Mary @nnの小説

The Architect of Deceit The sharp click of the Don’s safety filled the library.For one suspended second, no one moved.Katerina’s breath snagged in her throat. Her fingers groped for the edge of the bookshelf beside her, needing something solid beneath her hand. Across from them, her father stood in the doorway with the gun lifted, his face unreadable in the spill of the hallway light.Xavier stepped in front of her.It was so immediate, so instinctive, that Katerina barely registered it before his body blocked hers completely. One second he had been inches away from her; the next, he was a wall of black fabric and controlled danger, shielding her from the line of fire.He didn’t reach for his own weapon. Didn’t flinch.“Lower the gun, Don Romano,” he said evenly.The Don’s brows lifted a fraction. “That’s a bold tone for a man I just found with his hands on my daughter.”Xavier didn’t so much as blink.“I stopped her at the servants’ entrance,” he said. “She was trying to leave.”K

Katerina opened her mouth, her voice a faint, terrified whisper. "Jackson, I..."​Before she could finish, the grand double doors of the ballroom were open. A Romano soldier, face pale and bloodied, stumbled. Everyone gasped in utter horror at the sight of him.​"Don Romano!" the soldier collapsed to the floor. "The estate is breached!....they are not here to talk, but to burn the house down “​In the chaos, Jackson looked unbothered. He stood up, but his eyes weren't on Katerina anymore. He looked directly at XavierXavier didn't wait. He vaulted over a table, his gun drawn in alarm, his lethal focus locked on Jackson. "Run to the library Katerina!....now!!” Xavier snapped in alert. *****************The party roared downstairs—with sheer terror as the guest paced around agitated searching for an exit.Inside the mahogany-rowed library, ​Katerina stood by the window.She turned when the door clicked open and shut. She knew the rhythm of those footsteps anywher

THE BIG HOOK Once she reached the hallway, she leaned her body against the cold marble wall and slapped herself—a sharp, stinging wake-up call.​"Get it together, Kat!—cut it out! "she hissed to herself, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "You have a boyfriend. You have Jackson. He’s normal. He’s safe. Xavier is... Xavier is a death wish." She reminded herself.​She flipped her phone open, her hands trembling. "Hello?" she heaved breathlessly​"You sound like you just ran a marathon, darling," Emily’s voice purred through the speaker. "Or like you’ve been doing something much more steamy and interesting than cardio."she teased ​"Emily please, not now," Katerina whispered, glancing back at the gym door where Xavier was likely still watching her like a hawk.​"Oh, but it is now," Emily replied, her tone shifting playfully."The Romano-Wilson Gala is tonight, Kat. The theme is 'Masks of the Empire.' Your father is already fitting his crown, and Jackson is currently picking out a tu

THE GHOST IN THE ALLEY ​The neon lights of the city blurred as Katerina ducked into the service entrance of the library. Once her father sent for Xavier urgently she sneaked out like she always did before his arrival, bribing and intimidating the security men discreetly until they had no other choice but to reluctantly let her elope. She had timed it perfectly—Xavier was occupied with the Don’s security briefing. Or so she thought.She refused to take orders from Xavier who was as lowly as a body guard employed by her father, she wouldn't stoop so low on his account.The least thing she needed was another stuck up person like her father, controlling her life and telling her what to do.She was tried of feeling so small before the two infuriating men forced into her life.She would make her decisions herself from now hence forth.​"Jackson, I’m two blocks away, from you" she whispered into her phone, "Just wait for me at the old clock tower. I’ve finally ditched Xavier.”“ Good, i’

THE OVERPROTECTIVE BODYGUARDThe lecture on Global Media Ethics had been a blur. Every time Katerina turned her head, she saw Xavier leaning against the back wall of the theater, his arms crossed.Katerina tried—she really tired—to take notes.But every time she shifted, she felt him watching like a hawk.The text messages and vivid scar are still replaying in her head. Clearly still in utter disbelief and doubt .She is convinced that she was probably hallucinating the scar she saw and the text message?— “ it's definitely a spam message” Katerina concluded, dismissing it obliviously, sticking to ignorance. As a mass communication student she had once read about the history of the “Valdemir Mafioso” and their brutal massacre but neglected it since she wasn't interested in the subject."Heaven help me, Kat," a voice whispered at her elbow. Snapping her back to reality. ​Katerina blinked as Emily Wilson fell into step beside her. Emily looked radiant, as always her hazel-green eyes l

THE GOLDEN LEASH.​"I am twenty-two years old, father, not a child”.Katerina Romano’s voice shook in anger . She stood in the middle of the room, her chest heaving underneath her silk blouse, her blue eyes blaring with a fire.​Don Romano did not even spare her a glance, his eyes fixed on his ledger. He poured himself a glass of red wine with a steady hand—releaxed oblivious to Katerina fury.​"You are a Romano," he said, his voice low, with a terrifying rumble. "And until you learn that your casual life in university is a threat on your back, you will have a personal bodyguard. The last one was a failure because he was ridiculously soft and polite. This one... this one is strict and different"​"I don't want ‘different'!....I don't want any of this, I just want to be left alone!" Katerina spun toward the tall glassed windows. "I have got a lecture in an hour. I’m going on my own”.​"You’re going with him, and that's final." her father commanded. Finally looking up, from his ledger