Novels by Kyla M. Palmer

Alexander’s POVThe silence in the car was louder than any argument.Eliana sat pressed against the door like I carried a contagion, eyes fixed on the city lights bleeding through the tinted windows. She didn’t say a word. Not when the driver asked if she was comfortable, not when I told him to raise the divider. Her chin was tilted in that haughty way she always wore when she wanted me to know she was furious but too proud to start the fight.Good. I wanted the fight.Because every second replayed in my head—the sight of her in that final gown, the feel of her leg hooking around my waist, the taste of her mouth under mine before we were interrupted—and it was driving me to the brink of fucking madness.And worse than that? The thought that when she looked in the mirror, flushed and trembling, she wasn’t thinking of me at all. She was thinking of him.Matt.The name alone was enough to make my grip on the armrest turn lethal.By the time we reached the penthouse, my self-control was a

Eliana’s POV Of course, I couldn’t stand him right now. The audacity of Alexander Grayson was unmatched—brooding in his pressed suits, scowling like the world owed him something, and looking at me like I’d committed a personal crime by existing.And now, I had to be trapped in the same boutique with him.Dress testing. My wedding dress testing. Which, thanks to our arrangement, meant he had to sit there and judge every lace, every seam, every illusion neckline the poor stylist pinned to my body.I muttered under my breath as I followed the assistant into the fitting room. “Great. Nothing screams romance like playing dress-up for the man I can barely breathe around without wanting to either strangle him or…”I cut myself off before my thoughts turned inappropriate.The first dress was beautiful. Flowing satin, delicate beadwork. Too much like something out of a princess fantasy. I stepped out, smoothing my hands down the skirt.Alexander’s head lifted slowly from where he sat, legs sp

Alexander’s POV The clink of silverware against porcelain was the only sound in the penthouse dining room.Eliana sat across from me, perfect posture, her hair tucked behind one ear as though she hadn’t a care in the world. Except she did. I could see it in the deliberate way her eyes stayed fixed on her plate instead of meeting mine. She hadn’t so much as glanced in my direction since last night, when I found those damned roses sitting in her room with that pathetic little note from her ex.Matt.Even thinking his name made my jaw flex.I cut into my eggs with more force than necessary, the knife screeching faintly against the china. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t react at all, which only made my irritation spike. The silent treatment. A childish tactic, and one she wasn’t nearly skilled enough to pull off against me.“You always this quiet in the mornings,” I drawled, leaning back in my chair, “or are you practicing for sainthood?”Her fork paused mid-air. Barely. Then she carried on, t

Eliana's POVAfter the holidays, the year seemed to sprint forward without asking me if I was ready. One minute it was Thanksgiving, and the next I was knee-deep in wedding planning, family obligations, and a constant stream of questions I didn’t have the energy to answer.January was supposed to feel like a fresh start. Instead, it felt like standing at the base of a mountain with no way around it, only up.“You sound exhausted,” Katherine’s voice crackled through the speakerphone. She was the only person I could complain to without restraint. “You need a break, Eliana. A proper one. Spa trip, weekend away, something.”I flopped back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. “You hate spas. You called them overpriced naps the last time I suggested one.”“That’s because I hate them. You, on the other hand, need it. Take Alexander with you. It’ll count as bonding. Isn’t that what couples do?”A laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Bonding? Katherine, this isn’t a normal relationship.

Alexander's POVThe numbers on the screen blurred.I stared at them until the rows and columns fused into a meaningless haze, the glow of the monitor doing nothing to drown out the memory clawing its way back to the surface.Eliana’s face.Her breathless, flushed skin against mine.The sound she made when I kissed her like I wanted to devour every inch of her.But then she called it a mistake. A mistake?She didn’t need to say it, but I saw the clear desire in her eyes anytime we were together. She wanted this just as much as I do but why does it have to be so complicated? I tightened my grip on the pen in my hand until the metal creaked. Work was supposed to be my anchor, my shield, the place I could bury every distraction until it suffocated. But nothing—not balance sheets, not acquisition reports, not a thousand meetings stacked back-to-back—could erase the image of her arching into me on that hospital bed or the taste of her desire on my tongue that night in Hawaii. I’d almost l

Eliana’s POV The phone rang past midnight.I almost ignored it. Alexander had been on edge all week—calls at ungodly hours, meetings that stretched until dawn, tension in his jaw so tight it looked carved from stone. I figured it was business again, another crisis only a Grayson could solve. But when I picked up and heard Christian’s voice instead of his, my blood ran cold.“Eliana,” he said, clipped, urgent. “Don’t panic. There’s been a small accident. Alexander’s at St. Luke’s Hospital. He’s stable, but you should come.”Stable. Small accident. Words meant to calm, but my chest constricted until it was impossible to breathe. My mind filled in the blanks he didn’t give me—twisted metal, flashing sirens, Alexander’s body sprawled and broken on asphalt.I didn’t remember throwing on a coat or shoving my feet into shoes. Didn’t remember locking the penthouse door. The only thing I remembered was the cab ride, knuckles white on my phone, whispering his name like a prayer I didn’t even b