Mafia Wars

He’s a ruthless stranger. One I can’t see, only feel, thanks to my friends who make a deal with him on my behalf. No names. No personal details. No face to etch into my mind. Just him, me, and an expensive silk tie. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas. He warns me he’s full of danger. I never see that side of him. All I experience is his Russian accent, delicious scent, and touch that lights me on fire. One incredible night turns into two. Then we go our separate ways. But fate doesn't keep us apart.

He’s my brother’s best friend, a Russian killer, and boxer with no ties to the O’Malley crime family - my family. I’ve loved and studied him forever. I witnessed him change when I was only 13. He doesn’t know I’m aware he kills. For years we fight our attraction. One night, we succumb to our desire. Every touch he gives me is electric. Each moment deepens our addiction. If it were only us, life would be perfect. Unfortunately, our union creates targets on our backs from multiple crime families. 

The night we met, I joked about being his cougar. He said it depended on how much I could handle. Nothing prepared me for how Sergey Ivanov turned my world upside down. Borderline scandalous describes the things he introduces me to. Every limit I reach, he knows to back off or keep pushing. Each sinful touch is a catalyst for greedy desire I never knew existed within me. Once I step into his world, it’s impossible to get out. There’s no retreating from him. It’s a magnetic pull swirling with pain and kindness unable to be defined.

Every part of Adrian Ivanov is pure, unable to ignore, male virility. He’s arrogant. Protective. Sweet and intensely attentive. On rare occasions, outright vicious. If only his soul weren’t tortured over who he is and what he has become. It makes him hide it all from me, proclaiming the truth will ruin us. No matter how much I insist anything he confesses won’t deter my heart, his ghosts won’t allow him.

Meeting my neighbor, Obrecht Ivanov, confuses me. The moment he walks through my door, I desperately want him to command me to kneel. I swore I would never return to anything like life with my ex-husband. So why do I feel as if I can’t breathe? Each passing day that I don’t cave into my desires, the tension in my soul exponentially tightens. I convince myself to go take care of it and stop the itch once and for all. Just one time and then I’ll be fine.

I should run. Except Liam O'Malley isn't a choice. He's the air I breathe. Still, I wonder if I can really be queen of the O’Malleys - especially when I discover the truth about who I am. Anyone else in our shoes would make a different choice, but nothing with Liam is predictable. In our world, anything but strength gets you killed. 

I’m the Mafia princess Nolan O’Malley hates to love. The moment we collide, he wants to destroy me. He should. My blood is that of his arch enemy. I’m unsure if the war raging inside him or me is stronger. Instead of running away or ending me, he keeps me close. He watches my every move, and monitors each threat my estranged family delivers to me. The close quarters we share only get smaller until there is no more distance between us. Yet I still am who I am.

I choose Killian O’Malley out of desperation. My papà gives me an ultimatum with one other option. I’ll do anything not to marry the Italian mafia boss who lives in Italy and is twice my age. So I become Killian’s debt repayment. When I’m forced to pick, I don’t know he’s a boxer, a decade older than me, or that he has a body better than Zeus.

The moment Declan O’Malley laid eyes on me the universe shifted. His inked muscles, seductive confidence, and bad boy vibes lured me to him. He’s twice my age. He’s experienced. Now I’m in a dark cell. Bound. Cold. Helpless. He’s determined to turn me into his obedient little captive, until I convince him I’ve told him the truth. The spark burns hotter, the hunger between us electric.

One moment in time changed the course of our lives.... For more than two decades, I vow to find her. I'm locked up. Full of rage. Obsessed with remembering every detail about her. When I get out, I scour the Earth. Relentlessly. Mercilessly. I know she's out there. I can still feel her, my firefly glowing in the dark. I'll never stop until she's back in my arms.