Chapter 8

I was with a fishmonger for seven years. Every night, he pinned me beneath him, reckless and wild. Until one day, he took off his bloodstained apron and came clean–he was getting engaged to Sophia, the Bilotti heiress. Only then did I learn that he was the Don of the Colleo family. “Hahaha! You fooled around with Ms. Mancini for seven years, only to take another delicate young lady’s hand in marriage. Surely, she’s going to come at you.” “Don Colleo, you should keep things sweet with her.” His men’s laughter echoed in my ears. “What’s the rush? I’ve broken her well enough these past seven years. If you don’t mind, you can have her for a couple of days. Evelyn… flexible.” On the day of Vincent’s engagement party, I handed the evidence of his crimes to the police. As the sirens ripped open the city night, someone called out my name. I smiled and leaped from the eighteenth floor.

I merely brought up the wedding decorations, and my fiancé's first love ran out of the room in tears. Ian Murray slapped me so hard I fell to the ground. His face twisted in fury, teeth clenched with hatred. "Daphne, are you that desperate to get married? Afraid no one else will want you, so you're clinging to me, forcing me into it? Our wedding next week is postponed!" I held my face, but not even a ripple stirred in my heart. This made the eighth time he'd postponed it. I had been waiting for him since I was twenty-eight. Now, in my early thirties, I was still getting nowhere closer to being married. So this time, I quietly packed my things and chose to leave. Maybe this marriage didn't need to happen after all.

In one move, he lifted her and lowered her onto him, driving into her body all the way. She sobbed as he stretched her lips over his cock, taking him in, fluttering as her pussy welcomed him. His hands ran over her neck, her breasts, her ass. He grasped her hips and started to move her on him, rolling her back and forth. She rode him, her back arching, her breath coming faster and harder as he plunged as hard as he could. **** Annie Matthews has made her peace with invisibility. She’s a too-curvy, graying redhead, a diner waitress, a single mom pushing fifty, and perfectly content cheering from the sidelines of her children’s happy lives. Romance? That chapter is closed. Especially thoughts about the gorgeous young doctor who says her name like it matters. Dr. Sam Innis fell in love with Annie three years ago and never fell out. When an accident lands her back in his ER, he decides he’s done waiting. Annie is his light, his miracle, his once-in-a-lifetime, and this time, he’s not letting her walk away. Of course, nothing worth having comes easy. There are doubts to slay, fears to face, and a world that insists this kind of love shouldn’t exist. But fairy tales don’t belong only to the young. Sometimes, the bravest love story begins exactly where everyone else thinks it should end.

Claire nodded, then groaned as he withdrew his finger from her pulsing, aching sex. She heard him walk down the hallway, heard him open the drawer in the bedside table, heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper, heard him approach her again. And that whole time, she stayed where she was: legs trembling and open, hands clenched into fists on the wall, heart pounding and pussy fluttering. Suddenly, he was on her, his cock nudging her from behind, his hands on her hips. Claire whimpered again, pushed back against him. **** John “Griff” Griffin lives by rules. Always has. From the Navy to the SEALs to his job as a bodyguard at Solid Security, control is survival. Protocol saves lives. Boundaries exist for a reason, especially during honeypot ops. Break the rules, and people get hurt. Griff knows that better than anyone. The problem is Claire Worthington. Claire is supposed to be a spoiled socialite hiding after a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. A criminal. A mark. Instead, she’s living quietly in Denver: working, rebuilding, and starting over like she actually means it. She doesn’t look guilty. She looks… real. When Griff breaks every rule and falls for her, it feels like freedom. It’s also a lie. He’s hiding his name, his job, and the truth – that he was sent to get close and gather evidence. If Claire knew, would she forgive him? Should she? And if she really is guilty, will Griff turn her in… or protect the woman he loves, no matter the cost?

I'd been married to my lawyer husband for eight years. In all that time, he never once acknowledged me as his wife in public. He wouldn't even let our daughter call him "Dad." Again and again, he missed out on her childhood because of his childhood sweetheart. Even when she hurt our daughter, he still forgave her. I was worn out and empty. So I decided to leave. I took our daughter and vanished from his world. But he refused the divorce. He started searching for us like a madman, turning the whole world upside down. Only this time, neither my daughter nor I will be looking back.

Lamia and Kellen return to a realm different from what they left. Overrun with Senko’s creations and monsters from the underworld, they have one goal as they struggle to come to terms with their new identities. To rid the realm of Aodh and send him back to the hell hole he came from. They had faced Aodh once before in their past lives. This time round is different. They remember everything and hope they can defeat him this time. Not just for their future but the future of their realm. Love and bonds need to be healed while they prepare for a war that could cost them everything. Determined to ensure a peaceful future, Queen Lamia will stop at nothing to ensure the god of the underworld doesn’t get his hands on her or her immortal child.