THE KILLER THAT CLAIMED (A dark, mafia romance)
I was sold and married off to a monster.
And on my wedding night... he tried to rape me.
But before he could, gunfire tore through the walls, blood spilled and screams filled the air.
And just like that... my husband was dead.
I thought it was over.
I was wrong. Because the men who killed him didn't save me.
They took and dragged me into a world darker than anything I had ever known and straight into the hands of a man far more dangerous.
Now I belong to him.....Bane Valak.
And in his world, there are only two choices, Obey... or Die.
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Chapter 10
The sun felt like a foreign object against my skin.
After weeks of recycled air and the scent of expensive floor wax, the garden air was almost too much to take in.
I walked slowly, my fingers brushing against the heavy, damp petals of red roses.
I was told that the gardens were a sight to see but this was not what I had expected.
It was a grand piece of art.
Whoever the gardener was, they were extremely talented.
I could stay here forever if I had the chance.
It was so silent.
So peaceful that even the screaming voices in my head seemed to rest whenever I came to this spot.
It was one of the few good things associated with that horrible monster.
Regina had said I was free to roam within the walls, but every time a guard shifted their weight or adjusted the strap of their rifle, I flinched.
I turned a corner near a high stone hedge, my mind lost in the impossible task of planning an escape.
I couldn't get too comfortable.
Whatever I chance I got should be used to plan an exit but while my head was still in the clouds, I slammed into something solid.
It wasn't a hedge. It was a chest.
"Oof-" The air left my lungs in a sharp wheeze.
I stumbled back, my heels catching in the soft grass.
I waited for the impact with the ground, but a pair of strong hands shot out, gripping my upper arms with a strength that felt like iron bands.
"Careful," a deep voice rasped.
I looked up, my breath hitching in my throat.
The man standing over me was tall.
He was not quite as hulking as Bane, but leaner, more athletic.
He was handsome in a way that felt dangerous, his jawline sharp enough to cut.
But it was his eyes that stopped my heart.
They were so familiar but I could not make out where I had seen them before.
Dark, deep, and filled with a cold intelligence that made me feel like I was standing in front of a firing squad.
Or a very aggressive interrogator.
"I... I'm sorry," I stammered, my voice barely a squeak.
"I didn't... I wasn't looking..." I tried to pull away, but his grip didn't loosen immediately.
He looked down at me, his gaze tracing the line of my throat, then the pale lavender of my dress.
He didn't look at me with the possessive heat Bane had.
He looked at me with something closer to confusion.
Like he didn't understand what I was doing in his world.
Like I didn't belong.
I obviously didn't and that was why I was trying my best to escape it as soon as I possibly could.
"You must be the girl," he said.
His voice was younger than Bane's, but it carried the same weight of authority.
"I... I don't understand," I managed to say, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Sorry... I didn't mean to run into you... I'll be on my way"
"Was I done speaking to you?"
"Nathaniel! Stop terrifying the poor girl!"
The voice was like a bucket of cold water dumped over a fire.
Regina appeared from behind the hedge, her red hair catching the sun as she strode toward us.
She still wore a wide, preppy smile that seemed entirely out of place in this den of killers.
The man, Nathaniel finally let go of my arms.
I stumbled back a step, my hands going to the spots where his fingers had been.
"I didn't see you there, Aunt Regina," he said. His voice shifted when he spoke to her.
The edge was still there, but it was tempered with a grudging respect.
Regina reached out and looped an arm through mine, pulling me close to her side.
I could feel the heat of her skin, the scent of her spicy perfume.
Oddly enough, it was the only thing keeping me upright.
"Amaya, meet Nathaniel," Regina said, her voice bright and cheery. "He's my nephew. I know he looks older but that's because I'm the youngest Valak sibling."
"Aunty....." Nathaniel sounded tired already by Regina.
" Nathaniel is my nephew which makes him Bane's nephew, too." Regina carried on, "Though sometimes I think he's just a smaller, grumpier version of my brother."
I looked up at Nathaniel.
Up close, I could see the family resemblance even more clearly.
He had the same brooding intensity as Bane, the same way of standing that suggested he was always ready for a fight.
"Hello," I whispered.
Nathaniel didn't say anything. He just looked at me.
It was a long, slow scan that made me feel like I was a problem he wanted gone immediately.
There was no warmth in his gaze, no curiosity either . Just a cold, flat indifference that was almost worse than Bane's obsession.
"I'll be taking my leave, Aunt," Nathaniel said, turning his attention back to Regina.
He didn't even acknowledge that I had spoken.
"I have a meeting with Uncle. I'll see you at dinner."
"Don't be a stranger, Nate!" Regina called out as he turned and walked away, his stride long and purposeful.
I watched him go, my heart still racing.
"He doesn't seem to like me."
Regina laughed as she patted my arm gently.
"Oh, don't worry about Nathaniel, honey," she said, her smile returning in full force.
"All the Valak men enjoy being broody. It's like a hobby for them. They think it makes them look more imposing. In reality, they just need a good nap and someone to tell them 'NO' once in a while."
I looked back at the empty path where Nathaniel had disappeared.
He didn't look like he needed a nap.
He looked like a man who was waiting for the world to burn.
"Come on," Regina said, pulling me toward the conservatory.
"Let's get you away from the scary men for a while. I have some new orchids I want to show you."
I followed her, but I couldn't shake the feeling of Nathaniel's cold eyes on me.
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7.8
Isabella Hart thought her Valentine's Day plan was perfect: propose to her boyfriend, celebrate in the Maldives, and finally start the life she'd dreamed of.
Instead, she walked into his office and found him kissing his assistant who was also her friend.
Heartbreak turned to fury and before she could stop herself, she shoved the engagement ring meant for him onto the finger of a stranger with cold gray eyes.
The stranger looked at her, amused, and said, "I do."
Moments later, her ex called that stranger Boss.
Luciano Moretti, the stranger, was no ordinary man. He was the quiet, ruthless king of New York's underworld, the man people whispered about but never dared to name aloud.
What began as a viral mistake became a dangerous entanglement of power, lies, and a love too forbidden to survive the truth.
7.5
On the morning of our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, I found a cream-colored document tucked inside my husband's suit pocket.
It was a twenty-million-dollar asset transfer for his former receptionist, Carmen. But what made my blood run cold was the contingent beneficiary: Leo, my newborn son who the hospital claimed was kidnapped twenty-three years ago.
When I confronted Devonte, he didn't even try to explain. He handed me a fake Cartier watch, canceled all my credit cards, and publicly called me delusional.
The next day, he moved Carmen into our mansion and emptied all our joint accounts into offshore trusts.
"If you don't sign these papers and walk away, I will have you committed," he threatened, his mother nodding in agreement.
They had orchestrated the kidnapping of my baby, hiding him with the mistress while I spent half my life sedated and screaming in grief. Now, to keep his secret, Devonte was going to lock me in a psychiatric ward and bury me in debt.
I didn't understand how the man I loved could be such a monster. Why did he steal my child? What else was hidden in that confidential adoption file?
Pushed to the absolute brink, I refused to be his victim.
When his goons came to my temporary apartment to drag me away, I turned to the rugged union electrician who had just fixed my lights.
"If you need a husband to keep you out of a psych ward, I'll marry you," he said, offering himself as my legal shield.
I took his hand. It was time to tear my husband's perfect life apart.
7.1
"Don't tease me again or else you really want it. There are no safe words in my bed."
He is rumored to know a thousand ways to disarm and pleasure a woman, and I am Olivia, the nymphomaniac.
In a quest for revenge against my childhood bullies, I got locked into an unhappy marriage, with an untamed brother-in-law. Colt Fletcher, the morally-grey, rebel biker is ever excited by danger and prefers life on the edge. And from the moment he laid eyes on me, I became his forbidden want.
I should know better, to steer clear of deadly desires like these but when fate forces us to live under the same roof, share the same boardroom, and every accidental touch burns, my resolve begins to collapse.
But scandals don't stay buried, and my husband is the devil. The price of this betrayal is death. I must choose between my husband who owns my name, and his brother who owns my body.
7.1
For ten years, I disguised myself as my dead twin brother, fighting bloody mob wars to build the Falcone family's bootlegging empire.
When the war ended, I thought I could finally take off the men's suits and be Anya again.
Instead, my parents stole my victories to secure my father's power, demanding I disappear forever.
When I tried to expose the truth, my family dragged me into a soundproof basement.
My younger brother forced a metal funnel past my teeth and poured corrosive chemicals down my throat, dissolving my vocal cords into a blistered ruin.
They chained me to a freezing pier, whipped me bloody, and let the men I used to lead spit on me as a jealous traitor.
Then, under the guise of a family reconciliation dinner, my mother drugged my wine.
While I lay paralyzed but fully conscious on my bed, my brother took heavy iron pliers and crushed all ten of my fingers, bone by bone.
They wanted to ensure I could never hold a gun or write the truth again.
I had slaughtered for them, bled for them, and craved only their love.
In return, they pulverized my body and painted me as a hysterical madwoman just to keep the crown I had won for them.
The foolish girl who wanted a family died in that agonizing pain, leaving behind only a ghost.
Dragging my mangled, bandaged body into the rival Romano family's charity gala, I collapsed at the feet of their ruthless matriarch.
"I invoke the sacred code," I rasped through my chemically burned throat. "I demand a Vendetta."
7.9
"You are wet, Red. I can smell your juices already." He said. I wanted to deny it but I knew he was right. The sides of my thigh were already clammy. How could he tell from afar?
"No, I need to sleep. I told you I have a presentation tomorrow, right? I'm tired, I want to rest a bit." I replied.
"You'll do that when I get a release. I'll make sure to be fast about it," he replied. I stood rooted on the same spot without moving. I knew he was just being civil with me. It was only a matter of time before he dragged me to his side.
"Unless maybe you want me to call the others?" He asked but I could tell he was threatening me. Calling the others would end in me not getting any rest at all.
"No, please," I replied walking obediently to his side.
*****
Three men, one naive woman.
Ziyana never knew her life would turn in the most dramatic way. She enjoyed the life of a princess until life happened.
From being hated by her blood to suddenly being sold to a spoilt Mafia Lord. She thought she could navigate through it but there were two more brothers!
Ruthless. Domineering. Voracious.
The Niccolo Brothers' lives were full of danger and envy but these men never wanted her out of their sight.
Would Ziyana be able to cope in the midst or run for her life before she get used to them?
8.1
Trigger Warning: This book is extremely dark, containing themes of obsession, strong sexual content, abuse, and psychological manipulation. Read at your own risk.
"I'll delete the pictures depending on how obedient you are. You have to do everything I say. If I want you to become a dog, you get on your knees and bark. Do we have a deal?"
Pierce leans down to Malakai's height, his lips brushing the shell of his ear, close enough to taste his fear.
"You don't want her to know what a dirty little creep you are, do you?"
Malakai Kreston is the preacher's perfect son. Quiet. Obedient. The kind of boy no one looks at twice.
But Malakai has a filthy secret. And he'll do anything-anything-to keep it buried.
Enter Pierce Masterson.
Wealthy. Attractive. Pierce doesn't just want Malakai's secret. He wants Malakai. All of him. His fear. His obedience. His body. His mind.
Pierce wants to own it, and lock it away where no one else can ever touch it.
Kai has always been the hunter-watching from the shadows, obsessing in silence, taking what doesn't belong to him.
Now someone is hunting him.
And Pierce doesn't play fair. He plays dirty.
How far can you run when the devil already knows every dark corner of your soul?
In a game of predator and prey, the lines blur. The roles reverse. And the most dangerous thing isn't the boy who holds the blackmail-
It's the moment Malakai stops wanting to be free.