Trouble Is My Business

What does the underboss of an infamous crime family have in common with a spirited primary school teacher? Absolutely nothing, except a marriage of convenience, of course. When Lionel Tyson defaults on a gambling debt and offers his most prized possession as collateral, Austin Hawthorne is underwhelmed. But in desperate need of a housekeeper and permanent child minder, he knows he’d be an idiot to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, against his better judgement, he accepts an offer he should absolutely refuse. Marybeth Tyson is horrified to learn that not only is her father wanted by loan sharks, but he has also sold her off to a mafia boss. Bound by duty and pushed by guilt, she agrees to give Austin Hawthorne one year of her life, despite common sense screaming at her to run the other way. After all, how hard can pretending to be madly in love with someone be? It’s all fun and games until play pretend becomes all too real, and an earth-shattering secret from Austin’s past comes to light, threatening to destroy his second chance at love with his dogged pursuit for answers. Betrayal, especially at the hands of his older brother Blake and long-time friend, Andrei Ivanov, is a bitter pill to swallow for Austin, and letting them off scot-free is not an option. Driven by his unquenchable thirst for revenge, Austin will stop at nothing to get to the truth, even if it means destroying decade-old friendships and fragile ties to The Corporation. 2022 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

Survival taught Elon Rivers that his body could be a weapon—just not in the way his stepfather intended. Now he works the con: dress pretty, play helpless, drug them, and disappear with their valuables. It's not honest work, but nothing about Elon's life has ever been honest. When he targets the wrong mark—Fort Thorne, a mafia enforcer with eyes like a winter grave—his carefully constructed world shatters. Fort knew exactly what Elon was from the moment he walked into that hotel room. The briefcase Elon stole contained information worth killing for, and Fort wants it back. There's just one problem: Elon's roommate has already stolen it from him, and now Fort is out two million dollars. Fort's offer is simple: return what was stolen, or work off the debt. Every single Penny. Trapped in Fort's world of violence and power, Elon discovers that his captor is as damaged as he is, and that the line between hatred and desire is thinner than he ever imagined. But in a world where trust is a luxury neither can afford, falling for the enemy might be the most dangerous con of all.

Gold prices had recently crashed, and five hundred thousand dollars' worth of purchase reserves had vanished from the branch's accounts. Jane Lynch, the department manager, threw a report in my face. "Mavis Gomez! We sent you to buy equipment, and you used the money to trade gold? The chairman is inspecting the branch this afternoon. Sign this confession now, and the company might still put in a good word for you." Thomas Jones, the branch manager, stood beside her and tapped the table. "You're an intern with no connections. Where did you find the audacity to do such a thing?" My coworkers were already blaming me in the company group chat for costing them their year-end bonuses. [Interns these days have some nerves! She always looked so meek, but to think she would steal company money!] I knew Jane and Thomas had used the money to trade gold. They just wanted to use a nobody like me to take the blame. I looked down at the report bearing my forged signature and burst out laughing. They had no idea that the chairman everyone described as ruthless and merciless had made me a sandwich that morning and begged me to cut my internship short and come home to take over the family business.

It was just another morning commute—until he happened. Across the train aisle sat a man who looked like he’d stepped out of a high-end magazine and straight into a power struggle. His voice sliced through the air, sharp and commanding, as he chewed someone out over the phone like he ran the damn universe. Arrogant. Entitled. Dressed like a Wall Street god. Correction: he looked like a god. That’s where the charm ended—or so I thought. When the train screeched to a stop, he stood up in a hurry, stormed off… and left his phone behind. Did I pick it up? Yep. Did I snoop? Absolutely. Photos, contacts, a few mysterious texts—I couldn’t help myself. Did I keep it longer than I should’ve, building stories in my head about the man behind the voice? Yeah… I did that too. When I finally gathered enough nerve to return it, I marched into the glass-and-steel fortress he called an office. He wouldn’t even come out to meet me. So I dropped his phone on the desk outside his office door. And maybe—I left a photo on it first. Not exactly the professional kind. What I didn’t expect? A message. From him. What followed were late-night texts that burned hotter than anything I’d ever known. Words became whispers. Whispers turned into fantasies. I was falling—for someone I hadn’t even really met. He and I? Total opposites. Fire and ice. Chaos and control. But when we finally came face to face, it wasn’t just sparks. It was an inferno. What happened next? Let’s just say… falling for him was the easy part. Surviving what came after? That’s where the real story began.

Nina Hayes's life turned upside down when she's involved in a scandal she has no memory of doing. One moment, she's got a life anyone would be jealous of, and the next thing she knows, her parents are disowning her. Vernon Delaney has it all. Looks, money, power, but he lacks what everyone around him has—love. When he nearly hit a troubled woman on his way home and see the beauty he's never seen before, Vernon did not waste anytime and claimed her as his. A story of a woman who lost everything and a man who has everything but no one by his side. When Fate Messed Up will show you the reality and love between two people who went through so much, and found solace in each other.

This is a story, Of a deal that turned ugly. 𓍯 Beryl It was just business until it wasn't until he hired someone to kidnap my best friend. One thing you should know about me, I live for my family, and nobody hurts my family and lives. Whoever has her better be prepared. 𓍯 Killian It was a simple case, kidnap her and keep her alive. Until her friend fucked everything over. She's a pretty little thing who thinks she is the worst in the business. If she's the best then I'm her absolute nightmare. One thing you should know about me, I'm ruthless when it comes to my work. _____________