MATURE

Life hasn’t been kind to me. One moment, I was a carefree eighteen-year-old with dreams of a bright future. The next, I was a 28 year old lady and my world went up in flames. literally. My mom died in the fire that destroyed our home, my little sister is in a coma, and my brother’s in jail for trying to keep us afloat. My dad? He left us drowning in debt and despair.

I thought I’d hit rock bottom, but then I found myself working in a place where dreams go to die, doing things I never imagined just to survive. That’s when he walked into my life, Alex Romanov. Dangerous. Mysterious. And entirely out of my league.

He’s everything I should fear, but there’s something about him that draws me in. Maybe it’s the way he looks at me like I’m more than just another broken soul. Or the way he makes me feel alive when I thought I’d forgotten how.

But Alex has secrets, dark ones that could destroy us both. And as my past collides with his world, I’m left wondering: Can I trust the man who’s slowly stealing my heart, or will his darkness swallow me whole?

This isn’t the life I wanted, but it’s the one I’ve been given.

Even as I lay in that luxurious hotel suite halfway across the world, with the soft hum of the AC and the city lights painting shadows across the ceiling, all I could think about was her, Bella.


I hadn't even realized how deep I was until the silence hit. Until I was away from her. Until my heart wouldn't stop asking, what if she was here too?


I'm Alex. The name alone sends fear into the hearts of people who know me. Mafia prince, kingpin-in-waiting, the man who handles problems before they even become problems. And yet here I was, sprawled across crisp white sheets in a city where nobody dared cross me, completely undone by a woman who didn't even know half of what I truly was.


Chapter 163 - 163