left to offer. The elders say this is not a reverse harem blessing. There is no keeping both. I have to choose. But how do you bury someone you love twice?