Don’s Queen by Amanda Horton

Niccolò Neri has spent his life mastering the shadows. The Bronx belongs to him. Fear belongs to him. Control belongs to him. But the one thing he’s never been able to forget is a girl from seven years ago—and the way she still makes the dark feel like it has a heartbeat.

Isabella “Izzy” Hartwell runs Notte Bianca the way she runs her whole life: exhausted, relentless, and holding everything together with sheer will. She’s drowning in bills, fighting a corrupt manager for overtime she earned, and raising her son alone. She has one rule that keeps them safe: the past stays buried. Because if Niccolò Neri ever learns the truth—that the little boy with his eyes is his—Izzy’s world will split in two.

But someone else is watching now. When a Russian threat starts circling the Five Families, Nico realizes Izzy isn’t just a temptation. She’s a weakness his enemies can use. And if keeping her at arm’s length isn’t going to work, then she will belong to him. Even if he’s cursed to destroy everything he touches.

Izzy thought keeping Nico at a distance would keep her son safe. Nico decides the only safe place for what’s his… is under his hand.

This standalone novella has a guaranteed HEA, no cliffhanger, and no cheating. 18+ only. It can be read as a standalone or together with the rest of the books in the Five Borough Mafia series.

CW: This over-the-top, possessive mafia romance features a shadow-protector Don, single mom heroine, secret child, age gap, stalking-as-protection, forced proximity, and high-stakes danger. HEA guaranteed.