Vow of Posession Cover reveal + Chapter Reveal!
I can’t even lie—I’m ridiculously excited (and pretty damn nervous) about this one.
Not just because I get to share the cover and first chapter of my upcoming mafia romance, Vow of Possession… but because this book marks something really special for me:
I’m publishing under my actual name again. I haven’t done that since 2018. 🥹
For those of you who’ve followed me across my pen names (hi, I see you and love you), you know I’ve spent the last few years dancing in the shadows—writing some very dark romance and erotic horror under Ember Michaels and Tori Sullivan. But before all that? I started my author journey writing emotionally intense, high-stakes romance with a morally gray edge and just enough softness to make you swoon between the chaos and sexy times.
And now I’m coming back home to that voice. 💕
Vow of Possession is messy, romantic, tense, and a little dangerous—in the best way. Think:
❤️ A forced marriage/stolen bride
❤️ Touch her and die
❤️ He falls first
❤️Morally gray, not pitch-black
❤️ Possession meets protection
And today, I finally get to show you the cover I’ve been itching to share…AND the first chapter, where all the chaos begins.
Let’s do this.
Photo for the cover reveal of Vow of Possession featuring a faceless man with tattooed hands in a dark suit adjusting his tie. The image reads “Cover reveal” and “Coming September 26, 2025.
Title: Vow of Possession
Author: Victoria Bright
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Cover Designer: Laura Hidalgo with Spellbinding Design
Blurb
Valentino
Ninety days.
That’s how long I have to get married—or forfeit my claim to the Carucci empire and lose everything my father built.
Then I saw her outside Monarch.
A bride-to-be… promised to the enemy.
She was just a political pawn, gifted to the mafia by her power-hungry father looking to be re-elected as governor.
Taking her as mine would result in bloodshed.
Chaos.
A war.
But I’m out of time with too much to lose...and she’s the solution I never expected.
I stole her to save my family.
Now she’s the only thing I’d go to war to protect.
She’s mine.
And I’ll bury anyone who says otherwise.
Giselle
I'd only met Valentino Carucci twice before he shattered my life.
Once when he crashed my bachelorette party.
And again at my wedding, when he killed my fiancé and took his place at the altar.
I was a pawn in my father’s political scheme, bartered into a marriage I never wanted.
Now I’m bound to a man even more dangerous--
A man who started a war the second he put that ring on my finger.
He’s cold.
Calculated.
Everything I was taught to fear.
But behind the threats and bloodshed, there’s something else.
Something that looks a lot like protection.
Something that feels a lot like obsession.
I should hate him. And maybe I still do.
But the longer I’m his wife, the more I wonder…
What if he’s the only one who’s ever seen me as more than a pawn?
Chapter 1 - Valentino
“Hurry the hell up, Valentino. We’re going to be late.”
Nicolai’s voice came muffled through the closed bedroom door, sharp and impatient like always. He knocked again, three rapid-fire taps followed by an exaggerated groan when I didn’t respond. “You’re worse than a woman when you’re getting ready. Put your fucking suit on and let’s go.”
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, adjusting the cuffs on my black dress shirt with a precision that was more habit that a necessity. Everything fit perfectly as expected, my clothes tailored to perfection that could give a runway model a run for his money. The Rolex on my wrist gleamed in the dim lighting of my bedroom, the shiny cuff links and the rings on my hand telling a silent story of all the money and power my family possessed. Paired with my all black ensemble, it was the perfect outfit to wear for a night of celebrating. And I had a lot to celebrate.
But I wasn’t in the mood when I had more pressing matters to focus on.
Tonight was supposed to be a win. The arms deal that I’d worked my ass off to secure had gone through, securing millions worth of Russian military-grade weapons now funneled through our channels that would lead to an even bigger payout when we resold them to the clients we worked with. On top of that, I’d also closed on a real estate sale on a ridiculously priced penthouse in Tribeca to some rich socialite who had nothing better to do than snort coke and spend her father’s money instead of going to rehab. One transaction cleaned the blood off the other, and just like that, our books looked squeaky fucking clean and we were filthy fucking rich.
It should’ve felt like a victory. For anyone else, it would’ve been. But my stomach had been twisted in knots all damn day and it wasn’t because of anything dealing with work.
It was more so because of the work I hadn’t done, the work that would cause us to do everything if I fucked this up for us.
Another knock snatched me out of my brooding and I let out an audible sigh.
“Val, I swear to God--”
“I’m coming,” I cut in, snatching my black jacket from the bed and slipping it on. I stared at myself once more before releasing a deep breath. At least I looked good when I felt anything but. “Just smile and have a good time. Worry about the other shit later,” I murmured to myself before crossing the bedroom and opening the door.
Only to find my annoyed younger brother scowling at me on the other side.
Even though a porcelain mask hid the left side of his face, the irritation sketched in his expression was plain as day. So much so that I almost thought his usually neutral mask had also morphed into the same expression.
“Took you fucking long enough,” he muttered as he looked me up and down. “The others have been blowing me up asking where we are.”
I ran my hands down my suit jacket and forced a playful grin. “It takes time to look this good. What, would you rather I showed up in the sweatpants I just had on?”
His body relaxed a little as his face fell into his usual neutral expression. “No,” he stated. “But I would prefer you not act like I’m dragging you to your own execution or something. We’re celebrating you tonight and you’re acting like you don’t want to come.”
I brushed past him without a word, heading for the front door. Nicolai was the second oldest after me, the brother that was always perceptive and picking up on shit that you thought he didn’t notice. The last thing I needed was for him to ask too many questions, especially ones that I wasn’t ready to answer yet. But Nicolai being Nicolai, he was already on my heels, the urgency in his steps already asking the questions before they’d even left his mouth.
“What the hell is going on with you? You’ve been moody for a few days now.” He fell into step beside me. “You should be in a good mood. That arms deal was damn near perfect. We got a good deal, our buyers are going to be happy, and you flipped that hard-to-sell penthouse to that oil heiress girl for higher than the asking price. What the hell is there to be upset about?” He stared at me for a short moment. “Did a girlfriend I didn’t know about dump you or something?”
I scoffed. If that had been the actual issue, I wouldn’t actually have a problem. I only shook my head and kept my eyes forward.
“When have I had time to entertain a woman since taking over the Family?” I asked with a raised brow.
Nicolai frowned. “Then that’s probably your problem. You need to get fucking laid, you tight wad. All work and no play makes you extremely fucking annoying sometimes, especially when you fall into these moods.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled just as my housekeeper opened the front door for us. “Shit.”
“Ah! Just the man I wanted to see!”
As if the night couldn’t get any fucking worse. My uncle Donatello walked up my driveway, two bodyguards flanking on the sides of him as he approached. Nicolai groaned inwardly and tossed his head back.
“And what the fuck is he doing here? We don’t have time for this,” he complained.
My heart raced a little faster as our uncle grew closer. I already knew why he was here, hence the reason I’d avoided him for the last few weeks when he’d reach out for a meeting.
“Go on to the car. I’ll catch up in a second,” I said quickly. Nicolai shook his head.
“Hell no. We literally have to leave right now. Your princess ass took enough time getting ready; whatever the hell you and Uncle Don have to talk about can wait until morning anyway.”
“Valentino, Nicolai,” Uncle Donatello said as he came to a stop in front of us, his stern eyes falling on me. “You’ve been a very hard man to reach lately. Why is that?”
“Busy,” I said. It was a half truth but it wasn’t like he’d know the difference. He gave me a small grin that was absent of any warmth and humor before he gestured to my still open front door.
“Could I have a few moments to chat with you before you disappear again?”
Nicolai took a step forward and patted me on the chest before draping his arm across my shoulder. “We actually have time-sensitive plans that we’re already late for. We really don’t have time to—”
“This won’t take long at all,” Uncle Don interrupted, his eyes remaining trained on me. “Like I said, he’s been hard to reach so I need to talk to him about this urgent matter while I have the chance to.”
One of the bodyguards next to him raised a hand to rest it on his hips, flashing the gun tucked in his waistband in the process. Nicolai looked at the weapon, then up at the man, and then over at me. It was already weird that Uncle Donatello had come to my house with bodyguards to begin with; we were family after all. But the way his body guard eyed Nicolai and I, as if he dared us to respond in a way that Uncle Don didn’t like, didn’t sit well with me either.
It was no secret that there was an unspoken tension within the family since I’d taken over the Carucci Crime Family after my father passed away. While his death should’ve unified us, it’d turned us into this older gen versus new gen war where the elder members didn’t think I was fit to run the business, angry about changes I’d made even if they were for the betterment of the family in the long run. My uncle happened to be the mouth piece for the older members, always making sure I knew how much everyone disapproved of things I’d done, telling me how my father wouldn’t approve of how I was running things. How this wasn’t the Carucci Family his grandfather had created.
Good. I didn’t fucking want it to be.
The old Carucci Crime Family were weak, simply preying on vulnerable populations and innocent women and children for financial gain. Human trafficking and prostitution wasn’t what I wanted to build this family on, so I’d shut all of that down the moment I took over. Of course all the older members were upset that they’d lost access to the only whores they could manipulate, use, and abuse but that wasn’t my issue. The only focus I had was making sure we were rich, strong, respected, and that our name held weight in both legal and underground spaces. We were making progress but damn it if my uncle and his old bastard followers weren’t making shit even harder.
“Give me ten minutes,” I said on a sigh to Nicolai, who only frowned at me.
“What? We’re already late and—”
“Just call one of them and let them know what’s going on. We’ll be there as soon as we’re finished here,” I interrupted before he could continue complaining.
He glared at Uncle Don for a moment, a low growl rumbling in his throat when Uncle Don only smiled at him. “Five fucking minutes, Valentino,” he snapped, pointing at me. “And then we’re leaving.”
“Five minutes should be more than enough,” Uncle Donatello reassured him with a smile, raising his hands in that stupid way he did when he wanted to come across as easy going despite being the biggest snake alive.
Nicolai cut his eyes to our uncle before narrowing them on me. “Five minutes,” he repeated before sulking off to the waiting SUV.
I turned my attention to my uncle, dread settling in the pit of my stomach as I geared myself up for this conversation. “Let’s just fucking get this over with,” I mumbled before spinning on my heels and heading back into the house.
The heels of my shoes clicked along the marble floor as I took him to my home office, my anxiety raising with every second. It was this very conversation that had my stomach in knots for days, as I knew that was why he’d been calling and texting me almost nonstop for the last month. I’d done everything possible to try to avoid him, almost surprised that he hadn’t tried to come to my house sooner than tonight. Either way, the moment I’d dreaded for weeks was finally here and I had to face the music.
As well as lie my ass off to buy myself some more time.
When his body guards tried to enter the office behind us, I shook my head. “You two can actually wait outside in the hallway,” I stated firmly.
The men looked to my uncle, who only held up a hand. “We’re only chatting. It’s fine,” he stated.
The one who’d flashed his gun earlier huffed, his beady eyes trained on me as the he and the other silent guard stalked out of the room closing the door behind them and enveloping the room in silence.
Uncle Donatello looked around the office, stopping by the bookcase to run his finger along the wood as if he were checking for dust, rubbing his fingers together.
“Feels like you’ve been avoiding me on purpose, Valentino,” he finally said, shattering the silence around us.
“I told you I’d been busy,” I reiterated again.
He released a mirthless chuckle, which irritated the shit out of me. “Yes, you’ve definitely been busy destroying everything your father and I have built. I’ll give you that.”
I rolled my eyes. I already wasn’t in the mood to even talk to him; listening to him disrespect me and the work I’d put in for the last year and a half wasn’t going to go over well either.
“Why are you here, Donatello? I know it’s not just to whine about me making it hard for you to get easy pussy,” I said, my voice flat. “If you’re that desperate to fuck someone, the whores that like to parade around your casinos always seem willing.”
He narrowed his eyes on me. “You know exactly why I’m here.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “As the executor of your father’s will, I’m simply here to check on your progress of the task from your father’s will.” He raised a brow at me when I didn’t say anything. “Unless you’re still no closer to completing it than you were when I asked you six months ago.”
When my father died, I was next in line to take over the Carucci Crime Family as the new boss. But it came with conditions. While I could step into the role, I had two years to find and marry a wife. Once I was married, I had to have a male heir within the first five years of marriage. It was a clause that had been in the will since the family was created, starting with my grandfather, my father, and now it was my turn. My father had beat out Donatello in fulfilling the clause first, which was how the family ended up on our side of the family and now it was up to me to keep it on our side.
Except…I didn’t have a single prospect for a wife. I didn’t even have a girlfriend. For the last year and a half, I’d been head first into my work, only focused on turning the Family around and building something incredible. It wasn’t until I happened to look through the calendar one day and saw that I’d written down the deadline and had it circled.
And…I only had ninety days until my time was up.
God, I was so fucked.
We were so fucked.
“I don’t need to be babysat,” I answered instead. “I have a girlfriend if that’s the information you’re fishing for.” It was a lie but he had proof of it otherwise. He only chuckled, amusement twinkling in his eyes as he regarded me.
“Sure you, do, ragazzo mio.” He walked over to the window and looked out of it. “Don’t forget the special clauses as well.”
I sighed inwardly. How could I forget? He’d all but burned it into my head every time he talked to me. Aside from needing to get married, there was a special clause in the will that prohibited me from paying a woman off or ordering a mail-order bride. If I either did that or failed to fulfill the tasks asked of me, not only would I lose my position as the head boss of the Carucci Crime Family, but the power would then go to Donatello and his useless, spineless ass cum stains that he called sons when he eventually died. My brothers and I would lose control of the family—possibly forever—and it would be my fault.
I couldn’t let that happened. I couldn’t let my uncle ruin everything I’d done so far when I only wanted to make us better than we were. Better than we were when my grandfather was in power, even when my father was in power.
“Do I look like I’m desperate enough to have to pay someone?” I asked with a chuckle. “I think you and I both know that I could have my pick of women if I wanted.”
“And yet…I haven’t seen you with anyone.” He shrugged. “Neither has anyone else. I’ve even asked your brothers and to their knowledge, you weren’t seeing anyone.”
Shit. I fought to keep the panic off my face, forcing myself to remain cool. “I wasn’t aware that it had to be an announcement,” I stated, my voice flat. “But I’ll tell you what; the next time I come down her throat, I’ll be sure to video chat everyone to keep them in the loop if that’ll satisfy you.”
He frowned at me, annoyance flashing in his eyes. “Don’t be crass,” he snapped. “You have ninety days to get married and you’re dragging your feet like you have a lot of time left.”
“I have ninety days left, not nine.” I shrugged. “I’ll be married before my time is up.”
“Hmph.” He took sure steps toward the door. “For your sake, you better hope you’re right. But in the meantime, I’ll just prepare for the inevitable anyway and prepare myself to fix the mess you’ve made of this family in the short time you’ve been in power.” He smiled as I fumed inside. “Talk soon, nipote.”
I watched him leave, blowing out a deep breath when I was alone. Every day the crown I wore grew heavier as the time ticked down. While it was easy to lie my way through a conversation, I still had to produce a woman or a wife—and fast. Now that I knew Uncle Don was asking others about my relationship status, I knew it was only a matter of time before he found out the truth. I was sure he was salivating at the thought of taking over, probably already planning all the brothels and whore houses he’d reopen and all the drugs he’d pump back into the community. Then we’d no longer be known as the strong Family to go to for the legitimate crime deals, only the Family that ruined and destroyed lives. The stereotypical mafia family that was constantly on the police and feds radar for trafficking and drugs because it was the easiest crime to crack down on when it came to organized crime. That wasn’t the shit I wanted my five younger brothers to be caught up in. That wasn’t what I wanted my legacy to be wrapped up in.
I needed to figure out a solution quickly. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have much say any longer and my brothers and I would lose everything.
“Sheesh, did Uncle Don shoot you or something?” Nicolai asked when I slid into the backseat of the SUV with him. “You look even worse than you did before he showed up.”
I let my head fall back on the headrest and closed my eyes as the driver pulled away from my house.
“I have to tell you something but you have to be cool about it,” I started.
A frown settled on his lips as he raised a brow at me. “I can’t make any promises but I’m listening.
I swallowed the knot threatening to choke me, my heart hammering away in my ribcage a mile a minute.
“In order for me to keep my spot as the head of the family, Dad’s will said I have to find a wife within two years,” I started.
Nicolai slowly blinked, his expression blank. “O…kay? So marry someone, dumb ass. What’s the drama for?”
“I…now only have ninety days to accomplish that.”
Nicolai’s eyes fluttered so quickly that I thought he was glitching in front of me. “Come again?”
I released a deep sigh. “I have ninety days to get married when I don’t even have a girlfriend,” I finally admitted.
“But you just said two years though. Where’d ninety days come from? You trying to go on that show or something?”
“Fuck no,” I scoffed. “He told me this the day the will was read to us a year and a half ago.”
“Wait, so you knew this whole time and you’re only just now working on it?” he asked, his voice getting higher with each word. “Are you fucking insane?”
“I lost track of time!” I countered. “I thought I had more time but it got away from me. Now I have ninety days to figure this shit out or else I lose power and it goes to Donatello and his sons if I fuck up.”
“Goddamn it, Valentino,” Nicolai groaned, scrubbing the exposed side of his face with his hand. “What the hell are you going to do?”
“I was hoping you had a couple of ideas.” I shrugged.
He muttered something under his breath, shaking his head before he looked back to me. “Okay, maybe we can find someone you can pay off—”
“Yeah…about that,” I interrupted sheepishly. “There’s a special clause that forbids that. Can’t pay anyone and can’t get a mail-order bride.”
“That will was specific as hell,” he noted.
I chuckled mirthlessly, feeling helpless for the first time since I’d taken over the family. “Who are you telling?”
“Maybe we should talk to the guys about it. I’m sure one of them may have a solution or even a girl that may be interested in being with you. But we’ll figure it out. It’s just another task we have to mark off.”
He grinned over at him. “See? That’s why you’re my right hand. I’d lose my head if you weren’t around.”
“Don’t try to butter me up, dickhead. Wait until we get you out of this fuck-up before you compliment me,” he complained.
We arrived at the club before I could even respond to him, shifting my mind to another set of anxiety. Dealing with Nicolai was one thing but dealing with the different personality of my other four younger brothers when delivering bad news was fucking overwhelming. I had no idea what they’d say or what they’d think. They had every right to be angry; I was putting all of them in a very precarious situation. If I lost control of the Family, there was no telling what Uncle Don would do with them. They’d all lose their current positions, disrupting their lives and livelihoods and it would be my fault. The guilt of destroying our legacy sat heavy on my chest.
Yeah, I had to hurry up and find a solution.
I stepped out onto the sidewalk, pride swelling my chest as I examined the line of people still waiting to get into Monarch. It was one of five luxury nightclubs that we owned but it was one that I was most proud of. It was the first club I’d opened after closing all of the brothels my father had, the first business I’d created to prove to the Family that you didn’t have to exploit innocent people in order to turn over good money. It made so much money by itself that we were able to wash cash from multiple illegal businesses through it without a single hiccup, something that the older gen didn’t think I could achieve.
It felt good to win. I just had to get this dark cloud of marriage from over my head.
“It’s going to be a full house tonight,” Nicolai said once he got out and stood beside me, also looking at the line. “Leone just texted and said it’s already packed inside.”
“Then it’s going to be a good…”
My sentence trailed when my eyes landed on a woman a few feet away from me. She stood with another group of women, her pretty face stained with a look of discomfort and anxiety. Despite the women around her being in different colored dresses with matching flapper feathers in her hair, she was dressed in all white, a “Bride” sash draped over her body. She had her arms wrapped tight around her body even though it wasn’t all that cold outside. Her lips were pursed together as she bit the inside of her cheek, her mask of indifference breaking only for a second if one of her friends talked to her before she drifted back into her own little world. She was beautiful but looked trouble, something about her calling out to me that I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
But then a light bulb went off in my head.
“What?” Nicolai asked. “See something or somebody you know?”
“Yeah,” I said idly. “I think I see the solution to my problem.
I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and are just as excited about this book as I am! Be sure to pre-order Vow of Possession, which releases on September 26, 2025!