Poisoned by His Love

Lily Watson, a 25-year-old nurse, is on her half-sister Victoria's wedding day. Victoria is set to marry Dominic Castellano, a mafia king rumored to have killed his last wife. Before the ceremony, Victoria flees, leaving the Castellano family insulted and the Watson family exposed.

Dominic's men make the threat clear: the Castellano family values commitment, and a broken word means bloodlines disappear. Lily uses the only leverage she has. Victoria is their father's mistress's daughter; Lily is the legitimate Watson. She offers herself in Victoria's place.

At the altar, Dominic asks her name. Lily Watson. The ceremony is rushed, and his welcome is a single line about hell. The bargain is sealed.

After the wedding, Dominic tests Lily with a gun. If the gun fires, he dies and she is free. If it does not, she belongs to him completely. Lily raises the gun, says she can't, and drops it. Dominic declares she is his.

Before she enters his home, Jassica and the others mock Lily. Dominic threatens to feed the next speaker to the dogs. He then turns a family tradition into a game. He makes Lily search his body for weapons, then searches her. When she brings up his last wife, he describes how he might have killed her—a bullet, a knife—and asks how Lily thinks he will kill her, how long she will last. Fear is the point.

Lily tries to run. Police are likely on his payroll, so she needs her passport and a way out of the country. Daniel, a man who wants her and has been refused, blocks her. When she refuses him again, Daniel offers to sell her. The gang leader with him proposes a deal: Daniel holds her down, he goes first, then Daniel takes a turn. They plan to take turns and humiliate Dominic.

Dominic arrives before they can carry it out. He tells the gang leader his entire gang has signed a death warrant. He turns to Daniel, asks which hand he used, and threatens to take that hand first, then his eyes. He tells Daniel his family will be found in pieces scattered across the city. He gets Lily out and asks her to take a chance on him, suggesting he may not be the devil everyone says.

Later, Dominic sets terms for the contract marriage: dinner together every night, held hands in public, a shared bed. Lily agrees to the first two terms and asks him to leave. He says he is not finished. He adds the third rule; she refuses. He adds a fourth about making love three times a day, calls it a joke, and says he will not force her. Then he pushes further, tells her to spread her legs, and says, "Let me taste what's mine."