Novels by Elizabeth Hicks

ARI’S POV:Blackwood Holdings was nothing like the pictures in the financial blogs.In person, it was a monument. A tower of dark, reflective glass that speared the morning sky, so tall I had to tip my head all the way back to see where it ended. It didn’t just stand among the other buildings, it dominated them, cold and sleek and untouchable.I clutched my small, worn purse to my side, my knuckles white. Get it together, Ari. I shook my head, and walked toward the entrance.The automatic glass doors slid open silently.If the outside was imposing, the inside was… another world. The lobby was huge and quiet. The ceiling felt miles high. The floor was a smooth, pale stone that shone under soft lights. The air was cool and smelled clean, like lemon and expensive air freshener.People moved through it quietly, dressed in perfect, grey suits. They looked like they’d never worn anything secondhand in their lives. Unlike me. A tall man in a perfectly tailored black suit approached the sma

ARI'S POV:Talk about a light in the tunnel. Right now, my tunnel was caving in.I lost my bartending job two days ago. I caught a cold and was down with a fever. Called in for a sick leave, and the next day, my job was replaced by someone else. Just like that. It doesn’t matter how hard you work....or love. You’re always replaceable.The thought was familiar. It didn’t even hurt anymore.....who was I lying to?Now my second job, the morning shift at the Café, was all I had left. Ever since that night, I’d been walking around wrapped in a kind of numb, heavy silence. There was the burning anger, but mostly, it was empty, hollow. My heart didn’t just hurt; it locked up in pain. You can’t miss what you don’t let in.I’d trusted two people with everything, and they’d handed me back the pieces. Love wasn’t a comfort anymore. It was a wound I wouldn’t let anyone reopen. Not ever again.Was I that unlovable that everyone keeps on abandoning me?“Ari, you good? You’re zoning out again

Ari's POV:“Oh my god, harder, Nathan… yes, like that.” A high, keening moan. “Oh, please, don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”I bit down on my lip. Hard. But it was nothing. Nothing compared to the raw, tearing ache spreading through my chest. My heart wasn't just breaking. It was bleeding out.He grunted, his body moving in a rhythm I knew by heart. A rhythm that was supposed to be mine. “God, never. Why are you still so tight?” In. Out. “Even after all this time.”How long has this been going on?Her hands slid around his neck, then down the length of his back. Her long nails dug into his skin. But that wasn't what made the room tilt.It was her wrist.Dangling from it, was a woven bracelet. Blue, green, and a thin strand of gold.The exact same one I was wearing.I made them on her birthday. “So we always carry a piece of each other. Best friends for life.”That was eight years ago. Eight years of secrets, of laughter, of her holding my hair back when I was sick and me staying up all ni

ARI'S POV:"Dump his ass, Ari. I'm telling you Nathan is cheating on you."I glared at my best friend who sat on my bed, urging me to break up with the love of my life. My boyfriend of six years."Mary, I called you here to help me pick out a beautiful dress for my date with Nathan, not to try and spoil my mood."I have planned for weeks.....no months for this. Today was Nathan's birthday. I had a surprise for him. A very big surprise and I needed to be in a good mood for that.Yet Mary wasn't helping. "I know I always wanted you to find someone and be in love. Just not him. I told you I saw him with that girl who is always insulting you at the cafe. What's her name?" She waved her fingers in the air like it would somehow summon the answer."Angela?" I offered, confusion etched on my face. There's no way Nathan would do such. He knows how much Angela bullies and insults me. He was the one who said I should stay away from troublemakers like her. He hates her.But that was exactly the