LOGINShe wanted freedom… but traded one cage for another. Ember thought escape would mean freedom. She thought leaving Kelvin, the man who vowed to love her but would rather bury her six feet under than let her go, would save her. But freedom came wearing a darker suit. Aaron Moretti, a cold, Ruthless and Untouchable. A Mafia lord and a business tycoon who took her not out of mercy, but as collateral for a debt her toxic boyfriend owed him. In one swift move, he became both her saviour and her captor. Now trapped in his gilded prison, Ember is forced into servitude, haunted by the possibility of being sold to the highest bidder if Kelvin doesn’t pay up. Aaron, with his icy eyes and domineering presence, makes no promises least of all freedom. Yet, against her will, she finds herself drawn to the man who holds her chains. But in the Mafia world, love is a weakness a weapon your enemies will wield against you. And when debts are cleared and loyalties tested, Ember must decide: is Aaron her second chance… or her final downfall?
View MoreEmber’s POVThe smoke burned my lungs, thick and bitter as ash. My legs buckled halfway down the cliff, but I forced them to move. Every rock scraped my palms raw, every breath tasted like fire.And then that voice.That voice I hadn’t heard since the night everything was stolen from me.“Hello, Ember.”My head whipped up.Through the curtain of smoke and flame stood a figure carved from my past broad-shouldered, unhurried, smiling like he’d been pulling the strings all along. My heart stopped.“James,” I whispered.Not possible. Not him. He was dead. He had to be dead.But the man on the ledge was alive, very much alive, and watching me like a spider watches a fly that’s already tangled in its web.The quarry shook again as another explosion thundered from somewhere deep in the pit. My ears rang. I turned back to the ground below Kade, bleeding and staggering, Aaron stalking behind him with that cold precision.I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t choose.“Kade!” I screamed, voice cracking
Ember’s POVThe river swallowed us whole.Spray slapped my face as the speedboat tore through the current. Every jolt rattled my bones, but I didn’t loosen my grip on the gunwale or the flash drive clenched in my fist. The ledger was pressed under my shirt, soaked but still intact.Behind us the jetty shrank to a smear of wood in the darkness. No gunfire now—just the roar of the engine and the hiss of rain. My ears rang with the echo of that last shot, the one Aaron had fired at Kade.I twisted around, straining for one more glimpse, but the bend in the river had swallowed them. Nothing but black water and trees.Kade.The name hurt more than the cold.The repairman kept his eyes on the channel, hands sure on the wheel. His shoulders were hunched, as though expecting a bullet in his back at any second.“Sit lower,” he shouted over the wind. “If they’re still shooting, you’re a beacon.”I crouched in the footwell, arms wrapped around my knees. Rain plastered my hair to my skull. My bod
Ember’s POVThe world went sideways.For one dizzy heartbeat there was only air and rain and the sickening sense of falling. Then my feet hit the slope of wet gravel beyond the wall and slid out from under me. I tumbled down the embankment, stones scraping my palms, the ledger thudding against my ribs like a second heart.I landed hard on my side at the edge of the road. The smell of tar and rain filled my nose. My ears rang. Somewhere behind me—on the other side of the wall—Aaron shouted my name, voice sharp enough to cut the storm.Headlights seared my eyes. A black SUV hurtled toward me, tires spitting up water. For a split second I thought it was one of Aaron’s, that I’d leapt straight into his jaws. Then the vehicle braked hard, skidding to a stop so close I could see my reflection in its chrome grill.The driver’s door flew open. A man jumped out, tall, lean, a hood shadowing his face. He scanned me once, quick, efficient, then jerked his head toward the passenger side. “Get in!
Ember’s POVThe first thing I noticed wasn’t the gun. It was his smile.It wasn’t wide or cartoon-villain sinister; it was small, measured, like someone closing a box and clicking the latch. Rain dripped from his hair onto the collar of his dark coat. The smell of wet wool and gun oil rolled into the shed, mingling with the scent of old wood and grease.I froze, one hand still clamped around the warning note. My mind ran in frantic circles: How did he find me? Where was the repairman? Did Duke know? Had Duke told him?Aaron stepped fully inside, the door swinging shut behind him with a soft thud that sounded louder than a gunshot. He didn’t raise the pistol. He didn’t need to.“I give you a room, food, safety,” he said mildly, as if rehearsing lines. “And you repay me with this little… field trip?”“I” My voice cracked. “I was only”“Spare me.” His gaze flicked to the crumpled note in my fist. “Where’s the old man?”“I don’t”Aaron moved faster than I expected. In two steps he was in
Ember’s POVI woke to the sound of rain hammering the roof like a thousand small fists. It was still dark somewhere between night and dawn when I slipped out of bed and crouched beside the wardrobe where the ledger lay hidden. My fingers brushed the stiff paper and for a second I imagined it pulsin
Ember's PovThe slip of paper trembled in my hand like a thing with a pulse. I should have left it where it lay, let someone else’s secrets stay theirs. But curiosity and a tiny, stubborn part of me that had learned to survive by knowing the smallest details of other people wouldn’t let me.It wasn
Ember's Pov I resumed immediately, not ready to waste any more time. I was dead serious about not going back to Kelvin even in my dreams. My plan was to stay here till I had enough money to flee the country, I would go to the other side of the world and start afresh with a new identity. Kelvin wou
Ember's Pov It's been a week since I saw Mr A… I mean, Aaron. A doctor came to check on me every day, and with the two men stationed outside, I couldn't leave at all. I decided to pause on planning my escape till I was much better, it would be too dangerous to risk fainting while escaping. Beside












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