All Chapters of No One Like You : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

(Claire's POV)For so long, I had prided myself in not being that girl—the girl that sees the man and jumps at him, the girl that does things for men, the girl that is the man in the relationship. But as the years went by, I realized I had become that girl.I walked up the stairs, heading straight for my apartment, when I heard my landlord speaking.“Jeffrey, if you cannot pay my rent anymore, just get out!” he roared, and I took it as my cue to backpedal.Backpedaling isn’t a crime, is it? Well, I did what I had to do to survive. Mind you, I wasn’t owing rent, but that man could come up with one thing or the other as soon as he saw me. So I decided to use the elevator with the risk of it malfunctioning.The beep of the elevator jolted me to reality. I was already sleeping as I leaned against the mirror. My jet black hair was a mess from the heat of the summer. I adjusted the blazer, which was dripped on my arm, and held the plastic bag which contained my lasagna and the bottle of mal

(Claire's POV)It wasn’t just any chest. It was solid as steel, an unyielding wall of a chest. It was packed with muscle, all that wrapped in a dark shirt that clung to his body like a second skin. Warm hands caught me by the waist. My eyes moved up to his face. The man was tall—at least 6’2” or 6’3”. His jaw looked like it was carved by angels. His eyes were green, sharp, mesmerizing. My eyes roamed his face and found the scar that ran from the edge of his brow to his temple.“Sorry,” I said breathlessly.But he didn’t let me go. He held me steady.“Don’t be,” he responded. His voice was like velvet to my ears.I stared up at him, unsure whether to back away or melt into him. The music continued to throb inside of me. Around us, people danced, but I was hyper-focused on him and him alone.“Are you okay?” he asked, finally releasing me. I hated the fact that he released me. His hands seemed to soothe an ache I didn’t know I even had.“Not even close,” I answered. It was honest and a l

(Claire's POV)I walked aimlessly. The morning was just starting. I hadn’t really slept. I heard the conversation with his father. The streets were quieter than usual, replaying what the conversation was about.I could still feel the warmth of his skin on me, the way his voice had deepened when he whispered in my neck, how his breath smelled like mint. His touch still lingered despite his absence.But still, I slipped out from under him before the sun even rose. I wonder what he would think of me. Adjusted this drop of my bagI was trying to preserve myself, to preserve whatever was left of my heart. Trust me when I say I have come across men like that before. And Dante was the kind of man who made you forget you were supposed to protect yourself—the kind who kissed you like it was a promise of forever, the kind who disappeared before morning ever came so you couldn’t have a chance to ask him to stay.I didn’t believe in fairy tales anymore. Fairy tales were for little girls. How coul

Claire’s POVI froze in place when I heard California. My knees weakened and I dropped back into my seat in defeat. I had never been there before. My life was built in New York.What the hell was waiting for me on the West Coast?I clenched the armrest so tightly my knuckles were white. I stared through the oval window, watching as the clouds swallowed the ground.In a few hours, we had touched down in California. My eyes felt heavy. I hadn’t slept the night before, and I hadn’t eaten. All I did was sit rigid in the leather seats, watching the sky change while everything around me was unrecognizable.A black SUV waited for us just beyond the runway. Another driver. No explanations. I had lost the fight to ask them for more explanations. The warmth of the car kissed my skin. My thoughts were too loud. I wanted to scream.We drove in silence, past orchards and vineyards. Finally, we came to an iron gate with a massive building a few miles away. I sat so close to the window, my hands we

Luca Delacroix – POV“Luca, come on in, my boy, and meet your sister. Her name is Claire,” my father said, gesturing with a smile I had never seen him wear before.“My sister?” I repeated after him as I moved closer to where they were and picked a seat close to my father’s desk.Ivy, no, Claire was seated directly in front of me, frozen in place. She had to be as shocked as I was. Her throat bobbed, and I had the urge to wrap my hands around it.Wait. What was I thinking? She was my sister. A sister I definitely wanted to sink my claws into and make her moan my name so our father would hear.Fuck. I had it bad.Her chest rose and fell, which got me hypnotized.“I’m so glad your sister is here with us now. Good job on finding her,” my father commented.‘Sister’ was all that echoed in my head as my father kept talking. She lowered her lashes, trying to hide from the truth. But she would learn—not to hide from me.“I am glad she is with us now,” I said, masking my true feelings with a sm