author-banner
Krystal Bahmz
Krystal Bahmz
Author

Novels by Krystal Bahmz

TO HATE, TO TOUCH, TO RUIN

TO HATE, TO TOUCH, TO RUIN

As the wife of the Colombian cartel heir, Krystal Serrano is a symbol of diplomacy and control. Dressed in silk, wrapped in silence, and displayed like a crown jewel at the center of power. But behind the flawless smile lies a woman raised not just to survive, but to rule. When her husband's betrayal ignites a war with the Italian mafia, Krystal is taken. Kidnapped and hidden away by Zachary Romano, the young, ruthless Don who solves problems with bullets and buries questions with bodies. He thought he had captured a soft, obedient mafia wife. What he brought home was a storm in heels. Krystal doesn't beg. She doesn't break. Her silence provokes, her lips taunt, and her gaze slices deeper than any blade. Inside the stone walls of his private villa, control begins to slip. Hatred turns into tension. Tension burns into obsession. And in their world, love always comes with blood on its hands. The ring on her finger still binds her to a man who believes she belongs to him. But what happens when a woman like Krystal meets someone dark enough to understand her, broken enough to match her, and reckless enough to want her? Because there's a difference between loving a woman like Krystal… And trying to own her. And Zach Romano is about to learn—only one man can stand beside her. The rest will be buried.
Read
Chapter: The Blue Beneath the Black
My stomach wrung itself out until my ribs felt ready to come loose. Every heave made my neck flare again, right where the needle had gone in. Like someone kept striking a tiny match beneath my skin.I tried to lift a hand over my mouth, but my fingers only clawed at the air before finding Zach’s chest again. My nails might have gone through the fabric and into his skin.The next wave brought up less. Acid and bitterness burned the back of my tongue until my whole mouth tasted like a leaking battery. I choked, coughed, my jaw still locked tight, every breath splitting into a rough sound that hurt my own ears.“Medico.”“Adesso.”“Move.”“No one touches her unless I say.”Zach’s voice echoed above my head.Another hand came close. I felt it more like a shadow than an actual touch.My shoulder jerked. My fingers tightened again.Zach growled. “Back off.”He pulled me closer against his familiar chest.His warmth pressed into my cheek, and some small part of me recognized the rhythm of hi
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: Not the Worst Thing I’ve Tasted
Zach’s voice was still here.Or what was left of Zach’s voice.It was hard to tell, because everything was starting to sound like someone had sunk the entire club to the bottom of an expensive hotel pool. Gunshots became dull thuds. People’s screams turned into bubbles. The music that had been pounding through the floor now felt like the bass was pulsing underneath my own skin.I’m still in his arms.I knew because something hard and warm was keeping my body from hitting the ground. One arm beneath my back. One hand against the side of my jaw. His thumb rested on my cheekbone, far too steady for a world that had already begun breaking into pieces.I tried to open my mouth and say something, but my tongue wouldn’t move.A pinpoint of heat flared at my neck where the needle had pierced me. At first, it was just a quick sting—like a pissed-off bee taking a cheap shot—sharp and annoying as hell, but nothing that screamed danger.Then it spread, like someone was pouring boiling tequila dir
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: Too Pretty to Die Quietly
Zach didn’t answer fast enough.I looked at Diego. “Papa know?”Diego fired toward the bar. “We only found out when they breached the perimeter.”“The perimeter?” I let out a short laugh. “I went out for a drink. I wasn’t attending a NATO summit.”“Señorita…”“Don’t Señorita me right now, Diego.”Zach turned his head slightly. “Focus.”I stared at his back. “Don’t give me orders like I’m your wife.”“If you were my wife, I would’ve tied you to a chair fifteen minutes ago.”I smiled thinly. “Very healthy fantasy.”He fired to the side without taking his eyes off me. The man trying to move in from the left jerked back, his weapon dropping, his body hitting the floor.Zach kept looking at me.Kept.Looking at me.“This is not the time to fight me,” he said.“I’m not fighting you.”“Krystal.”“I’m considering my options.”“Your option is staying alive.”I didn’t answer.“For once, use that brain of yours to survive instead of stabbing at me.” He moved half an inch closer, close enough tha
Last Updated: 2026-05-26
Chapter: Blood & Neon
The glass blew inward, rough and brutal.A mess.Shards hit the floor, the tables, the shoulders of people ducking for cover. They bounced off my shoes and caught in my hair like confetti from hell.Zach shoved me down with one hand at the back of my neck.My chest hit his waist. My knees slammed into the floor, sticky with tequila and something I very much hoped wasn’t blood.Cheap alcohol, cigarette smoke, sweat, sweet perfume, and gunpowder all tangled in my nose. Five minutes ago, this club had been ugly in a fun way. Now it looked like someone had taken a bad decision, handed it an automatic weapon, and told it to run.“Zach…”“Shut up.”Naturally, a shootout was when his control issues decided to make a full comeback.I resisted the urge to bite his calf.Another shot hit the bar behind us. Bottles shattered. Brown and clear liquor sprayed everywhere like expensive rain with no class. People screamed.A woman crawled under a table with one shoe missing. Nicolás, the guy in the d
Last Updated: 2026-05-26
Chapter: A Kiss, a Lie, a Gunshot
He kissed me back.And it should have satisfied me.It should have.But Zach Romano had a way of turning defeat into something that still felt like a win, especially when I was the idiot standing there breathless because of him.His hand cradled the back of my head, his fingers sliding into my hair, already half-loose from the claw clip, pulling me close enough that my breath snagged in my throat. His mouth pushed deeper against mine, and my knees, traitorous little idiots, gave up immediately.Damn it.I kissed him back. I wasn’t a saint, and he wasn’t some moral test I could pass with one quick prayer.Both my hands rose to his neck and locked him, my fingers brushing the warm skin just beneath his hairline. He tensed beneath my fingers, just enough to give himself away. I liked knowing I could do that to him. I liked it too much. So I pulled him closer.A low sound rumbled out of his throat.Music slammed in from every direction. Someone near the bar shrieked with laughter. Shoes c
Last Updated: 2026-05-26
Chapter: Lola & the Don
Shit.Shit shit shit.I turned slowly, very slowly, because some things were easier to face if you didn’t look at them directly. War and taxes... or an ex-kidnapper too handsome for national security.And here he was....Zachary Romano.All sharp eyes, black hair, and expensive danger. The kind of beautiful that made smart women forget they were supposed to know better.He stood too close behind me, wearing a black T-shirt and dark jeans, looking unfairly good for a man who had no business being in this club. His short black hair was messy, his bangs falling slightly over his forehead. His eyes were sharp and calm. Too Zach.How long had it been since I last saw that face?I didn’t know.I forgot.But ...lie.I remembered.The last time I saw him, I was still in his bed, breathless, furious, and far too aware of every place he’d touched me. Then he walked away like he hadn’t just ruined me for sport.Longing rose in my chest.Slight. Warm.Ew....I immediately threw it far away, to wh
Last Updated: 2026-05-25
The Billionaire's Regret

The Billionaire's Regret

Marrying Sebastian Romano had felt like a wish granted too perfectly to be real… until reality crushed it. For two years, Jasmine lived in a blur of champagne, penthouse lights, and a husband who looked at her like she was his entire future. In the third year, the silence arrived. The kisses turned into calendar appointments. The marriage shrank into handshakes and small talk. Then Jasmine found the truth. Sweet messages that were not for her. Hotel bookings that did not include her name. A blonde secretary who did not know shame. Jasmine walked out without looking back. She left her ring, the signed divorce papers, and her ruined heart on their ridiculous king-size bed. What she did not know was that another life had already started inside her. Five years later, Jasmine lived small on purpose. Quiet. Safe. Her child grew up without drama, without the weight of the Romano name. Jasmine promised herself it would stay that way. Until Adrian. Adrian was nothing like the men who used to own her world. Calm where they were cruel, clever without being cruel, steady in a way that felt dangerous only because she wanted to trust it. With him, Jasmine finally stopped feeling like a problem to fix and started feeling like a person to keep. When Adrian dropped to one knee at a glittering Monte Carlo...Jasmine did something she had sworn never to do again. She thought about forever. Then she saw him. Sebastian Romano. The man she had loved, left, and learned to hate in the exact same lifetime. Those cold eyes. That unreadable face. The past she thought she had buried standing three steps away from her fresh start. “Interesting,” Sebastian said. “Your fiancé… happens to be my brother.”
Read
Chapter: You Ruined My Anger
Evening settled slowly over Èze, far too beautiful for a day filled with suspect lists, digital certificates, and twenty missing minutes in a security log.I claimed the chaise lounge on the lower terrace as my personal territory. White linen pants, black tank top, hair down, sunglasses on, and a glass of iced coffee containing significantly more ice than coffee. If my life was about to turn into a criminal investigation, the least I could do was avoid looking like the victim in a news photo.Poppy was napping inside after insisting she wasn’t tired.According to her, she just “needed to lie down because the world had too many opinions.”Salma sent her upstairs before I could ask who had taught her that sentence. Most likely me.Sebastian sat a few yards away beneath the pergola, his laptop open in front of him. He’d traded his white shirt for a dark gray T-shirt that made his shoulders look like an administrative problem no one could solve over email.I wasn’t looking at him.I just
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: A Quiet Gap In The Wiring
I stared at him. I just stood there looking at him until that charming face should have started feeling guilty for taking up the same oxygen as me. Sadly, Sebastian Romano’s guilt reflex worked much slower than a normal person’s.He stood beside the table with one hand in his pocket, shoulders loose, expression calm. The wind off the sea moved a little through his dark hair.Very cinematic and frustrating.“You think I’m going to call Adrian,” I said, “and go, ‘Hi, quick question. Did you install spy equipment in my house after bringing takeout? Please answer honestly. Heart emoji if no’?”“I think you want to hear his explanation.”“Of course I do.”“I know.” Sebastian’s gaze dropped briefly to the ring on my finger. “I don’t think you’re incapable of thinking.”“Oh, good. Because for the last three minutes, it’s felt like my brain got downgraded to a hair accessory.”“I think you’re too close to this.”I let out a short laugh. “And you’re not?”“I’m too close too.”The answer came e
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: A Memory With Fingerprints
Poppy was talkative, stubborn, and unusually gifted at turning every day into a debate arena with no rules. But that wasn’t what truly unsettled me.It was her memory.The way she caught small things adults barely noticed. Strange words, changes in someone’s voice, details that should have disappeared into the blur of daily life. She didn’t just remember them. She stored them, connected them, then brought them back with almost disturbing precision.And it wasn’t random.It was intelligence in its purest form. Still innocent, still untrained in how to hide itself, still unaware of when it might be safer to stay quiet.I moved in front of Poppy and crouched beside her chair. We were almost eye level now. Her cheeks were round, her bangs poked into one eye, and on that little face that looked far too much like Sebastian’s was the serious expression of a child holding family history without realizing she could set it on fire.“When was that, Pop?”She shrugged. “Before.”“Before when?”“B
Last Updated: 2026-07-10
Chapter: A Little Voice From The Old System
I did not panic.Panic was not part of my brand. I had built a reputation as a woman who could find a threatening envelope, an ex-husband, a child from a past marriage, a fiancé who turned out to be her ex’s stepbrother, and still look like she had just walked off a niche perfume campaign. I was not going to be taken down by the word schedule.But my brain, apparently, had not received that memo.Schedule.House.Old system.The smart-home vendor who had come twice because the front hallway lights liked to turn themselves on at three in the morning like a demon with bad interior taste. The audio technician who replaced the panel in the family room.The French man with glasses who had once spent two hours in the small server room under the stairs saying, “Madame, it’s only a firmware update,” with the expression of someone concealing tax crimes.House staff. Old drivers. The Belsky property manager. Daniella had once come over with plywood samples. Hazel had slept in the guest room and
Last Updated: 2026-07-09
Chapter: an old key in the wrong hands
The glass door behind me slid open softly.I didn’t turn around at first. The villa was full of staff whose footsteps were quieter than rich men’s guilt. But only one person could change the air around me like someone had lowered the temperature in the room without touching the AC.Sebastian stopped a few steps from the table.His shadow fell across the stone floor, long and clean. I saw his reflection in the surface of my water glass: white shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, one hand holding his phone. Too handsome for ten in the morning. Too calm for someone whose family might currently be getting used as a psychological warfare machine by someone else.“I heard Poppy is demanding legal representation for the number seven,” he said.“I support her. Seven has the energy of a man who disappears when you ask about commitment.”“Jas.”Something in his voice shifted.He stood near the door, his eyes resting on my face for a second before dropping to the phone on the table. Maybe he hea
Last Updated: 2026-07-06
Chapter: there was still a key in the lock
I sat up straighter.My fingers stopped around my glass of water.There was no message first. No careful sentence I could read five times before answering.Just a call.I picked up the phone before my courage found somewhere to hide.“Adrian?”“Hi, Jas.”“How are you?” I asked immediately. “Where are you?”On the other end, I heard the soft sound of a door closing. Then footsteps.“I’m at the office,” he said. “Fontvieille.”“The office?”“I went home for a bit. Showered. Changed clothes. Stared at the ceiling like a man who’d just received a terminal diagnosis from PowerPoint.” He let out a short breath. “Then I came here.”“Did you sleep?”“A little.”“That’s a man’s answer for no.”“I slept for forty minutes on the meeting room sofa.”“Adrian.”“I know. Very glamorous.”“Did you eat?”“I had a sandwich.”“What kind of sandwich?”“Why does that sound like an immigration interrogation?”“Because I know you. When you say you ate, you could mean you had coffee and smelled an almond cro
Last Updated: 2026-07-05
His Ex Mistress, His Enemy

His Ex Mistress, His Enemy

Four years ago, Dianna Rosa fell in love with a man who promised her the world. Only to find out she was nothing more than his mistress. Heartbroken and betrayed, Dianna walked away from Zane Romano, heir to the powerful Romano Group, without a word. She disappeared, carrying pain, fury… and a secret she swore he’d never know. Now, she’s back. Not as the fragile lover he once knew, but as the lead attorney in a billion-dollar lawsuit against his empire. Their reunion in the courtroom ignites a firestorm of old wounds, sharp words, and dangerous chemistry. Zane is still cold, commanding, and dangerously charming. But Dianna? She’s not the woman he could control anymore. One wants justice. The other still wants her. But when buried secrets rise to the surface, they’ll have to choose....destroy each other, or burn together.
Read
Chapter: The Shape of Us
The light behind my eyelids felt too white for a world that had just gone up in flames.I woke slowly, not the cool cinematic kind of waking. More like waking with a dry mouth that tasted like I’d chewed on sidewalk chalk. My nose complained first: antiseptic, expensive linen, and something that reminded me of espresso machine coffee, not the instant stuff.Voices hit me before my eyes caught up, coming from the half-open door.“I’m going in first,” Ash barked. “She’s my mami.”“She’s my aunt,” Zoe shot back, louder. “I’m the cousin plus the princess. My rank is above yours.”“No! Mami is—”“If you raise your voices one more octave, you’re sleeping in the parking lot,” Krystal cut in, sharp as glass. “The doctor said she needs rest. Ash, lower your hand. Zoe, if you step on his foot again, I will sell every piece of glitter you own.”Two tiny protests flared at the same time. A chair scraped. Something fell, probably a crayon. Someone muttered in Spanish.My eyes finally gave up and o
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: The Line I Cross for You
Zane climbed down from his firing position.Diego and another guy shoved inside, spreading out, rifles aimed at the far side of the room where the gunshot had come from. Two men in black—definitely not our people—dragged themselves behind a small forklift at the end. One wasn’t moving. The other tried to lift his gun with a shaking hand.“Put it down.” Zane’s voice cut through the room. Cold. “Now.”The guy turned, eyes wild. His right hand rose, the gun lining up with… me. Great.I held my breath. Erick pressed against the drum behind me, his body forming a thin wall.The next bullet didn’t come from the enemy.A single shot cracked. Diego. His rifle jerked up just a little, then dropped again with a blink-fast reflex.The man’s gun flew from his hand, clattering against the wall. He staggered, shouting, clutching the shoulder that was now bleeding.“Try it again,” Diego spat in Italian, keeping the barrel low. “We’re not the police.”Amelia lifted her hands higher, fast, her fingers
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Cutting Zip-Ties and Fate
If I ever claimed my life was dramatic, tonight the universe answered, “Hold this.”The hallway outside the door exploded in sound.Another shot. Close. A bullet slammed into the doorframe, splinters spraying into the room. Amelia and Sophia dropped into a crouch, backs pressed to the wall, their elegance evaporating along with whatever pride they had left.I hit the floor on instinct, half sprawled over Erick. The chair scraped again, loud on the concrete.“Di,” Erick hissed. His breath snagged in his chest.“Quiet.” My forehead pressed against his collarbone. “If you die, I need whatever energy I have left to yell at your corpse.”From the hallway came Diego’s voice, sharp and clear beneath the chaos.“Linea sinistra clear! Move slow!”Another voice answered, younger, fast. Probably Zake. “Two behind the forklift, twelve o’clock. I’m moving.”Then the voice that made my spine shake, even in a warehouse that smelled like rust.“Hold, Zake. Wait. They have hostages.”Zane.My ears cau
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: cover, cover
The second blast hit closer.The floor lurched for real this time. The light overhead stopped being décor and turned into a threat; the cable swung hard, its shadow dancing over the brick wall. Dust rained from the ceiling, stinging eyes and throat.“What was that?” Erick choked from the chair.“Picnic,” I muttered without thinking. “Gangster edition.”Amelia was already at the window. Her heels clicked on the concrete with a rhythm that didn’t match the situation at all. She yanked the grimy curtain aside and looked out.When she turned again, the change on her pretty face wasn’t dramatic. My brow even appreciated the Botox. Her jaw locked.“They’re here,” she said.“They?” I gripped the back of Erick’s chair, heart counting down on its own.The third explosion didn’t come from far away. It felt like something blew right under our feet. Heat rushed through the cracks of the window, carrying the bite of smoke and metal.Then… gunfire.The first shot cracked through the warehouse halls
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Detonation
"Okay, what plot twist is this supposed to be."The words slipped out before my brain caught up.Sophia leaned on the doorway like this was just an internal meeting relocated to hell. Black blazer, slacks, spotless white sneakers. Her hair was tied in a lazy knot, loose strands brushing her cheeks. Glasses hooked on her blouse collar instead of her face. One hand toyed with her phone, thumb sliding once."Seriously, D," she went on, her tone flat. "If you need fifteen more minutes for a dramatic reunion, I’ll resend the email. The one that says, ‘We found something about Erick’ in triple bold."I stayed on the floor. One hand on Erick’s knee, the other gripping the chair. My lungs dragged for air, my chest tight. My head still refused to accept what I was seeing."Sophia." My tongue felt like paper. "How did you even…""Get in?" She lifted a brow. "The door wasn’t locked, sweetheart. You just walked in too."That wasn’t what I asked and she knew it.Erick shifted weakly. "So…" his voi
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: The Side Door
If there had been an award for the Worst Midnight Decision, I would’ve been holding the trophy already.I slipped past the iron gate and dropped onto the dirt road. Mud splattered my shoes. Milan’s cold bit straight through my hoodie. The narrow stretch ahead sat empty, washed in a thin ribbon of fog and framed by old trees leaning over the path. A low engine hum crept closer. A pale yellow glow broke through the dark.A taxi.Not a sleek black sedan with tinted windows. Just a regular city cab. White paint. A crooked TAXI sign on top that looked like it had survived too many bad nights. The engine rolled to a stop right in front of me. The driver lowered the window.A man in his fifties, gray hair, thin mustache, sly eyes that had clearly watched too many fools get into his car at even worse hours.“Signorina?” Thick accent. His gaze drifted from my face to the hoodie, to my pants, then to the gate behind me. He checked the address on the phone strapped to his dashboard. “Via… that o
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
My Billionaire's Ex Husband's Secret Heir

My Billionaire's Ex Husband's Secret Heir

Five years ago, Sasha Rivera left Rafael Moretti on the night that should have changed their lives forever. She had just found out she was pregnant and planned to tell her husband after dinner with the Moretti family. Instead, his family accused her of cheating with evidence that had been cut, twisted, and arranged to destroy her. But Rafael chose to believe his family, called her a gold digger, and let her walk away without chasing her. So Sasha left. Without Moretti money. Without telling Rafael she was carrying his child. Now, she is no longer the wife looked down on by an old Milan family. She is a successful architecture and interior design firm in Los Angeles, and the single mother of a four-year-old boy with someone’s blue eyes and unmistakable face. Her life is finally under control, until the biggest project of her career pulls her back into the past. Her client, Noelle Jamesson, is a wealthy heiress who wants Sasha to design her family’s Malibu mansion. And Noelle’s boyfriend is Rafael Moretti.... Colder. More powerful. As Noelle’s boyfriend, Rafael is suddenly everywhere Sasha has to be. In meetings. At dinners. On the Malibu site. Standing too close, watching too carefully, saying her name like he still knows exactly where to cut. Sasha can handle his coldness. She can handle his new woman. She can even handle the way her body still remembers him before her pride can stop it. What she cannot handle is Maxime. Her whole world. Because if Rafael ever learns the truth, he will not simply ask for a place in Max’s life. Rafael takes what he believes belongs to him. And Sasha is terrified that ....he will come for the only thing she cannot survive losing.
Read
Chapter: The Meeting Update
Max sat in the dining chair like someone who had just been summoned to court on serious charges.His red car T-shirt already had one small stain near the hem, which had not been there five minutes ago and which I had no desire to investigate because I still valued my sanity. His dinosaur boxers had ridden up slightly on his chubby thighs. One leg was tucked onto the chair, the other dangled, moving slowly to the sound of the Transformers cartoon still playing from the family room, though the volume was now low enough that I no longer wanted to send a demand letter to the home audio company.In his right hand, he held his fork like a tool of international negotiation.In front of him was a plate of chicken pasta with three tiny pieces of broccoli I had cut so small they had nearly lost their dignity.Max looked at the plate.Then looked at me.Then looked back at the plate.“This is a lot,” he said.“It’s three.”“Three can be a lot if it’s evil.”I picked up my glass of water and watc
Last Updated: 2026-07-05
Chapter: Very Restrained
Yeah… sure.I stared at Noelle’s message a few seconds longer, then locked my phone before my thumb did something unprofessional like type, Sweetheart, he once called me a gold digger in our own living room, but yes, I’m sure his project oversight is very fair.No.Noelle didn’t know.And for now, that was still better than the alternative.I set my phone on the desk, slid the amendment documents a little farther away, then looked at Maya and Athena, who were still standing in my office like two guardian angels with mild criminal potential.“I’m not going to the process alignment meeting later,” I said.Athena raised an eyebrow. “Which later?”“All of them involving Moretti Holdings until we know exactly how the authority structure works.”Maya immediately pointed at herself and Athena. “We are?”“You are.”“Ah,” Maya said. “The sacrifice of beautiful women.”“I know. Very tragic.”Athena leaned her hip against the small table, her laptop still open in her hand. “I agree.”I looked at
Last Updated: 2026-06-05
Chapter: Executive Review Authority
I read the sentence again.Then again.Then one more time, because apparently I had developed a new habit: torturing myself with eleven-point legal font.Mr. Rafael Moretti designated as executive review authority.The name stayed there.It didn’t move. It didn’t become the name of some other man who had never married me, never called me a gold digger in the Brera sitting room, and never stood in the Jamesson family home last night with his hand on Noelle’s back.Rafael Moretti.Black on white.I lowered the document onto the desk.I straightened the corner of the page so it lined up with the gray folder beneath it, because apparently the most unhinged part of me still had visual standards while my life was actively setting a warehouse on fire.Nina once said the easiest way to tell I was angry wasn’t from my tone of voice.It was when I started arranging things too slowly.I closed the folder.My index finger pressed against the middle of it for one second too long.“Puta madre,” I mu
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
Chapter: Joint Oversight
I left the house twenty minutes later with a second coffee in the cup holder and a key fob I’d briefly failed to find because Max had hidden it inside one of my loafers.He said it was a garage.For keys.I did not ask any further questions because there was a limit to how much four-year-old philosophy the human body could tolerate before nine in the morning.The gate opened automatically as my car rolled down the driveway. The side road was empty now. No dark metallic Range Rover, no suspicious person, no potential new neighbor standing in front of the vacant mansion making poor decisions in white linen.Good.One mystery solved without involving paranoia.I turned on the old R&B playlist I had saved under a very mature name: songs for when people are annoying.Soft bass filled the car. A woman’s voice poured through the speakers, too smooth for Los Angeles traffic, which had clearly been built entirely out of sin and ego. I tapped the steering wheel to the rhythm, humming without act
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
Chapter: The Life I Built Had Windows
This morning, Max decided school uniforms were a form of oppression.“I can’t wear this,” he said, standing on his bedroom carpet with his navy shorts halfway up and his white shirt only on one arm. His black bangs fell over his eyes, and his cheeks were still pillowy with sleep. “I’m an artist.”“You’re a preschooler.”“I can be both.”I sat on the edge of his bed, holding the tiny dark blue tie that always looked far too serious for a child who had tried to draw on the wall with Tom Ford lipstick yesterday. “Artists wear pants too, Maxime.”“Picasso didn’t.”I stared at him.He stared back at me with a face that was much too innocent.“How do you know about Picasso?” I asked.“Gaby.”From the doorway, Gabriella, who was packing Max’s snack box into his bag, immediately lifted her head. “I only said Picasso had a blue period. I never gave a lecture on his pants policy.”Max pointed at Gabriella with the arm still trapped inside his shirt. “She said blue.”“I said it was an art phase,
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
Chapter: A Tiny Hand Around My Lie
Max’s room was lit by a moon-shaped nightlight that washed the walls in pale yellow.I lay on my side on top of the blanket, still wearing the thin slip dress I had changed into after my shower. The ivory gown was already hanging on the closet door, zipped inside a garment bag, as if tonight had only been another event that needed to be sent to the dry cleaner.Max slept facing me.Somehow, he had managed to take up almost the entire bed even though his body was only as long as a few pillows. One leg had escaped the blanket. His dinosaur pajamas had ridden up a little over his round stomach. His black bangs stuck to his forehead, too long again. I had already told him I was taking him for a haircut on Saturday.He refused because, according to him, long hair made him look like “a rock star with fast cars.”I touched the ends of his bangs and brushed them away from his eyes.Max made a small sound without waking, then shifted his face closer to my hand.I stroked his cheek with the back
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
You may also like
A DIRTY AFFAIR
A DIRTY AFFAIR
Mafia · Jessy May
9.7K views
THE BEAST'S OBSESSION
THE BEAST'S OBSESSION
Mafia · JOSSY
9.7K views
Damian's Obsession
Damian's Obsession
Mafia · Irene ofure
9.7K views
Looking For My Fugitive Wife
Looking For My Fugitive Wife
Mafia · Catriona Kelly
9.7K views
Vincenzo's Heir
Vincenzo's Heir
Mafia · Chisomm
9.6K views
Between Mafia Lines
Between Mafia Lines
Mafia · Heppie Leo🦋✨
9.6K views
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status