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Serena’s Last Bargain
publish date:
2026-07-23 19:36:32
Latest chapter
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession
Lauren's POVThe baby monitor sat forgotten on the kitchen counter, crackling with static and the occasional shriek of delight, because our daughter, Star had discovered that flowers were for pulling apart, not admiring."Star, no–leave the roses alone, baby."She looked up at me with Julian's eyes. Same stubborn tilt of the chin. Same refusal to listen to a damn thing I said."No," she repeated back at me, gleeful, and ripped another petal off.I laughed so hard I had to sit down on the garden bench. Two years of this. Two years of chaos wearing tiny shoes, and somehow it still didn't feel real most mornings–like I'd wake up and find out the quiet, ordinary life had been the dream all along."She gets that from you," Julian said, coming up behind me."She gets that from you. I don't ignore people. I ignore instructions.""Same thing, in your case."I twisted to glare at him. He was smiling, the real one, the one that used to be rare enough to count and now showed up so often I'd stop
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession Forever
Lauren's POV We landed back in Seattle on a Tuesday that felt too quiet to be real. Three weeks later the invitations went out.Silas Foundation for Rescued Children.Housing. Education. Protection. Everything he’d talked about in those last quiet hours when the cancer was already winning and he still found time to dream out loud for kids who’d never had a chance.The building stood on the edge of the old industrial district. Julian had refused every suggestion to put his own name anywhere near it. “It’s his,” he’d said when the architects pushed. “He wanted this. Not me.”The opening ceremony was small on purpose. No press. No politicians fishing for photo ops. Just the people who mattered, Tommy wiping his eyes every five minutes, a handful of the kids who’d already been pulled out of the trafficking rings, and us.I stood at the edge of the stage in a simple black dress, watching Julian take the microphone. He hated this shit. Public speaking. Vulnerability. Anything that forced
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession The Promise Kept
Lauren's POV For the first time in months...No gunfire.No betrayals.No bodyguards.Just the two of us, and the stupidest fucking grin I couldn’t wipe off my face even if I tried.We left the garden right after the last champagne cork popped. Tommy tried to make a speech, got three words in, and started crying harder than I did during the vows. Julian just clapped him on the back, muttered something that sounded like “shut the hell up before I change my mind about the open bar,” and then we were gone. No confetti. No dramatic send-off. Just Julian’s hand on the small of my back, guiding me toward the black car waiting at the curb like he still couldn’t quite believe I was walking with him instead of away.Italy hit us like a warm slap.Rome first. We landed at night, the city glowing under streetlights that made everything look softer than it had any right to. Julian carried both bags because he is a stubborn ass who refuses to let me lift anything heavier than a glass of wine. I l
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession The Wedding Peace
Julian's POVThe suit felt wrong.Not because it didn't fit – Antonio had tailored it to perfection, but because I kept tugging at the collar like a nervous kid at his first class presentation. I was thirty-four years old. Buried a cartel. Buried the people who tried to burn my world down twice. And here I was, sweating through the Egyptian suit because in twenty minutes I was marrying the only person who ever made me want to be less of a monster."You look like you're about to walk into an ambush," Tommy said, adjusting my boutonnière with more care than the job required."Feels like one.""Good ambush or bad ambush?""Ask me in twenty minutes."He laughed. Now it just meant Tommy was happy. It had taken me a long time to learn the difference.The garden behind the house wasn't a huge venue. No unnecessary guests. No guests pretending to like me. Just the people who we thought was important enough for this, Tommy, four of my men standing loose and unarmed for the first time in years,
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession A New Beginning
Lauren's POV The ocean breeze rolling in from the Seattle smelled like a clean beginning.I stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the executive office, one palm resting against the cool glass as I watched the harbor below. Cranes moved above rows of containers while cargo vessels glided through the water.Timber. Electronics. Grain.Ordinary commodities moving through an ordinary port.No concealed compartments.No illicit weapons.No illegal substances.No compartments.Six months.It had taken six relentless months to dismantle the rot embedded within the Cross empire, sever its criminal networks, liquidate the shell companies, and drag every remaining fragment of the organisation into the light of legitimate business.For the first time, the Cross name could exist without a crime attached to it.Behind me, the scratch of a fountain pen against heavy paper abruptly ceased."You're staring again."Julian's voice drifted across the office, carrying that same warmth that made m
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession The Letters
Julian's POVThe call came in at six in the morning.I was already awake. I hadn't slept much since the raid, since Vivian's blood on the cathedral floor. Lauren was curled against my side, her breathing was slow and even, and I was staring at the ceiling.My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I almost let it ring out. Then I saw the prison's area code and picked up."Mr. Cross." The warden's voice was flat and professional. "I'm calling about inmate Serena Vance.""What did she do now." I kept my voice low so I wouldn't wake Lauren."She's dead, sir. A guard found her during the four a.m. check. It looks like she took her own life."I didn't say anything for a long moment. I felt Lauren stir beside me, some instinct in her probably picking up on the stillness in my body."Understood," I said finally. "Thank you for the call."By the time I hung up, Lauren's eyes were open, watching me in the dark."Julian? Who was that?""The prison." I set the phone down carefully. "Serena is dead."La
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession Turn Between Fire and Safety
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
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession The Mask and the Message
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
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession A Practical Run
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
His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession A Proposal She Couldn't Refuse
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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