Contemporary Romance Book read in the last 3 years
Contains spoilers:
The Heroine’s Backstory & Family Dynamics
The heroine was raised in a crime family with an abusive father. she stayed close to him and acted as his informant.
She was against her brother (who is the hero of another book in the series). She would feed their father information about her brother,
Later, her husband was shot and killed, and her father either died or disappeared.
Instead of just running away, the heroine goes to another city to spy on a rival crime family. Her goal is revenge, and she is keeping her location and mission a secret from her brother.
She meets the hero in a restaurant in this new city. He is wealthy, charming, and owns a high-end club.
You later find out he is the estranged son of a different crime family. He changed his name and left his biological family because his father murdered his girlfriend. He worked as an enforcer for an Italian crime family i think. But then got out.
One day, the heroine gets mugged on the street.
She calls the hero for help because she is desperate to keep her whereabouts a secret from her brother and doesn't want to alert her own family.
It is later revealed that the hero orchestrated the mugging himself. He suspected she was hiding something and wanted access to her purse s
In the climax of the book, the hero reunites with his biological parents.
He shoots his father, and his mother screams as it happens.
During the final conflict, the heroine is kept locked in the house of the hero’s Italian mentor (who acts as a surrogate uncle/Don figure) for her "protection."
I think there is also a motorcycle scene where hero and heroine are having lunch with his mentor and someone drives by shooting on a motorcycle. No one is hit so it was a warning.