Blood & Wine by Theodore Belcastro

In the sun-scorched mountains of 1920s Calabria, blood is the only currency that never loses its value.

Damiano Vallelonga has spent his life trying to outrun the shadow of his father's legacy-a man executed ten years ago by the Honoured Society that rules the province. He wants a simple life among the vines of Monte Pecoraro, but in the domain of the 'Ndrangheta, heritage is a shackle that cannot be broken.

Coerced by his cousin, the 'Ndrangheta Boss Antonello Tonino Monteleone, Damiano swears the vow of lead and poison. To survive, he must transform from a winemaker into an 'Ndranghetista, seduced by a dangerous desire: that the wealth and power of the 'Ndrangheta can secure a lavish future for Rosaria, the woman he loves.

But Rosaria is the forbidden fruit promised to Tonino himself.

Caught between the demands of the Onorata Società and a love that defies their laws, Damiano devises a dangerous gamble. He will capitalise on a betrayal that has tainted the Monteleone name; by washing it clean in blood, he hopes to buy his freedom and be with his love.

But in this savage domain where freedom is a myth written in stone, can a future be purchased with blood?