So... the genre of this book is dark romance... I think? Nero is morally grey, and Payton does not have the best of instincts. I mean, she literally fell asleep while a stranger sat next to her on her couch. And said stranger had just waltz into her home from the balcony. She also lives on the second floor? Granted, she did have enough awareness to know that the way she was reacting was probably not the best but still! She fell asleep! Nero also has no understanding of boundaries because as she fell asleep, he went looking through her things.
In this book, we also get introduced to King! Who is his best friend and also equally as insane as King. They're both men who are in their thirties and Payton is in her twenties.
Back to Nero, he is the typical mafia man in charge of the men under the Alliance. He has a back story that led to him being who he is today, and he makes that very clear. He is also the type of men who are for pushing the person they want away for fear of endangering them. This resistance does not last long, however.
He starts to stalk her. King gives him shit for it. He ends up renting the apartment that is across from hers, where he can see her balcony. He also knows where she works and had King do a background check on her. Well, one of the reasons for this is because when she slept while he was in her home, she had a nightmare. He managed to wake her up from it and asked for the name of the man who is the center of her nightmare. She only gave him a first name, but he ran with it. Points for a man who is willing to do anything to harm those who harmed you, I guess.
But our girl Payton isn't much better, in all honesty. She doesn't have the means to do any level of stalking, but she does call him 'her man' at one point in her head. When she hasn't seen him since that day he strolled out of her home. She also opens her balcony one day, hoping for him to be back and... take her to bed. This was also after she got a notice of her rent raising so, can't fault her for wanting a pick-me-up.
That scene... I will not explain but it was a bit insane, not going to lie.
Anyways, he is attached to her, and she is to him. Something about how dangerous he is, calls to her. He does go through with his promise of hurting the person who hurt her. So, there is that.
I do enjoy Nero's banter with King, though. They're both not completely there, but they are ride-or-dies for each other.
There is also a moment where Nero acts like he doesn't know Payton. He does text her to continue to act like they don't know each other for her safety — do with that what you will.
During this time, someone who has clearly shown interest in Payton before manages to get her number and have her agree to meet with him later that evening. Payton agrees and Nero does not like this at all.
Obviously, Nero follows her to this place. I'm not surprised by this! I would've been shocked if he didn't follow her and do the whole 'you belonged with me!' spiel. But she definitely is eating it up. Although, he did tell her that he has enemies and that is why she has to remain as his secret. He does tell her more information about who he is so there is that.
After all of this, another situation happens where Nero has to act like he doesn't know Payton. But Payton doesn't understand because that invitation to Nero's birthday part she found in her mail was obvious sent by him. Right?
Nope.
So now, someone knows that she is important to him. Even when he was trying to keep everything on the downlow about his obsession. This is also when he tells her she is moving in with him. And she fought against it for a bit before giving in. I mean, if a man told me I would be moving into a nice place and declares to give me everything and I want, I wouldn't fight too hard against it. And my girl Payton did not live an easy life. I don't blame her for falling for a man who will move the world for her safety.
He also sets a meeting up with an interior designer, so she is able to redecorate the house. Why? Because Nero is the typical mafia leader whose house is decorated in all black. And Payton likes bright colors, such as yellow. And he wants her touches all over the house. Overwhelming? Yes. But he is putting his action behind his words, so I appreciate that.
Then you have Payton kidnapped. I'm not surprised — Nero did say he had some enemies. But he flew a stolen plane to get to her, and I respect that. Gotta do what you got to do. This story does have a happy ending, not for Nero's enemies, but for him and Peyton. And me, I love a good happy ending. My girl Payton definitely deserves to have an easier life and I'm happy for her! Nero is a bit too unhinged but overall, he doesn't seem too bad.
I am debating between 3.5 or 4 stars, honestly. But at the end, I rate this a 3.5/5. There were just some things he did that I found a little... uncomfortable, not going to lie.
Genre: Dark Romance/Mafia Romance
FMC: Payton
MMC: Nero
TLDR; Nero falls for the woman who had her balcony door open one night, when he thought he wasn't capable of such a thing. Payton learns that she does deserve to have good things in her life, and she does deserve love. And she happens to love Nero's style of stalkerish, clingy love.
What do you think? Do you like Nero by S.J. Tilly?
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