Zoe Blake

It was an innocent mistake; she knocked on the wrong door. It was mine. If I were a better man, I would've just let her go. But I'm not. I'm a cruel bastard. I ruthlessly claimed her virtue for my own. It should've been enough but it wasn't. I needed more...I craved it....

I took her innocence as payment. She was far too young and naïve to be betrothed to a monster like me. I would bring only pain and darkness into her sheltered world. That's why she ran. I should've just let her go. She never asked to marry into a powerful Russian mafia family....

As the patriarch of the powerful and wealthy Cavalieri family, my choices come with consequences for everyone around me. The roots of my ancestral, billionaire-dollar winery stretch deep into the rich Italian soil. It isn't the fact she is half my age that makes her off-limits....

I'm not the hero in this story—I'm the monster who claimed what wasn't his to take. I was supposed to sell her to the highest bidder, a marriage that would seal alliances and strengthen her family's power. But seeing her bloodied and defiant changed everything.

The more she fights me, the more I want her. That beautiful, sassy mouth of hers makes me want to push her to her knees and dominate her. I'm a Russian arms dealer and she's an innocent college student who doesn't even know she belongs to me yet, but that will change when I spank her red....

I didn't come to her apartment planning to tie her to her bed and ravage her. A Russian arms dealer has no need for an innocent schoolteacher. I would have done what I came to do and left....

She couldn't have known the danger she faced when she dared to steal from me. She was too young for a man my age, barely in her twenties. Far too pure and untouched. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't going to stop me....

When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed. She's too smart for her own good, and it's going to get her killed. Against my better judgement, I put her under the protection of my powerful Russian mafia family....

I'm the only one standing between her and those who want her dead. She sees a monster when she looks at me—blood-stained hands, a heart blackened by violence. What she doesn't see is that those same hands are the only thing keeping her alive.

I came for my money. I took her instead. She's not the one who stole from me. She's a pawn caught up in her family's deadly game. It doesn't matter. Her innocence won't save her from me....

Sweet Severity continues the steamy, enemies-to-lovers drama featuring the domineering Russian Mafia men of Zoe Blake's Ruthless Obsession series. This is the seventh novel and part of a new trilogy in the Ruthless Obsession series. It is a standalone intended for mature listeners.

I never asked for an assistant, and if I had, I sure as hell wouldn't have chosen her. With her sharp tongue and lack of discipline, what she needs is a firm hand, not a job. The more she tests my limits, the more tempted I am to bend her over my knee.

She was supposed to be a problem—one I would deal with, forget, erase. Instead, she became my obsession. A hotel maid drowning in her father's debts, working among killers and Bratva bosses, believing silence would keep her safe. Then she saw something she shouldn't.

She's hated me for years…now it's past time to give her a reason to....

Keeping her safe was my job. Keeping her for myself became my obsession. She is a Russian mafia princess, kidnapped to be used as a pawn in a deadly turf war. I was hired to bring her home, but the moment I saw her I knew I must have her for myself....

His family dared to challenge mine, so I am going to ruin them... starting with stealing his bride.

For weeks, I've been watching her. Stalking her. Now, it's time to start playing with my beautiful little pawn. From the moment I first saw her from afar, I knew she would become my prized possession....

The moment I slapped Lucian Manwarring, I knew I had just declared war. He may be the billionaire patriarch of the powerful Manwarring family with a reputation for getting everything he wants, but I'm not going to be his latest conquest.

The true legacy of the Cavalieri family, my birthright, ties me to a woman I despise: the daughter of the mafia boss who nearly ended my family. Making her both my enemy... and my future wife. The hatred is mutual; she has no desire for me to be her groom.

Her innocence was going to get her killed. That was if I didn't get to her first. She's the protected little sister of the powerful Ivanov Russian mafia family–the very definition of forbidden. It’s always been my job, as their Head of Security, to watch over her but never to touch....