D'Artagnan Conti was born into poverty, raised to be a soldier in my father's savage regime. I grew up in luxury, longing to escape my family's cruel machinations, and the young man with sapphire eyes and the voice of an angel became not just my forbidden crush but my everything. Then he was taken from me, killed in a brutal attack by our enemies. Or so I was led to believe....

From the moment my twin sister set her eyes on Matteo, she decided he was the one. We were just kids, but that didn’t matter to her. In her heart, she believed they were destined to be together. So when their arranged engagement was announced, no one was surprised. At least, that’s what I thought. But lately, something had felt off. Wherever I went, Matteo was there. Lurking in the dark, concealed in the shadows, always watching.

As your paralegal (and ex), I have to be honest: You’re a horrible lawyer. Honestly, the worst I’ve ever seen. You never communicate, you pile on overtime, and you’re constantly in a bad mood. Now, about those panties on your desk. No, that wasn’t a desperate cry for your attention. It was the result of a lost bet with my roommate. But if you were even half the lawyer you claim to be, you’d have figured that out without all the ego-tripping.

I wake up chained to the bed of a stranger. He says I’m his wife. I have nothing—no money. No friends. No escape. He’s everything I never imagined: ruthless, calculating, feared. A beautiful monster with a face like a god’s, cold and untouchable. A mafia kingpin whose wealth could buy empires and whose power makes the world tremble. My captor. My husband.

In my world, a bride can be given...or she can be taken. When Winter O'Brien was given to me, she thought she had a say in the matter. She was wrong. She is my bride. Mine to claim, mine to punish, and mine to use as shamefully as I please. The sting of my belt on her bare bottom will teach her to obey, but obedience is just the beginning. I will demand so much more.

One wild night gave me more than just regrets. Six years ago, I walked away from Igor Sokolov—New York’s most dangerous Bratva prince—and vowed never to look back. Or so I thought. Now, he’s found me. And worse, he’s discovered my biggest secret: our daughter. Igor doesn’t ask. He takes. With ruthless determination, he drags us back to New York, claiming it’s the only way to keep us safe. Safe from his enemies, maybe. But not from him. He’s possessive, demanding, and dangerously irresistible. And he’s made one thing crystal clear: I’m his.

He's a big, angry former Marine, and I'm going to be sore when he's done with me. Hawk Travers is not a man to be trifled with. I learned that lesson in the hardest way possible, first with a painful, humiliating public spanking and then much more shamefully in private. She came looking for trouble. She got a taste of my belt instead. Bryce Myers pushed me too far and she ended up with her bottom welted. But as satisfying as it is to hear this feisty little reporter scream my name as I put her in her place, I get the feeling she isn't going to stop snooping.

The ruthless mafia king is no stranger to violence, but when he lays his eyes on my bruised and battered face, he's furious. I thought my makeup was thick enough to cover the beating I suffered until my inappropriately flirtatious boss noticed. As a cocktail waitress in his casino, I've always been on Mr. Salvato's radar, but now he's obsessed, demanding to know who hurt me and why, intent on making them suffer.

When I knocked on Kirill Sabatin's door, I didn't know he was the Kozlov Bratva's most feared enforcer. I didn't expect him to be the most terrifyingly sexy man I've ever laid eyes on either.. I told him off for making so much noise in the middle of the night, but if the crack of his palm against my bare bottom didn't wake everyone in the building my screams of climax certainly did. I shouldn't have let him spank me, let alone seduce me. He's a dangerous man, and I could easily end up in way over my head.

Nicole Fox presents Book 1 in the Groza Bratva series.

Eighteen years old, a Bratva princess, and Lev Melnikov's daughter. That should be enough to keep me away, but the second I see Natalya all grown up, I know she's mine. I try to fight what I feel for her, but my principessa is determined to bring me to my knees, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get me there.

Knight Grayson isn't just one of New York's elite billionaires. He's the embodiment of Hades in a tailored suit and a beautiful devil waiting to destroy. He always gets what he wants, no matter the cost. Including me.

Cruelty is his middle name, and I'm at his mercy. My father has kept me locked away in an ivory tower. I thought he wanted to protect me, but he only wanted to protect his asset. An untouched, sheltered mob princess is worth a lot of money to the right buyer. My father's greed means Sicily is no longer big enough for him. I'm shipped across the Atlantic to Boston to marry a man I've never met, whose reputation for cruelty reaches as far as the shores of Sicily.

An unlikely savior with large, possessive hands, a voice as deep and rich as dark chocolate, and a tongue as quick and hot as lightning. The second Avel tossed me over his broad shoulder, I knew I could never walk away. He made me feel small, safe, and protected, but only because there was no man as dangerous as him. He offered me protection, but not without consequences. Because once you join the mafia, you can never leave, and once you get pregnant with the boss's baby, you belong to him forever.

Tearing off the gilded veneer of elite privilege exposes the sordid scandals, dark secrets, and taboo desires of New York's jaded high society in this dark romance series from best friends and USAT bestselling authors Zoe Blake and Alta Hensley, writing under their new pen name, Blake Hensley.