My past is a locked door. Sealed shut. Guarded by the lies I tell to survive. A mask. A façade. A carefully crafted illusion. But no disguise is perfect. No wall is unbreakable. And he-relentless, unyielding- shatters through every barrier I built. He gets too close. Sees too much. Draws me in with a fire I can't control. Our connection is raw, reckless- a beautiful kind of destruction. But love is dangerous. Secrets are deadly. And there's one truth I swore he'd never know. One part of me I refuse to expose. Because he's just as fractured as I am. And together, we might be the only thing standing in our way.
AURORA'S POV
"It's not you, it's me," Reed says, looking at me across the table in this way over the top, and entirely too expensive, FloriBella restaurant.
"I just need space."
I blink a few times as my brow furrows trying to take in all that he is saying.
"I really don't want to hurt you, Aurora."
Hurt me? I've only been seeing the man three weeks. What! Does he think that I've actually fallen in love with him in that small amount of time?
Ridiculous! Then it hits me.
"But it's Christmas," I blurt out.
He doesn't miss a beat, and it's obvious he totally doesn't understand and thinks my sudden outburst has way more meaning behind it than it really does.
"We can stay friends," he suggests, lifting his glass of red wine to his lips. I notice as his eyes wander as I look over and notice him taking in a busty female from a few tables over that actually has the audacity to wink at him and flirt in front of me.
Rolling my eyes, I turn back to the man in front of me and try and focus on what is happening.
A breakup, a little under two weeks before one of the biggest holidays of the year, and only 24 hours shy of when me and Mr. Arrogant across the table were supposed to be leaving for his parent's house in Toronto.
Reed's eyes find mine again and he says, "Staying friends could have its benefits."
His foot rises under the table and he suggestively rubs it against my calf.
I snort, hell I can't help myself. Yeah right, benefits? I didn't know he was such an asshole.
Reed's eyes wander once again and find the woman's stare from across the room and I have to hold myself back from lunging across the table and punching the bastard in the face like I want to.
"Benefits for who, Reed? Because you always were a shitty lay," I force out through gritted teeth. "Don't think I'll be coming back for seconds on that one. Thanks, but no thanks."
His eyes snap to mine before he sits up a little straighter. "Watch it! Lord knows you don't have enough to pay for this dinner tonight. I should drop your poor ass with the check, and we'll see just who will be calling who later, Sweetheart."
He sets his wine glass back down on the table and starts to cut through his steak as the fire inside me explodes and I find it almost impossible to hold back on my earlier thoughts of punching his lights out.
Maybe gouging out his dark brown irises would be best. Would definitely help to save some other innocent female from his nasty habit of wandering eyes.
I take a deep breath and decide it's now or never, telling him off that is, not the eyes gouging bit - and hell if I've never been the girl to wait for anybody to give me a signal twice.
Standing, I adjust my dress and grab my clutch and jacket from the booth. "You're right, Reed. Maybe I will call you later."
His eyes smile as the smug bastard actually thinks that he has won.
"But you know," I say, leaning forward so we are eye to eye as I stand next to our table. "My poor ass prefers the company of a man who actually knows how to please a woman. Not a little boy who lives off Mommy and Daddy's trust fund."
I purposely hit his wine glass, causing the red liquid to spill all over the white table cloth and his white dress shirt.
As I turn to leave, the long line of obscenities thrown at my back makes me crack a smile and giggle.
I notice the girl from a few tables over rise and make her way towards him just as I pass a few waiters rushing past me to his rescue.
He is all yours, Honey! Enjoy! Not that any woman ever would!
I roll my eyes to myself knowing the poor truth the girl is about to stumble on, and then smile thinking it's perfect karma already kicking them both in the head.
After all, justice always feels too damn sweet. Serves the guy right. I should have known better than to let my boss set me up with one of his old college buddies.
My boss at the makeshift job the bureau set me up with, that is, while I've been stationed in New York on assignment.
Stepping outside, I wrap my warm coat around my shoulders as the chill in the air startles me. Opening my clutch, I pull my phone from inside as I make my way to the curb to hail a cab.
Working for the FBI has its benefits. Bouncing all over the place and moving around from town to town is not one of them.
Luckily, with no family to call my own, the toll is less on me than some that are in my line of work. Although, I can't deny that this time of year my reality really sucks and I'd do anything to not spend another holiday season alone. But Lord, that would take one hell of a miracle.
Figures! It's Christmas and this "lonely poor girl" has nowhere to go.
The lonely being true. Poor, not so much since the bureau makes sure I am paid more than my fair share, especially since I am not on the, shall we say "normal," payroll.
Since growing up bouncing in and out of foster care the last year before my 18th birthday, I always wanted a nice family Christmas and thought this year I might actually get the chance to have one. No such luck I guess.
But if I am being honest with myself, I wasn't really into the guy anyway, and it was probable the one excuse that kept me hanging around as long as I did.
His crappy frat boy attitude and lazy bedside manner the tip of the ice berg, and I am sure that we would have broken things off once the holidays were over anyway. Actually, he saved us both time and effort neither of us really wanted to put in the more I think about it.
He was my first love. And my first heartbreak. Now, he's back-with a ring, a contract, and a proposition I never saw coming. Darius Ferguson is a name that turns heads. Billionaire. Power player. The kind of man who can make or break anyone with a single deal. The world sees him as untouchable, unstoppable. But to me? He's the boy who disappeared without a goodbye. The one who left me picking up the pieces of a heart he had no right to break. Now, years later, he's standing in front of me with an offer too tempting-and too dangerous-to ignore. Marry him. Be his perfect wife in public. Play the role until the ink dries on his biggest business deal yet. In return, he'll make all my problems disappear. One year. No emotions. No messy entanglements. Just a means to an end. It should be easy. Except nothing about Liam has ever been easy. He still knows exactly how to make my pulse race. Still watches me like I belong to him. And when he touches me, I forget every reason I swore I'd never let him back in. But this isn't real. It can't be. Because I refuse to make the same mistake twice. Even if pretending to be his wife starts to feel a little too real.
Everything has with a price. Including her. I'm Damien Anderson. I run this city. Control is everything to me. In business, in pleasure-I never give up the upper hand. So when a stubborn little thing dares to defy me, it gets under my skin. Makes me want to break her, own her, make her beg for everything I know she needs. That fire in her green eyes? I want to watch it flicker and fade into sweet submission. I give her an offer she can't refuse-thirty days in my bed, and her money problems disappear. No strings. No emotions. Just my wealth in exchange for her innocence. But Lily isn't just another deal. She's an obsession. A weakness I never saw coming. And now? I don't care about the contract. She's mine. And I'm never letting her go.
One glance. One touch. One note of her mesmerizing voice, and I'm undone. Like a dream I never want to escape, she draws me in, wrapping me in her presence. Consumed. Overcome with need. Fueled by an unshakable desire to claim her as mine. One night, I take more than she's ever given, and it only leaves me craving more. Needing more. Desperate for more. She's the one I've waited for my entire life. And I'll be damned if I let anyone-our families included-stand between us. She trusts me. Yearns for me, just as I ache to possess her. Forever. But fate throws a twist we never saw coming. A curveball no one could have predicted. Still, I cling to her light. She's my Angel. Something about her-about us-makes me believe I've found heaven on earth. She's now my world and I'm never letting her go. Not now. Not ever.
Adeline I was already regretting this blind date when my ex walked into the restaurant-hand in hand with his new girlfriend. The urge to disappear hit me hard, so I did what any self-respecting woman would do . I ran to the ladies' room, unfortunately for me , it was a men's room... and so I had no choice but to climb out the window. Except I didn't exactly stick the landing. Instead, I tripped, tumbled into the dumpster, and almost got shot by a criminal who was on the run from a hot cop. --- Kenneth I was staking out a notorious drug dealer, waiting for the perfect moment to move in. Everything was going smoothly-when a woman fell-yes, fell-from the restroom window and almost got shot by the suspect. The suspect bolted. My cover was blown. And the woman? She looked up at me with the most stunning eyes I'd ever seen... and then tried to run. I caught her before she could get away. Annoyed as hell, I slapped cuffs on her. She was livid. I was livid. But the only thing worse than losing my target? The fact that I couldn't stop staring at her. And I had a feeling that wasn't going to change anytime soon.
He's not just a criminal-he's a king in the underworld. A ruthless leader who commands two of LA's most dangerous gangs. And now, I belong to him. Kidnapped. Trapped in a gilded cage with no escape. I should be terrified, desperate to run. But his touch is intoxicating, his presence irresistible. He says he took me for a reason. That my father wants him dead. Can I trust the man who stole me? Or is he playing a game far deadlier than I realize? The truth will shatter everything. And when it does, I'll have to make an impossible choice: Betray the family I've always known... Or surrender to the man who owns my soul.
"Hello , Nicholas" Eight years ago, Nicholas Chesterfield had made a wrong decision of choosing his father's attention and acceptance over Amelia and her father. He lost Amelia in the process and he regretted it ever since. Now as the CEO and partner in NW International, he needs to finalize a property deal but there is one major obstacle: Amelia is contract negotiator for the owner and she doesn't trust him. Amelia had sworn never to have anything to do with Nicholas Chesterfield again after her and her father lost everything years ago when Nicholas' father lied about his intentions for buying her family's resort. But now she's facing him across the negotiating table and sparks that had previously been stumped out re ingnite between them. Will Amelia be able to resist Nicholas' charm this time around or fall for him once again like she did years ago? Will they be able to put their past behind and act professionally? Could this deal be a second chance at love for both of them?
On the day of their wedding anniversary, Joshua's mistress drugged Alicia, and she ended up in a stranger's bed. In one night, Alicia lost her innocence, while Joshua's mistress carried his child in her womb. Heartbroken and humiliated, Alicia demanded a divorce, but Joshua saw it as yet another tantrum. When they finally parted ways, she went on to become a renowned artist, sought out and admired by everyone. Consumed by regret, Joshua darkened her doorstep in hopes of reconciliation, only to find her in the arms of a powerful tycoon. "Say hello to your sister-in-law."
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
Chandler Su who had cheated by her boyfriend then got drunk at a bar. To take revenge, she grabbed a man randomly and took him to the room. After a crazy night, Chandler found the strange man was a super handsome guy the next morning. Shy and shocked Chandler run away after leaving 150 RMB and scorning the man of his poor bed skills. However, she never thought the story would become so dramatic as the next day, she found out that the new coming president of her company was exactly the man she slept the last night! Worse than that, this new boss seemed very narrow-minded as he asked Chandler to come to his office on the first day.
Madison had always believed that she would marry Colten. She spent her youth admiring him from afar, dreaming of their future life together. But Colten was always indifferent to her, and when he abandoned her at a time when she needed him most, she finally realized that he never loved her. With renewed resolve and a thirst for revenge, Madison left. Endless possibilities lay ahead, but Colten was no longer part of her plans. Colten rushed to her place in a panic. "Madison, please come back to me. I’ll give you everything!" It was his powerful uncle who answered the door. "She's my woman now."
A man like Travis Sinclair wants nothing more than a woman who matches his sexual prowess and is used to getting everything he wants. A cold-hearted billionaire ,he lives by one rule - no love, no commitment. Ayanna Davies isn't looking for a relationship. She's focused on her work and the financial security it brings. As a high end escort, her client is full of filthy rich men who are willing to pay handsomely for her services. But when Travis Sinclair becomes one of her clients, she begins twice about mixing work with pleasure. Not knowing that he is an old acquaintance whom she despises.
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"