Taken, I’m bound inside the home of a dangerous man. He may have saved me from his sadistic cousin, but it seems I’ve only traded one monster for another. Fans of The Five Families series by Jill Ramsower will love Violent Ascension by Giorgia Blake, a steamy, enemies-to-lovers, forced marriage, mafia romance.
I’m a Rising Star. A boss. A Real One.
Yet I’m here. Taken and bound inside the home of Alessandro Parisi.
A dangerous man who holds my life and my secrets close to the chest.
He has all the answers but refuses to answer any of my questions.
All he’s told me is that I’m his and the key to his ascension.
He saved me from his sadistic cousin; but it seems I just traded one monster for another.
The first one stalked and taunted me until I was convinced death was around every corner.
This one orders me to cooperate, bend to his touch, and obey.
Too bad obedience isn’t in my nature and sacrifice is my birthright.
We probably won’t make it out of this blood war alive…The likelihood of my heart surviving Alessandro is even less.
Violent Ascension is the first book in the Made Men of Chicago Collection, and can be read as a standalone. It is a forced marriage mafia romance with themes of organized crime, violence, and BDSM. If this is your type of romance, the happily ever after will knock your socks off!
Please read responsibly!
Excerpt
Copyright 2023 Giorgia Blake
“Why would your sick cousin, if he does indeed exist, want anything to do with me? He doesn’t even know me but I’m supposed to believe he had some plot to kidnap and torture me? Why would he do that? WHY THE FUCK AM I HERE?!”
I scream the latter with as much effort as my weakened voice can carry and tears stream uncontrollably down my face.
I’m making a spectacle of myself. Something my proud Creole mother taught me never to do. I can imagine her strong posture and head held high while reading the letter my father left for her. She was pregnant and alone. Then she found out she was tied to the mafia and its dangerous liaisons. I know she never cowered. Chrisette Augustin never cowered. But my response to Parisi can’t be helped. I’m not as strong as my mother. I never was.
I’m scared shitless.
Parisi leans back on his haunches to examine me. Yet again, I’m the specimen under his microscope. I feel naked inside and out when he fixes his eyes on me and I hate it. He’s digging out all the parts of myself that I hide away from the world. He ogles them to feed a sick fetish. Refusing to be his meal. I turn away and look at the wall, but he simply reaches out and draws my face back to him.
“Look at me Isabella.” His voice is quiet and surprisingly tender; like he’s coaxing a wild and wounded animal out of a trap. Chained to his floor, that’s exactly how I feel. He strokes an errant strand of my curly hair behind my ear and levels me with his attention.
“You will marry me, because that’s the only way to save your life and the lives of many others. You will sacrifice your freedom, to ensure blood doesn’t run down Chicago’s streets. I know you don’t understand any of that now, but you will as you begin to understand Cosa Nostra and your father’s place inside it. You are the key to everything, because he who has you, has your father in the palm of his hand. I can’t let Leonardo have that kind of power. You are just going to have to trust me from this moment on because life as you knew it is over. As a matter of fact, the life you were living was always temporary. At some point, your debt as Matteo’s daughter had to come due. The sooner you accept that; the happier you will be.”
Something inside of me registers what he’s saying as fact. It doesn’t make any logical sense, but I know whether it’s his fault or not, my life as I knew it really is over and I need a release.
So, I slap him.
I slap him like my Creole mother used to slap me whenever my mouth wrote a check my butt couldn’t cash. Parisi’s head jerks to the side and I immediately regret my action. I contract my body to make myself smaller, but I don’t take my eyes off of him.
He’s eerily calm and that scares me more than the rage I thought was sure to come. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a key to unshackle my ankles. I dart my eyes to the cell door, trying to estimate how far I can go before he catches me and his eyes arrest me.
I’m not going anywhere.
About Giorgia Blake
I’m a contemporary romance author dedicated to the dangerously delicious world of Mafia Romance. Every story will dare you to believe in the power of love, even when there doesn’t seem to be one sane reason to do so!
My stories feature sexy alphas and smart heroines finding love in the most breath stealing of circumstances. If someone can’t die at any moment–it’s not a Giorgia Blake Romance!
Every plot is full of heat, suspense, and steamy passion that would make the Karma Sutra blush.
So come join me on this wild ride…you won’t regret it!
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