Vittorio Russo—mafia don, brutal savior, the kind of man whose hands are always bloodstained.
He shot the men who were going to auction me off like property.
Then he locked me in his penthouse.
Fed me. Clothed me. Controlled every second of my life.
He says I’m safe now.
He says I belong to him.
I should hate him.
But when he looks at me, I forget how to breathe. When he touches me, I forget I was ever free. And when I beg, it’s not for escape.
I don’t know what’s happening to me.
All I know is I’m not the same person who walked into that cage.
And maybe I never want to be again.
Publisher’s Gilded Cage is a standalone dark, high-heat mafia gay romance with triggers and the first book in The Syndicate series. It features kidnapping, captivity, psychological manipulation, morally grey characters, and an obsessive, dangerous antihero. There are graphic scenes of violence and power exchange, as well as emotionally intense and explicit sexual content. This is not a safe or conventional love story. If any of these elements are upsetting or triggering, please do not read this book.
Man... I wanted to really like this but it was sooooo painfully repetitive. The same conversations end at the same "its just honest" statement. This easily could been half as long. Meanwhile every time something interesting happened it was so brief i basically just skimmed the last 20% of the book.
2.5 stars Good idea and had some good moments but in the end it fell short. There were too many plot holes and unexplored scenarios that stopped me from believing the story. And a few errors and contradictions.
I enjoyed reading the book but it is a shallow read, and I found myself skimming whole chapters.
I will probably give this author another chance and read more of her books but goddamn, I will not be reading this one ever again. I stopped at 62%. Like sir, I understand if an impossible situation I don’t even know how I would react in that situation, but you are literally blaming the one man keeping you alive you were about to either be sold or dead and you are alive.