Chapter: EPILOGUE EPILOGUE — PENELOPEFour years laterThe smell of vanilla and buttercream filled the kitchen as I smoothed icing over the last layer of the boys’ birthday cake. There was flour in my hair, frosting on my cheek, and my heart was so full I thought it might burst.“Mommy!” one of the twins—Donovan—came barreling in with his brother right behind him, little feet slapping against the tiles. “We’re four today! Fourrr!” he squealed, throwing his chubby arms around my legs.“Yes, you are, my sweet boy,” I laughed, bending down to kiss his cheek before his brother, Damien, demanded his turn.“Donny! Damien! Stop attacking your mother while she’s working,” came Christian’s voice from the doorway, deep and amused.I glanced up at him, smiling despite myself. He leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, that same smug grin on his face even after all these years.He’d officially handed over his company to Liam a few weeks ago—much to Liam’s visible annoyance—and now spent most of his time running
Last Updated: 2025-08-06
Chapter: 143.PENELOPEIt had been months since the incident with Lucas, when he threatened my life and my family.Nine long months of rebuilding the bakery, starting all over again, in a bigger and brighter location.Later that month, Jess finally ended things with Liam. After he got out of the hospital, he tried. God, he’d tried—but Jess never looked back. I’d never seen her laugh as much as she did with the new guy she was dating now. Liam kept his distance, though I sometimes caught the look in his eyes when she walked into a room—bitterness and regret all tangled up.Christian stepped down from his father’s head of security, handing the reins to Alex, who had finally found his footing. Alex thrived in the role, and every so often he’d stop by the bakery, sketchbook in hand, and help me dream up designs for the next season. He even drew a new portrait of me for Christian, one that hung in our bedroom now.Sweet Delights stood even taller than the old one, with wide windows that let in the morni
Last Updated: 2025-08-06
Chapter: 142CHRISTIANThe first thing I tasted was blood, stumbling to the ground when his fist collided with my jaw the moment I found him.I forced myself back onto my feet.The inner basement smelled like gasoline and sweat. Somewhere behind me, I could hear the faint echo of sirens and shouting, and that was enough fuel for me to stay and kill this bastard.He stood a few feet away, bleeding from where Liam had shot him, his shirt was torn, another knife glinting in his hand.That smug little grin still played on his lips, even now.“You’ve never been too soft on her,” he sneered, circling me like a wolf. “What changed, Christian? I actually liked you. But she made you soft, made you weak.”“That doesn’t concern you, Sawyer.” I spat blood onto the concrete floor, straightened as much as my body would let me, and met his eyes.“It does concern me, if she had felt anything back for me, I may have considered aborting this revenge plan. But she called me out, put me in my place, and picked you ov
Last Updated: 2025-08-04
Chapter: 141.PENELOPEI don’t even remember how I got out of that basement.One second Christian was telling me “I’ve got you” while he untied me, and the next Alex’s hand was gripping mine, pulling me up the stairs, his voice steady and calm as chaos raged around us.Liam limped behind us, refusing help even though the knife wound in his thigh was still bleeding.The building was swarming now. Red and blue lights painted the walls. Uniformed officers rushed past. Someone shouted into the radio. Another officer barked orders at someone else.But all I could hear was the echo of Lucas’s words in my head.“Break her. Not love her.”“My father rotted in prison because of your family.”“I vowed to destroy everything they loved. Even this child inside you.”My chest hurt so bad I thought I might actually be dying.I stumbled outside into the cool night air, but it didn’t help. Nothing helped. My heart was racing, my ears ringing. I couldn’t catch my breath.From somewhere above, a deep, furious voice c
Last Updated: 2025-08-03
Chapter: 140.CHRISTIANWe pulled up to the warehouse just as the last rays of light bled out of the sky.The place was quiet. Too quiet.Liam cut the engine and glanced at me, his knuckles flexing on the wheel.“You ready?”I didn’t answer. I was already getting out, slamming the door behind me, my gun in my hand as my shoes crunched over gravel.The doors weren’t locked. A single guard outside raised his head at the sound of us. He didn’t even get to speak before Liam barreled into him, dropping him with one solid punch. I didn’t stop to watch.Inside, more of Lucas’s men moved to intercept. Liam dove into them without hesitation, fists flying, the sound of bone and muscle cracking echoing through the empty space. I didn’t look back—I trusted him to handle it.My eyes were fixed on the hallway ahead.I followed the faint trail of light spilling from a room at the end, every step fueled by nothing but her name in my chest. Penelope. Penelope. Penelope.When I finally reached the doorway, I froze.
Last Updated: 2025-08-02
Chapter: 139.CHRISTIANAs we stepped off the plane, Liam fell into stride beside me and slid his phone into my hand without a word.“It’s your father,” he muttered.I blinked at him, my brow furrowing. My first instinct was to pull my own phone from my pocket—except there wasn’t one. There hadn’t been since the night I swung that bat at Maria’s hand and heard it shatter as it hit the floor. I hadn’t thought twice about it then. My entire focus had been on making her scream, and getting the truth out of her. I hadn’t had time to replace it.Now, holding Liam’s phone felt foreign. I pressed it to my ear. “Hello—”“We can’t find Penelope.”Those four words stopped everything.I froze in the middle of the jetway, my chest constricting as if someone had shoved a fist into it.“What do you mean you can’t find her?” My voice came out sharper than I intended.“I employed guards for her,” his voice came slowly through the receiver. “It was your brother’s idea ever since I announced her pregnancy at the par
Last Updated: 2025-08-01
A Wife For Nico Vescari
The craziest thing I’ve ever done was let a dangerous man touch me, and not pull away.
“Trust me.”
Words like that could mess you up in this line of work. Then he did something I didn’t expect, he stretched out a hand. Even I knew when not to doubt a helping hand.
I sighed. Well, roadkill it is then.
I clasped his hand and his firm grip pulled me up out of the line of fire.
***
Cake Coogan survives by her fists and her fury, spending her life fighting in underground rings to keep herself and her mother alive. But one stolen payout, one stranger’s intervention, and one accidental bag switch drops her into the crosshairs of Nico Vescari.
Nico Vescari; mafia heir, feared and ruthless, a man who kills with a steady pulse—wants his money back. What he gets instead is Cake: the girl with the iron fists, mismatched eyes, and a journal he should never have read. Fascinated, furious, and threatened by how she makes him feel, he gives her a choice that isn’t a choice at all—marry him for a year… or lose the only family she has left.
Cake becomes both weapon and wife. She’s pulled between power plays, underground fights, and a man whose touch feels like fire even when she swears she hates him. Nico’s family is dangerous, his enemies worse, and his rules suffocating, but the most lethal thing between them is the feral desire none of them want. As bodies fall and alliances burn, Cake is forced to choose between revenge and the man who has broken her, protected her, and ruined her life in equal measure.
In a story of obsession, and betrayal,only the strongest survive.
And Cake Coogan is not prey.
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Chapter: 160.EPILOGUE~CAKE~ I woke up before the sun. Our son, Arlo Enzo Vescari, was still sleeping soundly in the crib beside our bed, tiny fists curled near his face.Naming him had been one of the easiest decisions Nico and I had ever made. Enzo had spent the past year carrying this family on his back. Naming our son after him felt right.He had pretended not to care when we told him.The man had stared at the birth certificate for almost a full minute before looking away and muttering something about us being dramatic. Later that night, I caught him sitting beside Arlo’s crib alone, holding one of the baby’s tiny socks in his hand.Nico swore he had never seen Enzo that close to tears.I had.And somehow, that made me love the name even more.I had been ovulating for two days straight. Nico stirred when I climbed on top of him, his hands finding my hips like they belonged there. He was hard before he even opened his eyes.“Morning,” he murmured, voice rough with sleep.I didn’t answer with
Last Updated: 2026-06-26
Chapter: 159.~NICO~The meeting had been going for almost two hours. I sat at the head of the table and listened as the new council members discussed the expanded shipment routes through the eastern ports. Two years passed and I already rebuilt what was lost. I had chosen every person sitting around this table myself. Only those who had stood by me when everything fell apart earned a seat. Russell was one of them. His loyalty had been absolute. I gave him the position without hesitation.The routes looked solid. Profits were climbing steadily. The families who had wavered during Tomaso’s betrayal had either fallen in line or been removed. The clan was stable again. Not the same as it had been under my father, but better in some ways. I had learned the cost of trust the hard way.My mind drifted to Cake.Two years had changed us. The contract that brought her into my life was long gone. I destroyed it myself and signed new marriage certificates instead.Somewhere between the fights, the grief, and
Last Updated: 2026-06-26
Chapter: 158.~CAKE~I sat on the terrace of the villa with a glass of orange juice in my hand, scrolling through my phone for the third time in ten minutes.France was nice.For the first week, I thought I would enjoy it. By the second week, I was ready to start arguments with strangers for entertainment.Almost two months had passed since the war.Two months since Tomaso died.Two months since the Vescari mansion burned to the ground.Most days, Nico slept longer than he used to. Gustavo said that was normal. Apparently almost bleeding to death came with side effects.Personally, I thought he was being dramatic.I took a slow sip of my juice and let my thoughts wander back.Not to the worst parts. I tried not to think about those too often. Whenever I did, I usually ended up staring at a wall for the rest of the day.Just the shape of it all. Everything that happened after that night.Tomaso was dead. Nico killed him in the old courtyard of the Vescari mansion.I only saw part of the fight.By th
Last Updated: 2026-06-25
Chapter: 157.~CAKE~Elianna stood beside the black SUV with her arms folded tightly across her chest while Javier loaded the last bags into the trunk. The engine was already running, a low rumble that matched the tension in the air. She looked at me like she was waiting for me to change my mind.“You can still come with us.”I looked away, staring at the dark lawn instead. “No.”“Cake.”“No.”Javier wisely kept his mouth shut and continued securing the bags. He moved with the efficiency of someone who had done this kind of thing many times before. I appreciated that he didn’t try to convince me. At least one person understood that pushing me right now was pointless.Elianna blew out a frustrated breath. “You are being impossible.”I snorted. “You only noticed that now?”She wasn’t amused. Neither was I, if I was being honest. The difference was that sarcasm was cheaper than therapy, and right now I needed every cheap defense I could get. My stomach still ached from the surgery, and I wasn’t about
Last Updated: 2026-06-24
Chapter: 156.~NICO~The explosion ripped through the side of the mansion before any of us could react. I saw Enzo shout something and dive for cover, but the blast hit too fast. The force slammed into me like a wall, throwing me backward. My ears rang with a high-pitched whine that drowned out everything else. Muffled screams and gunshots filtered through the haze, distant and warped, like I was underwater.Someone grabbed me under the arms and dragged me behind a half-collapsed wall. Hands slapped my cheeks urgently. “Nico! Nico!”The voice sounded far away at first. Then it sharpened. Enzo. He kept calling my name, slapping me again until my vision cleared. I blinked hard, tasting blood in my mouth. Raffaele crouched beside us, rifle ready, eyes scanning the smoke-filled corridor.“What happened?” Raffaele asked.Enzo helped me sit up straighter. “He hit his head. It’s taking a while for him to come around.”I pushed myself up, ignoring the dizziness. “Bianca? Any sign of her?”“No,” Raffaele sa
Last Updated: 2026-06-23
Chapter: 155.~NICO~Tomaso had finally made his move.Russell’s living room was packed wall to wall with men. Some sat on couches cleaning weapons. Others stood in small groups talking through routes, exits, and contingencies. Valentino’s men occupied one side of the room while Russell’s people mixed with my own. The noise never rose above conversation, but there was enough of it to remind me that every person here understood exactly what tonight could cost.My eyes moved across the room automatically, taking stock of who was present and who wasn’t.Adriano should have been here.If he hadn’t switched sides, he would have been standing beside me right now, arguing with Enzo about something stupid or trying to prove he was smarter than everyone else in the room.Instead, he was dead.Russell had been against burying a traitor anywhere on his property. Enzo had wanted to dump the body into the sea and let the fish deal with him.Raffaele disagreed.So this morning, the three of us dug a grave deep i
Last Updated: 2026-06-23
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