
The Widow, the Assassin
Marianna · Completed · 211.2k Words
Introduction
But the past refuses to stay buried.
Adrian Winthrop — her late husband's son, the man whose forbidden devotion once drove her out of the only home she had known — has come back. Every stolen glance between stepmother and stepson is a betrayal. Every moment of proximity crosses a line that could unravel them both. He offers her something she has no right to want: a future built on more than grief and silence.
At the funeral, she encounters Julian Russell — mercenary king and beautiful predator — who sees straight through her widow's composure to everything she has spent years trying to hide. He doesn't want to save her. He wants to own her, and he has never once failed to take what he decides is his.
Torn between the forbidden love she was never supposed to feel and the dangerous obsession closing in around her, Evelyn must choose: grieve the life she lost and disappear, or risk the one thing she never learned to protect — her own heart.
Will she find a way to want something worth living for, or will the past finally collect what it is owed?
Chapter 1
Evelyn's POV
The factory smelled like death—rust and oil and something rotten underneath. I stood in the shadows on the second floor, watching the man called Grey Fox sell his secrets. My breath came out in small white clouds. Outside, snow fell heavy and silent, muffling everything. In here, every sound was sharp. Footsteps on concrete. The click of a briefcase. The metallic slide of a gun being checked.
I'd been playing the buyer's assistant for three days now. Gold glasses, black coat, leather briefcase. Inside the briefcase: a modified Makarov with a suppressor and two syringes filled with cyanide. The role fit me perfectly. After five years in Vorkuta, all my roles fit perfectly.
Below me, Grey Fox touched his watch again. Third time in five minutes. The file said it was his mother's watch, some old Soviet thing with a cracked face. He touched it when he was scared.
Which meant he should be scared. He'd stolen from Kholod. Sold our secrets to the West. And now he was here, trying to make one last deal before he disappeared.
He wouldn't make it out of this building.
My hand moved to my pocket before I could stop it, fingers brushing the small shape of my mother's cross through the fabric. The broken chain was wrapped around the silver pendant. I'd carried it through every mission, every kill, like some pathetic talisman.
Focus. I pushed the thought away. He betrayed the organization. He knew what would happen.
I started down the metal stairs, placing each foot carefully. The third step creaked if you put weight on the left side. The seventh had a loose bolt. I'd memorized all of it during my first surveillance pass. In my line of work, details kept you alive.
The Grey Fox looked up when I approached. Relief crossed his face. Good. He thought I was just another assistant, some hired help eager to finish this deal and get back to somewhere warm.
He had no idea I was here to kill him and everyone else if necessary.
I was three steps away from Grey Fox, the syringe hidden in my sleeve, when I heard the crying.
A child's voice. High and terrified.
No. Not now. Not when I was this close.
I froze. The bodyguards reached for their guns, movements sharp and trained. Grey Fox's eyes went cold and calculating—I could see the KGB officer he used to be, the man who'd probably killed children before without blinking. The buyer swore in German, already backing toward the door.
Then the little girl stumbled through the entrance.
She couldn't have been more than seven or eight. Pink jacket covered in dirt, messy braids coming loose, clutching a teddy bear like it was the only real thing in the world. Her face was red and blotchy from crying. When she saw the guns, she screamed louder. "Mama!" she sobbed in Russian. "I want my mama!"
The nearest bodyguard raised his gun, finger moving to the trigger. "Who sent you?"
Every part of my training said: Stay still. Let them handle it. One more body doesn't matter. Kill your target after they clean up the mess.
Children died in this business all the time. Collateral damage. Acceptable losses. That's what they'd taught us in Vorkuta. That's what Nikolai had drilled into my head during those frozen years: Sentiment is weakness. Weakness gets you killed.
But then the girl looked at me.
Her eyes were so blue. So scared. So desperately hopeful, like she thought maybe, just maybe, someone would help her.
And I remembered.
Eighteen years old. My mother's dealer blocking the door, his bulk filling the frame. His friends laughing, discussing which of them would go first. The smell of cigarettes and unwashed bodies and my own fear.
"Wait," I said.
The word came out before I could stop it. Before I could think about what it meant for the mission. Before I could calculate the risk.
Grey Fox's eyes snapped to me. Suspicious. Dangerous. "Why do you care?"
I forced my voice flat. Professional. "Because a dead child means police. Investigations. You want that kind of attention?"
It was good logic. Sound reasoning. The kind of argument that would work on a man like him.
But that wasn't why I'd spoken.
Grey Fox studied me for a long moment. I could see him weighing options, calculating odds. Then he waved the bodyguard back. The gun stayed up, but the finger moved off the trigger.
I walked to the girl before anyone could change their mind. Knelt down. Up close, I could see the tears on her face, the way her small hands shook around the teddy bear. She smelled like snow and child's shampoo.
"What's your name?" I asked softly, in Russian.
"Katya," she whispered.
"Katya." I made my voice as gentle as I could. The way my mother used to sound, before the debt and the drugs consumed everything. "Your mama is looking for you. I'm going to help you find her, okay?"
I picked her up. She was so light, all bones and fear and trust. She buried her face in my shoulder immediately, still crying but quieter now.
"I'll take her outside," I told Grey Fox. "Five minutes."
He watched me, eyes narrowed. But he nodded once.
I didn't wait for him to reconsider. I walked.
The cold slammed into me the moment I stepped outside. Sharp and clean after the factory's rot. Katya's crying turned to hiccups against my shoulder. I could see an apartment building in the distance, maybe two hundred meters away. Lights glowed in the windows. People. Safety.
"That building," I said, pointing. "Do you live there?"
She nodded against my shoulder, her tears soaking through my coat.
I carried her through the snow, boots crunching with each step. My mind was already racing ahead. Two hundred meters there. Two hundred meters back. Grey Fox will still be there. He's too paranoid to leave immediately after a security breach. I can still complete the mission. I can still—
At the building entrance, I pressed the buzzer hard. Held it down until a woman's voice crackled through the speaker, annoyed and suspicious. "This child was lost," I said in Russian. "She needs help finding her family."
The door buzzed. A middle-aged woman appeared, confusion and concern warring on her face. I set Katya down gently, watched her run to the woman's arms.
Then I turned and ran.
My boots pounded through the snow. The factory loomed ahead, dark and broken. I burst through the door, already assessing.
Everything had changed.
The buyer's team was packing up, moving fast and nervous. The bodyguards were herding everyone toward the exit. Grey Fox had his coat on, already walking toward the door.
No. No, no, no.
If Grey Fox left now, he'd disappear. Go to ground. The trail would go cold. I'd have to start over, and Kholod didn't accept failure.
My eyes swept the factory floor, desperate. Then up to the second floor. To the observation platform where I'd waited earlier.
The rusted chain hung from the ceiling, supporting a massive iron hook. Soviet-era equipment, left to rot for decades. I'd noticed it during my first surveillance pass and filed it away as a potential tool. The chain was corroded, barely holding the hook's weight.
If the chain breaks. If the hook falls. If Grey Fox is underneath...
It would look like an accident. Soviet construction failure. No investigation. No trail leading back to Kholod.
I slipped away from the group, murmuring about getting documents from the car. No one paid attention. They were all too focused on leaving this cursed place.
I took the stairs two at a time, silent despite my speed. My hands were steady as I pulled out the multi-tool from my coat pocket. The chain's metal was brittle with rust, flaking under my fingers. I found the weakest links, the ones already half-corroded.
Below, Grey Fox was walking toward the exit. Ten meters from the door. Nine. Eight.
He was going to pass directly under the hook.
Now.
Last Chapters
#193 Chapter 193
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#192 Chapter 192
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#191 Chapter 191
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#190 Chapter 190
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#189 Chapter 189
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#188 Chapter 188
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#187 Chapter 187
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#186 Chapter 186
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#185 Chapter 185
Last Updated: 7/3/2026#184 Chapter 184
Last Updated: 7/3/2026
You Might Like 😍
The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride
A pack of their own
The Deadly Mafia Princess
Her gang take the matter in their own hands, to try to save their leader from the horror of her home. What none of them know, they wasn’t her real parents, and now Ro will be sent away to live with her real family. That makes her closest members in her gang pack up and move as well. They don’t want to be far away from their leader.
The Hockey Alpha's Fake Girlfriend
Then there’s Rafael. Dark. Untouchable. The boy everyone talks about but no one really knows. He should be the last person Vivienne gets close to, yet she can’t look away. He pulls her in with a kind of danger that feels both terrifying and safe, like he sees the parts of her no one else can.
But Rafael carries secrets—secrets that could destroy them both. And the closer Vivienne gets, the harder it is to tell if he’s her way out… or the reason she never escapes.
In Bed With My Ex's Brother-in-Law
On the day her ex, Mark, married the wealthy socialite Bella, Elena was thrown out with nothing but the clothes on her back—humiliated, broken, and utterly alone.
Until Eric Thompson appeared.
Bella’s older brother. Mark’s powerful brother-in-law. And the most feared Alpha in the city.
He offered her a hand when no one else would. Then, he offered her a deal:
A marriage in name only. A shield against her past. A chance to rebuild.
Elena accepted, expecting a cold arrangement between strangers. But behind closed doors, Eric’s carefully guarded control unraveled—and so did hers. Their chemistry was explosive, their nights intense, and the lines between business and pleasure blurred beyond recognition.
He was the one man she could never have… and the only one she couldn’t resist.
But when Mark realizes what he truly lost, and Bella discovers the secret behind her brother’s bride, Elena must decide:
Is this just a contract?
Or is this the love she was always meant to fight for?
The Contract Wife: Marriage Of Malice
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
I didn't tell him to stop.
Instead, my fingers curled into his shirt, clutching the fabric as though it was my only anchor. Something in him snapped—something he had been holding back for too long. His mouth found mine in a kiss that wasn't tender, but hungry, desperate.
I gasped into him, his hand sliding up to cup my jaw, holding me as if afraid I might vanish.
"You drive me insane," he breathed against my mouth, his lips trailing to my throat. "I can't lose you, Ella. Not you."
My head fell back, a soft sound escaping me as his fingers memorized my waist. My anger melted beneath his desperation.
"James..." I whispered, more plea than protest.
His hand caught mine, fingers threading together tightly. "I'll bring him back. I swear it. Just... don't turn away from me. Please."
The word please—low, ragged, almost broken—undid me more than anything else could have.
Ella never imagined she would marry the man she had secretly loved for years in such a way.
When her brother Theo faced twenty-five years in prison for massive embezzlement, the ruthless business tycoon James Lancaster offered her a deal: marry him in exchange for her brother's freedom.
This wasn't a fairy tale proposal, but a carefully orchestrated revenge. Because in James's heart, Ella was the culprit who had killed his sister Cecilia. He wanted her to pay the price—to atone with a lifetime of suffering.
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
Bound by the Dragon Mafia
The head chef looked like he was silently praying for death.
I rushed forward. “Amara. Stop traumatizing these poor people.”
She spun around, delighted. “Sera! Good, you’re here. Taste this. It’s missing despair.”
The chef’s face morphed into existential crisis.
I grabbed her arm. “Put the spatula down.”
“But—”
“Down.”
With exaggerated offense, she dropped the spatula and muttered, “Fine. But if no one here has artistic vision, that’s not my fault.”
She went undercover to expose a mafia empire.
He offered her thirty nights to save her life.
When investigative journalist Seraphine Vale steps into the glittering underworld ruled by billionaire crime lord Dante Vescari, she thinks she’s chasing a story about missing women and corruption.
Instead, she uncovers a secret older than blood—an empire built on fire, sin, and dragons.
Bound to Dante by a forbidden pact, Seraphine finds herself caught between fear and desire, truth and temptation.
Each night pulls her deeper into his world of power, passion, and danger…
and closer to the monster hiding beneath his perfect skin.
Thirty nights. One bond.
And a love that might just burn the world to ash.
Mates: Regrets and Redemption
With my heart in pieces, I sought solace in the last place I expected—my Alpha's arms. One night turned into a dangerous entanglement, and now my Alpha refuses to let me go. As the Alpha’s obsession grows, I'm caught in a web of desire and fear.
Curtis, the boy I once loved, still holds a promise I made, but the Alpha’s powerful presence pulls me deeper into his world. Should I forgive Curtis and keep my word, or should I risk everything for a chance at something wild and unpredictable with the Alpha who won’t take no for an answer?
“There are no limits between us,” he chuckled, the mirth sparkling in his gorgeous eyes. “And all of this stems from the night you gave me both pain and pleasure. I’m simply returning the favor.”
He took two steps forward, and I stepped back. “But…” The memory of what I had done filled me with fear, and I knew I had to get out of there. “I…”
“No, Firecat.” He placed an index finger on my lips. “This will take your mind off that son of a bitch.” His strong hands pulled me by the waist until I felt his hard manhood.
Aphrodite and the Cursed Mate Bond
She finds truth.
Aphrodite is not human at all. She is a rare white wolf, descended from an ancient Direwolf bloodline long believed extinct. The ritual meant to sever her ties awakens her wolf instead and with it comes the scent of five mates bound to her by fate.
The Alpha twins who once scorned her now cannot stay away. A human hunter walks beside her and proves that strength is not born of fangs or dominance. A cursed Wolf King holds the key to her past and her father’s imprisonment. And watching from the shadows is one who was never meant to interfere at all.
As gods fall, packs fracture, and war reshapes the world, Aphrodite must decide what destiny truly means. Is it submission to fate or the courage to choose her own path.
Love does not come in one form. Neither does power.
In a world ruled by gods and wolves, Aphrodite will become something neither ever expected.
Not a queen.
But the axis upon which the world turns.
BROKEN TRUST
Neither of them knew she was carrying his child.
Emily’s affair didn’t just end her marriage—it erased the life she thought was guaranteed. Ryan left without looking back, carrying his anger like armor and leaving Emily alone with regret she would never outrun. Three years later, fate drags them back into each other’s world, along with a little girl who has Ryan’s eyes and a truth that shatters everything he thought he knew.
Old wounds reopen, grief masquerades as rage, and love refuses to stay buried. As parenthood binds them together and the past demands accountability, Emily and Ryan must face the question neither of them is ready to answer: is broken trust the end of their story… or the beginning of a love forged through loss, forgiveness, and brutal honesty?
Accardi
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.
Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.












