Novels by Elsie James

"What's so funny?" Adrian looked up from his phone, still wearing that faint, private smile. It transformed him—softened the hard angles, made him look almost boyish. Almost human. Elera hadn't seen him smile like that. "Nothing," he said. "I'm... managing something." He said with a small deep laugh. Serena. The He pocketed the phone. The moment passed. But Elera stored it away—that smile, its recipient, the way it had arrived and vanished like a creature afraid of light. Serena. She said nothing. --- The boat cut through turquoise water, the mainland long since swallowed by haze. Elera gripped the rail, salt wind stripping the perfume from her hair, and watched the island take shape on the horizon. Private. Unmarked. No name on any map she could find. Adrian stood beside her, one hand braced on the console, utterly still. He hadn't touched her since they boarded. Hadn't performed a single gesture for an invisible audience. She didn't know if that made it

The Blackwood Tower elevator descended in silence. Rowan stood with his hands clasped loosely behind his back, a posture of patience, of control. Beside him, Mila Ivers scrolled through her phone with the aggressive focus of someone who refused to admit they were nervous. She wore similar cream silk blouse from yesterday, tailored trousers, heels that clicked against the marble lobby like a metronome counting down to something. She came prepared to fight, Rowan thought. Not to leave. Neither of them spoke as the town car pulled up. He opened the door. She slid inside without looking at him. The airport was a private one, small and unmarked, the kind that existed in the margins of maps and never appeared in flight trackers. Mila didn't comment on it. She also didn't comment on the Gulfstream waiting on the tarmac, sleek and gray, no visible registration. "Subtle," she said finally. Rowan inclined his head. "Yes Miss, it's better that way." "Mila". "Call me Mila". --- The ca

Rowan Cole had dealt with threats before. They usually came wrapped in legal language, quiet bribes, men or women who believed volume could replace leverage. Mila was none of those things. She didn’t shout. She didn’t pace. She sat across from him in the private lounge of Blackwood Tower, one leg crossed over the other, phone resting loosely in her hand as if it were nothing more than an accessory. The city glowed behind her through the floor-to-ceiling glass, all money and secrets and height. She smiled at him. That was the problem. “You’re ignoring me,” she said lightly, as if commenting on the weather. “Which tells me one thing.” Rowan didn’t respond. He took a measured sip of his espresso, eyes steady on her face. Calm was his currency. He never spent it early. “That you know exactly where she is,” Mila continued. “And you think if you stay quiet long enough, I’ll go away.” Her smile widened. Not warm. Calculated. “I don’t go away.” Rowan set the cup down. “Miss Ivers

The morning after the gala felt like waking up from a nightmare different world. Adrian wasn't next to me.He usually never was, My body ached from the tension of holding a smile for hours, my mind replayed Serena’s whispers on a loop, but more importantly how I didn't belong here. I really needed to find Claire, wherever Adrian was hiding her. I don't know how long I just... sat there, till I noticed the note left on his pillow in sharp, slanted handwriting: "I'll be home early, The jet leaves at 12 PM. Do not be late, little lamb.”I almost rolled my eyes I dragged myself up to pack, only to find it stripped bare. All my things—the few I’d brought and the many he’d bought—had been moved to his walk-in closet. His suits and shirts hung like silent sentinels beside my dresses. The intimacy of it felt violating. My phone, left charging on the bedside table, buzzed incessantly. The screen was a flood of notifications from Mila. Mila: ELERA PICK UP. Mila: WHERE ARE YOU??? M

Alexander chuckled, holding up his hands in a gesture of playful surrender. “My apologies, Elera. I didn’t mean to startle you.” His smile was wide, charming, and utterly disarming. “I was just at the Verge Lounge—you know it, over on 5th?”“The club?” I asked, my voice sounding too small in the vaulted silence of the portico.“Of course! The whole place is buzzing about you two. A honeymoon, I had to swing by and offer my congratulations in person.”He stepped fully into the light, looking genuinely delighted. In the stark glare of the entrance lights, I could see the family resemblance—the same strong jaw, the same intense dark eyes as Adrian. But where Adrian’s gaze was a stormy sea, Alexander’s was a sunlit, shallow pond. Beautiful, but you could see straight to the bottom. And the bottom was all polished stone.“You both looked spectacular tonight, by the way,” he continued, his gaze warm and appreciative, lingering on me just a beat too long to be polite. “Elera, that emerald dr

Serena found us ten minutes later. Not alone, but drifting toward us with a small cluster of admirers who peeled away one by one as she approached, like courtiers instinctively sensing a private audience. “Adrian,” she said warmly. Then her eyes slid to me. “Elera.” Her smile was still perfect. That angelic, charitable smile that made people trust her with their secrets and their throats. “I was hoping to steal you for a moment,” she continued, tilting her head. “Both of you, actually.” Adrian didn’t release my waist. “We’re listening.” Serena clasped her hands lightly in front of her, posture relaxed, intimate. “I was thinking how wonderful it would be to visit you at the villa sometime. A proper visit.” She let out a soft laugh. “I know how overwhelming all this can be at first.” Her gaze locked on mine now, deceptively kind. “I’d love to give you a few tips, Elera. On how to… take care of Adrian.” My stomach tightened. “I was with him for a very long time,” sh