Lives are spent, sometimes wasted, chasing a dream—a happily-ever-after—only to end up living in reality. Caterina Bellini knows, for a woman, life in the mafia means having her future picked out for her, but even on her wedding day, she continues to dream of a happy ending. Until he arrives and snatches her away, locking her inside his own gilded tower, making her a prisoner. Lorenzo “Enzo” Corsetti is more than a villain though. He’s a villain with a need to reclaim what was stolen from him. Driven by revenge and hate, Caterina’s a pawn in taking back his empire. In the end, happily-ever-after is a façade and the bad guys always win. The Desire in Deception is a dark mafia romance with content some readers may find triggering. This is a prequel novella to the Fractured Ever After series that was originally published in the Heartless Heroes anthology.

Fairy tales and reality are concepts so different from one another, they shouldn’t exist in the same world. The story in which the maid defies her stepmother, goes to the ball, and dances with the prince isn’t how real life works. For Della Lambert, real life is disappointing. Real life means working for her stepfather in exchange for her and her sister’s freedom. Attend the party, steal their secrets, and lure the mafia prince in. Nico Corsetti isn’t a prince though. He’s the callous underboss who hunts his prey until he’s satisfied in his vengeance. When Della becomes his target, he won’t stop chasing her, even when her betrayal demands her death. In the end, real life isn’t a fairy tale and the prince is simply another controlling villain.

There’s the story where the newly returned princess is cursed to sleep until given true love’s kiss, and then there’s the actual one. The one in which Aurora Corsetti, mafia princess, returns after being sent away as a child, to endure a new life of buried secrets, an arranged marriage, and a compassionless family. Rosen Carrigan, head soldier of the Corsetti family, is tasked with protecting the bratty, mafia princess, who insists on taunting him at every turn. Forbidden gets dangerous when a devious plot nearly takes her away from him, and like that silly fairy tale, Rosen won’t let Aurora go. In the end, not all stories end with a kiss, but rather, in war.

Life isn’t always just good and evil, like stories depict. For Isabelle Dupont, scarred and timid, fiction is her only escape. After living a sheltered life, hidden from society, she’s thrown into a world only found in her books—the mafia. Dragged in with a lie and trapped by the capo, Isabelle learns there’s more to her life than what she was led to believe. Rafael Corsetti finds himself wanting to protect the woman with strange scars and an even stranger history. She could be the key to ensuring his family’s safety and finding their enemy. Even as facts unfold and Isabelle’s hatred for him grows, Rafael wants her for himself. In the end, beauty doesn’t always want the beast.

There are three sides to every story: his, hers, and the truth. Rozelyn De Falco has been branded an enemy and captured by the Corsetti family, intent to torture her father’s location from her. But Rozelyn has her own plans, and being imprisoned is merely one she already has in place. Flynn Rhodes, enforcer of the Corsetti family, gains more than just a captive in Rozelyn. He finds his past. A girl he cared for when they both had different lives. But their past was a lie, and Flynn only cares about vengeance and the oaths he’s taken. In the end, freedom is simply a concept and the line between love and hate is faint.

Fairy tales tease the existence of a better life. For Ariella Lambert, they don’t exist, and her trauma-induced selective mutism meant letting go of the future she once dreamed of. Now deeply embedded within the Corsetti mafia family by her sister’s union, she seeks a fraction of control and volunteers herself for an arranged marriage with the head of another crime family. Erico Rossi, underboss of the New York Famiglia, was enthralled by Ariella from their first meeting. After one engagement is broken, he agrees to the offered union to Ariella, with the intent of formulating a loveless marriage. Ariella's expressive silence sparks his interest in her, and soon, Erico wants to know his new wife in every way possible. Sometimes silence can be louder than noise.

In fantasy, a creature from a magic lamp grants three wishes. Yasmine De Falco would do anything for even one to wish for an escape from her current situation. Gone from mafia princess to street rat, abandoned by her family, and claimed by a secret society, she is stuck. Until her saviour shows up, a prince in disguise, whose rescue involves another form of entrapment. Caladin Rossi, Consigliere of the New York Famiglia, hadn’t planned to rescue Yasmine by making her his wife. Stuck in a marriage neither want, they agree to a casual union. When Yasmine makes a particular wish, his perception of the disgraced princess is altered, bringing them closer together. What begins as friendship soon sparks something deeper. Something they’re both running from. In the end, not all wishes are granted with clarity.

The stories told to children depict happily-ever-after in one light. A quick path to a simple ending. But real life is different. To attain a happily-ever-after, treachery will arise, battles will ensue, and blood will shed. In the end, the bonds forged creates a family worth dying for…and a Christmas celebration to rejoice in. This novella is the extended epilogue of the Fractured Ever Afters series, featuring all seven couples, and is meant to be read after all the previous books: The Desire in Deception The Hunt in Elusion The Craving in Slumber The Beauty in Scars The Freedom in Captivity The Sound in Silence The Obscurity in Wishing