He Wants Me Dead Or Alive
"Are you going to treat me like the enemy?" Raffaele asked, hovering over me like a predator.
"You are the enemy," I sneered.
He smiled. "Careful. You're hurting my feelings."
"I hope I can hurt much more than that."
His eyes darkened. "You forget-I'm the one who can break you."
I vowed never to give my heart to a man. Never let one bend me. Never let one own me.
Then a single night changed everything.
When my best friend became a target, I took her place and caught the attention of the most dangerous man in the city. Raffaele, My friend's older brother, wasn't supposed to see me. We were never meant to meet but the moment his eyes locked on mine, I became his new obsession.
I don't bend and he doesn't let go.
Suddenly caught up in a world of blood and power, resisting a man like Raffaele might cost me everything...heart, body, and soul.
He wants me, dead or alive.
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Chapter 3
Rosa's POV
I was literally flexing my leg muscles, ready to launch a knee straight into Raffaele's groin if he dared come one single centimeter closer, when he suddenly pulled back smooth as silk, gave me one last long look, then said, "I'll see you later, sweetheart," before flashing that smile, one that hit me, slow, lazy, dangerous.
God, if he wasn't just as hot as he annoyed the living hell out of me.
I blinked stupidly for a second, brain short-circuiting, then spun around and stormed back into the penthouse before I could do something monumentally dumb like chase after him or, worse, grab his shirt and kiss that smirk right off his face.
Inside, the living room smelled like expensive candles and a hint of Luca's cologne. Kylie and Luca were wrapped around each other on the massive sectional, kissing like teenagers who'd just discovered lips existed.
I made the loudest, most dramatic gagging noise I could manage.
"Eww, my eyes. Take a break, would you?"
They broke apart fast. Kylie's face went tomato-red, hair a mess. Luca just leaned back against the cushions, smirking that infuriating lazy smirk that made me want to throw something heavy at his perfect face.
"I thought you got sick of seeing my face. Why are you still here?" he drawled, voice all velvet mockery.
I snapped back fast. "Is that the way to thank someone for saving your fiancée's life?"
He shook his head slow, almost like he was impressed, then the smirk softened into something closer to sincerity. "I do sincerely appreciate what you did, Rosa. Even if we don't see eye to eye on almost anything, we both share the same fierce need to protect Kylie, and for that, I owe you more than I can ever repay."
I crossed my arms tighter. "If you really owe me, then start explaining right now exactly why you weren't the one who came charging into that warehouse to rescue her instead of sending your scary big brother."
Luca's smirk returned, sharper this time. "Does my big brother bother you that much, Rosa?"
I blinked way too rapidly. "No... yes... maybe. I don't know, okay?"
He actually laughed, a short, dark sound. What exactly did he say to bother you so Rosa?"
I narrowed my eyes. "What?"
"What did he say?"
I swallowed.
"Well he said he wasn't planning on letting me go."
Luca's eyebrows shot up, genuine surprise flashing across his face for the first time. "He said that out loud?"
"I made myself very clear," I retorted, heart pounding. "Now tell me everything."
Luca sighed long and heavy, like he was dragging the words up from somewhere deep.
"Alright, Rosa. You might hate my kind, hate everything we stand for, but my brother is something else entirely. He's the devil in ways I'll never be. Where I'm feared, Raffaele is worshipped.
People don't just run from him, they bow when he walks into a room. He's the underboss, the one who makes the hard calls, the one who ends things. I'm training to take over as consigliere, the advisor, the strategist, but Raffaele... he disappeared for a whole year, settling old scores, blood debts, family betrayals. After an incident, he needed time away from everything."
I caught the way his voice roughened on the word "incident." There was a story there, a bad one, shadows behind his eyes, but I didn't poke at it.
I knew better...honestly I DONT CARE!
"He finally came back to report to our father, got hit with the order to go rescue Kylie instead. Trust me, I came this close to putting a bullet in the old man myself until Kylie called me sobbing that you'd been taken in her place. I figured you might actually kill those idiots before Raffaele even got there."
I rolled my eyes, dramatic. "No matter how skilled I am, I'm not stupid enough to start a gunfight with dozens of armed men. I like living, thank you very much."
Luca's mouth curved. "You don't have to worry about him hanging around. He's leaving in two days, heading back out on business. You'll have your normal life back."
I hugged Kylie goodnight, told her I loved her more than pizza...which is saying something, then escaped the penthouse before anyone could ask me more questions. My head was already too full of dark eyes and velvet threats.
The next morning hit like a freight train. Sparring training at the university gym. I needed the violence, needed to punch pads until my arms screamed and my brain stopped looping Raffaele's voice on repeat: I don't think I can let you go.
I was wrapping my hands, focusing on the tape, when golden boy appeared like he'd been summoned by my worst impulses.
Mateo, all sun-bleached blonde hair, bright blue eyes, that stupid easy grin that always made my stomach flip upside down. I hated romance, hated how it turned smart girls into giggling idiots, but damn if he didn't make me fumble every single time we talked.
"Hey, Rosa. You're early," he said, voice warm like he'd bottled summer and brought it with him.
I shrugged, trying for cool. "Yeah, couldn't sleep much."
He stepped closer, that grin widening. "You've got something in your hair, right here."
My heart did that stupid tripping thing. He reached out slow, fingers almost grazing the loose strand by my temple.
Then a larger hand clamped around Mateo's wrist, stopping him cold.
Mateo froze. I looked up, startled, and there he was. Raffaele, standing over us like some cold, beautiful vampire carved from midnight...six-foot-three of pure lethal presence. Black shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, veins popping, dark eyes locked on Mateo like he was deciding which bone to break first.
"You're not allowed to touch what's mine," he said, voice low, calm, terrifyingly even. "Now step six feet away from her."
My eyes went wide, mouth falling open. What the hell was he doing here, and what the actual fuck did he just say?
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8.1
Racheal Angelo never wanted a new life, a new house, or a new family. She just wanted the life she was used to, but when her mother marries the cold, manipulative, powerful attorney Simon Adams to escape financial ruin, Racheal is forced into a mansion she wants no part of.
What she didn't expect was the nightmare waiting at the top of the stairs- Thane Adams, her new stepbrother. The same sinfully irresistible stranger she had a reckless, heartbreak-fueled hookup with the night she caught her boyfriend, Raymond cheating.
What begins as tension and denial soon becomes a desire neither of them can control. But in a house full of secrets, lies, hidden agendas, and a father who will ruin anyone who threatens his legacy and reputation... falling for each other isn't just forbidden. It's dangerous. A love born in the dark may cost them everything, even their family, their future, and each other.
7.6
Dumped by her fiancé just days before their wedding, only to watch him marry someone else-what would you do? Cry yourself to sleep, or dress to kill for revenge?
That was Elaina's reality. She's no Cinderella, yet she lost a shoe while recklessly crashing her ex's wedding. Her revenge plan went up in flames, but fate had other ideas, throwing her into the path of Alister-a man who is handsome, charismatic, and dangerous... and ironically, the person closest to her ex-fiancé.
Amidst heartbreak and vendettas, Alister paints her world in new colors, turning Elaina into a modern-day Cinderella. But will this story end in "happily ever after," or is Alister merely leading her into a much more dangerous game?
9.2
Clara was drowning in student debt and barely making rent when she downloaded a fantasy mobile game to escape reality.
Inside the game, an exiled prince named Alex was freezing to death. Pitying him, she spent her last few dollars on microtransactions to fix his shelter and cure his poison.
But the game was far too real.
Every time she paid, the prince reacted. When she complained aloud about going broke, the in-game army suddenly halted, as if the prince had heard her voice.
Then, the terrifying real-world consequences hit.
Clara woke up to find her water glass and a box of Kleenex had vanished from her locked bedroom overnight.
She frantically searched the tiny apartment, her heart pounding in her chest.
She thought she was losing her mind. Had she thrown them out in her sleep? Was there a stalker hiding in her home?
How could physical objects just disappear into thin air behind a deadbolted door?
Until she looked at her nightstand.
Sitting exactly where her missing items used to be was a glowing, weightless crystal cup that defied all logic.
And on her laptop screen, the exiled prince was carefully holding her Kleenex box, offering a mountain of real gold on an altar.
She hadn't just downloaded a mobile game; she had opened a cross-dimensional trade route with a desperate future king.
9.5
He was born from the void between stars - a being of immense power, forged from cosmic origins.
For thousands of years, he walked among humanity, protecting them and keeping his true strength hidden. After losing the only family he had, grief led him to seek his own end... only to wake up in a world entirely unlike his own.
Here, cultivation is the main path to power. Those who master spirit qi gain superhuman strength, speed, and abilities that place them far above ordinary people. Four great sects rule the land, competing for resources, secrets, and dominance over each other.
Icaros joined the Li Sect, where he found companions he came to trust and care for: the capable and easygoing Li Han, the sharp and composed Su Yan, and the spirited Nelly. For a time, he felt he had found a place to belong, even as he kept his true nature hidden and wondered whether he could ever learn to cultivate like those around him.
Everything changed when their voyage was suddenly attacked. A powerful figure floating in the sky cut their ship apart with sharp, devastating energy strikes, leaving only destruction in his wake. Believing his friends had been lost in the disaster, Icaros chose to stop holding back any longer.
> "I am done hiding!"
He unleashed his full power: golden light blazed from his eyes, he flew at incredible speed, and he broke through every barrier and enemy in his way. On the shores ahead, he tore through hordes of powerful jade monsters, destroying them completely before flying deep into the interior of the island.
Meanwhile, survivors washed up scattered and alone. One young cultivator found himself on the shores of Jade Island - a place most cultivators avoid, as it holds no treasures or useful materials, only danger and endless deposits of ordinary jade. Yet despite the risks, ordinary people have built settlements here, finding safety from the conflicts and power struggles of the outside world.
This island works by different rules. Spirit qi is scarce and unstable, making cultivation far less effective than elsewhere. Instead, the people here rely on advanced technology - weapons and explosives that can injure or even defeat those with great physical strength. Here, skill and preparation can be just as powerful as raw strength, and even the strongest cultivators must move with caution.
Now, Icaros has vanished deep into the island. His companions are lost somewhere across this dangerous land. And the mysterious swordsman who destroyed their ship has already arrived here, searching for an ancient map said to lead to the legacy of a being from another world.
Will they find each other again? And can anyone survive in a place where the usual rules of power no longer hold true?
✅ Chapters 1–19: FREE
🔒 Chapters 20 onwards: PAID
(Continue the journey of power, friendship, and discovery!)
8.9
The mangled car teetered on the cliff's edge, my leg crushed, gasoline fumes thick in the air. My husband, Holden, stood safe on the highway, directing the rescue – but not for me. He was saving her, the woman in the passenger seat, leaving me and our unborn child to the ocean below.
I woke trapped in the crushed Maybach, leg pinned. The cliff loomed; the driver's seat was empty.
Holden, safe outside, directed paramedics past me to Giana, his "most valuable asset," ordering her rescue first.
I watched him comfort Giana, oblivious, as the car slid. My baby barely viable. Holden offered a black card for silence; Giana gloated.
Ten years of devotion, a cruel lie. Rage fueled me: how could he abandon his wife and child?
I swore a venomous oath: never again an accessory. I flicked his card away, shielded my pregnancy, and promised my baby escape.
7.9
The rain was a solid sheet of gray as the black SUV rammed into my car, sending me spiraling over the guardrail. As the glass shattered and the world turned upside down, a searing pain ripped through my chest before everything went cold and dark.
I didn’t stay in the darkness. My spirit hovered ten feet in the air, watching the steam hiss from my mangled sedan.
I followed the magnetic pull of my soul back to my family estate, expecting to find them devastated. Instead, I found my stepmother, Florene, and my sister, Kassidy, pouring vintage champagne and laughing in the drawing room.
"To the end of the nuisance," Florene said, her eyes gleaming with greed. "The trust fund unlocks at midnight. We're finally rich."
The betrayal cut deeper than the metal that killed me, but the real shock came at my funeral. Hiram Tyson—the cold, masked husband I’d spent three years fearing—collapsed over my closed casket. He unbuckled his silver mask, revealing a face ruined by scars, and sobbed a name I hadn't heard since childhood.
"I'm sorry, Angel. I thought keeping you at arm's length would keep the darkness away."
He wasn't the monster I thought he was. He was the boy I had saved at the orphanage years ago, and he had been protecting me in silence while my own family plotted my murder.
I reached out to touch him, but the world exploded into a blinding white light.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn't in a casket. I was back in our bedroom, feeling the heavy weight of Hiram’s arm across my waist. The calendar on the nightstand read September 14, 2023—exactly one year before the crash.
I looked at the silver mask resting on the table and felt a cold, hard determination settle in my chest. This time, I wasn't going to be the victim. I was going to be the villain in their story and burn their world to the ground.