Title: Devious
Author: J.M. Stoneback
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Release Date: September 21, 2020
Release Date: September 21, 2020
Blurb
It's time to pay my father's debt.
Nobody is stupid enough to steal from him, Cayden Vitali.
They call him Devious for a reason. He doesn't let his debts go unpaid. He collects what he's owed.
Lex Bartoli works for Devious. Lex should know better than to steal his money. But mistakes were made, and now it's time to pay.
Unfortunately for me, Devious knows exactly what he wants as payment for Lex's stupid mistake.
Me.
Lex's daughter.
If I won't agree to marry Devious, he has another way of making my family pay.
The choice is mine.
Marry the enemy... or watch him kill my father as payback.
Devious is a mafia book with an arranged marriage, enemies to lovers and an age gap romance.
Nobody is stupid enough to steal from him, Cayden Vitali.
They call him Devious for a reason. He doesn't let his debts go unpaid. He collects what he's owed.
Lex Bartoli works for Devious. Lex should know better than to steal his money. But mistakes were made, and now it's time to pay.
Unfortunately for me, Devious knows exactly what he wants as payment for Lex's stupid mistake.
Me.
Lex's daughter.
If I won't agree to marry Devious, he has another way of making my family pay.
The choice is mine.
Marry the enemy... or watch him kill my father as payback.
Devious is a mafia book with an arranged marriage, enemies to lovers and an age gap romance.
Excerpt
Every minute that
ticks by, butterflies tickle the inside of my rib cage as I wait for Devious to
waltz through the bedroom. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being married.
I’ve never slept in a bed with a man. When I would visit Atrocious, I'd sleep
in his guestroom.
The cotton sheets
stick to my exposed skin, and I turn on my side. I have on my tank top and
pajama pants. Nothing fancy because I’m not going to have sex with Devious, and
I’m going to let him know up front.
My pulse jumps as
Devious strolls through the room. He’s no longer sporting the tux he wore at
the wedding, but black t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Those sweatpants should be
banned from the male species as it shows off the outline of his dick. My cheeks
flush and my legs shake. He’s stupid beautiful. It makes me sick to be sexually
attracted to him.
He slides under the
black blanket, faces me, and stares into my eyes. Silence falls between us, and
the only thing I hear is the air conditioner pumping out cold air.
“We can’t have sex,”
I tell him. “I’m sick.”
“Sick how?”
“Uh. My stomach
hurts, and I spoke with the doctor. She said I can’t have sex for a while
because I have a type of illness that won’t allow me to have a baby.”
He tilts his head to
the side, a frown paints his face. He stands up from the bed. “What’s the name
of the illness?”
“I don’t know.”
“How long have you
had it?” The lines around his mouth crinkles.
“Um… three years.”
“You need to be
punished for lying.”
I freeze, and my
eyes widen. “What?”
“Pull down your
panties, lie down with your ass in the air.”
I’m not lying!” I
sit up on my knees.
“How fucking stupid
do you think I am?” He folds his hand across his chest. “If you really were
sick, you would know the name of your illness.”
I shift my gaze from
him.
“Pull down your
pants. Now, Roselyn Vitali.” He grits his teeth. “I’m tired of your
disrespect.”
“How am I being
disrespectful?”
“Let me refresh your
memory.” He rubs his thumb on his chin. “When you tried to get me upset at
breakfast by saying you’re going to the club to lose your virginity to someone
else. That’s you being spiteful because I made you wear a necklace. Then you
were being very disrespectful towards my brother and almost cost me a three
million dollar deal. That’s you being childish and mean. And you lied to me
about being sick. That’s you wanting to take control of the situation.
Apparently, you don’t respect me. "
My palms are sweaty,
and I chew on my tongue.
Apparently, he's
been watching my behavior because all of it is true. I sit up on my knees,
straighten my back as heat creeps up on the back of my neck. I knew the real
Devious was going to come out sooner or later.
“Pull down yo—”
“Devious, I’m
so—"
“No, you’re not.
You’re only sorry because you got caught. You need to learn to respect me. If I
force you to do it, you won’t like it.”
With trembling
hands, I pull down my pants, bending down on the bed with my ass in the air,
giving him a direct view of my vagina. His large frame hovers over me, and my
pulse jumps. His hand smacks across my delicate flesh, and I grit my teeth as I
keep the tears at bay. Devious is already trying to break my spirit, but I
won’t let him.
I get up and pull my
pants over my hips. “Don’t put your hands on me ever again.” I stick my hand in
pants, digging my nails into my thigh. The pain of him slapping my ass arouses
me in places I don’t want. Humiliation dampens my cheeks.
“You will obey me.
You will show me respect or be prepared to be punished.”
From the corner of
my eye, I watch him go to the mini bar next to the walk-in closet.
“If you didn’t want
to have sex, then you could have said so. I have zero tolerance for liars,” he
murmurs.
The sound of the
amble liquid pours into the crystal glass fills the air. Tears stream down my
face, and he waltzes over, using his callous thumb to wipe the tears from under
my eyes. His touch is gentle and warm. And the odd thing is, I want him to
touch me everywhere. I turn my head away from his touch, but he grips my chin.
His violet eyes meet mine. “Just because I’m kind to you doesn’t mean you can
take advantage of me. I plan to be the best husband I can be, but take my
kindness for weakness, and I’ll be the cruelest person you’ll ever meet.” He
sips his bourbon as his eyes still bore into mines.
My throat bobs as I
swallow hard. His words chill to the bone. “I’m not going to take your shit,
Cayden.”
He chuckles. “I
control thousands of men across the U.S. I'm sure I can tame a
nineteen-year-old naïve girl.”
“Good luck.”
The bastard has the
audacity to smirk at me. He rubs his thumb on my bottom lip, and I’m tempted to
nip it just to see him squirm. “You’re going to make this marriage interesting,
and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”
Author Bio
J.M. writes
contemporary and dark mafia romance. She lives in Georgia, with her three boys
and her husband. Her hobbies consist of reading, playing video games, and
spending time with her family.
Author Links
