LOGIN"I wore my sister’s diamond ring to survive. I never planned to steal her monster of a husband." ---- "You disgust me, Serena. Don’t think for a second this ring means I won’t ruin you." Those were the first words Julian Cross ever spoke to me. My twin sister, Serena, had it all—the glamour, the billion-dollar inheritance, and Julian, the ruthless, untouchable king of the city’s underworld. I was the hidden twin, a secret our family buried in the shadows to protect their perfect image. While she wore diamonds, I dealt cards in an underground casino just to survive. Until the night Serena vanishes, leaving behind no trace of her whereabout. With a fragile corporate empire on the verge of collapse, my family gives me a deadly ultimatum: step into Serena’s designer heels, wear her wedding ring, and fool her terrifying husband. Just until they find her. I thought the hardest part would be pretending to know a world of wealth I'd never touched. I was wrong. The hardest part is surviving Julian. He and Serena didn't just have a loveless marriage; they were locked in a venomous war. But when I don't flinch at his cruelty, when my street-smart instincts take over and I fight back instead of cowering, the cold hatred in Julian’s eyes shifts into something more dangerous. Obsession. "You used to beg for my attention, Serena. You used to cry when I ignored you." He said. "You used to bore me to death," he murmured, "Now? I can't figure you out. It's driving me insane." But in Julian's world, every lie has a price. The closer he gets, the closer he is to realizing I'm a fraud. And then, the phone rings. It’s Serena. And she wants her husband back.
View MoreLauren’s POV Silas made it three steps toward the car before his legs buckled."Whoa–" Tommy caught him under one arm before he hit the ground, and that was when I saw it, the dark stain spreading fast across the side of his shirt."Silas." I was already moving. "Silas, look at me.""I'm fine." He wasn't fine. His face had gone pale and his knees were wobbling under him, Tommy practically dragged him the last few feet to the car. "Just winded. Long night.""You've been shot." Julian was right behind me, one hand still pressed to his own bleeding temple, but his eyes had become focused and overly series the second he saw Silas. "Get him in the car. Now."We piled him into the back seat between Julian and me, and the second his back hit the seat he let out a sound I'd never heard him make before, a loud painful groan and his hand went to his side."Drive," I told Tommy. "Drive, drive, drive!""On it." The tires screeched loudly as we drove out of the lot."Talk to me." I peeled his han
Silas's POVNobody notices the man who's supposed to be watching the building.That was the whole trick of it, really. During the run to pull Julian out of Vivian's first trap, Tommy had me watching the building, my eyes were wide open, making sure nobody snuck up on us from behind while Lauren and the others went in. I'd already looked over Vivian's other building two days before, back when I was supposed to be scouting the coastline hiding spot instead. Officially, that's exactly what I was doing. Unofficially, I was learning something else entirely, who came and went, when the guards changed, the gap in the fence nobody had fixed. A dying man makes good use of his time.So when the fighting at the fortress hit its loudest point, when every gun on our side and theirs was pointed at each other and nobody had a spare second to wonder where Silas had gotten to, I slipped away after I told Tommy over the radio I was checking the road behind us for more of Vivian's men. He grunted and f
Lauren's POV"Julian." My voice came out sharper than I meant it to. "Julian, what is it? What's wrong?"He didn't answer. He just kept staring at the screen, and cold shivers slid down my spine because I had never – not once, not even when he was tied to a chair for two days – seen him look like that."Give me the phone." I reached for it and he let me take it, which scared me more than anything else could have.'Come and save your wife.'I read it twice. Three times. My brain kept trying to make it make sense and it wouldn't, because I was right here. I was sitting two inches from him with his blood still under my fingernails from working those ropes loose."It's not about me," I said slowly."I know." His jaw was tight enough to crack. "I know it's not about you.""Then who–"He dragged both hands down his face. "Silas!"Silas leaned in from the front seat, already reaching for his own phone. "Boss.""A blocked number and private line. Trace it now.""On it." Silas's thumbs moved f
Julian’s POV The gunfire started before I even saw Marco move. One second he was smiling at me like I was already dead, and the next, chaos ripped through the room. My men–Tommy's backup, the ones I didn't even know were in position –came through the side entrance, and Marco's men scattered, screaming, shooting wildly. "Get down!" Silas shoved Lauren behind a stack of crates, his body covering hers. I was still tied to the damn chair, my wrists felt raw and I could feel blood pounding in my ears, and all I could do was watch. Vivian was there. I saw her for half a second, in the doorway behind Marco, her face twisted with anger and disbelief. She hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected me to have men she didn't know about. "Vivian!" I shouted, but my voice cracked from thirst and two days of not saying a word. She didn't even look at me. She grabbed Marco by the collar and screamed something I couldn't hear over the gunfire, and then they were running, the both of them, ducki
Lauren’s POV The rain started before I even reached Silas's building.Seattle didn't do light drizzles. It came down hard and heavy, soaking through my jacket before I'd made it half a block from where I'd parked. I'd told Julian I needed air. Just air. He'd looked at me the way he always did lat
CHAPTER THREE LAUREN’S POV Julian stopped moving completely. He just froze.For one very scary second, it felt like all the air left the room. I could not breathe. I did not step back. I stood right where I was. My chest moved up and down very fast. I thought he was going to take out a gun. I tho
CHAPTER TWOLAUREN’S POV The golden doors of the elevator finally slid open, revealing a sprawling, ultra-modern penthouse wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass that overlooked the glittering skyline of the city. I stepped out, my expensive heels sinking into a thick rug, but before I could take anoth
CHAPTER ONELAUREN’S POV"I said we are done, Jake," I barked into the phone, rubbing my tired eyes. "Don't call me again.""Lauren, come on. It was one mistake," Jake pleaded, his voice whining through the cheap speaker of my phone."One mistake too many. It's over. Have a nice life." I didn't wai


















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