Wilting Roses

On the day my dad, the Don of the Capone family, comes to the orphanage to take me home, I show up in a tactical helmet and a bulletproof vest. "I'm not going home with you. You're definitely doing this to trick me into getting married to a perverted old geezer in a marriage alliance. I bet my adopted sister has made preparations to start fake-crying anytime by loading up on her eyedrops." My dad is amused, to say the least. "Why would any of that happen? Silvia is nothing but welcoming you to our home! Also, our family isn't a lowly organization that deals with human trafficking." But I refuse to believe my dad at all. On the way home, I keep typing something on my phone. My mom, the Donna, leans over curiously. "Are you writing a diary entry?" "Nope. I'm writing tips on 'How to Survive the Mafia.'" 1) My food will definitely be poisoned. 2) If I get close to a staircase, I'll definitely get pushed down the stairs. 3) I'll get framed for something that I've never done before. My parents swear to me that none of the things I've written will ever happen. They tell me that my adopted sister, Silvia Capone, has a great personality, and things are amicable in the family. However, everything changes when Silvia brings me a glass of juice before lunchtime and insists on watching me drink it. Instead, I dump the juice into a nearby vase of flowers. Just as my parents are about to scold me for wasting the juice, smoke begins drifting from the flowers inside the vase. Then, they start wilting rapidly. I calmly leave a bright red checkmark behind the "poison" tip. As my parents stare at the dead flowers, they can feel color draining from their faces. "You should send the juice to a chem lab for analysis."

Abused. Tortured. Forced. Who would have known that she is worth a million dollars? Elia Dominic Morello, an experienced killer and also professionally known as someone who is in the Mafia. His dark stormy eyes have saw violence, his tanned rough hands have done violence and his perky full lips have said threats of death. He had gone through pain . . . suffering and all the possibility of making him stronger. All her ever did was for the sake of his family and his loved ones. His selfishness was to keep them safe without having to deal with the possibility of dying, with each passing day but it all changed when he found the ONE. Rose, beautiful yet prickly. She was like roses, indeed. But, she was also the woman he'd risk his entire life for . . . no matter the circumstances.

My girlfriend, Rene Watson, who's in a long-distance relationship with me, has gotten a promotion recently. I want to give her a surprise. After buying some flowers and a cake, I take a flight scheduled to depart to her city at 1:00 am. But the one who opens the door for me is actually her first love, Joshua Zimmerman. As for Rene, she's in the middle of hanging his underwear on the balcony. "Who's that, honey?" Rene asks casually, making me feel as though my heart has gotten plunged into an icy abyss. The moment she notices me, the expression on her face freezes instantly. With a sneer on my face, I smack the roses right in Joshua's face. "I'm the owner of this place! Pack up your things and get the hell out!"

My flower stall that's stationed outside the university entrance gets thrashed by the hooligans hired by my husband, Anthony Rivera. So, I show up at Sienna Wright, the low-income student's graduation ceremony with a bouquet of roses. Anthony, who's a university professor, is in the middle of turning Sienna's tassel for her. When they are taking a photo together with smiles on their faces, I turn on my megaphone right away. "My husband longs to have two wives. One is the student he's sleeping with. To celebrate their affair, all roses are now 3 dollars each." Everyone just stares at Anthony, clearly dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Anthony, who prides himself on being cool and composed, finds himself panicking once again.

Forbidden heat, chemistry, obsession. Roses are red, trouble looks good, and Elara was not prepared for this kind of heat. She thought her cheating, abusive husband was the best she could get. Two lost pregnancies. A family that body-shamed her and mocked her hard work like it was a hobby. She wanted peace. She got Adrian. Adrian…. cold, brilliant, infuriatingly attractive. A final-year student with eyes that lingered too long and a secret billionaire empire no one knew he controlled. A man used to getting everything he wants. She’s off-limits. He’s obsessed. And when their desire crosses the line, it ignites something neither of them can put out. What happens when the student no one dares to cross falls for the professor who thinks she’s unworthy of desire? This semester? They’re both failing self-control.

He is the love of her life but also a stranger. For over a year, she remained his dutiful wife wondering if he would love her just as much as she loved him. How stupid had she been? Elodie Taylor marriage to Henry Ford was never a bed of roses but she was ready to deal with it and endure because she loved him. However fate deals her a cruel hand when he is visited by his long lost love and he returns home one day with news that she is pregnant for him. Broken by the news, Elodie decides to divorce him but Henry refuses, claiming he does not want her out of his life and so she decides to stay. She is going to be his dutiful wife and she is going to seduce him and when he has fallen irrevocably in love with her, she is going to break his heart.

Charlotte Houston is a twenty years old orphaned, college dropout young adult, who lived a very poor life. She was left to cater for her siblings who were struck with a chronic disease that needed a lot of money. The menial jobs she had was barely fetching a thing, which was what made her consider surrogacy as soon as she realized the insane amount of money it could fetch... despite the fact that she had a boyfriend. While Jeffery Simmons only wanted a child because that’s a requirement that needed to be met, in order to inherit his father's wealth. Being a Surrogate, what life awaits both Charlotte and Jeffery? Would it be all roses? Or, would it be a really bumpy ride? Especially when Charlotte’s boyfriend is back in the picture and a ghost from the past that just won’t stay away.

“Others may see her as nothing, but to me, she’s more precious than the moon itself.” Ignoring the stunned glances of everyone around, he fixed his gaze on me across the room and strode over with unwavering intent. I felt my heart pound, the same way flowers seem to burst into bloom. Omega Olivia never imagined that a one-night stand would link her to the enigmatic and powerful Alpha, Ryan. Given the stark difference in their social status, she braced herself for the worst—perhaps even the demand for a quiet miscarriage. But instead, Ryan took her home, pulling her into a love story beyond anything she could have dreamed. Yet, as she walks this path of romance, lined with both roses and thorns, will they be able to bridge their worlds, uncover the hidden conspiracies, and find their way to happiness hand-in-hand?

My mate, Carter, sent me to a werewolf prison for four years. On the day I was released, he arrived holding the hand of his pregnant mistress. “This is what your parents owe me.” “From today on, you’ll take care of Amelia.” I nodded obediently. She made me pick roses with my bare hands. Made me plant a hundred pots under the scorching sun. Made me scrub my allergic, ulcerated skin with alcohol. And I did everything she asked. Until the day they brought me back to my old home. The house was gone. In its place stretched an endless rose garden. And my only sister— had become nothing but a box of ashes. That was the moment I understood. I survived not to atone. I survived to take revenge.

CAMILLA WALTERS thought she had come to the end of the road when fate caught up with her. No where left to run or hide, on the verge of becoming fish food at the hands of drug runners she owed a lot of money to. That was until fate brought her ALEXI, head of the family CARRERO - The unexpected hero who saved her ass and changed her life in one easy manouvre. Who knew she would have to sign her soul over to the devil in a bid to stay alive and in doing so, lose her heart and mind in the process. This is not your typical hearts and roses story - Let the games begin and the war commence. This is book 7 in The Carrero Series, although you can read this without prior books. There are back story hints from previous books worked in, so this new trio can be read alone. For a fuller understanding then start with The Carrero Effect .