Since the dawn of time, waging war on those who have wronged us has been embedded in the very fiber of mankind’s true nature. The thirst for vengeance and retribution has always prevailed overturning the other cheek to one’s enemies. Creating chaos and bloodshed is preferable to being subjected to vapid dialogues of peaceful negotiation.

None hold this way of life more sacred than made men.

Honor.
Loyalty.
Courage.

These are the codes of conduct of every mafia family.

However, the same cannot be said when dealing with their enemies.

Throughout recent decades, in the midst of civil evolution, an ancient war was being fought. From both sides of the globe, blood was spilled in the name of honor, while the brutal carnage each family bestowed upon the other was anything but noble. Soldiers, kin, and innocent lives were lost on all sides, and the inevitable extinction of the mafioso way of life was fast approaching.

In the most unlikely scenarios, six families came together in an undisclosed location to negotiate a peace treaty. As the leaders of the most influential crime families in the world, they recognized that a ceasefire was the only way to guarantee their endurance. Should this attempt fail, then their annihilation was all but imminent.

The treaty was effectively simple.

Each family would offer up one of their daughters as a sacrifice to their enemies. Marriage was the only way to ensure that the families wouldn’t retaliate against one another. It would also guarantee that the following successor’s bloodline would be forever changed, creating an alliance that would continue throughout generations to come.

Not all in attendance were happy with the arrangement.

The deep scars gained from years of plight and hatred can’t be so easily healed or erased. However, even the cynical and leery knew that this pact was their best chance of survival. Although the uncertainty of the treaty’s success was felt by every mob boss there, one by one, the families swore an oath that would bind them to it forever.

And as the words spilled from their lips and the scent of blood hung in the air, they made sure innocent lives would yet again be deemed collateral damage to their mafia wars—one last time.

Their daughters would have to pay the price of peace.

Whether they wanted to or not.

By
Loxley Savage

I was sold to my enemies…

The rivalry between the Italians of the Outfit and the Cosa Nostra has been ongoing for decades. So imagine my terror when I find myself, the daughter of the Cosa Nostra’s boss, at the bitter end of a raw deal with the heirs of the Outfit.

Now I’m a casualty of a so-called ‘peace treaty,’ forced into the calloused, blood-stained hands of the Moretti brothers.

Salvatore, Armani, and Fausto.

The handsome faces of the Outfit bosses don’t hide the monsters that lurk beneath. They claim I’m theirs, that my life was forfeited to them in a pact sealed with my dead father’s blood. But they’re not the only ones who want to own me.

When someone from my past lurks in the dark corners of my new existence, things turn from bad to worse. My cries for help are lost, buried among the chaos of the Moretti’s dark world.

My life was never mine. And now, if I don’t figure a way out of this, I’ll become the next victim of the Mafia Wars.

NOTE:
This is a dark, contemporary, reverse harem mafia romance intended for readers above the age of 18. Within these pages are scenes of graphic violence, explicit sex, group scenes, kidnapping, kink exploration, discipline, foul language, and more which may be difficult to read. If such material triggers or offends you, please do not read this book.

If you’re brave, enter the dark and fucked up world of the Mafia Wars.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

I think this is the darkest of all the books so far. It’s made that way because while Salvatore has always hated Carlo Rossi, it becomes worse after Carlo devastates him in the first pages of this book.

Now Carlo Rossi started the discussion to end the wars between the family and it looks like he’s ignoring it at a family wedding when he allows Valentina to dance with his friend’s son Marco Capelli. He struck me as a bit of a creep during that dance and even more so later on.

We see the Moretti brothers at their sister Lily’s wedding in Mexico as brief as that is.

The way Valentina is brought to Chicago also differs from the other books. She’s escorted by security from the grounds of her school after she sees her car being towed away.

Her first encounter with the Moretti’s is with the twins, Armani and Fausto. It’s not the most pleasant of meetings, as they pretty much tell her to do as they say, when they say it with no arguments. It’s Salvatore who bursts all the bubbles as he’s the one to inform her of the treaty. The one that promised her to them once she turned eighteen. The betrayal by her family is just the tip of this iceburg, as she realizes she is indeed their possession.

Now Salvatore is trying to figure out why Alfonzo Capelli is stealing his shipments and he isn’t very pleasant about it. He intends to get more information from Val. It does quite work the way he thinks, and he leaves her alone for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Armani tries to initiate a conversation without intimidating her. Unfortunately, Fausto joins them and jumps right into the subject.

This is a favorite scene.

The kitchen doors swing open again, and in walks Matilda, our morning help and a woman of many talents. “Good morning, sirs, ma’am,” she greets before getting started in the kitchen. Matilda is Joseph’s wife, an older woman with gray and white hair, which she always wears pinned to the top of her head. She wears— completely by choice— a long black maid’s dress, complete with a white apron. She bustles about, pulling out pans and ingredients, and soon the smell of bacon fills the kitchen.

Valentina watches Matilda like a lion stalking its prey, her little pink tongue darting out to lick her lips.

“So,” Fausto starts, spinning in his seat to face her while simultaneously blocking her from leaving the table. She’s stuck between us. “Tell me about Alfonzo Capelli.”

This was not a conversation we previously discussed having, but one that’s important nonetheless. I’ve been so caught up in her closeness this morning that I forgot about the bigger picture— who she is and what she means for our future.

She runs her fingers through her hair then holds her cup tightly, her hands shaking. “Umm. He’s my dad’s friend.”

Fausto slides his hand over her shoulder and around the back of her neck, gripping her tightly. The gesture makes me jealous, because he’s touching her and I’m not. “I’m sure there’s more to it than that, isn’t there, kitten?”

Kitten?

That’s what I fucking call her.

She winces as his fingers tighten, and her shoulders scrunch up. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I only just met him for the first time a few months ago at my cousin’s wedding.”

Fausto releases her neck and strokes her hair. “Very good. Did anything about his personality jump out at you as strange or unusual?”

“No. We didn’t even talk. He was sitting by my dad, and I was sitting by… by…”

“Yes? Fausto prompts, urging her to continue.

“My brothers,” she finishes, but the tone in her voice sounds like a lie. “He never said a word to me, too busy drinking whiskey and smoking cigars with my dad.”

Fausto wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side. “Was anyone else from his family there that night?”

I see her shutting down minute by minute. I had her relaxed and talking until he came in. “Just drop it for now, Fausto. Let the girl have something to eat, you can interrogate her later.”

Fausto purses his lips. “Fine. I’m hungry anyway.”

Matilda brings over a tray filled with crispy bacon, a bowl of strawberries, syrup, whipped cream, and a pile of waffles. “Breakfast, sirs, ma’am.”

I take a heated plate with an oversized waffle. “Thanks, Matilda. You’re dismissed.”

Matilda offers us a small curtsy as Fausto grabs a waffle as well. “You need to eat,” he says, sliding the plate in front of Val.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You have to be,” I argue. “I know you haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

“Yeah, thanks for dinner,” she mumbles, then claps her hands to her mouth, realizing she said that out loud.

Fausto, ignoring her outburst, coats her waffle with syrup and strawberries, and adds a squirt of whipped cream. “If you had behaved earlier, you would have been fed. I told you to be a good girl and you didn’t listen.” He cuts her a bite of waffle and holds it up to her lips. “Open.”

She moves to take the fork. “I can feed myself.”

“But you’re not,” he counters. “I gave you a chance to feed yourself and you made the decision to fucking starve. Since you clearly are incapable of doing something as simple as feeding yourself, it’s now up to us to see that you eat. We have plans for you, so we can’t have you withering away. You’re small enough as it is.”

“But I—”

Fausto cuts her off. “It’s not up for discussion. Open your fucking mouth or I’ll open it for you.”

Valentina parts her pink lips, and my brother slips the bite of waffle inside. I have visions of her mouth opening for something larger before she sucks my cock down her throat as I tangle my fingers in her long hair.

She chews, and Fausto cuts off another bite. She tries to take it, but he swats her hand away and bumps the bite into her lips.

“You should listen to Fausto,” I urge, finishing my first waffle and grabbing a second. “He just wants to make sure you eat.”

She glares and accepts the bite. He grins back, then cuts off a bite and eats it himself. She looks at him incredulously for using her fork.

Before he can cut her another bite, she picks up the dripping waffle with her fingers and takes a bite as if it were a big, juicy burger.

I can’t help but laugh. “Well, that’s one way to beat the system.”

“I’ll be damned,” Fausto says with a hint of humor while grabbing his own plate of food.
Loxley Savage. Wilted Orchid – ARC Copy (Kindle Locations 2100-2140). ARC COPY.

The big problem here is she doesn’t mention Marco and all the trouble he’s causing her. She does eventually but in the process, Sal humiliates her, quite the opposite of her reaction to the twins.

There is a lot going on in this book, Violence as well as many secrets, and a bit of betrayal as well. Val wins over the twins long before Salvatore, and there are many seriously sizzling scenes with them.

I couldn’t put this book down and I can’t wait for the next book in this multi-author series.

5 Contented Purrs for Loxley!

Loxley lives in a small town in northeast Ohio. In her down time, she loves to play with daughters and have date nights with her husband. During the summer she loves to spend her days on Lake Erie. Loxley loves to read, watch reality tv, play video games, and anything Harry Potter.