Anna Harding's Blog

Couldn’t resist doing a final Valentine’s day bonus scene with Aurelio. I had dinner with a reader the other day and she told me she could guess my favourite character and yep, she was right. Though most of the feedback I get suggests Aurelio is number one for a lot of you too!

So here’s the bonus content. Spoilers for book 2 and beyond and trigger warnings for violence, torture and implied sexual violence (Maybe I need to get a dictionary with a better definition of Valentine’s day!).

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There’s a lot more bonus content coming this year, book six is out in March and I’ll be sending out details of the ARC for book seven next month too.

In the meantime, enjoy….

………………………………

Rose

‘I honestly don’t mind,’ I told my husband earnestly. ‘In fact it would be nice to have a drink in your club, I’ve only ever been in the back and your office.’

Aurelio glowered at me, ‘You’d think the inept pair could manage without me for one night. Valentine’s day of all nights.’ He glanced at his watch, ‘I’ll only be twenty minutes. I just need to explain some figures to them. If you’re sure you don’t mind, I’ll get you a drink at the bar and then we can go on to the restaurant.’

‘We’re early for the table anyway,’ I reassured him, ‘Though I don’t suppose that matters…’

I knew Aurelio well enough to know that if a restaurant failed to hold a table for him then the serving staff and the manager would probably be found buried in cement a few days later. It had bothered me in the beginning of my marriage that the man who always treated me with such kindness and respect could treat others with such monstrous violence. But I’d come to terms with the fact that being married to the Capo dei Capi of the Mafia sometimes meant turning a blind eye to things that could never have been imagined in the world I grew up in.

‘Viognier,’ he told the bar attendant without even looking at him or acknowledging the queue he’d just pushed through. ‘I’ll send Alessandro down,’ he told me with a smile. ‘I can just about get Leandro to understand how our revenue streams break down but I’m not even going to try explaining it to my brother. He can keep you company instead.’

He settled me on a private table with my wine. ‘Twenty minutes,’ he promised. ‘Then we’re back to Valentine’s Day. I’ll make it up to you with diamonds later.’

I laughed, if he gave me any more diamonds I could open my own jewellery shop.

‘Dinner will be fine,’ I told him firmly. But he just smiled and walked away.

I’d only been sat on my own for a few minutes when a man I didn’t recognise sat down at the table next to me. I shifted a bit in the chair uneasily. I didn’t like anyone except Aurelio sitting that close to me but I was always very uncomfortable asking people to move.

‘I’m new to New York,’ he announced—breathing whisky fumes all over me as he spoke. ‘But if all the women here are as hot as you then I’ll be sticking around for a while.’ He burped, then leaned forward to get even closer. ‘What’s your name, pretty?’

‘Rose,’ I replied quietly. He needed to go away. If Aurelio found a man sitting this close to me then he wouldn’t stop to ask questions. But I still hesitated. I always found being rude so difficult.

‘Steve,’ he said to me with a leer. ‘Get you a drink?’

I shook my head and pointed at the wine Aurelio had given me. ‘No thank you.’

‘No thank you,’ he mimicked in a high voice. ‘You’re not American?’

‘English.’

‘English? Yeah, I can tell. You’ve got that don’t touch me face.’

My don’t touch me face was nothing to do with being English, it was because he was disgusting, drunk and uncomfortably predatory. But I said nothing, I just hoped he’d take the hint and go pester someone else.

But he didn’t, instead he got even closer and pressed his thigh up against mine. ‘Makes me want to touch you more,’ he told me suggestively. ‘You’re a hot piece of ass, Rose.’

‘I’m not interested,’ I told him quietly. ‘Please leave me alone.’

‘Leave you alone? Why? I’m not doing anything. Just being friendly. Christ you women can’t take a joke can you?’

‘I don’t want to talk to you.’

‘I’m not good enough to talk to?’ he demanded belligerently. ‘You think you’re too good for the likes of me? You want to chat me up, get me going and then freeze me out because you’re too scared to know what it feels like to get a real man’s cock up you? I’ll stick it up you, you uptight cunt.’

I didn’t have to answer because the second he’d spewed out his angry filth a fist slammed into his face. I stared in shock as he slumped to the floor.

‘Aurelio will fucking kill him, ‘ Alessandro told me with a hard smile. He clicked his fingers and motioned two security guards to the man on the floor, ‘Take him to the boss’s office. Leandro’s in there with him. Check for weapons first.’ He took my hand gently, ‘You ok darling? Did he touch you?’

I shook my head. ‘Alessandro, he was just drunk and stupid. If you take him to Aurelio…’ I bit my lip. ‘Something like this happened with a man before. Aurelio…killed him.’

He nodded, ‘I remember — The time with the steak knife and the tongue. You only saw the first bit of that punishment sweetheart, you didn’t see what Aurelio ordered to happen when you left.’

‘It got worse?’ I asked faintly.

‘You’re his world. Anyone threatening you can expect the worst type of torture.’ His mouth set in a grim line, ‘And I love you too, I’ll enjoy watching this piece of shit get hurt as much as your husband will.’

Alessandro pushed open the office door and took me inside to where Aurelio and Leandro were standing over the man who was now handcuffed to an office chair. The bravado was gone from his face and from the way he was staring up at my husband in terror, I guessed he’d worked out he’d threatened the wrong woman.

‘Repeat what you said to my wife,’ Aurelio told him coldly.

‘Look, I’m not after any trouble. If she’s yours she’s yours. I’ll keep my hands off her. I get it.’

I remembered what he had told me when he sat down. ‘He’s only just arrived in New York,’ I told Aurelio uncomfortably, ‘He might not know who you are.’

‘I don’t,’ the man interrupted in a mixture of fear and relief. ‘If you’re someone important then I’m sorry. I should have checked first before going anywhere near her.’

‘You’ve never heard of the Mafia?’ Leandro asked casually. ‘Why do I find that hard to believe?’

The colour drained out of the man’s face and if his hands hadn’t been bound he’d have thrown them up to plead with the men before him.

‘Shit,’ he whispered, ‘The Mafia…seriously? I’m so fucking sorry.’ The last words were almost garbled he was so desperate to apologise. ‘I didn’t know this was a Mafia run club or I’d never have—Seriously, I’d never…’ He turned his head toward me, ‘I apologise,’ he begged me, I should have left you alone, I’m so sorry.’

Alessandro interrupted the babbled pleas. ‘He threatened to rape her,’ he told Aurelio lightly. ‘He wasn’t just flirting with her, he was intimidating her and making threats.’

The cold smile my husband was famous for flickered across his face. ‘Then the next three minutes of your life will mark the end of your life.’

‘He was drunk,’ I told Aurelio. ‘I don’t think it was a genuine threat.’

‘Irrelevant,’ Aurelio replied brutally. ‘He made an unwelcome sexual comment to the woman I love. He will pay for that with his life.’

‘He called her an uptight cunt too. Said she needed to know what it felt like to get a real man’s cock up her.’ Alessandro was clearly determined that the worst punishment his brother could devise should be the one chosen.

I warmed at how protective both my husband and brother in law were but I wished the violence wasn’t necessary. Yes this Steve was an uncouth and unpleasant man but I didn’t think he had actually intended to carry his threat out. It had been the alcohol talking. But that wouldn’t matter to Aurelio. I knew with a sinking feeling from the way he was meditatively studying the begging man that he was simply deciding how his victim would die.

He looked at Leandro meaningfully, ‘He threatened to rape my wife.’

Leandro nodded as an unspoken understanding passed between them. ‘I’ll sort it.’

‘Good. I’ll leave him with you. He believed Rose should know how it feels to have a real man’s cock inside her. Make the punishment fit the crime.’

Leandro and Alessandro both laughed at his words but I didn’t see what was so amusing.

My husband gently gripped my elbow to escort me from the room and take me to our Valentine’s dinner and it was only as I looked back over my shoulder and saw Leandro unzipping his pants that I realised exactly what Aurelio had ordered him to do.

I clenched my jaw as I followed Alessandro and his brother out of the toom. But I had chosen to marry Aurelio Dinelli and this was the life he came with.

I finished my dinner and shared a bottle of champagne and a romantic Valentine’s day with my husband without giving the man left behind in his office another thought.

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Here’s the second of the three bonus Valentine scenes from the Tangled Empires Universe. This one has spoilers for book 5 (though it’s nothing you wouldn’t get from reading the back of the book). It’s also a bit more sexually graphic so if full on sex isn’t your thing, feel free to give it a miss.

Last one will be out tomorrow on Valentine’s Day and that one will have Aurelio in (lol)

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Anna

Isabella

I was absolutely full of food. Nikolai loved making Valentine’s Day special for me and had spent an incredible sum on dinner in the best French restaurant in New York. We’d had twelve courses. I’d been a bit worried when I saw how small the first one was, but by the time we’d reached the cheese board I was full to bursting.

I looked down at the diamond bracelet on my wrist and admired the way it caught the light. Nikolai always knew exactly what gift to get me. It went so beautifully with my new dress. I hiccuped as I leaned my head on his shoulder in the car. Vintage champagne always gave me hiccups and I’d drunk at least a bottle of it.

‘What are your brothers doing for Valentine’s?’ I asked, snuggling up to him for warmth. ‘They can’t top this, surely?’

‘Anton’s flying Serena out to Russia. As for Alexi…’ I heard the disapproval in his voice and sat up a bit.

‘Go on…’

‘They’re away tonight but he’s got a surprise for her when they get back. And she’ll definitely be surprised. He’s such a deviant sometimes.’

I tried not to giggle. Eloise was very frank about her romantic life with Alexi and I knew they were both into S&M. I’d been shocked a couple of times when she’d shown me her bruises, but she was a tough girl and would definitely say no to her husband if she didn’t want to do something. She’d told me she loved what she called pain play as much as he did.

‘What’s his surprise?’ I asked innocently. ‘Don’t be a tease, Nikolai, you’ve got to tell me now.’

‘He’s made part of the basement into a…’ He cleared his throat. ‘A play dungeon. He took me and Anton down there yesterday. Honestly, it looks like something out of a porn film. He even had the nerve to ask if I wanted the code to get in.’

‘Did he give you it?’

‘Yep. He’s such a narcissist he used his own date of birth.’

I sat up fully straight and put on my most wheedling voice. ‘Can we go see it?’

‘Isabella, it’s nothing that would interest us and your brother would have a fit if I took his little sister into a sex dungeon. He probably won’t be happy even if he finds out you live in the same house as one.’

Nikolai would never admit it but he was scared of my brother. It was nothing to be ashamed of, though. Everyone was scared of my brother. Aurelio Dinelli was the cruellest boss the Mafia had ever had. On the rare occasions we were invited to dinner at his house I could feel the tension between Aurelio and my husband in the air. Though, of all the Kostrov brothers, Nikolai was the one Aurelio tolerated most. If I’d asked to marry Alexi I’d probably have been locked up by my brother until I begged him for a more suitable husband.

‘Please, Nikolai…’ I forced a sad note into my voice. ‘It’s Valentine’s Day.’

‘Issabella,’ he said, amused but exasperated, ‘I’ve taken you out for the best food and wine money can buy, I’ve given you flowers, chocolates and diamonds. Everything that makes Valentine’s special, it’s happened for you.’

I pouted at him. ‘But I want to see Alexi’s dungeon.’ I poked him gently. ‘Just a quick look…’ I said winningly. ‘I promise I’ll be worth it when we go to bed after.’

‘You’ll fall asleep…’ But the warmth in his voice told me I was convincing him.

‘One little peep, then your curvy Mafia princess will strip to her panties for you.’

I knew how to get Nikolai going. He was very giving in the bedroom and nothing excited him more than my enthusiasm for his lovemaking. He loved it when I took the lead and put on a strip show before pushing him back on the bed and climbing on top of him.

‘One look,’ he said with a sigh, ‘but if you’re shocked we leave immediately and I’m not explaining any of Alexi’s weird shit to you.’

I grabbed his hand as soon as the car pulled up and waited impatiently while he paid the driver. ‘Come on,’ I urged him, ‘I’m so curious now!’ I dragged him down to the basement and tapped my feet while he entered the code to the door I’d never seen before.

‘Ok,’ he said after a couple of attempts to remember his brother’s birthdate. ‘But we’re straight out of there if it upsets you.’ He swung the door open, took my hand and walked me inside.

I’d never seen anything like it. I looked around in fascination. It was like a modern version of a medieval torture chamber. There was even a cage. Alexi and Eloise were so much more adventurous than we were. I felt naughty when I wore skimpy lingerie. But I was very intrigued by it all.

‘Just to be clear,’ Nikolai said calmly, ‘no I don’t share my brother’s interests and no I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything because you don’t do for me what Eloise does for Alexi.’

‘He hits her with things,’ I told him comfortably, ‘but it’s ok because she loves it.’ I walked over to the wall and picked up one of the thinner-looking canes. ‘He uses things like this on her. I wonder what it feels like…’

‘Isabella…’

‘There’s nobody here,’ I reassured him. ‘Nobody else even in the house, we’re totally private.’ I stood on tiptoe to kiss him. ‘I promised you a striptease—how about I do it here?’ I handed him the cane. ‘I’m so curious, Nikolai…’

I didn’t wait for an answer. I unzipped my dress and stepped out of it. Nikolai had also drunk a lot and I could sense his resolve weakening as he stared at me in my pretty matching lacy bra and panties. He loved me in sexy underwear.

I’d spent years being told by my brother to starve myself into the kind of figure he found appealing on a woman, but my husband couldn’t love my curves more. His gaze glided from my breasts to my well-padded tummy—so comfortable for him to rest his head on—and then down to my hips and thighs. He really wanted me; he was already hardening inside his tailored evening trousers. I knew if I took my bra off he’d do anything I asked.

I knelt on a sort of padded bench and jiggled my bottom at Nikolai. ‘If you want me,’ I teased, ‘you’ve got to show me how that cane feels first.’

‘No way am I hurting you,’ he said decisively. ‘Alexi might think showing his love with bruises is romantic but I’m never going to hurt my wife.’ But his breathing was coming faster and heavier. ‘I’ll take you down here if that’s what you want, though,’ he offered. ‘I’ll take you while you’re kneeling on that bench. I just need to push your panties to one side, then…’

‘Use the cane on me first,’ I begged with a giggle. ‘Just a little bit, I don’t want you to hurt me either. Just tap me with it.’ I wasn’t sure if I’d actually like it, but excitement fizzed through me at the thought of it.

He moved forward, raised his arm and then lightly brought the cane down evenly across my bottom. I wiggled a bit, trying to decide if I liked the sensation.

‘Maybe a little bit harder,’ I suggested. ‘Swing it first.’

‘You’re a nightmare,’ he said with a sigh, but he did as I asked and brought the cane down again, harder. ‘Like that?’

‘I do like it…’ I breathed. I could see why Eloise enjoyed this kind of play. I didn’t want to be hit as hard as Alexi hit her, but this was fun.

‘You’re wet,’ Nikolai told me in amusement. ‘Your panties are soaked through. I can’t believe that turned you on.’

‘Let’s try something else!’ I jumped up and handed him a pair of handcuffs. ‘Put my hands behind my back!’

‘Isabella…’

‘Please… fasten my hands and then make love to me while I’m tied up. That’s got to turn you on too?’

‘It does, but I don’t want you to feel out of control.’

‘That’s the whole point. I want to feel helpless. Eloise says nothing does it for her more than when Alexi ties her up and does whatever he wants to her.’

‘I’ll restrain you,’ Nikolai said firmly, ‘but only to make love to you. I don’t care what Eloise and Alexi get up to, I love you too much to risk hurting you, even accidentally. And if I hadn’t drunk a bottle of champagne and got insanely turned on at the sight of you nearly naked then we wouldn’t even be handcuffing you.’

I sighed. Four killer Kostrov brothers and I’d managed to marry the only one with a conscience. But I loved him for it. Nikolai’s determination to keep me safe was as erotic to me as Alexi’s dominance was to Eloise.

I moved my hands behind my back and waited patiently while he fastened the handcuffs around my wrists. This did actually feel a bit daunting. I knew I was safe with Nikolai but not being able to move my arms definitely made me feel vulnerable. I swallowed; I was glad he didn’t want to do more. Eloise liked being tied up while Alexi used his belt on her but that would be far too much for me—I’d be scared if Nikolai wanted anything as extreme as that.

‘For future reference, Isabella,’ Nikolai’s voice was warm in my ear, ‘always check that the person handcuffing you knows where the key is before agreeing to have them used on you.’

I jumped. ‘You haven’t got the key?’

He kissed my neck before replying, ‘As if I’d ever put you in that position. It’s safe in my pocket. The minute you want out, they come off.’

I breathed out shakily. He was right; I got carried away with enthusiasm sometimes. It would be just like me to get excited about handcuffs and then realise I couldn’t get out of them. But I had Nikolai for the sensible things like that. And even if he lost the key, my husband was a genius—he’d be able to get me out of them with a hairpin or a paperclip. I’d seen him pick locks before.

Very carefully, Nikolai helped me back across the room and positioned me on the bench I’d leaned on earlier. Looking down, I realised that the loops at the bottom of the bench legs were for ankle restraints.

‘No,’ Nikolai told me, seeing where I was looking. ‘That would overwhelm you too much. I want you in the moment with me.’

I was in the moment. I was so aroused I could feel the wetness spreading down my thighs as I squeezed them together for friction. Nikolai was taking his sweet time getting down to giving me the good hard seeing-to that he knew I wanted. But as I glanced over my shoulder I could see he’d been taking his clothes off and he was every bit as turned on as I was. He might not want to admit it, but he was enjoying having me tied up at his mercy.

‘Shuffle back,’ he ordered, taking my hips in his hands and pulling me backwards so I was at the best angle for him. My head was pressed down into the soft leather of the bench and my hips were high up in the air.

‘Take me in one go,’ I teased him. ‘Just hold my hips and… slam into me.’

‘I shouldn’t have had that fucking champagne,’ he muttered, but then I felt him step between my thighs and position himself at my entrance.

I braced myself as Nikolai’s fingers dug into my hips, steadying me exactly where he wanted me. I loved how exposed I felt with my panties shoved to the side and my wrists locked behind my back.

Every shift made the metal cuffs bite just enough to remind me I couldn’t reach back or cover myself. I couldn’t do anything but take whatever he gave me. He pressed himself against me—not inside yet, just teasing my entrance with his thickness.

‘You asked for it,’ he murmured, his voice roughened by champagne and lust. Before I could answer, he snapped his hips forward. The breath punched out of me as he buried himself to the hilt in one forceful thrust.

My body tightened around him, trying to adjust, but he didn’t give me time. He pulled back almost all the way and slammed in again, harder, setting a rhythm that was steady and merciless. My breasts bounced inside the lace with each impact, and Nikolai leaned over to cup them gently, cushioning the movement. I couldn’t brace myself at all—my body arched of its own accord, offering him a deeper and deeper angle.

‘You’re gripping me so tight.’ He was almost panting as he drove into me harder. ‘Tell me if it’s too much. I can stop…’

I shook my head frantically. ‘No! Don’t you dare. Please don’t stop.’ His rhythm faltered for half a second—like my desperation had pierced through his control. Then he took me even harder, claiming me with a force I had never known from him, the pressure building in both of us as my need to come urged him on.

‘Nikolai—I’m…’ My words collapsed into a cry as my climax hit, sharp and blinding. My whole body locked around him as I came so hard my knees buckled. If he hadn’t been supporting me, his hands tight on my hips, I would have collapsed.

He swore under his breath as I felt his own climax build.

‘That’s it… fuck, just like that… take it all—’ One more deep grind and I felt him spill inside me, his release triggering another trembling aftershock through my body.

For a long moment we just breathed—him still inside me, my cheek pressed to the bench, wrists still cuffed, my heart hammering against my ribs. He pressed a slow, open-mouthed kiss to the back of my neck.

‘You ok?’ His voice was soft now, his usual gentleness returned. ‘I need to hear it. I don’t want to think I hurt you.’

I nodded, dazed and blissed-out. ‘More than ok.’

He eased out slowly, reached into his pocket for the key, and the handcuffs clicked open. He rubbed my wrists gently, checking for marks, before helping me sit up on the bench.

I looked up at him—his eyes still dark with the afterglow of our passion—and grinned. ‘So… can we come back here again sometime?’

Nikolai laughed and pulled me into his chest. ‘Only if you promise not to scare ten years off my life every time you get curious. And no mentioning canes or handcuffs to Alexi. He’ll get too fucking smug.’

I snuggled into him, still feeling the throbbing between my thighs.

‘Valentine’s Day isn’t over yet…’ I murmured invitingly.

He kissed the top of my head. ‘No,’ he agreed softly. ‘It isn’t.’

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Glad to tell you all that books six, seven and eight are now all edited and I’m stuck into book nine. I’ll be publishing book six in March so for those of you who have read Murderous Secrets and know who the murderer is…. the fall out hits in Cruel Punishment.

But before then let’s have some Valentines fun. Here’s the first of three bonus pieces from the Tangled Empires Universe.

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……………………………………………………………

Alexi

My brothers stared around the newly renovated basement with dropped jaws.

‘It looks like a dungeon,’ Nikolai said at last. ‘I thought you said you were turning part of the basement into a playroom?’

‘It is a playroom.’ I grinned at them both, ‘A adult playroom.’ But I realised what he meant—maybe I hadn’t been specific enough. With so many kids in the house it was understandable they’d interpreted ‘play’ to involve the youngsters. This room however was 100% adults only.

‘This is your Valentine’s day surprise for Eloise?’ Nikolai continued in shock. ‘Alexi, she’ll have your balls!’

She wouldn’t. Eloise was as up for hard play as I was. It had taken her a long time to build up her pain tolerance and gain enough trust in me to let me do whatever I wanted to her but we’d got there in the end. We’d have got there a lot fucking quicker if our marriage had started normally without her manipulative cousin tricking me into forcing her into sex. But we were over all that. These days Eloise pushed me as much as I pushed her.

I smiled smugly at the red leather S&M dungeon I’d created. We were going to have so much fun in here. I’d kitted it out with canes, crops and paddles, everything we loved. Nothing in the world excited me more than watching my wife’s ass turn bright red while she bit her lip in pain as she waited for me to deliver another blow.

My brothers have never quite come to terms with the fact that I get turned on inflicting pain. They confuse me with the cruel boss of the Bratva. Simon Nemov’s a sadist like me but the difference between us is the fact that I play with consensual partners—these day just my sexy wife— and he forces women to submit to him. Eloise losing interest would kill my hard on immediately. Nemov has always preferred his partners unwilling and screaming.

‘This door had better lock,’ Anton said crossly. ‘I don’t want my kids seeing this.’

‘I don’t want mine seeing it either,’ I retorted. ‘It’s separated from the rest of the basement and there’s a key code needed to get in.’ I didn’t mention that there was also a key code needed to get out that Eloise would not be allowed to have, but it was better not to push my luck. I didn’t need Anton deciding the room would be better redecorated as a kids’ play area after all.

I winked at him, ‘The code’s my birthday if you’re ever tempted.’

Nikolai picked up a metal box curiously. ‘What do you do with this?’

‘Electric play.’

‘What the fuck is that?’

I zapped him and he jumped back in shock. ‘Shit—that hurt!’

‘It’s supposed to,’ I told him impatiently. ‘That’s the whole point of it. But it’s safe, it runs on batteries. It’s not connected to the mains.’

Anton shook his head disapprovingly. ‘You should have checked this with me first. This could bring back a lot of traumatic memories for Serena. I don’t want her feeling uncomfortable in her own home.’

I understood where he was coming from. Serena had once ended up in Nemov’s infamous basement and had gone through a hell of a time before his brother got her out and safely back to Anton. But my dungeon was nothing like his. Mine was luxurious and designed for sensual fun. Nemov’s dungeon was just an empty, sound proofed, windowless basement where he could beat the hell out of his victims without being overheard. He had no interest in the toys and sex gear that Eloise and I loved.

‘It’s nothing like Nemov’s basement,’ I protested. ‘Bring Serena down and show her if you want, she’ll tell you that.’ I motioned toward a padded flying X in the centre of the room. ‘This is all about comfort. Do you think Nemov gives a fuck if his victims are comfortable or not?’

‘It still might bring back bad memories for her…’ But Anton was clearly curious too. ‘Is that a sex swing?’

‘Yeah. The whole room’s basically designed for fucking in different positions. I can tie her to the wall, chain her to the floor and even stick her in a cage and take her through the bars if she’s up for it.’

‘And Eloise actually likes all this?’ Anton demanded.

I chuckled. Eloise more than liked it. She was always surprising me in sexy leather gear and getting me to handcuff her or tie her up. I’d been prepared to forego all my darker kinks when I married her. Partly because of the age gap between us and partly because she’d been so afraid of me at first. But it was Eloise who had got curious about my interests and I knew she was at the stage now where she’d clap her hands with joy when she saw our dungeon.

‘You know yourself how stressful it is having kids,’ I told him diplomatically. ‘This is how Eloise decompresses. She hands control over to me for a while. That, combined with the endorphins released by pain seriously relaxes her. I looked at both my brothers with interest, ‘So neither of you do anything like this?’

‘No,’ Nikolai said, shaking his head, ‘I didn’t really know this was a thing.’

That made me laugh. Nikolai had had more girls than the rest of his brothers put together. He was the one we all went to for sex tips. But Nikolai’s experience was in straight rather than kinky sex. Stick him in a dungeon and he didn’t have a clue. I liked the feeling of being the one in the teaching role for once.

I glanced at my worldlier older brother who was looking a bit shifty. ‘You?

‘I’ve spanked Serena,’ Anton admitted. ‘And yeah, she liked it. But I was gentle with her. I didn’t fucking electrocute her or put her in a cage!’

I couldn’t help a smile both at his indignant response and the thought of Serena with a sore bottom. I doubted any man could be married to the most overbearing woman I’d ever met and not want to put her over his knee occasionally. God if she was my wife I’d fucking never have my hand more than six inches away from her bottom. But Anton was more patient than me. And he was right, his wife had been though some tough times. She needed him to be gentle with her in the bedroom.

‘Borrow it,’ I offered Nikolai, ‘Have a go with Isabella.’

‘Isabella’s expecting red roses, an insanely expensive dinner and something very sparkly in a box. This would so not be her idea of a good Valentine’s day.’

He was probably right, my younger sister in law was definitely keen on the finer things in life. Eloise wasn’t bothered about jewels and flowers but I could imagine Isabella stamping her feet if she felt shortchanged on Valentine’s Day.

‘What are you doing for Valentine’s day?’ I asked Anton.

‘Taking a few days off, we’re flying to Russia,’

‘Russia?’ I echoed, ‘Why?’

‘I want to show her all the things I remember from when I was growing up. The bakery I went to every day as a kid. Maybe the park I used to play in.’

Nikolai and I were too young to remember life in Russia but Anton still had childhood memories there. Taking his wife back to show her… That was fucking romantic. I felt uncomfortable for a moment. I hoped Eloise would be ok with our dungeon and not want any similar soul baring kind of gesture from me.

Fucking Anton and his one upmanship. But my wife knew me well enough to know that I communicated best through sex. I might not be good with words like Anton but I told her with my body often enough how much I loved her. And she didn’t seem to be complaining too much.

Yeah, I was confident this would work for us. Isabella may want a fancy meal and expensive gifts and Serena would adore my brother pouring his heart out to her but I knew my wife would be just as happy, hands behind her back, tits bound, ass in the air and waiting for the next slap of my crop on her reddening cheeks.

I could feel myself hardening just thinking about it.

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(Keep an eye out next week for the first of the bonus Valentine stories in the Tangled Empires Universe. Free content for you lovely people who support me so much).

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A brutal, emotional love story about survival, obsession, and the cost of protection in Aurelio’s rising empire.

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A single violent moment puts Jamie Lombard in Aurelio Dinelli’s debt, and Aurelio uses him to destroy the girl he loves.
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A marriage arranged to strengthen the Mafia.
A murder that could destroy any hope of a future.
Isabella Dinelli never wanted to marry Cosimo Rosso.
But Aurelio—Capo dei Capi, her ruthless brother—commanded it.
For the good of the empire.
For the alliance they needed.
For power.
Then Cosimo is murdered on the morning of the wedding… and suspicion turns immediately to the Bratva.
To Nikolai Kostrov.
The man Isabella actually loves.
Nikolai has spent years burying emotion beneath logic, discipline, and fear of his own family.
But for Isabella, he is willing to risk everything—even challenging Aurelio Dinelli himself.
Yet Aurelio makes one thing brutally clear:
Isabella will never marry a Kostrov unless they can prove she did not kill Rosso…
and Nikolai did not either.
Now the lovers are trapped in a deadly race to uncover the truth:
• a murder that could ignite a war
• a secret someone is desperate to keep buried
• a future hanging by a thread
Because in this world, love means nothing without power.
And if Nikolai fails to solve the murder that shattered Isabella’s life…
He will lose her forever.
Book Five of the Tangled Empires series delivers a dark, intense Mafia–Bratva romance filled with danger, betrayal, and forbidden devotion—complete with its own full, satisfying arc. No cliffhanger.

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Subscription to my newsletter where I offer bonus content and updates on my books is and always will be free. I love to connect with readers so welcome to message me your thoughts and questions on any of my socials or join my Facebook Group Anna Harding’s Dark Damsels.

Happy new Year

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Anna Harding

……………………………………….

Aurelio

I glanced up as my underboss entered the room.

‘Well?’

Leandro grinned at me. ‘Like Cartier were going to say no to you. They didn’t even mention insurance — just handed over several million pounds’ worth of diamonds and asked if Mr Dinelli would be kind enough to return the ones he chooses not to purchase at his convenience.’

I shoved my papers to one side. ‘OK. Open them up.’

‘D-colour diamonds, internally flawless, cut to perfection.’

I smiled at him. Leandro knew nothing about diamonds. He was quoting the store’s sales pitch at me. I always envied him at this time of year. No wife to buy for, no family events to attend — Leandro could focus on work throughout the festive season. Not that I ever resented a moment I spent with Rose. She was my life, my heart’s blood. But his Christmas was significantly less complex than mine.

‘Hold them against your skin,’ I directed him, ‘so I can see the effect.’

Leandro sighed but patiently modelled each of the bracelets in turn. ‘You know they all look the same, Aurelio, right?’

‘The subtle differences in clarity and shine may be lost on you, Leandro, but they are not lost on me — and they certainly won’t be lost on my wife.’ I paused. ‘Unless you are suggesting Rose is as much of a philistine as you are?’

‘Nope. I’d only say that if I wanted to be disembowelled with your pen.’ He shrugged. ‘If the pair of you can see something I can’t that makes these sparklers worth the millions you’ll pay for them, then fair play.’

‘Fair play indeed.’ I turned back to the bracelets. ‘This one,’ I said, picking out a platinum piece with delicate diamonds that looked like a single line of light rather than individual stones. I turned it in my fingers. Perfect balance. No claws. Nothing to snag. As elegant and beautiful as the woman who would be wearing it.

The door opened and Alessandro glowered at me before giving Leandro a play punch .

‘Dress shopping?’ he asked me in disbelief. ‘Seriously? I’m your consigliere, not your fucking personal shopper.’

I ignored the tantrum I endured from him every year and motioned for him to show me the gowns in the boxes he was carrying.

‘I modelled the bracelets,’ Leandro told him slyly. ‘Maybe you should model the dresses?’

‘Maybe you should shut the fuck up.’

Their bickering often irritated me, but I had to admit I found Leandro’s suggestion amusing — particularly when I saw the fury flash across my brother’s face.

‘Aurelio, I should be overseeing an arms shipment, not buying your Christmas present for Rose.’

‘You can go back to the arms deal when I’ve chosen a dress.’ I gave him a cold look. ‘Unless you’re suggesting business is more important than making my wife happy on Christmas Day?’

‘No…’ he replied begrudgingly.

‘Show me, then.’

I hadn’t trusted him to actually pick the gowns. I’d discussed what I was looking for with the boutique manager, and she had curated a small collection to be brought to me. I shuddered to imagine what Alessandro would have chosen with free rein. He’d complimented our sister often enough on her pink atrocities. Alessandro had even less idea than Leandro when it came to women.

I swept my eye over the dresses. All gorgeous. It was hard to decide. Then I shrugged. My personal income was almost doubling every year since I had taken over the Mafia. Decisions did not need to be made.

‘All of them,’ I told my brother.

‘Yeah?’ Alessandro snorted. ‘You going to be that generous with my Christmas present?’

‘No. I’m going to buy you a book on economics so you finally understand the finances of the businesses I trust you to run for me.’

Leandro burst out laughing.

‘And you,’ I continued, turning to my grinning underboss, ‘will be receiving an alarm clock, which I gift in the vain hope that you might actually get out of bed on time occasionally.’

I smiled at them both. ‘Of course, both gifts do depend on me approving the presents you choose to offer my wife. If I find them lacking in taste or subtle extravagance, then my gifts to you may look very different. Do you understand me?’

‘But I don’t know what women like!’ Leandro protested.

‘I don’t have a clue what to get Rose,’ Alessandro groaned. ‘Can’t we just get her some flowers?’

‘You may gift her whatever you please,’ I said calmly. ‘Just be aware I will be taking an interest in it.’

They stumbled out of the room muttering to each other in a mix of fear and frustration. It would be amusing to see what the pair of them came up with. Almost as amusing as watching them sweat.

Christmas may be a time for goodwill to all men in the wider world but, in the Mafia, the festive season found me as cruel and condescending as the rest of the year.

I poured myself a glass of wine and laughed quietly to myself as I ate a mince pie.

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Anton

‘You didn’t have to come,’ I told Nikolai, glaring with disdain at the crowded shopping streets. Only my love for Serena would induce me to enter stores at this time of year. I’d crawl over hot coals for the woman I loved, but Macy’s… that was pushing it even for her.

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‘It’s not like you have a wife to buy anything for,’ I continued. ‘You could be at home, safe from all this madness.’

Nikolai shifted a bit suspiciously and I looked at him in surprise. ‘There’s someone special?!’

‘No. Just someone I thought I’d buy something for this year.’

‘If you’re braving this shit for a woman, then trust me, it’s serious.’

‘Why Macy’s?’ Nikolai asked curiously, changing the subject. ‘And don’t you usually get stores closed before going in?’

‘Any idea how much it would cost to close the biggest store in New York on Christmas Eve?’ I glowered at the crowds around the entrance. ‘Though it might almost be worth it.’ I tried to calculate how many millions it would cost me to shut the store for the twenty minutes I needed to buy my bauble, then sighed. It would make the papers if I did. Serena would go ballistic.

‘She wants this bauble for the tree that I can only get here.’ I fumbled in my pocket. ‘She drew me a diagram of the quickest way to get in and out. We enter here,’ I pointed at the paper in my hand. ‘Two escalators up, get the bauble here. Then back down and exit at the back.’

‘You must really love her.’

I stared again at the crowds. ‘I fucking must. OK, so treat this like a military operation. No stopping, no wasting time. We get in, we follow the map, we achieve the objective and we get the fuck out of there. Right?’

‘Sure?’

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

‘What the hell’s that smell?’ I snarled at my brother as a waft of something sickly and artificial hit my nostrils.

‘Pine?’ he offered. ‘Maybe some vanilla?’ Nikolai breathed in deeply. ‘I like it. Doesn’t it make you think of Christmas?’

‘No. It makes me think of the toilet.’

I glanced down at my map. ‘This is supposed to be the toy section. Why the fuck do kids want china plates?’

‘It’s kitchenware,’ Nikolai replied with a laugh. ‘They must have moved things around since Serena was last here.’

I gazed at him in almost blind panic. ‘So the map’s no good?’

‘No, but we can ask someone.’

I fastened onto the suggestion with relief and marched up to a woman holding a china plate. ‘Baubles?’ I barked. ‘Where are they?’

‘I meant ask someone who works here,’ Nikolai hissed, giving the woman a charming smile and pulling me away from her. ‘Someone with a name badge.’

I looked around and saw a young man with a Macy’s badge on his lapel. ‘You,’ I snapped. ‘Where are the baubles kept?’

‘Fifth floor. Go through lingerie, take the escalator at perfume, turn right at shoes, take a second escalator at handbags, go through men’s coats and men’s jackets, but turn left before men’s shoes and take—’

I shoved my paper at him. ‘Draw it.’

‘I don’t need to draw—’ he began.

‘Draw me a map,’ I said in a deadly voice. ‘Or I’ll fucking leave with your baubles as well.’

The boy silently drew some directions on the back of Serena’s map and I stared at it belligerently. ‘What’s this?’ I asked, jabbing a finger in the middle. ‘INT? Intelligence or interrogation?’

‘Women’s intimates,’ the boy stuttered. ‘Lingerie.’

‘Bras,’ Nikolai added helpfully.

‘OK.’ I looked at the map again. ‘I can work with this.’

‘He was scared of me,’ I told Nikolai as we set off again. But I stopped thoughtfully as we walked past a display and picked up a metal torture clamp. ‘Kids could see these,’ I said indignantly. ‘Shouldn’t there be an age limit on this kind of thing?’

‘On nutcrackers?’

‘Oh… right.’ I put them down. ‘The knives though — you’ve got to admit that’s going too far.’

‘We’re in cookery, Anton. Chef’s knives.’

‘Could still use them for violence,’ I retorted, picking one up and brandishing it at my brother. I tested the sharpness on my finger. ‘Shit, this could cut through bone.’

Nikolai took the knife off me gently and put it down. ‘Playing with the knives looks a bit threatening,’ he said mildly. ‘The kind of thing that gets you arrested.’

I shrugged.

‘Gets you arrested and makes you late for picking up Serena.’

I stepped away from the knives quickly. ‘You’re right. OK, back to the baubles.’

Fifteen escalators and six miles later, we finally reached the Christmas section.

‘So what does this bauble look like?’ Nikolai asked me.

I pulled the paper out again and squinted at Serena’s handwriting. ‘Glass. Clear. New York skyline etched on it. Gold date. Says “Herald Square”.’

Nikolai nodded thoughtfully. ‘Not like Serena to be sentimental.’

‘She said it was traditional for our family.’

‘Since when?’

‘Since last year,’ I said darkly. ‘Which apparently makes it sacred.’

We stared at a wall of ornaments. There were thousands of the fucking things. Entire armies of them. Red, gold, hanging balls shaped like pickles. One shaped like what I was fairly sure was a pile of skulls wearing a Santa hat.

‘This is excessive,’ I said flatly. ‘No civilisation needs this many baubles.’

Nikolai picked one up, turning it gently between his fingers and watching the light bounce off it onto the wall. ‘People like Christmas, Anton.’

I scanned the shelves with growing irritation, scowling at a woman as she edged closer to the rack we were looking at. ‘These are wrong. Too colourful. Too… pink.’

I sighed and pulled him down another aisle.

‘Anton,’ Nikolai said quietly, ‘that one looks close.’

I followed his gaze.

There it was. Clear glass. Skyline. Gold lettering. I checked my paper. It ticked all the boxes. I exhaled slowly with utter relief.

‘That’s it.’

I reached out to take it, but another hand grabbed it at the same time.

I looked up and assessed the intruder with a calculated stare. Tourist. Mid-forties. Festive jumper. No spatial awareness.

‘Oh!’ he said brightly. ‘Guess we both want the same one.’

I didn’t release the bauble. ‘Yes,’ I told him. ‘We do. But only one of us is leaving with it.’

He laughed. ‘Fair enough. Shall we flip a coin?’

Nikolai cleared his throat softly.

The man looked at him. Then back at me. Then at the fact that I was still holding the ornament.

‘Actually,’ he said quickly, ‘my wife might like something else.’

He let go and I snatched the bauble away.

‘Wise.’

He held up his hands as he backed off. ‘Merry… err… Christmas.’

‘Yeah. Sure.’

I placed the bauble carefully into a padded box and checked it twice. ‘Objective secured.’

‘What about wrapping?’

I froze.

‘Serena didn’t mention wrapping.’

‘I think she’d like it wrapped,’ Nikolai said gently.

I sighed. The wrapping section was worse than the ornaments.

Glitter. Bells. Bows the size of small animals.

‘This is hostile territory,’ I muttered. ‘And I don’t want anything coloured or glittery.’

Nikolai selected some paper calmly. Deep green with a gold edge. Suitably non-glittery.

‘You’re good at this,’ I said begrudgingly.

He grinned at me. ‘I couldn’t be any worse at it than you.’

As we walked back out into the cold, bauble secured, bag swinging safely at my side, I felt the kind of calm I usually only ever managed after six vodkas.

‘She’s going to love it,’ Nikolai said.

‘I know,’ I replied. ‘That’s the problem. She’ll want me to do this again next year.’

Nikolai smiled. ‘Will you?’

I nodded. ‘But I’ll make her draw a fucking better map,’ I added darkly.

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Seasonal greetings everyone!

Here’s the first of three bonus festive scenes where the men from Tangled Empires go Christmas shopping. Today’s the turn of Alexi who manages to cause chaos in Santa’s grotto with his daughter…

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Alexi

My little daughter bounced at my side in delight as we walked past all the store windows covered in spray snow and tinsel. She was so excited by everything we saw that I was worried about losing her. So I’d put a leather wrist strap on her and tied the other end around my own wrist. I was getting some funny looks, but like fuck would anyone dare challenge me.

‘OK, so a present for your mom. Any ideas?’

Catriona looked up at me blankly. No fucking help there. She probably thought Eloise would want a glitter pony or a princess dress. Though I couldn’t blame a five-year-old for not knowing what my wife would like to open on Christmas Day. My choice of present was irritatingly limited. I liked Eloise in leather and handcuffs, but if I took Catriona to those types of shops I’d not only lose my wife but probably my balls as well.

‘Daddy! Daddy! Santa Claus!’

Fuck. I’d forgotten the grotto. I’d been meaning to avoid it. Yeah, there he was — some fat cunt in a fake beard. But Catriona was looking at him with such excitement I didn’t have the heart to pull her away.

‘You want to sit on his knee, yeah?’

She beamed. ‘Yes! I’ve made a list for him.’

Eloise dealt with presents for the kids, so nothing on her list would be a problem for me. I resented the — I glanced at the sign — fifteen fucking dollars for queuing forty minutes to let my daughter sit on a probable pervert’s knee, but if it mattered to her… I sighed.

‘OK, we’ll get in the line.’

‘Daddy, if you got your gun out we could go to the front of the line?’

Oh, fucking ace. Her loud voice was already drawing attention to us. The last thing I wanted was for security to know I was armed while queuing for Santa’s grotto.

‘We’ll wait our turn,’ I told her. ‘I didn’t bring my gun.’

‘Yes you did, Daddy. It’s in your suit jacket. I saw you put it in there.’ She started to pull at my lapel. ‘It’s in the pocket!’

‘If you’re quiet for the next ten minutes, I’ll give you twenty dollars,’ I blurted out desperately.

That was the kind of parenting that always got me in trouble. I was supposed to explain bad behaviour calmly and reasonably, not bribe her out of it. But my wife wasn’t standing in a queue for Santa’s grotto with three guns and two knives on her while a five-year-old announced the fact loudly to an entire shopping precinct.

My little daughter thought for a moment. ‘Thirty! Then I can buy two sparkle ponies.’

‘Yeah, OK. Thirty,’ I agreed.

She clamped her mouth shut and managed a whole minute before chirping up again.

‘Daddy, Santa is really fat. How does he get down the chimney?’

I sighed. This wasn’t much better. We were standing behind two large women who stopped their conversation at once to hear my reply. Any accidental body shaming from me and I’d need my fucking guns after all.

‘Magic key,’ I muttered.

‘No, he comes down the chimney… Daddy, suppose there’s a FIRE. He’d burn his bum!’ She collapsed into giggles. ‘He’d have to go sit in the snow!’

‘Look,’ I hissed at her, ‘I’ll buy you a whole stable of sparkle ponies if you just shut up until we get to Santa.’

That worked. Catriona just skipped happily on the spot, holding my hand while we waited our turn. Eventually — and after what felt more like three days than forty minutes — some gimp in a green suit beckoned Catriona over and took her into the grotto.

She was in there less than thirty seconds before the same green-clad cunt brought her out again, howling. I glared at him in disbelief. What the fuck? How had Santa managed to get my kid in tears? I stalked over to him.

‘You want to tell me what’s going on?’

‘Santa doesn’t like bad little girls,’ he replied.

What the actual fuck? ‘You’d better fucking explain that,’ I told him, while my little girl clung to my arm and wept.

‘Her list wasn’t appropriate.’

I was getting angry now. ‘I’ll be the judge of what’s appropriate to be on my daughter’s Christmas list. If some jerk in a beard doesn’t like it, he can fuck off.’

‘The elf said I was a bad little girl,’ Catriona sobbed. ‘And I wasn’t allowed a present.’

‘Yeah, I’ll sort you out some presents. Don’t worry.’ I turned back to the elf, grabbed the little shit by his scruff and lifted him up by his neck. ‘You and Santa are going to apologise to my kid. And if you don’t, I’m going to take every bauble off that fucking Christmas tree and shove them up his ass.’

The elf struggled in my grip but managed to pass me a piece of paper, which I read in my free hand while restraining him with the other. After a few seconds, I silently dropped him as I stared in disbelief at the paper.

‘See?’ the elf asked, rubbing his throat where I’d grabbed him.

‘Err… yeah. OK. This isn’t quite what I thought she was giving Santa.’

‘It’s supposed to be a list of presents,’ the elf told me indignantly. ‘Not a list of horrible things she wants to happen to her classmates.’

‘Yeah, I get that…’ I opened my wallet and handed the elf a few bills. ‘Get yourself a new… costume.’

‘She hit Santa.’

She hit Santa? Fuck. My daughter was a monster. I peeled a few more bills off until the elf looked less likely to report the pair of us to the police and pulled Catriona away from the grotto.

‘You hit Santa?’

She nodded, her bottom lip wobbling.

‘Catriona, your mom will go spare when she finds out about this.’ I brandished her Christmas list at her. ‘Trying to turn your classmates green and make them ill.’

‘Mom will be so mad at us both,’ she told me dolefully.

Yeah, she wasn’t wrong. I’d allowed my daughter to hand Santa a customised kids torture list, let her hit him, and then personally assaulted an elf. Eloise would murder me. I’d been hoping to palm the kids off on one of my brothers and spend the night in bed with her. That wasn’t going to happen now. Unless…

‘We could not tell her,’ I suggested cautiously. ‘Maybe just forget the whole Santa thing happened.’

‘Do I still get my ponies?’

‘Yeah. As many as you want.’

‘OK, Daddy.’

She was skipping and happy again as I bought up half the toy store. But as I walked to my car, covered in glitter from twenty sparkle ponies, I decided it was worth every cent — and the shame of my bodged attempt at parenting — if I got to keep the whole elf thing a secret and get my beautiful but oblivious wife naked in my bed.

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MAJOR SPOILER for books 2 and beyond so if you haven’t read book 2 (Deceitful Union) yet then don’t read today’s bonus content until you have!

(This is also very sexually explicit today…)

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Leandro

1982

Few people really got Aurelio the way I did. He was considered a ruthless and demanding leader by those who served under him. But to me he would always be the boy I had grown up with. He’d asked me to be his future underboss when we were both in our early teens and I’d never forgotten that he’d chosen to ask me and not one of the sons of the high ranking families.

When I’d asked him why—he told me friendship mattered and there would come a time when he needed men around him he knew he could trust.

I was seventeen when I told my best friend and soon to be boss that I was gay.

‘You’ll need to find someone else to be your underboss,’ I’d said awkwardly.

There had never been an openly gay made man in the mafia and Aurelio was a conservative with strong family values. The mafia were openly homophobic and the penalty for being a gay man had traditionally been death. I trusted my best friend not to go that far but I didn’t expect him to tolerate me playing any role in the organisation he was destined to lead.

‘Why? Aurelio asked, ‘Worried I’ll work you too hard?

‘I’m being serious.’

‘Ok I’m being serious too. Why?’

‘Haven’t you ever wondered why I’ve never had a girlfriend?’ I muttered.

Aurelio shrugged, ‘You struggle to get pussy. I can hook you up with some girls if you want.’

He could indeed. Aurelio was very popular with the girls though I knew they bored him outside the bedroom. Even at seventeen Aurelio had been more interested in his ambition than his sex life.

I didn’t know what the girls saw in him. He was a lifelong friend and I loved the guy but I couldn’t see why anyone would have any romantic interest in him. He was too cold and, if I was honest, too self centred to make anything work with a girl.

Had I not been gay I’d probably have resented all those evenings we spent planning for the future when he was Capo. But it hadn’t bothered me. I didn’t have anywhere else to be.

‘No. Look don’t make this difficult. It’s not about me wanting pussy.’

‘No?’

‘The exact opposite if you must know.’

Aurelio looked at me sharply. A less intelligent man might have needed more of a hint but I saw his quick mind turn it over and reach the right conclusion in seconds.

‘Interesting,’ he mused, ‘I did wonder a few times.’

‘I should have told you sooner,’ I admitted. ‘You’re going to be my boss.’ I caught myself, ‘You were going to be my boss. I get that can’t happen now.’

‘Leandro I fail to see why you preferring cock to pussy means anything has to change. Yes you’ll need to be discreet but most of the old guard will be duped if you date the odd woman in public. Fuck who you like in private.’

I gazed at my best friend in disbelief and he shrugged. ‘It’s not a problem for me. I value your honesty in telling me.’

‘It really isn’t an issue? Your predecessors have killed for less.’

‘Not an issue, no. I don’t get it from an aesthetic point of view though. Presumably because I’m straight. I take it you fucked a few girls to make sure?’

I paused, ‘Actually, no.’

‘You’ve never been with a girl? So how do you know you don’t like it then?’

‘Probably the same way you know you don’t like having your cock sucked by a man. Some things you don’t need to try to know you don’t like them.’

‘I disagree,’ Aurelio replied, ‘How can you decide something like that with no data to back it up?’

‘Well how do you know you don’t like men then?’

Aurelio shrugged, ‘Ok, challenge accepted.’ He sat down and unzipped his pants. ‘Go on then, blow me.’

I was appalled, amused and insanely turned on at the same time. Trust Aurelio to react in a way that no made man could ever be expected to.

‘Seriously?’ I asked him.

‘Get on your knees and blow me,’ he repeated, ‘I want to know what I’m missing.’

I couldn’t believe I was about to suck my best friend off —but I did what he said and knelt in front of him. Aurelio fisted his hand in my hair and dragged my mouth down to his cock. The fact he was already hard gave me confidence that he wasn’t doing this just to humiliate me. I mean he was sitting there in front of me with a hard on for fuck’s sake.

I grasped the base of his shaft and moved my hand up and down while watching his face to see how he reacted. He looked more interested than anything. Spurred on by a desire to turn his scientific interest into something he’d remember for the rest of his life I took his cock in my mouth and started to work it down my throat. I liked it hard and messy with plenty of spit. I may not have his experience with women but this was by no means the first time I’d had a cock in my mouth. I knew what I was doing.

I imagined the girls who usually sucked him off were tentative and gentle. I’d tried it with a girl once. God it had been boring.

I pumped at his cock like my life depended on it. I was rough with my hand and my mouth and I set a fucking hard pace. Breathing faster and harder I took his cock deeper and deeper so it hit the back of my throat. I bet he was used to a gag reflex. But I didn’t have one. He could pound into my throat all day. I fucking loved it.

Even Aurelio couldn’t maintain a neutral expression while I fucked his cock with my mouth. I saw his jaw tense and felt his balls tighten in my hand.

‘Want to come?’ I panted.

He didn’t answer me but put his hand on the back of my neck and forced my mouth back onto his cock. He held my mouth firmly in place with my hair as he shot his release down my throat.

Aurelio sat back with a smile and zipped his pants back up. He grinned at me: ‘I’m probably the first future Capo in history to do that with his underboss.’

I stared at him and then we both burst out laughing.

‘Fuck it,’ said Aurelio, once he got his breath back. ‘I’m not losing my best friend just because you like doing that.’ He offered me his hand, ‘Still happy to work for me?’

I shook his hand. I was more than happy and I’d never admired a man more than I admired my best friend Aurelio Dinelli that day.

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Yep, it’s time for Anton and Serena and these two broke my heart when I wrote it. Of all my characters, nobody wears their heart on their sleeve as much as Anton and nobody is prepared to go through fire for love as much as Serena.

Here’s a peek into their story which is out 13.11.2025.

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January 1989

My father’s expectation that I marry a Russian girl has never been a problem for me.
I like women, but I’ve always found them interchangeable. One attractive girl has always been the same as another for me.

I treat girls well and have never been short of female attention, but I’d never expected to fall violently in love.

However, my views changed the moment I met Serena Caletti.

Serena wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever met—although she was very beautiful. But it wasn’t her appearance that knocked the breath out of me—it was her confidence.

I was used to timid women who were in awe of my position in the Bratva and my reputation for being ruthless. I found them sweet, but they bored me. I was the boss in my work life. I didn’t need a wife who wanted me to play the same role at home.

Serena was the least docile woman I’d ever met. She stared me down as if she expected me to fall at her feet and worship her.

And, fuck, I would have been happy to.

If she’d just been haughty, my interest would probably have lasted weeks rather than months. But Serena was also such fucking good company. I’d never thought of a woman as a friend before. My brothers were my friends. Women were pretty little things I took out for dinner.

But Serena shattered my neat worldview and forced me to see her as an equal.
She demanded the same respect I did—and she got it from me.

My role in the Bratva could be tough sometimes. My father leaned on me more every year that went by, and my brothers always needed a lot of managing—particularly Alexi, who rarely ever managed to go a full week without causing chaos of some kind.

I didn’t want a wife who lowered her eyes with submission when I entered the room. I wanted a wife who would help me shoulder the burden of my role. A wife who could support me.

I wanted Serena.

I met her at the theatre. I’d been dragged along to some asinine show by my latest blonde. I wasn’t interested in the girl or the show, and when she disappeared to the bathroom during the interval, I seriously considered just fucking off back home to play racing games with my brothers.

That’s when I saw Serena arguing with her date. He was clearly pushing his luck by the look of it. Leaning toward her and trying to intimidate her with his height.

I watched them with interest.

The man put his hand on her arm, and Serena drew her hand back and slapped him—hard—across the cheek. His face contorted in rage, and I stepped forward automatically.

‘Do you want to fuck off?’ I suggested calmly.

‘Or what?’ he asked belligerently.

‘Or I’ll eviscerate you,’ I said coolly. ‘I’ll spill your fucking guts on the carpet, and believe me—I wouldn’t lose a moment’s sleep over it.’

He went pale and started to back off.‘ Come on, Serena,’ he said, trying to swagger. ‘We’re out of here.’

‘Alone,’ I replied. ‘And quickly—if you want to keep all your body parts.’

I turned to Serena as the pussy ran off. If she’d been submissively grateful, I’d have just told her it was no problem and gone back to my blonde. But she didn’t.

She did the one thing I never would have expected—she threw her head back and laughed.

I stared at her in amazement.

‘Thanks,’ she said with a smile. ‘God, he was an idiot. I really do pick them sometimes. You saved him a whack on his other cheek. I hope he’s grateful.’ She held out her hand. ‘Serena Caletti—and you are?’

‘Err…Anton Kostrov.’ I recovered a little. ‘Anton,’ I repeated.

‘Well, it’s nice to meet you,’ she said, clearly amused by my stumbling. ‘Are you enjoying the show?’

‘Kind of…’

‘Really? I thought it was tedious beyond words. I was thinking about leaving at the interval, and now that lunatic’s gone, I think I’ll call it a night.’

‘I’ll take you for a drink,’ I offered, before I even knew what I was saying. But fuck the show. Fuck the blonde. I wanted to spend my evening with this woman.

‘Ok,’ she agreed. ‘In fact, you can take me to dinner too if you like. The halfwit was supposed to be taking me, and I forgot lunch—so I’m starving.’

‘Sure,’ I nodded.

‘Come on, then. I know a really good place on Fifth. We’ll go there. I presume you like Italian?’

‘Yeah.’

I shouldn’t have gone anywhere near an Italian restaurant unless it was under the protection of the Bratva—which very few were. But I didn’t care if every Mob enemy I’d ever made was sitting in the restaurant. I was going to take this woman wherever she wanted to go.

***

‘So what do you do, Anton?’ she asked when our food arrived. ‘You’re obviously in some kind of management role.’

She was shrewd as well. I liked her more and more. ‘I run a few businesses,’ I said evasively.

‘You might know my father, then. Domenico Caletti?’

Fuck. She was related to that Caletti—the high-ranking Mobster. Shit. This really wasn’t a good idea.

‘I know of him,’ I said carefully. ‘But I move in different circles.’

‘Really?’ She rested her chin on her long, elegant fingers and leaned forward. ‘What circles?’

I wasn’t going to lie to her. She deserved more respect than that. And it’s not like she’d be shocked by organised crime if her father was Caletti.

‘I’m in the Bratva,’ I admitted. ‘And I’m fairly high up, too.’

Serena burst out laughing. ‘Didn’t I tell you I pick them?! Only I could meet the only interesting man I’ve met in months, and he turns out to be in the Bratva!’

I was the most interesting man she’d met in months. I liked that.

‘So what kind of things do you do? Similar to my father? All murder and drug smuggling?’

I was used to women who were either terrified by my work for the Bratva or who liked the fantasy of being with a powerful man. Serena fit into neither category. She was just… comfortable with it.

I clearly didn’t intimidate her, but she wasn’t fawning either. She didn’t want me to play the role of hard man. I actually got the impression that nothing I told her would shock her.

‘I organise the gambling,’ I told her.

‘And the whores?’ she asked with a laugh.

‘Well, yeah.’

‘Similar to my father, then. I take it you aren’t married?’

‘No.’ But I fucking would be, if I could ever persuade this girl to accept my ring.

‘Any special girls?’

‘Nope. I left the latest one in the bathroom at the theatre.’ I hesitated. ‘Plenty of one-night stands, but nobody significant.’

‘Well, don’t expect me to be a one-night stand,’ she said, tossing her hair. ‘Though you are rather sexy, so I might be tempted if we go out again.’

‘Do you want to go out with me again?’

‘Why not? But don’t call at the house, whatever you do. My father would die on the spot if a member of the Bratva called on me.’

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