Carly Riordan

As my murderer's claws tear into my abdomen inch by inch, my father and brother are seated in our family's banquet hall. They're celebrating Carly's 18th birthday and coming-of-age. "You'll always be my little girl." "Happy birthday, Carly." They light 18 pink candles for her. On top of the exquisite red velvet cake is a wolf figurine that they carved for her, and there are well wishes and laughter all around. Meanwhile, I'm curled up in a sewer filled with liquid silver as I bleed to death. My phone has been crushed, and I can't get out. I can only cry for help. A few days later, my father and brother show up together at the autopsy room. My brother stands by the operating table with a scalpel. He slices open the body and sews it back up like it's nothing. My father just covers his nose as he shoots a disgusted glance at my body. He urges my brother to hurry up with the autopsy report. "The victim is a young female wolf presumed to be of pure lineage. Before her death, she was subjected to prolonged captivity and torture. Her throat is nearly severed, her cervical spine is dislocated, and her chest cavity has collapsed. She was also injected with liquid silver before death." Hearing the report, my father looks so calm that it's just like a case study of no consequence. Neither of them can recognize that the body belongs to me—their daughter and sister!

He was about to reach me when I stopped him. “Hands behind your head.” “I didn’t imagine this,” he complained. “So do I, but live a little, right?” I darted my tongue out, licking the tip of his head. “Fuck.” *** With one mistake, Princess Carlott lost everything in a blink of an eye. When she was labeled a fraud, a rogue—a pariah, she escaped her dysfunctional past to where no one would judge her. For years, she has built herself as Carly Storm. No more foolish mistakes, just her uneventful, boring life. Until she stumbles with a grumpy irresistible CEO, Rome Langston—well, not exactly, he’s her boss, and one thing she can’t ignore is full of fireworks between them. She isn’t looking for a hookup. When her boss offers her that proves impossible to resist, maybe that’s all she needs—no commitment, just amazing weekends. After all, she was once a rogue. What can go wrong? Well, that’s precisely what happens. Her past doesn’t just stay where it is, and her secrets threaten to come out. *** Rome just takes over the family business. Until the brunette storms into his office, reporting late as his assistant, complicating everything he believes in. He finds himself torn between hiring or firing her. The last thing he wants is a distraction. But maybe, a distraction is all he needs. What can go wrong with a bit of fun? Besides, he’s just human. When he finally realizes they have something real, just right when a bomb blows in his face, it’s anti-climatic. Worse, the woman he’s in love with is only a royal princess.