Charmaine Pauls

I'm a loan shark. Breaking people is in my blood. The Haynes were supposed to be a straightforward job. Go in and pull the trigger twice. One bullet for Charlie, one for his sister. But when I saw Valentina, I wanted her. Only, in our world, those who owe us don't get second chances....

When Gabriel broke down my door, he took over my body and life. Never with force, but always with clever manipulation. He stripped me of my independence, my defenses, and my clothes and turned me into an addict. My addiction is him....

I’m an alibi for a killer, but he demands so much more than my testimony. I stumbled across something I wasn’t supposed to discover. I saw something I wasn’t meant to see, and now I’m an alibi for a killer. He’s the most feared and powerful man in the New York underworld.

He can never know about the life we created in a bed of lies, because the man I called my lover is the monster who killed my parents, and I’m next on the list. I know what it’s like to be used. Dante ruined me for the sake of his revenge. He destroyed me for his selfish gain without thinking twice.

His weapon is seduction, the battlefield between his sheets, and cruel betrayal the blade he plunges deep. My mother raised me on knights in shining armor and happily-ever-afters. She groomed me to be the perfect mafia princess. It was only natural that I’d believe in fairy tales.

Er bietet mir Schutz an, aber das Bett eines Mörders ist kein sicherer Ort für mich. Ich habe mich in eine missliche Lage gebracht. Mächtige Leute auf beiden Seiten des Gesetzes wollen meinen Tod.

Angelo Russo came like a storm into my life and left destruction in his trail. The man who hates me beyond measure is the man who put a ring on my finger and gave me his name. My husband is my worst enemy....

In my line of business, every day dawns with the smell of death in the air. But it’s not a bullet that’s going to slay me. It’s Sabella, the woman who was promised to me—the woman who betrayed me....

A deal sealed with a handshake promised she’d be mine. A broken vow ripped her from my future. I made unspeakable sacrifices to claim what rightfully belongs to me. After all the blood I shed in her name, the bond that ties us is hatred....

Ich dachte, ich hätte alles verloren. Mein Leben lag in Trümmern, als ein Mann, der halb so alt war wie ich, in mein Haus einbrach und in meine Zukunft eindrang....

On my 16th birthday, a stranger from Corsica shows up at my party. Angelo Russo looks like an angel, but more the kind who decapitates dragons than the kind with soft white wings. He says he wants all my firsts as if he already owns them, but my father orders me to stay away from this man....

Die Gesellschaft sagt, ich sei zu jung für sie. Was weiß die schon? Es ist nicht mein Alter, das zählt. Es ist meine Erfahrung. Ich bin alles, von dem sie nie wusste, dass sie es braucht. Sie zu treffen war kein Zufall....

Als Leon versucht, Violet in die Ehe zu zwingen, beginnt für beide der Krieg. Der Kampf ist heiß und schmutzig, und keiner geht ohne Narben davon....

Mein Leben hängt davon ab, die Rolle überzeugend zu spielen. Seit meinem fünfzehnten Lebensjahr bin ich für diese Rolle ausgebildet worden. Zehn lange Jahre lang wurde mir beigebracht, jemand anderes zu sein, auf einen anderen Namen zu reagieren und im Schatten einer anderen Frau zu leben....

My life depends on playing the role convincingly. I’ve been trained for that role since the age of 15. For 10 long years, I’ve been taught to be someone else, to respond to a different name, and to live in another woman’s shadow....

I tried hard to remain invisible, particularly here. In my circles, it’s dangerous to be noticed, especially by men like Leon Hart. He’s different than the other men who work for my stepfather. Quiet. Intense. He’s not a brain or a muscle. He’s both. And more....

Love is for people who don’t mind getting hurt. I vowed to never fall into that trap. I entered into war with my beautiful, corrupted, and dangerous husband. He warned me he always won. He told me I’d lose, but I didn’t want to believe him because there was too much at stake....

Of all the hospitals in New York City, he walks into mine....

I never dreamed of getting married. I dreamed about freedom. When my stepfather promised Leon Hart a partnership in his clandestine software company, he offered me as part of the package deal. It’s a win-win situation for both men....

Es war einmal ein Dieb, der stahl mich mitten in der Nacht. Er nahm sich, was er wollte, gab mir eine Illusion und riss mir alles weg, um seine ultimative Trophäe zu bekommen. Mein Herz mag körperlich schwach sein, aber der Kampf ums Überleben hat mich stärker gemacht....