The Whole Language The Power Of Extravagant Tenderness

Isabella Romano has spent two years trapped in a house where every glance and whispered word reminds her she is nothing more than a pawn. Her husband, Adriano De Luca, keeps her at arm’s length, while his mother, Caterina, views her with disdain. When a figure from the past returns to Chicago, the delicate balance of power shatters. Alliances shift, dangerous desires ignite, and a web of deception threatens to consume everyone in its path. In a city ruled by mafia families, trust is rare and betrayal lurks behind every smile. Caught in a deadly game of manipulation, forbidden passion, and ambition, Isabella must decide: remain a pawn in her husband’s secret agenda, or rise, reclaim her power, and fight for the life she was meant to live — before everything she holds dear burns around her.

Wanting to help her family and treat her sick father, Pazneah was forced to join a secret fraternity. She thought it would be a better way to earn money, but it wasn't. Especially when she was dragged into an unfamiliar cabin for violating the initiation of the fraternity. She was blindfolded. She wanted to regret everything, but it was too late. A stranger had gotten the purity that she was most wary of. And the only thing she could do that night was to run and escape from all the wrong decisions she had ever made in her whole entire life. But the night she neglected herself paid off. Until she found out that the child she was carrying was the son of a millionaire.

On my 50th wedding anniversary, I took my worn, crumbling marriage certificate to City Hall to renew it. The clerk glanced at it—and froze. “This certificate is fake. Our records show you’ve never been married.” I stared. “Impossible. I’ve been married to Damien Slater for fifty years.” The clerk pulled up his file. “Well…Yes, Mr. Slater is married—but his wife’s name is Vanessa Grant.” Vanessa. His widowed sister-in-law. A military doctor who’d spent decades living among the troops. My hands shook as I returned home and confronted Damien. He didn’t even try to deny it. “I’ve treated you well all these years. Isn’t that enough? Vanessa is my true love. I only ever wanted her—our children, our life.” My son counseled me and said, “To spare your feelings, my parents kept it a secret their whole lives. You’re getting old now. What more do you want?” Only then did I learn the truth. The child I had raised with my own hands was never mine by blood. Decades ago, Vanessa and I gave birth on the same day. To ensure her child would grow up with intellect, privilege, and a future that I could provide, Damien switched our children. My own son? Damien drowned him in the pond the moment he drew breath. And I—fool that I was—raised Vanessa’s boy as my own. I even got him all the way to Claremont University. The truth broke me, and I collapsed. When I opened my eyes again—I was back. Back to the day I went into labor.

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT! “Kneel before me,” she commanded in a trembling voice. The man blushed in anger. “So, you asked for my presence to prove to yourself that you’re higher than me?” “Yes!” The man shook his head. “I will not do what you want.” “I’m paying you much, Mr. Novitch,” she said. “I have dignity. And kneeling in front of you is not a part of my work. If you can’t forgive me, fine.” “You’re rude!” she shouted. “You are ruder! Even if your whole being is covered with gold now, it doesn’t change the fact that you get naked in front of me to have bread on your plate.” He suddenly grabbed her tightly in both arms. “You still have nothing to brag about to me, Sam.” - Andrius is a well-known photographer, owns a business, and has a successful love life. Not until Samantha, the stripper, entered the picture and became a threat to his life, specifically his heart.

Maddox Laurier, the reckless playboy and enigmatic owner of Escapades, is used to indulgence, control, and keeping emotions at arm’s length. But when Iris Hansley enters his world, quiet, graceful, and seemingly untouched by the chaos of his elite lifestyle. He’s drawn to her like a moth to a flame. What begins as fascination quickly deepens into something far more dangerous: love. But Iris isn’t just a housekeeper. She’s the daughter of the woman Maddox’s family once destroyed, a scandal buried beneath layers of wealth and silence. As Maddox defies his family’s fury to protect Iris, he unravels the truth behind her mother’s death. And Iris? She’s caught between the tenderness she feels for Maddox and the vengeance she was raised to seek.

Trapped in a gilded cage, a defiant artist becomes entangled with a ruthless mafia Don. Valentina, a talented artist and stripper struggling to survive in the city's underbelly, witnesses a brutal act that plunges her into a world of danger. Captured by Dante Russo, the enigmatic head of the Russo famiglia, she finds herself a prisoner in his opulent mansion. Haunted by a violent past, Dante is a man shrouded in secrets, ruling with an iron fist and a hidden vulnerability. As tensions rise between rival factions vying for control of the city, an unlikely bond sparks between Valentina and Dante. She uses her art to capture the brutality and fleeting moments of tenderness within his world. But their connection is a dangerous dance. Can they navigate a web of deceit and betrayal, or will the city's dark secrets consume them both?

On the suit jacket her husband had just taken off, Hannah noticed a lipstick stain,one that definitely wasn’t hers. Yet at that very moment, her husband was clasping around her neck a one-of-a-kind gemstone necklace in celebration of their 7th wedding anniversary. Later, when she found a single strand of golden hair that didn't belong to her too, a seed of doubt quietly took root in her heart. Still, her husband's tenderness, his unwavering attention and love, made her question her own suspicions. Could she really be imagining things? Until she saw the photo on the phone— Her husband, in bed with another woman. He really had betrayed her! And that woman… was the friend she had trusted most.

Book Two of the Luminary Quartet Veronica's life was thrown into turmoil with the beginning of the war and the abrupt loss of her parents. One night of bliss was all she had been granted as compensation before her brother’s best friend absconded without a trace the next morning. Yet, the wheels of fate had already been set in motion, forever changing the course of Ronnie’s life as she struggles to rebuild her future in the South on her own. Ryker had been pushed around his whole life, up until that tragic night that he had fled his home without a backward glance and somehow found himself in the middle of the Northern Province with no recollection of how he had arrived there. Still reeling from the loss, only the effervescent emerald eyes-of who he learned much later was his mate-was able to break him out of the haze that had taken hold. One night was all he got before she became just another ghost that haunted him from his past, but all bets are off now that Ryker is finally returning home to reclaim his rightful role. Tension mounts as secrets are spilled and the elders treachery is further exposed in this riveting sequel to 'Mated to the Alpha of the North.' *Note: While the main characters all receive their HEA in each individual story, I would not recommend reading them out of order due to the overarching storyline that continues throughout them all. ****Warning**** This book is intended for adults 18+ only. There is mature scenes and adult language included. Please read at your own discretion.

The wolf inside me howls when the bond snaps into place. I’ve found my second-chance mate. Just a few days ago, the man I’ve loved my whole life gave me to our former enemy in exchange for his sister’s hand in marriage. After I risked my own life to save his, my first mate Alpha Raul traded me like a thing. My heart and mind are in chaos, and I feel like I’m losing my grip on reality. The only thing I’m absolutely certain of is that I want more of the tenderness this stranger is offering me, to lose myself in him. His eyes widen, nostrils flaring, and I know he can smell my interest. I’m straddling his waist, and our bodies are pressed together. “You are mine,” he says quietly, and runs his thumb across my lower lip. My breathing is erratic, and I can feel the heat coiling in me, pulsing through me in delectable waves. This is crazy. I don’t even know his name and still, everywhere our skin touches I can feel the want crackling between us like electricity. I want this so badly, but it’s not who I am. I can’t use my savior to avenge myself on Raul and put a plaster on my shattered heart. “I’m sorry, I can’t. This isn’t right,” I offer an apology before getting off of him. But his hand snaps out and grabs my wrist, yanking me back onto him. “Tut-tut little wolf, there’s no running away from me. You’re mated to Alpha King Aiden now and I fully intend to keep you.”

I grew up with a plan. I already knew from the very beginning that my whole life would revolve around reclaiming the territory that rightfully belonged to my father's name. I wouldn't stop until I got it back, even if that meant playing a game of seduction with Alpha Maddox, the ruthless Alpha of the Dark Forest Pack, to get my way in. But what I didn't see coming was Xander Trevino — Alpha Maddox's brother and his new Beta. Xander was cold, dismissive, and my fated mate. His being distant and unbothered by me should have made it easier for me to put my game into action, but it didn't. Because every time we collide, sparks fly and I am left weak to my core. Being weak was not part of the game. ***** This book is a spin-off novel from the Alpha Blood Circle Series but can be read as a standalone.  ***** Follow me on my I G and F B for updates and teasers - author.cassa.m