It was an innocent mistake. She knocked on the wrong door. 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 have been enough. But it wasn't. I needed more. Craved it. She became my obsession. Her sweetness and purity taunted my dark soul. The need to possess her nearly drove me mad. A Russian arms dealer had no business pursuing a naive librarian student. She didn't belong in my world. I would bring her only pain. But it was too late… She was mine and I was keeping her.

The moment she opened those gorgeous red lips to tell me no, she was mine. I was a powerful Russian arms dealer and she was an innocent schoolteacher. If she had a choice, she’d run as far away from me as possible. Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t giving her one. I wasn’t just going to take her; I was going to take over her entire world. Where she lived. What she ate. Where she worked. All would be under my control. Call it obsession. Call it depravity. I don’t give a damn… as long as you call her mine.

I was a savage bent on claiming her as punishment for her family's mistakes. As a powerful Russian Arms dealer, no one steals from me and gets away with it. She was an innocent pawn in a dangerous game. She had no idea the package her uncle sent her from Russia contained my stolen money. If I were a good man, I would let her return the money and leave. If I were a gentleman, I might even let her keep some of it just for frightening her. As I stared down at the beautiful living doll stretched out before me like a virgin sacrifice, I thanked God for every sin and misdeed that had blackened my cold heart. I was not a good man. I sure as hell wasn’t a gentleman… and I had no intention of letting her go. She was mine now. And no one takes what's mine.

The more she fights me, the more I want her. It’s that beautiful, sassy mouth of hers. It makes me want to push her to her knees and dominate her, like the brutal savage I am. As a Russian Arms dealer, I should not be ruthlessly pursuing an innocent like her, but that will not stop me. A twist of fate may have brought us together, but it is my twisted obsession that will hold her captive as my own treasured possession. She is mine now. I dare you to try and take her from me.

I was a mafia mercenary only hired to find her, but now I’m going to keep her. She is a Russian mafia princess, kidnapped to be used as a pawn in a dangerous territory war. Saving her was my job. Keeping her safe had become my obsession. Every move she makes, I am in the shadows, watching. I was like a feral animal: cruel, violent, and selfishly out for my own needs. Until her. Now, I will make her mine by any means necessary. I am her protector, but no one is going to protect her from me.

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. The moment I laid eyes on her, I claimed her. Determined to make her mine…by any means necessary. I owned Chicago's most elite gambling club, a front for my role as a Russian Mafia crime boss. And she was a fragile little bird, who had just flown straight into my open jaws. Naïve and sweet, she was a temptation I couldn’t resist biting. My intense drive to dominate and control her had become an obsession. I would ruthlessly use my superior strength and wealth to take over her life. The harder she resisted, the more feral and savage I would become. She needed to understand…she was mine now. Mine. Sweet Intensity continues the steamy, enemies to lovers’ drama featuring the domineering Russian Mafia men of Zoe’s Ruthless Obsession series.

Had she crashed into any other man's car, she could have walked away—but she hit mine. Upon seeing the bruises on her wrist, I struggled to contain my rage. Despite her objections, I refused to allow her to leave. Whoever hurt this innocent beauty would pay dearly. As a Russian Mafia crime boss who owns Chicago's most elite gambling club, I have very creative and painful methods of exacting revenge. She seems too young and naive to be out on her own in such a dangerous world. Needing a nanny, I decided to claim her for the role. She might resist my severe, domineering discipline, but I won't give her a choice in the matter. She needs a protector, and I'd be damned if it were anyone but me. Resisting the urge to claim her will test all my restraint. It's a battle I'm bound to lose. With each day, my obsession and jealousy intensify. It's only a matter of time before my control snaps...and I make her mine. Mine. Sweet Severity continues the steamy, enemies to lovers' drama featuring the domineering Russian Mafia men of Zoe's Ruthless Obsession series. Scroll up and one click now. Publisher's Note: This is the seventh novel, and part of a new trilogy, in Zoe Blake's Ruthless Obsession series.