Born in BloodSworn in Blood......isn't only the motto the Famiglia lives by. Bleeding for love is something every couple in this book has experienced. Through hardships their love morphs into something even more beautiful and resilient. A love each of them is willing to fight for.This anthology contains stories for the following couples: Aria & LucaRomero & LilianaGrowl & CaraMauro & StellaMatteo & Gianna
When sixteen-year-old Rhemy Larousse gets sent off to Rosedown Seminary, an old plantation recently bought, she discovers life in small town St. Francisville, Louisiana, is more than it seems. What was once only folklore and supernatural myths would soon become reality for Rhemy. Rhemy starts for the first time to feel like things are going to be okay...until the day she meets Brick Southwood, the boy she has strangely been dreaming about all summer. Rhemy tries fighting her growing attraction for him. Unsure if Brick will be the death of her or will be who awakens who Rhemy really is, she tries to keep her distance. However, the two can't stay away from each other. Together, with some friends, Rhemy and Brick will begin a journey together that neither of them had dreamed could be possible, confronting the demons of the Shadow World as well as those of being a sixteen-year-old teenage girl. Rhemy will embark on an adventure where she faces the challenges of the proverbial young love triangle as well as face the devil himself.
Dante Cavallaro's wife died four years ago but her memory still haunts him. On the verge of becoming the youngest head in the history of the Chicago Outfit, Dante needs to remarry or risk appearing weak. Valentina is chosen for the role. She, too, lost her husband, but her first marriage has always been for show. Even after her husband's death, Valentina carries the weight of his secrets with her- to protect the honor of a dead man and herself. With her wedding to Dante, her castle of lies threatens to crash. Valentina fears the wedding night might reveal her secret, but her worries prove unfounded when Dante ignores her. Soon, her fear turns to confusion and anger. Valentina is tired of being ignored. She's determined to get Dante's attention and desire, even if she can't get his heart that still belongs to his dead wife.
GrowlHe'd never had something to himself, never even dared to dream about owning something so precious. He was the unwanted bastard son who'd always had to content himself with the leftovers of others. And now they'd given him what only a few weeks ago had been out of his reach, someone he wasn't even allowed to admire from afar, one of their most prized possessions. Thrown at his feet because he was who he was, because they were certain he would break her. He was her punishment, a fate worse than death, a way to deliver the ultimate punishment to her father who had displeased them so greatly.CaraShe had always been the good girl. It didn't protect her.She didn't know his real name. People called him Growl to his face, and the Bastard behind his back. Both were names he couldn't possibly have chosen for himself. His eyes were empty, a mirror to throw back her own fear at her. He was a brutal hand of the Las Vegas Camorra.And now she was at his mercy.
Born into one of the leading Mob families in Chicago, Aria Scuderi struggles to find her own path in a world where no choices are given. Aria was only fifteen when her parents betrothed her to Luca - The Vice - Vitiello, the oldest son of the head of the New York Cosa Nostra to ensure peace between the two families. Now with eighteen, the day Aria has been dreading for years is looming dangerously: her wedding to Luca. Aria is terrified of marrying a man she hardly knows, especially someone like Luca who got his nickname 'the Vice' for crushing a man's throat with his bare hands. Luca might be one of the most sought after men in New York thanks to his good looks, wealth and predator-like charisma that radiates power, but the society girls throwing themselves at him don't know what Aria does: that the bad boy aura isn't just a game; blood and death lurk beneath Luca's striking gray eyes and arrogant smile.In her world a handsome exterior often hides the monster within; a monster who can just as easily kill as kiss you.The only way to escape the marriage to Luca would be to run away and leave everything she's ever known behind but Aria can't bear the thought of never seeing her family again. Despite her fear, she decides to go through with the marriage; Aria has grown up among predators like Luca and knows that even most cold-hearted bastards have a heart and she has every intention of working her way into Luca's.!Mature content!Books in the Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles:Bound By Honor Bound By DutyBound By Hatred
An Enemies-To-Lovers RomanceWhen Gianna watches her older sister being forced into an arranged marriage, she promises herself to escape a similar fate.The moment Matteo - The Blade - Vitiello sees Gianna on his brother's wedding, he wants to possess her. Her father agrees to the bond, but Gianna has no intention of marrying for any other reason than love. A few months before the wedding, Gianna runs away and begins a new life in Europe away from the mafia. But one of their best hunters and assassins is after her: Matteo. When Matteo and a couple of her father's soldiers catch her, not only her freedom is at risk, but also the life of the people with her. Gianna is taken home and forced to marry Matteo. Ridden by guilt over having dragged innocent people into her world and overcome with hatred toward Matteo, Gianna is determined to make life hell for her husband. But Matteo is a master at mind games and their struggle for power soon turns into hate-fueled nights of passion.
From her deathbed, where HIV is choking away her last breaths, Black Girl, an infamous ex-prostitute of Atlanta's Auburn Avenue ho stroll, exacts two promises from her three young teenaged sons, Khalil, B-Man, and Quantavious. She does not try to fool herself that the boys will be anything but hustlers. Hustlin' is in their blood from both ends -- hers and their father Raphael's, who was Black Girl's pimp before drugs knocked them both on their asses and destroyed Raphael's stable of top-notch ho's. In Khalil, Black Girl sees the making of a boss mack, much like his pops. In B-Man, her youngest son, she sees a fierce jackboy and a heartless killa. In her baby boy, Quantavious, Black Girl prophesizes a major drug kingpin. Together, she knows her sons can rule the streets from all angles. But to do so, they must never let money, women, jealousy or greed come between them. They must remain BONDED BY BLOOD, which she makes them promise at her deathbed. Black Girl also makes her boys promise to forgive Raphael, and not hold her demise against him. But some promises are hard to keep, especially when bitterness runs deep. When fast money, irresistible women, unspoken grudges and unforgivable violations are tossed into the mix, will a deathbed promise to their mother be enough to stop the bloodshed once it begins? Which brother will remain standing in the end?
Book 3 of The Blood Series Dr. Sofia Pierce has been under house arrest with sixteen badass warriors from The Alliance, for what seemed like a lifetime. At least that’s how it felt. It was like having sixteen dragons perched on the perimeter of the family home to protect her. She couldn't even go pee without an escort! Having the toughest, meanest warriors The Alliance had on staff dogging her every move is difficult. But Sofia is determined to make them laugh and have fun with her. It’s her life’s mission to wipe the scowls from their handsome as sin faces and make them smile. Her antics with two lethal teams only accomplish one thing; these men adore the shit out of her. And they will do anything for Sofia. Sofia’s bond to Ambrose, the man she lovingly calls Vader, continues to grow. The days when she was afraid to be alone with him in a room are long gone. She considers the tough Ambrose Kane her friend and her protector. In the process to protect Sofia, five men deceive her, tearing her heart in two. The deceit of the five men, who she trusted with her every fiber, sent her fleeing into her surrogate father's protection. She severed all contact along with her blood, forcing them all feel the wrath of her pain. The pain these five men will suffer for what they did to her, Sofia will see to it. But after her tantrum lasts longer than anyone expected, she decides she can't live without the men in question. She loves them all too much and she needs them in her life. But for one of them, she will make work harder for her forgiveness. And she will bring this tough warrior to his knees for her forgiveness
New Orleans detective Jack Brenner is struggling with a faltering marriage, an injured partner, and an overbearing lieutenant when Emmett Floyd Graves, a convict facing lethal injection, sends Jack word through his lawyer that he has information about the unsolved murder of Jack’s cousin, a civil-rights worker killed in the summer of 1972. Jack is intrigued but suspicious, and before he can figure out whether he’s being played, he and his new temporary partner, Keisha Lundy, are assigned to the drive-by shooting of a teenage boy. Eerily, both Steven Bowen and Jack’s cousin David were distance-running phenomenons at the same high school where Jack himself was a champion hurdler. Jack juggles the Bowen case with his own secret investigation of Graves’s claim, backed up by Keisha, who knows what it’s like to lose a young family member through violence. Jack thinks he has time to make sense of things before bringing anyone else into it. But then television reporter Willow Ashe, an old flame from Jack’s past, comes on the scene. She not only stirs up old memories of hot nights on the levee, but breaks Graves’s story on the evening news for all the world to see, including Jack’s lieutenant, wife, and aunt. Jack is in hot water at work and at home. But the publicity gets him what he wants---a chance to solve his cousin’s murder. The two crimes, separated by thirty years, send Jack and Keisha shuttling between the Big Easy underworld and the delta town of Bon Terre. Jack’s gut tells him that the Dixie Mafia kingpin who runs Bon Terre is somehow connected to both murders. Proving it will put him and people he cares about in the line of fire. An impressive debut set among the moonlit bayous, great houses, and old ghosts of Louisiana, Bound by Blood delivers a fine balance of humor, violence, and sorrow.
