Novels by A novel by Nancy

The air in the room was thick, charged with tension as Karina slowly walked toward Raoul. Every step felt deliberate, calculated. The silence between them was suffocating, but it didn’t deter her. She was used to attention, used to being admired for her looks, her body. Men and women alike had always lusted after her, complimenting her creamy skin, the curve of her hips, the shape of her body. She knew what she was capable of. She knew her power.An idea began to take root in her mind. She would play this game, just like Raoul played his own. If she couldn’t get out of his world, she would try to make him bend to her will. She’d seduce him, make him think she was his to claim, only to twist it into something that benefited her. She had no other choice. “Seduce him into control and escape my sister!” so she thought. Karina reached the center opposite Raoul’s desk, locking eyes with him as she moved with the grace she had perfected over the years. She could see the glimmer of somethin

Karina’s pulse raced, the weight of the gun still hanging in the air like a specter. She knew they wouldn’t kill her—not here, not yet—but the cold press of it against her temple made her feel small and powerless. She hated the feeling, but what could she do? Raoul had made it clear that she wasn’t allowed to make decisions for herself. His world didn’t care about her limitations. It was a world where power and control ruled, and she was a mere pawn.She exhaled sharply, her body stiff with defiance, and straightened up. “You can’t hurt me,” she said, her voice firm, cutting through the suffocating tension. “You need me. You’ll follow Raoul’s rules, not your own.”The man holding the gun didn’t flinch. He merely stood there, watching her like she was an inconvenience he had to tolerate. But before the tension could spiral into something worse, a familiar voice echoed through the room.“Raz,” Kim’s voice sliced through the silence like a blade. “Put the gun down. I’ll handle it from

Karina limped slowly to the bathroom, her sprained ankle still throbbing despite the cold compress Kim had applied. The tension in her muscles had subsided a little, but the weight of her situation was heavier than ever. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being trapped in a gilded cage—luxurious, beautiful, but suffocating nonetheless. Raoul’s world had become her prison, and there was no escape.The hot water from the shower provided some temporary relief, washing away the physical exhaustion of the training. But it did little to ease her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about Raoul. Every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was him—his cold, calculating gaze, his hands that touched her like he owned her, like she was nothing more than a commodity.She hated him.But there was another part of her, a part she refused to acknowledge, that yearned for him. The way his presence commanded the room. The way he exuded control. The way his lips twisted into that dangerous smirk.Karina turn

Karina stood in front of the full-length mirror, her reflection staring back at her with uncertainty. The woman she saw seemed foreign—her eyes were hard with fear, and the posture of someone who had already given up so much. She was surrounded by the cold luxury of Raoul’s mansion, but it felt like a gilded cage, every step deeper into his world suffocating her more.Kim had entered the room just moments ago, her sharp gaze scrutinizing Karina from head to toe. She was dressed in a sleek black outfit that exuded power and efficiency, and her expression was unreadable, as if nothing—nothing at all—could surprise her.“Let’s get this over with,” Kim said curtly, her voice sharp like a blade. “You’re here to learn the basics, and you’ll follow my instructions without question. Got it?”Karina nodded stiffly, her mind reeling. She had no idea what this training entailed, but she was certain it wasn’t going to be easy. Raoul had made it clear that she wasn’t going to be coddled. She wasn’

The silence in Raoul’s office stretched, thick and oppressive, as he slid a thick, leather-bound contract across the polished mahogany desk. The sharp scent of ink and paper filled the room, but it only made Karina feel like she was suffocating. She stared at the contract for a long moment, her fingers hovering above it, her heart thudding in her chest.Raoul stood across from her, his gaze unflinching as he watched her carefully, his eyes calculating, waiting for her to make the next move. His very presence seemed to fill every inch of the room, as though the walls were closing in on her.“Sign it,” he said softly, his tone laced with a calm authority that made her skin crawl.Karina swallowed hard, picking up the pen. She could feel her palms sweating, her nerves getting the best of her. She had no choice. She knew that. But this? Signing away her life? It was worse than she had imagined. She could feel the weight of the decision pushing down on her, as though each stroke of the pen

The silence in the room was deafening as Karina sat in the plush chair, the weight of Raoul’s words lingering in the air like a dark cloud. He had left her with a threat, a promise, and a sinking feeling that she was now a pawn in a game she couldn’t possibly win.She wanted to scream, to punch something, anything to release the building pressure in her chest, but the fear of what Raoul might do stopped her. She wasn’t free to do anything—not anymore.Her phone buzzed on the desk in front of her, and she glanced at it hesitantly. Raine’s name flashed across the screen.With trembling hands, she picked it up, her heart racing.“Karina?” Raine’s voice came through the speaker, sounding small, fragile. “Where are you? I don’t like this. I’m scared.”Karina’s chest tightened. She had promised Raine that everything would be okay, but the longer she stayed in Raoul’s world, the less she believed it. She swallowed hard, trying to steady her voice.“I’m at work,” Karina lied, keeping her tone

It had been months since the fire. Months since the night that had swallowed everything in smoke and flames. Months since Lance had collapsed with blood seeping from his chest, and Adrianna had felt life slipping from her as well.Everyone believed she had taken her last breath that night. In truth, she had come terrifyingly close. But heaven—or fate, or love itself—had given her a second chance.Adrianna had woken from her coma a month ago, her lungs burning as though she had inhaled fire again. For a long moment, she didn’t even know who she was, only that the room smelled sterile, that the light was too soft, too kind for someone who had lived through hell. Then she saw Adrian, his face unshaven, eyes hollow from sleepless nights, his hand gripping hers as if letting go would kill him too. And Victoria—her voice trembling as she whispered her name, her tears falling freely as she pressed her forehead against Adrianna’s.They never left her side. With their strength, their stubborn

Lance doesn’t speak. He stares past him, through the thinning smoke, to where firelight still flickers on the rooftop floor below. Something in his chest tells him—screams at him—that Adrianna is down there.And then he hears it.“Adrianna! Adrianna, stay with me!”Victoria’s voice.Lance bolts, his boots hammering against the concrete as he barrels down the stairs, ignoring Adrian’s call behind him. His shoulder burns with every movement, blood trickling hot and steady down his arm from the bullet wound Ace left him, but none of it matters.He reaches the scorched hallway. The smoke claws at his lungs, blinding his eyes, but through the haze—he sees them.Victoria kneels on the blackened floor, her hands cradling Adrianna’s limp body. Her sobs shake the walls as she rocks her sister, her cries echoing like prayers unanswered.“Please, wake up! Don’t do this to me, Adrianna, please!”Lance freezes in the doorway. His vision blurs—not from smoke, but from tears threatening to fall. He

There—by the waiting helicopter.Bianca.Her hair is wild, tangled by the wind. Her face is streaked with tears and ash, her eyes hollowed by grief. Ramon grips her arm, steadying her as he helps her climb into the chopper. His movements are frantic, protective. He leans close, brushing a strand of hair from her face, his lips moving in soft, desperate reassurances that vanish beneath the thunder of rotor blades.“You’ll be safe. I swear it,” Ramon mouths, his voice lost to the storm.Bianca’s hand lingers on his arm, trembling. Her eyes dart once—just once—toward the door. Toward Lance. Toward the one she still cannot let go of. Her heart twists, her body pulled in two directions at once.But Wade’s voice cuts through the roar.“Bianca!”Lance and Adrian’s heads snap to the right. Wade staggers into view, his face ashen, his shirt soaked crimson where the bullet tore through him. His body sways, barely holding itself upright, yet his eyes are wild—burning with something between fury

The world slows to a crawl.For one suspended breath, for one fragment of eternity, the crack of a gunshot splits the air. Wade’s body jerks, the sharp sound reverberating through the burning walls, echoing against steel and glass as though the building itself is screaming.He staggers back, his eyes wide, his lips parting as though trying to form words that refuse to come. His hand flies instinctively to his stomach. Warmth spreads under his palm. Blood. Thick, hot, undeniable.Wade gasps. His chest rises and falls, the breath inside him burning as though it belongs to someone else. Slowly, his gaze drags upward, searching for the one who dared.And there she is.Victoria. Her arm extended, her stance firm despite the smoke and firelight painting her in jagged shadows. The gun still pointed at him. Her hands tremble, but her eyes do not. They burn with something deeper than anger—something Wade cannot command, cannot manipulate. Hatred. Betrayal. Justice.Her voice cracks but cuts sh

The walls groan. The heat presses down like a living thing, suffocating the air, bending shadows across the broken glass and cracked walls. Smoke curls upward, dark and heavy, choking the lungs of everyone trapped inside.“They’re closing in on us!” Bianca screams, her voice high and cracking. She clutches the soot-streaked window frame, her eyes wild as she stares at the nightmare below. Police swarm the grounds like wolves circling prey, weapons raised, voices blasting commands through megaphones. Reporters shove against the barricades, cameras flashing relentlessly, catching every moment. The air outside is chaos, but inside—inside it is hell.Gunfire rattles the walls. The sound tears through the building—short bursts, long echoes, followed by groans of pain and the desperate thud of fists and boots. The battle isn’t far anymore. It’s here.Bianca whirls toward Wade. “Do you hear that? They’re cutting through everyone!”Wade doesn’t flinch. He stands near the doorway, tall and cal

Sirens scream into the early morning, a shrill metallic chorus that rattles the air. The flashing blue and red lights paint the sides of the abandoned high-rise in a frantic rhythm.Police cars are lined bumper to bumper, their hoods steaming in the cool night. The entire street is sealed off with barricades, reporters pressing against them with microphones raised like spears, their voices overlapping in an ugly frenzy.“Wade Houston, we have the building surrounded!” A voice booms from the loudspeaker, heavy with authority. “Release the hostage immediately and come out with your hands where we can see them!”The demand echoes off the concrete walls, but the only reply is the low, ominous roar of the fire consuming the building from within.Lance stands just beyond the barricade, the heat prickling his skin, his chest heaving as if he has already run a marathon. Beside him, Adrian leans forward, his eyes locked on the flickering silhouette of the skyscraper. Victoria stands behind the