A young woman trying to figure out life as well as pay her bills meets Luca, a ruthless mafia drug lord who makes her life take a very drastic new route. Samantha, heavily burdened by her financial distress, her already sorry excuse of a love life, and the absence of a guardian figure traverses paths with this stern-looking yet distinct male figure who happens to be a drug lord who also is oblivious of how much his crossing paths with her would reshape his life. Unknown to her, the billionaire mafia's empire hangs on a shaky scale, threatened by a looming deadline for marriage with the stakes higher than ever. He's at risk of losing his entire inheritance to his scheming and conniving younger brother Xavier. As Samantha tries to swim through the peril and navigate the dangerous waters of her captivity, she uncovers hidden secrets, and dark family history amidst realizing that there is more to Luca than meets the eye. Samantha and Luca find themselves tied in a twisted game of survival, secrets, pacts, and unexpected romance. Amidst their growing feelings, they unravel hidden secrets and solve age-long puzzles. Crime thrives, alliances are unstable, Power is Coveted and loyalties shifted, Samantha and Luca must decide: Will they push past their doom or will they swim into their doom?
SAMANTHA
Eyes closed, head tilted, I took in the busy smell of my surroundings. It was another Monday, another day filled with empty promises and false hopes.
"I'll get back to you in a few working days" the stern interviewer from the last place I went looking for a job said.
I sat on the rusty chair of the bus station thinking about the past months, my increasing debts playing in my head, and of course without my consent.
"Why does life have to be this hard!" I retorted, the words escaping my mouth faster than I realized that my thoughts just seeped away from my mind and out my mouth.
I got a few weird stares but soon enough everyone moved on with their lives. I looked ahead and saw the bus some meters away from me, First stop was my favorite coffee shop.
I stood in front of the coffee shop for a few seconds, like I hadn't been there before. It was like everything around me felt alien or maybe my head was just playing a number on me.
With a sigh, I slipped into the familiar warmth of the shop, the scent of freshly brewed coffee beans enveloping my nostrils.
I took a glance at my corner seat and then walked to the counter to place my order. "Morning Miss Silvia" I greeted the middle-aged woman that owns the shop. She's known me for years now. Sometimes it feels like I have known her all my life.
"Morning buttercup" as she fondly calls me "The usual?" she asked as she stretched her hand to fetch the disposable cup above the counter.
"Yes, the usual please."
I stood there to wait for my order to be ready, a part of me scanning my surroundings and taking in as many details as my eyes could fetch.
Normally I should go over to my seat and have her bring it to me like every other customer would, but it makes me uncomfortable to have her serve me.
My order was ready and I turned around, tilting my body in the direction of my corner seat, I instantly regretted not going to my seat to wait for my order to come to me because I looked ahead and found a man neatly dressed in his perfectly tailored suit that lay gorgeously on his perfectly sculpted frame making it look like it was molded onto his skin seated in my seat. My corner seat.
I couldn't see his face because his hair, a deep rich shade of chestnut covered half his facial features drooping in a messy yet meticulously styled manner.
It felt like I had stood too long looking at this man with my cup of coffee in hand as the slight bell-like sound from the front door brought me back to reality.
I sighed and moved to the other seat at the far end wondering how much worse my day could get since the space where I sat to watch life flow around me and meditate was taken.
I sat and took the first sip of my coffee as my thoughts drifted to the next interview I had lined up.
Frankly, I had zero hopes for this one and every slight glint that tried to escape the cracks I shoved aside. I had had my hopes dashed one too many times in the previous months and I was not about to allow my expectations to climb any more ladders.
I sat there with my file lazily lying on the table and slowly allowing my eyes to roam around the room I was seated in. The soft hum of conversations and the rhythmic sounds of cups hitting the table formed a backdrop to my thoughts.
I in careless abandon shook my coffee cup, my gaze drifting toward the window where the city's constant buzz played out.
A shadow fell over my table, I recognized the pattern of this hair from the shadows I could see on my table.
I slowly took my head up and there he was, the man I had seen from the counter in my seat and in my corner. In split seconds I took in his still half-concealed facial features. Only now I could see one of his eyes which was looking straight at me.
My pulse quickened as my eyes met his cold gaze. "Mind if I sit with you?" His voice was a perfect match for his face and aura, so deep I could almost hear it echo in my head.
Startled but slightly interested, I answered "I think I mind".
"I don't think I want to be seated side by side with the person that took my comfort space".
He raised a brow using his finger to swoop his drooping hair to the side of his ear revealing his glazed gray eyes; one could barely see them cause they seemed to hide behind the drapes of his slightly swollen eyelids.
"It was empty when I got there" he was already making room for himself to sit across from me no longer waiting for me to grant him the permission he initially tried to take.
I couldn't help but notice how much effort he put into his appearance, the attention to detail seemed completely irrelevant in such a carefree space.
"For someone who said I can't sit with her, you seem to be staring a lot" his deep voice brought me back to the present. I immediately felt like a drooling puppy.
His ego was honestly very nauseating.
"I understand, most people tend to look in awe, I look that good".
I scoffed, "Oh please".
"Job hunting I see" It was at this point I caught his eyes taking in every characteristic of my very being.
He looked me straight in the eye without fretting and took his eyes to different angles that made it appear like he was zooming in and out. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable in my own seat.
"I don't think that is any of your business".
"I will take that as a yes then" he replied almost immediately.
"I am Luca" he paused, watching me very closely as if to gauge every reaction of mine.
I think I might have rolled my eyes so far back in my head I could see my brain.
"Is this the part where I also say my name in an attempt to be courteous?" I asked with my brows furrowed.
"I don't think I need your name, the most important thing is what I have to say" his face, still emotionless and stale.
I became extremely curious at this point. What does a random stranger that I met a few seconds ago have to say to me who is also a random stranger in his own point of view at least?
"You have something to say to me?" I asked like I didn't hear his last statement
"Yes I do and I really just want to cut to the chase" his eyes were objectifying me now.
"Shoot".
"You need a job and I have a job to offer you"
I won't lie, I almost leaped out of my seat in excitement. Even if I didn't like the person who was offering, I just had to hold myself back.
"Really what job? Your secretary?" I asked, trying so hard to conceal my excitement.
"It's simple, You get to be my wife, a contract wife and I pay you handsomely".
My jaw dropped.
My thoughts became a whirlwind of confusion laced with disbelief.
"I don't understand".
"I am proposing a business arrangement, some sort of agreement. A marriage of convenience".
"You have qualities I happen to be drawn to", he said it so freely like he had nothing to fear in this world, The audacity of his proposal greatly amazed me.
I didn't know if I was furious or just taken aback or if I was supposed to feel insulted or not.
The whole space seemed to suddenly blur out on me, His offer still echoing in my head.
My fingers clenched around my cup, it seemed hotter now or maybe it was just my skin overheating because of how angry I was.
How dare he? The assumption that money could buy me or make me sign a contract with him like some cheap whore kick-started a fire of resentment within me.
The very idea of it felt like a huge blow to everything I had worked for, everything I had struggled to overcome, my daily fights for survival, everything. It felt like he spat on it all.
I had carved my life and fought so hard to define my worth just so I could prove to myself that I was and am very capable of standing by myself and for myself.
He was there, patiently waiting and watching as these thoughts crossed my mind one after the other.
I gave him one last gaze of resentment, picked up my file from the table, stood up, and left.
LUCA
A month earlier
"You have shown no interest in embracing the responsibilities that come with the position and assets I have handed to you" his voice reverberated around the room. He looked red with rage.
Don Ivanov was a man whose presence and aura mirrored the power he held. My father controlled most of the largest empires in Russia, legal and illicit.
You could even say he owned more than half the entire Russia since he controlled the dealings that took place in and out of these regions.
His slightly asymmetrical face held wrinkles and lines, one to reckon with brutal decisions and a vicious stance.
He had spent his youth fishing in troubled waters and navigating the Criminal stratosphere. He amassed so much wealth and handed his legacy down to me, his eldest son and first child.
I am twenty-nine, and at my age my father already had me. I could already guess what this meeting was about walking through that door.
"I have worked and toiled over the years to build the very ground you stand on, and I will not sit and watch you destroy it because of your irresponsibility and lasciviousness" He thundered, still looking me straight in the face red with anger.
I couldn't do anything but tuck both my hands behind my back with a slightly bowed head "You have one month!".
"One month?" I thought to myself. One month to do what?
"You have One month to get married and carry on my lineage and legacy" he stood up from his chair and was now pacing around a corner of the room not too far from where I stood.
"Failure to do this! I will hand everything you own to your Younger brother Xavier". He ended while turning to look at me.
"I can't possibly find a wife in one month" The room seemed to be hotter now.
"I have made myself clear, you have one month. No more no less" my father said as he stormed out of the room.
COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
P-please, I beg you. Come let's go tell Christian I had no hand in whatever happened, p-please." I clutched the lapel of his jacket desperately. "Let's go. You need to tell my husband you were paid." "Young lady, you're harassing me." His tone was cold and his stare granite. But I could care less. "You harassed me first! You had sex with me without my consent, my husband knows and now I'm pregnant with this child he doesn't want. You ruined my marriage! I-I hate you!" ************************************ Caught by her husband with another man on their matrimonial bed the morning after her birthday, Hailey Codza could not defend herself. As though it's not enough, she gets pregnant. Her enraged husband decides to pay her back for her infidelity by having an affair with his ex-girlfriend - Denise Kellers, the family Hailey never knew she had. Losing her family's wealth and company to her husband and his ex (now girlfriend), she is devastated, homeless and penniless as all her credit cards are blocked by her husband. She sees the man who is responsible for her pregnancy. The man she has no idea how he'd found his way to her matrimonial bed - Jared Johnson. Jared is annoyed when this strange woman disrupts his meeting and accuses him of ruining her life, marriage and impregnating her. It affects his business deals and having no choice, he marries her to calm the public whilst engaged to someone else. But he loathes her and allows his family treats her badly. Hailey who has fallen in love with Jared is broken when she can no longer take the humiliation. She signs the divorce papers and leaves, only to arrive six years later to the country as a self-made, secret billionaire and a mother of twins. Now her two ex-husbands are begging to have her back...
“Drive this woman out!” "Throw this woman into the sea!” When he doesn’t know Debbie Nelson’s true identity, Carlos Hilton cold-shoulders her. “Mr. Hilton, she is your wife,” Carlos’ secretary reminded him. Hearing that, Carlos gives him a cold stare and complained, “why didn’t you tell me earlier?” From then on, Carlos spoils her rotten. Little did everyone expect that they would get a divorce.
Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms once at peace. The kingdom of Salem and the kingdom of Mombana... Until the day, the king of Mombana passed away and a new monarch took over, Prince Cone. Prince Cone, has always been hungry for more power and more and more. After his coronation, he attacked Salem. The attack was so unexpected, Salem never prepared for it. They were caught off guard. The king and Queen was killed, the prince was taken into slavery. The people of Salem that survived the war was enslaved, their land taken from them. Their women were made sex slaves. They lost everything, including their land. Evil befall the land of Salem in form of Prince Cone, and the prince of Salem in his slavery was filled with so much rage. The prince of Salem, Prince Lucien swore revenge. 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳 Ten years later, thirty-years old Lucien and his people raided a coup and escaped slavery. They went into hiding and recuperated. They trained day and night under the leadership of the fearless and cold Lucien who was driven with everything in him to get back their land, and take Mombana land too. It took them five years before they ambushed and attacked Mombana. They killed Prince Cone and reclaimed everything. As they screamed out their victory, Lucien's eyes found and pinned the proud princess of Mombana. Princess Danika. The daughter of Prince Cone. As Lucien stared at her with the coldest eyes anyone can ever possess, he felt victory for the first time. He walked to the princess with the slave collar he'd won for ten years rattling in his hand as he walked. He reached close to her and with a swift movement, he collared her neck. Then, he tilted her chin up, staring into the bluest eyes and the most beautiful face ever created, he gave her a cold smile. "You are my acquisition. My slave. My sex slave. My property. I will pay you in spades, everything you and your father ever did to me and my people." He stated curtly. Pure hatred, coldness and victory was the only emotion on his face. .
It was a big day for Camilla. She looked forward to marrying her handsome groom. Unfortunately, he abandoned her at the altar. He never showed up throughout the wedding. She was made a laughingstock in front of all the guests. In a fit of rage, she went and slept with a strange man on her wedding night. It was supposed to be a one-night stand. To her dismay, the man refused to let her be. He pestered her like she had stolen his heart on that night. Camilla didn't know what to do. Should she give him a chance? Or just stay away from men?