Tortured

by N. M. Catalano

  Keep going, there’s more…

  COMING NEXT…

  Vengeance

  Bull

  The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

  Damn straight.

  I’m a big ass dude, and when I fall, I hit every damn branch on that tree on the way down, just to make sure that shit is beat into my hard head.

  Seems like I haven’t learned my lesson yet.

  The first lesson hurt. It hurt real bad. Not for me. I wasn’t the one who had lost everything. But I tried to stop it from happening, Lord how I tried. I would have given my life, I gave everything I had, but it was useless. I lost, and they paid the price.

  That shit’s not gonna happen again.

  Life’s a gamble, one big ass bet. You play to win, and when you don’t, you cut your losses and move on to the next game. Some you win, some you lose. But when you’re playing for the highest stakes, you make damn sure you know who’s playing and find out exactly what’s at risk before you sit down at the table and get dealt your hand. And never, ever forget who’s holding all the cards. Because the dealer will take it all.

  The game has begun, the first roll of dice has been thrown.

  We fucking lost the first hand.

  We lost hard.

  Not just one, but two.

  When they took Sasha, they killed Gringo. Cut his fucking heart out of his chest. There’s nothing left of him that’s human. He is walking death. And as sure as my name is Bull, death will be the only thing left when we’re through with them.

  But the stakes are so fucking high.

  The prize is priceless.

  Losing is not an option.

  This is one game I would walk away from if I could. If I had the choice to place the bet or turn away, I’d turn and run so damn fast. Even if I never got the prize. Even if I never tasted the sweet taste of her. Knowing that none of this filth tarnished her purity, I’d die a happy man living the rest of my days watching her from a distance safe and protected. My only purpose in life would be keeping her that way.

  Because it’s my fault she’s in danger. How the fuck they know, I have no damn clue. But they do. And they set up the game. We have to play; we have no choice. If we don’t, we’ve already lost. If we do, well look at what happened with Sasha.

  The problem is we don’t know the rules. Fuck the rules, they don’t matter. But we don’t know who we’re playing against. We’ve got a mission. But is the mission a distraction to keep us from what’s really at stake?

  Get VENGEANCE, the explosive conclusion to The Program Series right here!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  It’s sort of a funny thing how N.M. Catalano started writing. This is the true story:

  She had just separated from her third husband - that’s right, three – and just like every other woman who has gone through that, was going through an emotional time. Everyone lives that more than likely during this time, whether they are the instigator or not. Writing her first published women’s contemporary book, STRANGER, was a bit of a cleansing process. She sat down with a pen and a notebook – she wrote the whole thing in those marble notebooks – and just kept writing. When she was finished, she decided, “What the hell? Let’s publish it.” So she did. And people loved it. As of right now it’s thirteen books later, she’s still writing passionate stories centered around a suspenseful, sometimes dark, sometimes twisted, story line.

  One of the most important things she feels a writer must do is to truly love their characters. How can the characters be loved if the creator isn’t madly in love with them themselves? Crazy? Maybe. But she loves every single one of them.

  She has partied with the best of them in her twenties, met the two true loves of her life in her thirties, (her children), and is now finding she’d rather sit back and be alone, if not she’s with her family, than in a crowd of people. I suppose she’s become a bit of a recluse. She used to say when she was younger she wanted to win the lottery so she could join the Peace Corps. Well, she hasn’t hit the big numbers, but she does what she can for the betterment of mankind in her own little ways.

  Writing her stories is one way she truly hopes she brings a little sunshine into your life.

  "I am just a woman, like many of you, who has lived through beauty and ugliness, happiness, (sometimes extreme), and sadness, (sometimes heart wrenching), and have grown to love life and myself even more. I write because I love the characters, I am madly and hopelessly in love with them and want to share them with you. Life is beautiful and is meant to be enjoyed day by day, sometimes you have to pick out the good stuff with a magnifying glass like a needle in a haystack, but enjoyed none the less. The stories that I put on paper, I think, help us to find that enjoyment a little bit more.

  I am just a woman who is in love with love…<3"

  Connect with her at:

  Blog where you’ll find free short-stories: https://nmcatalanoauthor.wordpress.com/

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmcatalanowriter

  Join my private readers group on Facebook to get news first and special nowhere else giveaways: http://bit.ly/2kKBu8O

  Twitter: @nmcatalanowriter

  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/catalanoauthor/

  Newsletter, (to receive notices of giveaways, and chapters of upcoming releases nowhere else available): http://eepurl.com/bpEW9X

  A NOTE FROM ME

  Do you hate me for that cliffie? God, I hope not, but I had no choice, lol. If you’ve read some of my other books, you know that’s not my usual way of ending a story. But this one, well, really, there was no other way.

  I know a lot of you disliked Sasha when you began this book, hell, I don’t blame you. But we’ve been told all of our lives not to judge a book by its cover, (lol, see what I did there?), and Sasha is a prime example. We never truly know what struggles people are facing, and that my friend, makes us all one big happy family.

  As I’m tying the ribbon around this book, wrapping it up and making it all pretty for you, I’ve got my first cold in a few years. I never get sick, the last time I did, I was in bed for two weeks. It doesn’t feel like this one’s going to kick my ass like that one did. But I still want to crawl in bed and say, “Just leave me alone until I’m human again.” The only thing I want to do is get Tortured ready for you.

  Also, my oldest brother just passed away a couple of weeks ago. That whole situation with the services and the funeral was an entire clusterfuck, and it doesn’t seem to have a conclusion for maybe another six months. What the hell is wrong with people? Can they not just put aside their petty shit for a while and do something for someone else, especially the deceased? I mean really people. Good Lord. What the fuck ever.

  If you follow me on social media, are a member of my readers group (you can join right here, Bad Boys Book Babes), especially if we’ve been friends for a while, you know I never talk about anything negative. There are too many downers out in the real world, I don’t want to bring that crap into my private spaces. I’m sure you don’t either. Well, to make a short story long, this is the first time I’ve mentioned it in public. I feel that our private life is our own and there are just some things I won’t talk about. Like I never talk about my kids, you’ll never see pictures of them, it’s just how I am. One thing I will say is I miss them as babies every single day. Don’t get me wrong, it was a hell of a lot work, and I don’t want any more children, but I truly wish that I could have them as toddlers just for one day. It makes my heart hurt thinking about it now.

  So what do you think about the men of The Program? Seriously, when I started this…I should say when they first popped into my life, it was completely intended to be a stand-alone romcom, a little funny, a little mystery, a whole lot of passion, (and filth). I began writing it right after BLACK INK, and Alexander Black and Gemma Trudeau kicked my ass, they sucked everything right out of me. I needed to lighten up. But as CANVAS unfolded, more and more layers began to intertwine, I couldn’t just leave Riverbend
and everyone there. How about Mrs. Primrose Merriweather? I absolutely love that woman. I KNOW a whole bunch of you crazy ass women are waiting for Bull and his everything big, LOL. Yeah, me too ;)

  Alright you sweet, beautiful people, I’ve got to tie this up, it’s got to go off to the formatter to have it back in time to submit for pre-order.

  Thank you all for taking this journey with me, I absolutely love you to pieces.

  And thank you so much letting me be a little part of your lives.

  ~ N.M. <3 xoxoxo

  OTHER WORKS

  STRANGER Book 1 In The STRANGER Series

  I couldn't resist submitting to him. I still can't, no matter the cost.

  I thought I was fine, I thought my life was ok. Until I met him. One night of erotic abandon blew open the door to the prison of my life and there was no way I wanted to lock it back up. I couldn’t, not when he kept coming back. But I knew there would be a price to pay. There always is, I had been warned. The past always comes back to haunt you especially when it promised it would.

  Your body is my playground and I want to play.

  Life is good. I have control, I like having control. Until I met her. I thought that one night of her deliciousness would be enough to satisfy me. I was wrong. I wanted more, there was something about her, she was different. And now I was losing control, there was no way in hell I was going to lose.

  ** This book is meant to be read as a stand-alone but is the first book in the STRANGER series. No cliffhangers. 18+ BDSM

  SWITCH Book 2 In The STRANGER Series

  Life can change in an instant.

  Betrayal. Just like that everything I had built, my entire life, was falling apart. My world threatened to collapse from under me, everything was slipping through my hands, and it looked like there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop the destruction. I was going to lose everything but the worst part was, I was going to lose her.

  A second chance.

  Fate smiled down on me and gave me a second chance. And it was so much better than I could have ever imagined. He worshipped my body, he made me feel adored. Until that day. The day I found them, the day his skeletons came pouring out of that closet he thought was so well hidden. He made a huge mistake if he thought I was naive. It was time for me to take control.

  Can he SWITCH to get it all back?

  **Can be read as a stand-alone, 18+ BDSM

  KINK Book 3 In The STRANGER Series

  She’s a damaged girl, hiding behind a tough façade and a razor sharp tongue, afraid to open up to him and trust him. Her wounds are deep, the scars are many, some are visible, and others cannot be seen.

  He thinks he doesn’t deserve her, that he doesn’t deserve to be happy. The demons he fights are loud and strong, some are real, while others are not. But he wants her. And he’ll have her.

  He’ll share her. They’ll plunge her into the most erotic oblivion she’s ever experienced.

  **Warning, this book contains very strong sexual content, BDSM, menage, and a scene or two which could be a trigger containing sexual assault/rape. 18+

  PERFECT Book 4 In The STRANGER Series

  Brian Daniels has life by the balls. He’s gorgeous, so much so, it hurts so good to look at him. And his dominant sexual skills leave the women he’s with in a state of complete erotic delirium for days, knowing exactly how to bring her the most pleasure. The dark and dangerous beast inside him, the one that was born in the Marines, is released in the cage when he fights, and in the bedroom when the women are tied and begging for more. He is absolutely perfect. But he’s miserable, empty, and hollow, wondering if this is all there is to life.

  Everything about Brooke stops traffic. Her perfect body and face have men following behind her like a trail of whimpering little puppy dogs. And she hates everything about herself, because it destroyed her. She lives with its curse every day, one that will never allow a man to get close to her heart. She’s a brilliant Marine Biologist fighting against the clock amid brutal shark attacks, trying to find a way to stop the animal before it strikes again. But she’s defenseless against the monster inside her.

  When Brian and Brooke collide, it’s an erotic war zone, one that Brian will not lose.

  Can he save her from her demons? Can she finally submit and let Brian free her from her hell? Or will tragedy strike first and rip Brian from her, destroying any chance they have at love?

  **Stand-alone, 18+ BDSM, a tiny bit dark.

  HIDING Book 5 In The STRANGER Series

  Warning: It is passionate, it is suspenseful, it'll blow your mind. There is darkness, you have been warned, enter at your own risk...

  Secrets, they entice you, they bind you, they hold you captive. A challenge whispered to you luring you closer. Will you delve into their darkness? Would you go? Or would you hide...

  I had rules. They protected the fortress of my darkness.

  My secrets.

  I allowed myself certain distractions, but nothing permanent.

  It wasn’t allowed.

  If I slipped, then I’d fall.

  That was one thing I couldn’t afford.

  Until her.

  She was secrets wrapped up in a challenge. Tied with a big bow of sensuality.

  I was about to take the biggest fall of my life.

  I’d found complacency in my nightmare.

  A comfort in normalcy.

  I was surviving.

  It sucked, but I was safe.

  Until he crashed into my world.

  He had secrets.

  Lots of them.

  He wasn’t the good guy, not by far.

  But was he what I needed?

  She's hiding from her future.

  He's running from his past.

  When they collide it's explosive.

  Danger is a persistent predator.

  It seeks until it finds.

  There is no past, and no future.

  There is only now, and right now danger is coming.

  You can run, but you can never hide.

  **Stand-alone, 18+, strong sexual content, a bit dark, a bit twisted, some horror.

  THE ROOSTER CLUB, The Best Cocks In Town

  We all have that first true love, the one we never forget, the one that makes our heart hurt, even today.

  This is their story. It spans decades.

  This is his story….

  All wrapped up in the decadence of the ‘80’s:

  Sex (lots of it).

  Drugs (almost as much).

  Discos (where it all happened).

  How it all crashed in the 90’s.

  And today, how it found her once again…

  **Stand-alone, 18+, strong sexual content & language

  BLACK INK, Part I, BLACK INK, Part II, BLACK INK Part III

  Seduction, Possession, Revenge…

  The BLACK INK Trilogy

  In Part I we met the man,

  Alexander Black

  Ruthless. Powerful. A prick.

  Intoxicating, intriguing.

  He took, he claimed, he possessed.

  In Part II, He owned.

  In a world of seduction,

  Danger,

  Darkness.

  In Part III, The beast is unleashed.

  In a deadly race against time,

  The only thing he wants is

  Blood,

  Revenge,

  Annihilation.

  **18+, very strong sexual content, violence, it is dark, a bit twisted, there is horror, and it’ll blow your mind.

  SUSPICIOUS, Book 6 Stranger Series, The Very Last One, Due Out Soon

  SCOTT

  Another day in paradise.

  Placing the cup of black coffee down on my desk, I turn on the computer and prepare for the newest round of bad guys waiting for me.

  Degenerates.

  Scumbags.

  Lowlifes.

  Killers.

  I’ve been surrounded by them for more than half my life.

  First it
had been the Army, doing missions that should have killed me. Going into a compound filled with beasts that had only one purpose; to kill all of us in the most gruesome way possible, and make a show of it while they did it. That wasn’t about me. It was about saving people from torture, stopping them from getting burned alive, or having their heads cut off on camera for a goddamn YouTube video. Or shot by a ten-year-old kid.

  Ten-fucking-year-olds. What is wrong with this world?

  I was done, I got out. Only to join the police force, the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration. The addresses might have been different, the accents and languages might have changed, but it was still filth. Corruption. Death and torture.

  I’ve done bust’s where there had been rooms piled with chopped up bodies stuffed in plastic bags. The degradation I’ve been witness to knows no bounds, has no morals, ethics never existed there.

  I’ve seen living proof that hell has no boundaries, no restrictions, no preference to color, race, religion, or nationality.

  It’s alive and well, and more powerful than you ever could imagine.

  It seduced, promised, and fought dirty in the most beautiful ways.

  I thought I could get out. I thought I’d had enough and I could walk away, and never go back.

  The Prodigal Son returned, Scott Edwards.

  It isn’t for me.

  Or maybe it is?

  Maybe there’s something wrong with me that I need to do this. Maybe I’m just as bad as the criminals. What kind of normal person would get off on the hunt of sick motherfuckers every day, made my heart pound wildly with the thrill of the chase?

  I’m not blind not to know that only someone with the same tastes, the same understandings, could know what makes our kind tick.

  Feel it deep inside them.