They thought she was unsuitable as a bride because she was mute. I thought that made her perfect. Silent. Invisible. I could pretend she didn’t even exist.

You would think that being forced into a loveless marriage to ensure an alliance would be unheard of in this day and age. And in most cases, you would be correct in that assumption. But not for me. A cartel princess has no vote on who she can or cannot marry—much less love. Any decision in my life was forfeited just by being born into the most powerful Mexican cartel there is.

Michael Byron Domenico Sovrano. Lord of the underworld. Master of all the criminal masterminds who ever crawled the underbelly of Sicily's notorious mafia company. Who just happens to be hot and snarly, and with a demanding manner, gulp! My father owed him, so he took me as payment. He gets what he wants, and I am his new obsession. To take. To break. As if I'll let him. He's out to destroy me, but I'll go toe-to-toe with him every step of the way. I'll do everything to make him fall for me. Until he springs the ultimate surprise.

When Nikolai Romanov came looking for my brother, I emptied my savings hoping I could pay off his debt. But I didn't have even close to enough, so the bastard decided to take me instead. I didn't expect a Russian mafia boss like him to be gentle with me...and he wasn't. Not when he spanked me for daring to wear panties under the dress he chose for me, and certainly not when he stripped me out of that same dress and made me scream in his bed.

His family killed my brother, so I stole his bride. I was there to murder her father, but then I saw her walking down the aisle. She’s been my secret obsession for too long. The sinfully beautiful Calabresi princess. Sloan was the perfect payment for their crimes. Now she’s mine. Mine to claim. Mine to possess. Mine to destroy. Her fiancé is still hunting for us, but his bride might not be so innocent by the time he tracks her down. I’m lining her family up like dominoes. And she’ll be the first to fall. Unless I fall prey to temptation and keep her for myself.