Novels by Grace Smith

Neo came home that evening looking like a man who had won something and was trying real hard not to strut about it.Irina was in the library — her spot now, unofficially, and they both knew it — when he walked in, jacket off, tie hanging loose, wearing that particular expression of quiet satisfaction that probably cost lesser men a lot more effort to pull off. "The board ratified it," he said, dropping into the armchair across from her. "As of four-fifteen today, I'm officially CEO of McKinney Industries."Irina lowered her book. "Congratulations.""Thank you." He leaned back and stretched his legs out like a man whose bones had been waiting all day for permission to relax. "Tomorrow night there's a dinner. Celebration slash first public appearance as CEO. I need you there.""Okay.""And I need you to wear the blazer.""Neo, I was already going to wear the blazer.""Good.""I just want it on record that I decided that on my own.""So noted." The corner of his mouth did that thing. Sh

Irina woke up to an empty mansion and a text from Neo. Left early. Board prep. Car is available if you need it. — NShe read it twice. Not because it was complicated but because she was still half asleep and her brain needed to run everything through twice before committing to being awake. She set the phone down. Picked it back up.He'd signed it N.Not Neo. Just N. Like they were people who texted each other casually. Like this was a thing they did now.She put the phone face-down and got up before her brain could make anything of it.Breakfast was quieter without Margaret's surgical pleasantries and Sasha's performative disinterest. Irina ate at the kitchen island rather than the dining room because sitting alone at a table designed for twenty felt like a specific kind of sad she wasn't prepared to experience before nine in the morning.Mrs. Paulson didn't comment on the location change. She simply set the plate down and poured the coffee with the composure of a woman who had worke

Irina woke up the next morning to aggressive, unfiltered, deeply personal sunlight.Someone had opened the curtains while she was unconscious. She made a mental note to address that with whoever was responsible because waking up feeling personally attacked by the sun was not the vibe she was going for in her new life.She lay there blinking at the ceiling, running her new morning inventory.Where am I.McKinney Mansion.Why.Contract marriage.How much money.Ten million dollars.Is Anna still— Yes.She exhaled and reached for her phone. Eight forty-seven. Three missed calls from Zacharyand a text: hope ur doing ok babe, call me when u can. She stared at it, set the phone face-down, and got up. The shower situation was, frankly, unnecessary.Rainfall showerhead, heated floors, and a mirror that was also a TV, which she accidentally turned on at full volume while reaching for her towel and nearly gave herself a second accident. She fumbled with the remote for a solid minute, standing

The silence in the Rolls Royce had stretched long enough that Irina had started counting streetlights just to give her brain something to do.Neo's question still hung between them like smoke that refused to clear.Sex?He'd said it so casually. Like he was asking if she wanted cream in her coffee."Look," she started, stopped, then started again. "I think we should keep things.. clean."Neo glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Clean.""Yeah. Separate and clean.""You said clean twice.""I know what I said, Neo."She caught the faint curve of a smirk at the corner of his mouth and wanted to throw something at it."Separate works for me," he said. No wounded ego, no argument. Just separate works for me, like she'd suggested they use different TV remotes."And separate bathrooms," she added."Irina." He said her name like he was physically restraining a laugh. "The master suite has three bathrooms."She blinked. "Three.""Three."She turned to look out the window so he wouldn't s

“... And do you, Irina, daughter of Luka and Maria Sabalenka - God rest their souls - take this man, Neo McKinney, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, to hold, and to submit wholly, for better for worse, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, and through whatever fate may choose for you both, till death do you part?”“I-I do..”Part of the vow had been slightly ridiculous to Irina because; yes, nobody knows tomorrow and all that, but, ‘in poverty?’ For the McKinney family? There was almost no way in hell that could happen. Anyway…“With that bit done,” the officiant, a man in his 60s, started, “Neo, please proceed to place the ring on her finger.”And Neo did. Whether it was intentional or not, Irina couldn't tell, but Neo made sure to look her straight in the eyes as he put the ring on her finger, and it made her incredibly uncomfortable. It was as though he wanted her to know that she was now totally his.. Was she, though?“I present this ring to you as a toke

“And, what's the problem with that?”“Allison, what do you mean ‘what’s the problem with that’? Neo is Anna's husband to be! They're supposed to be married in two damn days! Me taking her place doesn't feel right! It feels like betrayal!”“You didn't put your sister in a coma, did you? And you weren't the one who proposed the idea, were you? So why should it even feel like betrayal? If anything, it should feel like a chance to ‘hold the fort’ for Anna until God knows when. Look at it this way: Anna wakes up and sees you with Neo; you'd simply explain and step aside. But if she sees someone else with Neo, who neither knows nor cares about her, Neo's gone forever.. By marrying Neo, you're actually helping Anna, Irina!”Allison Shultz had been Irina's best friend since she (Irina) moved to the United States at age 14. They'd gone to middle and highschool together and knew everything about each other. Allison, the German American, was a tall, assured blonde who had a thriving career as a