Layla Hensley grapples with upholding a good girl image and has a history of straying from the linear path that her father constructed at a very young age. Sweet on the outside but fiercely drawn to the forbidden, she has quite the poison on her tongue when it comes to disobeying her father's stringent regiment. She is a handful to tame. When he is fed up dealing with her rebellious character and unnerving hassle, he sends her off to spend the summer with his sister in Italy. A night out with her unhinged cousin and an inquisitive mind, places Layla in the crossfires of a confrontation that involves blazing gunfire and a very dangerous group of individuals. Sex, drugs and a pinch of her soul. Death, lies and betrayal. At the end of that long list is a fiendishly attractive man who will be the leading cause of Layla's near destruction, paving a narrow path to the marriage from hell. ****** "Why don't you go to hell!" The fury in his eyes glimmered, the loud snapping of his belt causing a haze of fear to reside within me. "Oh, the time will come. But for now, you will shut the fuck up and take it." I should have been used to his ominous threats by now, but no amount of confidence could surpass the consequences of breaking his perilous rules. "Over my dead body," I seethed but bit back my words when his fingers collared around my throat. "I brought you in from the streets, Layla. I can easily take you out." He never ceased to remind me of that. But as I stood before him, pressed against the vanity that dug into my lower back, I cursed the very day of our union. His venomous words carved into my skin like permanent ink. Till death do us part. "But if it's what you desire, bambina. I will gladly bring inferno to you." Marriage is not a sanctuary. It was meant to be sacred. *** #1 darkmafia 01/24/2022