Alex Brightman The Whole "being Dead" Thing Novels & Stories

Four years ago, Jessie Monroe made the biggest mistake of her life— she fell into the arms of a stranger who felt like danger and desire wrapped into one. One night. One choice. One secret she never planned to reveal. Now she’s a hardworking single mother trying to rebuild her life… until she walks into Diaz Enterprises looking for a job and comes face-to-face with the man she never thought she’d see again. Dominic Diaz. Billionaire. Cold. Magnetic. Unforgettable. The moment his storm-gray eyes land on her, he freezes. He remembers her the girl he spent one wild night with… the girl he left sleeping in his hotel bed before dawn… the girl whose body and lips have haunted him for four long years. Jessie panics. She can’t let him get close. Not when she has a four-year-old son with his eyes… his smile… his DNA. Dominic wants answers. Jess wants distance. But fate wants chaos. Because Dominic Diaz is not a man who lets go and Jessie Monroe is running out of places to hide.

At one in the morning, the general manager posted the project assignments in the group chat and tagged everyone. I reviewed my responsibilities carefully, going through each detail to make sure I understood exactly what was expected of me. When I was done, I typed a simple "OK" and hit send. Two seconds later, my phone rang. It was him. As soon as I answered, his voice came through, icy and sharp, filled with unmistakable disgust. "Eric, I'm very disappointed in you. I must have been blind to trust you with anything important." My mind went completely blank. "What… what do you mean?" I asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them. What he said next was something I never could have imagined.

“Kiss me.” The words tumbled out and Lex stepped back instantly. He turned away from her and Isis felt her pride being butchered. “Isis, I-” His voice travelled through the room. It was laced with uncertainty. His back was still to her. "I am sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I-uh. Good bye, Mr. Greyson.” Isis replied as she slid off the desk. She needed to leave, before her embarrassment killed her. Isis grabbed her bag and stalked off towards the door. A grip like iron encased her shoulder and she was spun around to face Mr. Greyson, he pushed her against the door and dropped her bag onto the floor. He pinned her body with his, a hand around her waist bringing her body against his and his other hand cupping her face. He ran his thumb along her lower lips and took satisfaction in her shuddering. He drew her hands up and anchored them above her head, pinning them to the door. His mouth slowly covered hers and moved teasingly. Isis gasped at the skillful movement of his lips against hers. He possessed her fully, slipping his tongue into her mouth. He tasted her, devoured her and nothing was sweeter for Lex. He fought to control his natural instincts firing to life and focused on giving her this but he was certain he would gain the most pain from it. He knew he would never forget this kiss, never meet its equal. He pulled away from her, their breath labored. He rested his forehead against hers and committed the moment to memory. He leaned off her, let her hands drop to her sides, he handed Isis her bag. "Good bye, Ms. Davenport.” He replied with some pain as he turned the door knob and allowed her to leave.

At my engagement dinner with Greg Willis, the Rossi mafia family’s underboss, his assistant, Sydney Carlson, casually tossed a half-eaten cookie on his plate in front of everyone. Greg didn’t react. In full view of the guests, he calmly picked it up and ate it. That night, after we returned, I told him I wanted to call off the engagement. He rubbed his brow with his fingertips, his voice steady in that familiar, composed way of his, yet there was distance beneath it. “All this,” he said, “over a cookie?” “She already took a bite,” I corrected him. He fell silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, “Zoe, you’ve always been sensible. Why get hung up on something so small?” “I’m not hung up,” I said evenly. “I just don’t want to settle.” When he saw that I wouldn’t back down, something complicated flickered in his eyes. Then, his tone hardened, almost like a warning. “Think it through carefully. Don’t you regret it.” He was certain I couldn’t leave him. After all, he was a mafia underboss. There were countless people eager to take the position of Mrs. Willis, and I was nothing more than a minor employee at his company. What he didn’t know was that I had never coveted the title of his wife. All I ever had for him was love. But now, that love was gone, and once I turned away, I would never look back again.

Ivory Stone has tried and failed to seduce her stoic steward 999 times. She thinks that maybe Wilson Quill doesn't have a heart. Maybe he won't ever fall in love with anyone. But one day, she catches him pleasuring himself with a bracelet belonging to the fake heiress who stole her life.

The summer of 1954 brings forth changes and realizations to two girls who find themselves separated by race, family, friends, and society. Rosalie Johnson must confront the demons of her past to move forward. Ida must find who she is in a changing world. Will love be enough to challenge a society unwilling to accept them? Can they accept each other? "You aren't scared?" She asks me and I know what she means. Of course I am scared. I am terrified of my mother finding me here, wrapped up in the arms of a woman. I am terrified of someone finding Ida in my arms and burning her home to the ground. Every component outside of this hill was terrifying. "Of loving you? Never."

Oluchi never thought love would find her this late. She has spent her life following rules, hiding pieces of herself, and convincing the world she was fine. Then comes Amina the soft-spoken lesson teacher with a fire in her eyes, the one who makes Oluchi’s world feel both terrifying and alive. What begins as stolen glances soon becomes a dangerous longing. Desire. Fear. Hope. Everything Oluchi was told to bury begins to rise. But in a world that punishes women for wanting more, for loving differently… Can Oluchi risk it all for love? Or will survival demand her silence once again? The Love That Changed Everything is a tender, messy, and unforgettable story about late-found love, queer longing, and the price of choosing yourself.

An innocent small town girl, desperate to get a job, Annabel finds herself torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. But there is no sweeter devil than Maxwell Blackwood; the CEO of Blackwood precious stones and jewelries. One of the biggest jewelry manufacturing and marketing company in the states To be offered the job of a personal assistant to the CEO himself, Annabel has to surrender herself to a life of sexual exploit and abuse; she is required to be a plaything for the Billionaire CEO. At first, she was just expected to an obedient sub, a tool for pleasure, no emotions attached, but what happens when fate plays a silly game with the duo? A controlling, proud, and ironically over protective CEO, and a wide-eyed, roguish, annoying young lady; would it ever work out? With her ever complicated life, Annabel finds herself in a dilemma when Mr. Blackwood wants her to be more than just his plaything. What more could be to that? How can the bad boy fall in love? And what happens when mini Blackwood comes into the picture? Anna’s life as a small town girl experienced a drastic change, perhaps there was more to her story?

After three years of courtship, Noah Howell finally agrees to marry me. However, on the day of our marriage, he abandons me on the altar in pursuit of his dream girl, Isabella Dawson. Furthermore, due to Isabella's baseless accusation, I end up in the sanitarium. While I suffer unimaginable torture in the sanitarium, Noah and Isabella are enjoying themselves out there, living the time of their life. By the time he remembers to bring me home, I'm already a broken soul. Later on, Noah begs me on his knees, his face full of tears. "Sadie, look! It's me, Noah!" With a sneer, I ask, "Who's Sadie?"

•The story traces the transformation of a young woman as her otherwise ordinary life was rudely interrupted by one tragic event after another. She then used her sexual prowess, her innate ability to be one step ahead of her erstwhile adversaries in and out of the ob-lo, or the jailhouse where she was incarcerated, and her cunning to turn things around by unexpectedly aligning herself with her enemies and disposing of her seemingly most trusted friends and acquaintances. In other words, from an ordinary life, Nina transformed into a femme fatale. The story is also a steamy prison novel full of the unexpected romance and the exciting thrill of escaping the ob-lo and finally getting the much-sought justice served - before the deadline for innocence finally expires. Nina’s story also reveals the deep cracks in the judicial system of the country. But who are Nina’s real enemies and true friends? How could she prove her innocence to a crime she did not commit at all? The answers to these intriguing questions would somehow only be revealed in the final chapter of this story. In the end, a twist of fate led Nina’s luck to smile at her, but with the most dangerous of consequences; and no longer as a mere femme fatale, but the biggest drug lord this side of the world would now have to contend with.