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....

He didn't come to Paris to fall for her. He came to claim her. She was never supposed to matter. She was supposed to break. Sabrina Badalamenti was a means to an end, the unknown daughter of the man threatening to destroy everything Sebastian Diamanti had spent his life building. Finding her was...

She thinks this is a cage. She doesn't yet understand it's a crown. He offered her a job in Rome, and gave her no choice but to take it. She stayed because Sebastian Diamanti made it impossible to leave. Sabrina Badalamenti is leverage. A carefully chosen pawn in a game of blood and revenge she...

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

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....

Enter the world of the Dark Obsession series where power, control, and manipulation reign supreme. Contains books 1-5.

She's trapped inside my twisted game...and I am never letting her go....

I never thought a simple walk in New York City would lead me into the shadows of a sinister game. One moment, I'm fighting off attackers in a dark alley, and the next, I'm saved by a mysterious stranger. He drags me into a darkened building, his grip both protective and possessive.

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....

Darius Ivanov believes the American branch of the Ivanov crime family has grown soft. Too many weddings. Too many feelings. Men who forget that love is a liability. He's there to set them right.

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....

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....

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....

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....

My bodyguard is supposed to keep me safe, not control me.

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.

We were not meant to be together…then a dark twist of fate stepped in, and we're the ones who will pay for it....

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.

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.

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.