An Unscented Trace Novels & Stories

On my wedding day, my mafia fiancé, Ryder Conti, had his men bar me from the church. Instead, he walked down the aisle with another woman on his arm. He shrugged at me through the iron gates. "Emilia, the Contis need an heir, and Carmela is carrying a Rossi." "Once I use the Rossi influence to solidify my position in the Family, I'll divorce her. You'll still be my woman." Everyone thought I would obediently nod and wait for him to come back. For ten years, I had loved him more than life itself, even cutting ties with my family for him. That very night, I boarded a private jet to Sicily to accept an arranged marriage with the Godfather of the Vettori family. From then on, I vanished without a trace from Ryder Conti's world. Three years later, I returned to New York with my husband and child to deal with a traitor in the Family. Zayn had some last minute business, so he sent his men to collect me. I never expected to see a face from my past. Ryder looked at me with a smirk. "Had enough fun out there? Since you've come crawling back, this is perfect. Carmela's son needs a cook. You can do the job." Wait, he just called me, the most respected Donna in the underworld, the cook?

Three months since my husband, Julian Moretti, disappeared. I walked into his favorite den, the grief so deep it stole the air from my lungs. I just wanted to breathe him in, to find any trace of him that was left. Then I heard it. A familiar laugh. And the soft moan of a woman. Through a crack in the door, I saw him. My husband, the man "missing" for three months, had his hand tangled in another woman's hair. "Baby, just a little longer," he said. "Soon as I siphon enough cash from the family's books, we're gone. You and me." In his arms was Bianca, from the Rosso family. "What about your wife?" she purred. "Let her play the grieving widow. She's nothing without me anyway." My fists clenched. The world went quiet, my blood turning to ice. The next day, I put the word out to the entire Family. "I'm holding a memorial mass for my husband." At the service, he stormed in, a ghost returned from the grave, roaring that he was alive and there to take back what was his. But I was standing next to his uncle, Dante Moretti, and all I did was stare him down. "Then explain," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. "Explain the woman. Explain the money. Explain your betrayal... to the Family. And to me."

Alora Hale lost her voice five years ago. By the time she realized it, her husband had already replaced her. Silenced by an accident and slowly erased from her own marriage, Alora lives quietly beside a man who no longer sees value in her— until the night he sends her to a hotel under false pretenses and sells her body for profit. She escapes. But that survival leaves her with something she never expected. Pregnant by a stranger who vanishes without a trace, Alora is divorced, stripped of her child, and cast out with nothing into a city that rewards power and devours the weak. Determined to destroy her devilish husband, she begins hunting for the only person capable of crushing him. Morningstar. The most feared businessman in the city; the kind of man whose absence can collapse markets. Morningstar is stunning, untouchable, unapproachable, and rumored to be incapable of attachment. He is also the last man Alora ever expected to find… and the father of her unborn child. Bound together by a secret neither of them planned, Alora is pulled into Morningstar’s world under a strict contract— one that might dissolve into live love or chaos. In the end, secrets would be unraveled and betrayals would surface as the quiet woman everyone underestimated begins her rise. Because when a woman who has lost everything decides to fight back, she doesn’t beg. She destroys.

My mate is Ryder Blackwood, Alpha of the pack. As the approaching bonding ceremony, he tells me that his "savior", Isabelle Morrison, is dying. She took a silver dagger meant for him three years ago. Now she is terminal, and her days are numbered. Her last wish, he says, is to leave behind a pup bearing the strongest Alpha blood. I tremble. "What about me? I'm your only mate." His voice is cold, emptied of feeling. "Don't worry. I'll always be your mate." Two days later, I receive the pregnancy test results. Isabelle is five weeks along. Turns out there was never a choice. All I get is a belated notice. What he doesn't know is that I'm the one who took the silver dagger meant for him three years ago. The healer tells me I have, at most, a month to live. I neither weep nor protest. I cancel the bonding ceremony I've dreamed of and quietly book a flight out. It leaves on the very day of the ceremony. Ryder stands at the venue of the canceled ceremony when my message reaches him. It's my unwavering rejection of him as my mate. That's when he finally breaks. For the first time, the Alpha who controls everything tastes a fear that tears the soul. He searches for me frantically, only to find every trace of me erased from his world.

Blurb for Four Heirs Claimed On My Babies Elena Romano has been a ghost for five years, vanishing from the brutal mafia world to protect her unborn children. As the daughter of the notorious Romano Don, she knew the dangers that awaited them—three heirs to the most powerful mafia kings. She disappeared without a trace, leaving behind chaos, betrayal, and a deadly secret that could destroy everything. But no one escapes the mafia. A fateful accident reveals Elena's location, drawing back the three men she once loved—each with a claim on her heart and her children. Dante Valenti, the ruthless Italian kingpin; Sasha Ivanov, the cold Bratva lord; and Luca Greco, the shadowy Sicilian enforcer. Each wants their child, each wants her, and all three are willing to tear the world apart to claim what’s theirs. As Elena navigates the deadly game of mafia politics, dangerous secrets from her past resurface. Her children are not just heirs—they are the key to a massive fortune, and whoever controls them, controls the entire criminal underworld. But as the mafia kings close in, a far deadlier enemy reveals himself—a fourth man, more dangerous than them all. The true father of her children, and the mastermind behind her father’s death, has been pulling the strings all along. With the mafia world on the brink of war, Elena must align with the men she’s been running from. But in the end, only one can be king. And this time, the queen will decide.

Klaus Romano was the most powerful name among all packs feared, desired, and respected even above the Alpha of the Ice Moon Pack. Every unmated she-wolf dreamed of him, yet none ever earned his attention. For years, he waited for the moment he would inherit the Alpha throne, only to be bound by a decree from the Moon Goddess: he could not fully claim his power until he found his fated mate. That decree awakened something darker in him a relentless hunger for authority he could no longer control. The Alpha seat his father still occupied was within reach, yet permanently denied to him because of one reason. His mate. A woman chosen by the Moon Goddess… who had disappeared without a trace, believed to have been cast into another world as punishment for an ancient sin. After endless searches across realms and shadows, Klaus finally uncovers the truth—she is alive, hidden in the human world. So he goes after her. But when he finds her, she is nothing like what fate had prepared him for—unaware of her identity, untouched by her destiny, and completely unwilling to accept that she is his Luna. Now Klaus is forced into a dangerous conflict: Will he claim the woman destiny bound to him… or break her resistance until she submits? And when her memories return—will she choose him… or reject him once more? A tale of fated bonds, rejection, power, and a love that refuses to fade.

When my mother won a million dollars from a lottery ticket, she prepared an envelope for each of her three children. After we opened them, my younger brother and younger sister each found a bank card inside. But from my envelope, two 1-dollar coins clinked onto the floor. Seeing me freeze, a trace of unease flickered across Mother's face. "Cassian," she said hesitantly, "Logan and Sienna suffered a lot growing up because your father passed away so early. So I gave each of them 500 thousand dollars as compensation. "You're the eldest son—like a father to them. Don't fight with them over this, okay?" I glanced down at the faded down jacket I had worn for years, the fabric so worn that it had lost its color. Then, my eyes drifted to my younger brother's limited-edition sneakers and to the designer bag slung over my sister's shoulder. Mother seemed to have forgotten that when Father died, I had only been eight. I smiled faintly. "Alright. I won't fight them for it." Hearing this, Mother let out a long breath of relief. The next second, my voice turned cold. "Then I won't fight for the responsibility of supporting you in your old age either."

When a young girl named **Emilia** moves to an isolated, fog-drenched city in search of a fresh start, she quickly discovers that something is terribly wrong. The streets echo with silence, residents vanish without a trace, and time itself begins to twist and collapse. As doors appear in places they shouldn’t, and her own reflection begins acting on its own, Emilia realizes she’s trapped in a place that is not just haunted — it’s alive. Each chapter peels back a new layer of horror: shadowy watchers, eerie apparitions, underground tunnels, and ghostly echoes of past inhabitants. But the real terror lies within — the city seems to feed on fear, loneliness, and the feeling of failure. It reflects Emilia’s own anxieties back at her, warping her reality into a trial of the soul. As she searches for meaning, and later for escape, Emilia uncovers the city’s sinister purpose: it traps those most vulnerable and forces them to confront their darkest selves. With the help of other survivors — some real, some echoes — she must navigate psychological mazes and make impossible choices to survive. But survival isn't enough. Emilia must transform — not by escaping her fear, but by embracing it. In doing so, she becomes something more than a victim of the city. She becomes a guide, a witness, and eventually, a keeper of the door. *Trapped in the Hollow City* is a suspenseful, haunting exploration of inner demons, resilience, and the eerie beauty of choosing to become — even when the world seems built to break you.

Bellatrix, which means female warrior in Latin, is a modern day warrior woman. Her story starts when she decides to escape years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from her stepfather and the men he sold her to. She endured this suffering to protect her younger brother, who depended on her since their mother was a sex worker battling addiction. At the age of eighteen, she made a plan to leave and successfully escaped her hometown. Bellatrix became known as the 'Runaway Prostitute.' She found her brother and her a safe place in a lovely small town, where they enjoyed two years of happiness and peace. Everything seemed perfect until she fell deeply in love with her best friend's brother, a billionaire businessman. What she hoped would be a fairytale romance turned into a nightmare, bringing more drama and pain into her life. After a misunderstanding, she fled without leaving a trace of her whereabouts but returned a year later with her daughter, feeling more independent and stronger than ever. However, she foolishly opened her heart again, allowing her first love to betray her. Running away had always seemed like the best option, but this time around, she had people who loved and supported her, encouraging her to face her challenges. During her healing journey, she meets someone who believes that they are soulmates. Could he help melt her frozen heart?

“Sign the papers, and don’t come back.” Those were the last words Celeste heard from her cold, heartless husband—the man she was forced to marry in exchange for her family’s survival. She thought it was just a deal: marry Killian Hart, play the role of the perfect wife, and disappear when the contract ended. But somewhere between the lonely nights and stolen glances, she made the mistake of falling for him... while he spent every waking moment with another woman. Until the night she found out she was pregnant. Shattered and humiliated, Celeste vanished without a trace, determined to raise their child alone—far away from the lies, betrayal, and the man who never wanted her in the first place. But five years later, fate drags her back to the city she swore she’d never return to. And this time, she’s not the helpless bride in a wedding dress. This time, she’s stronger. Smarter. And she has a daughter who looks just like him. But Killian Hart doesn’t do second chances—and when he sees the child she tried to hide, the ruthless CEO declares war. “I let you go once. I won’t make the same mistake again.” In a world full of secrets, enemies in disguise, and buried truths, can Celeste protect her child—and her heart—from the man who once broke it?