Verse Payment

This Christmas was actually one of my favorite and hilarious Xmas celebrations with uncle Gabriel here with us. It was fun and embarrassing too which made everything much of a sweet memory later on. How many can I remember? It began with little Josh's scandal, grandpa's embarrassment in the mall that day when he actually and mistakenly took his voter's card to the mall instead of his payment card. That day,I wouldn't dare wish anyone else the kind of embarrassment I felt under the unusual gaze of my classmates. I had to endure it all because my siblings and aunt ran away when they sensed what was happening. What if I tell you about aunt Caroline's argument with the pastor right there in the church on the twenty fifth of Christmas in the presence of everyone and with the pastor still standing in front of hundreds of people or is it uncle Gabriel's mischief which got us in trouble with the police, making us to sleep in the snowy woods with crazy imaginative ghosts hunting us down.

Nina Manalo is out of options. Broke, bullied, and barely surviving in a run-down flat, she’s one missed rent payment away from being homeless. When a mysterious man offers her a job as a live-in nanny for a billionaire’s daughter, she jumps at the chance—despite knowing nothing about her new employer. Malachi Kane is cold, powerful, and used to getting what he wants. A single father with no time for distractions, he hires Nina out of necessity, never expecting the quiet, stubborn young woman to turn his carefully controlled world upside down. But when stolen glances turn into forbidden nights, Malachi fights to keep his distance. He can’t afford to want her. Yet, Nina has already fallen. And when her dark past resurfaces—dragging her into a deadly game with old enemies—Malachi will stop at nothing to protect her. She was supposed to be his daughter’s nanny. She became his obsession. And now, she’s his to keep.

When 25-year-old Elena Torres loses her parents in a tragic accident, she believes her world has already crumbled. But a shocking revelation turns her grief into something far more dangerous: her father’s debts have sold her into marriage with Nicholas De Luca, the city’s most feared Mafia boss. To Nicholas, Elena is payment for a debt owed. To Elena, he’s a cold and calculating captor. Yet beneath the fear and defiance lies a strange connection neither of them can deny. As their lives intertwine, Elena begins to uncover secrets about her father’s death and Nicholas’s role in her family’s downfall. But Nicholas is not the only threat lurking in the shadows. Rivals, betrayal, and deadly power plays soon make Elena a pawn in a much larger game. As the truth unfolds, Elena is faced with an impossible choice to fight for freedom or risk everything she believed in for the man she had began to fall in love with. How far would you go to uncover the truth? Can Elena escape Nicholas’s obsession or will she lose herself in the process?

"The property management fee this month comes to 1,500 dollars. Please make the payment whenever you're free." I notice my husband's phone screen lighting up on the dining table. After glancing at it, I grabbed it immediately. "The management must have gotten it wrong. Our apartment's fee is 28 dollars per month." That's when Liam Moore shoots up to his feet and reaches out to snatch his phone back. "Yeah, they must have gotten it wrong. I'll text the person in charge and explain everything to him." But I've already tapped into the link, which shows me the details of the property that's being charged. It's Cloudridge Villa, and the property deed owner is… Matilda Shaw. The young housekeeper who's currently cooking in the kitchen is also Matilda Shaw. My mind buzzes loudly instantly. While the three of us have to make do with a tiny, rundown replacement housing that's provided by the government, Liam, my own husband, has actually bought a villa for Matilda.

Twenty-five-year-old socialite and businesswoman, Quinn Rothschild has always done what is expected of her. The dutiful daughter that went to school to work in the family’s publishing company and tailored her life to keep up her father’s reputation has now been asked to do the unthinkable. Marry the son of the most powerful mafia don in the city to keep their family’s business afloat. A marriage that started out as just on paper to Dante Luciano, an infamous womanizer and lethal asshole. He has made it clear that he hates her and she feels the same. Quinn nearly refuses, until she finds out that her marriage to Dante is payment to the Luciano family for paying off her father’s gambling debts that threaten to take away their home, their business, and possibly her father’s life. Negotiating with the Don, Quinn agrees to marry Dante, though she knows that he is unfaithful to their vows from the very start. But when she starts being followed and threatened, who can she go to for help? The father who failed her? Or her husband who hates her?

**"This isn’t just any party, it’s your wedding."** The words hit me like a truck as I stood frozen in disbelief. **"To Angelo Rizzo."** My stepbrother’s voice was cold, detached. My heart pounded in my chest. **"You’re joking, right?"** But one look at his face told me he wasn’t. **"You’re the payment for my debt to the Cosa Nostra."** His betrayal was a knife twisting in my gut. --- Attending a party with my stepbrother, I was prepared for an ordinary night. Instead, I was thrown into a nightmare. Without warning, I found myself standing beside Angelo Rizzo—a man as feared as he is cold—as his bride. My stepbrother owed the Cosa Nostra money, and I was his only way out. With no escape and no choice, I now wear a wedding ring tied to a man I fear. Three hours later, my world has turned upside down. There’s no running from Angelo, no hiding from the life ahead. My only hope? To survive being married to the infamous Angelo Rizzo.

I return home from my business trip that night. The pharmacy I always go to calls to say that my membership card was used that afternoon, but the payment failed, and the account needs to be topped up. I look over at my wife, Catherine Francis, who's focused on making dinner. I ask her what she bought. She smiles and pulls out a box of supplements. "I've been staying up late working these past few days. My heart's been acting up a little, so I bought some heart supplements." Seeing my expression go flat, she lets out a helpless sigh and takes a card out of her bag. "I know you're particular about money. Since I accidentally used your membership card, I'll pay you back ten times. Okay?" However, I don't take the card like I used to. I just look at her calmly and say, "Let's get a divorce."

Vincenzo doesn't forgive. He doesn't forget. And he never, ever loses. When you spill Mancini blood, payment comes due—with interest. Stacy Salvatore should have been an easy target. The daughter of the man who slaughtered his mother and tried to burn his family empire to ash. His perfect revenge, gift-wrapped and delivered to his doorstep. He had it all planned out: take everything from her, break her spirit, and kill her. What he didn't plan for was her backbone of steel and eyes that burn with the same ruthless determination as his own. She's no cowering captive. She's a storm wrapped in human skin, fighting him with every breath, challenging the code he's lived by since childhood. With each clash between them, the lines blur. Enemy. Obsession. Addiction. Her defiance becomes the only thing that makes him feel alive, and the vengeance he's chased for years might just start tasting like ash in his mouth. But blood debt must be paid. In full.

A single rose can bind two fates forever. When her family’s fortunes crumble, Catherine never imagines her father’s desperation will lead him to barter her freedom. Promised as payment to the reclusive Lord Kieran—master of a castle steeped in legend and whispered curses—she is thrust into a world of shadows, secrets, and a predator’s gaze that both terrifies and captivates her. Kieran is more than a man; he is a wolf bound by an ancient curse, his life ruled by the prophecy: The rose will bring her. Catherine’s arrival is no accident—it is destiny. But claiming her means awakening a dangerous magic neither of them fully understands, one that threatens to unravel the fragile truce between man and beast. As moonlight sharpens the edge between desire and danger, Catherine must navigate the perilous game of a lord who guards both his heart and his curse with deadly resolve. In a place where every shadow hides a secret, every glance is a test, and love itself may be the deadliest bargain of all—one question remains: Will the rose bind them together… or doom them both? Perfect for fans of dark fairy-tale retellings, shifter romance, and gothic intrigue.

Magnolia's life slowly falls apart when her step mother sells her to a ruthless Mafia boss, Orion, as payment for her parent sins. His wrath was known to be swift and painful, Magnolia knows this spells doom for her. But Orion's revenge comes with a price: her complete submission to him. He unleashes his inner vengeance and pain on her for the pain her parents made him pass through. Magnolia's world is slowly turned upside down. But Orion has no idea that this beauty would be the end of him. She is a spy sent by his rival Mafia clan to get Intel on him and take him out. Magnolia doesn't want to do it but he doesn't give her a reason to not want to. She is stuck in between the lines of pain, pleasure and love. She finds herself, craving for the very man who absolutely loathes her. Will Magnolia surrender to this intense passion, or will she fight to regain her once lost freedom? In this dark and mysterious world of mafia's, there is one saying that guides all: "Once you've submitted, there's no escape"