Cicero Library Hours Novels & Stories

I took a shortcut through the alley and watched Dante Marchetti put a bullet in a man like it was nothing. He saw my face. That was the end of my normal life. Within an hour I was in the back of his car being driven to an estate I had never seen before with gates that locked from the outside and a wardrobe full of clothes in my exact size waiting like someone had known I was coming before I did. He told me I wasn't a prisoner but a guest. He said people who wanted to find me were considerably worse than him and that his walls were the only thing standing between me and a conversation I wouldn't survive. Maybe he was right. The problem is the longer I stayed the harder it became to remember which one was true. Because the man who caught me in that alley wasn't the only version of him. There was another one that nobody else seemed to get to see. The one who stood alone in his dead mother's library looking tired in a way that had nothing to do with sleep. The one who had my cat brought to the estate because he heard me crying through a closed door and didn't know what else to do about it. The one who almost smiled when I threw a glass at his head. That version of him was the one I couldn't stop thinking about. I came here as a witness. I stayed as something else entirely. Somewhere between the locked doors, the candlelit dinners and the secrets we started sharing in the dark I stopped wanting to leave. The question was whether a woman like me could survive loving a man like him. I was about to find out.

16 year old Scarlet Paine struggles to understand what’s happening to her, as she wakes and realizes she’s becoming a vampire. Alienated from her parents and her friends, the only person she has left to turn to is Sage, the mysterious boy who has quickly become the love of her life. Yet Sage, whose house she finds boarded up, is nowhere to be found.

Scarlet, alone in the world, with nowhere left to turn, seeks out her friends and tries to reconcile with them. All seems to be patched up when they invite her to join them on a trip to an abandoned island in the Hudson—but as things get out of hand and Scarlet’s true powers are revealed, who her friends and enemies are becomes more confusing than ever.

Blake, still interested in her, tries to make amends. He seems sincere, and Scarlet is confused as she has to grapple with whether to be with Blake or to wait for Sage, who is nowhere to be found.

When Scarlet finally finds Sage, they have the most romantic time of her life; yet it is tinged with tragedy, as Sage is dying, with but a few days left to live.

Kyle, meanwhile, turned into the only other vampire left in the world, is on a murderous rampage, seeking Scarlet; Caitlin and Caleb consult with Aiden, and they each embark on different missions—Caleb to stop and kill Kyle, and Caitlin, to the famed Yale University library, to research the ancient relic rumored to both cure and kill vampires for all time.

It is a race against time, and it may be too late. Scarlet is changing rapidly, barely able to control what she’s becoming, and Sage is dying with each passing moment. As the book culminates in an action-packed, shocking twist, Scarlet will be left with a monumental choice—one that will change the world forever. Will Scarlet make the ultimate sacrifice to save Sage’s life? Will she risk everything she has for love?

Lena Martinez has forty-eight hours to save her sister’s life, or watch her die from a failing heart. When a stranger offers her five million dollars in exchange for one impossible task—impersonate another woman and marry billionaire Nathan Blackwood—Lena knows she should walk away. But desperation leaves her no choice. Thrown into a world of wealth, power, and carefully buried secrets, Lena becomes Mrs. Blackwood overnight, stepping into the life of Nathan’s missing fiancée, Kimberly—a woman who looks exactly like her. She discovers that Nathan is nothing like the cold, ruthless CEO she’d braced herself to meet. And she soon finds herself falling for the husband she was never meant to love. But living a lie comes at a cost. As Lena grows closer to her husband, the lie becomes more dangerous. Enemies begin to close in. And just when she starts to believe she can survive the deception, the real Kimberly returns to reclaim her life. What happens when Nathan realizes he’s been deceived all along? Will he forgive the woman he’s come to love… or will the truth change everything?

One reckless night shattered her future. Now, it’s about to become her destiny. After catching her fiancé cheating hours before their engagement party, Aria Cole drowns her heartbreak in alcohol and ends up in the arms of a devastatingly handsome stranger. No names. No promises. Just one unforgettable night of passion. Until two pink lines change everything. When Dominic Ashford—the cold, ruthless billionaire CEO and her ex’s boss—discovers Aria is carrying his child, he refuses to let her walk away. Especially not after she nearly terminates the pregnancy he’s always craved. He offers her a contract: one year as his wife in exchange for protection from her toxic ex and the scandal threatening to destroy her. But their dangerous arrangement awakens something far more lethal than desire. As buried secrets surface—betrayal, hidden identities, and a decades-old massacre tied to Dominic’s powerful family—passion turns into obsession. The man she’s falling for may be her greatest enemy… or her only salvation. In a world of revenge, lies, and toxic love, how far will a ruthless billionaire go to claim the woman carrying his heir?

On the first day of every month, my mom will give me my allowance based on the number of times I had checked in with her last month. "You'll receive 20 dollars for greeting your parents once in the morning and once in the evening. But last month, you only hit ten days' worth of quota, so you can only receive 200 dollars. This also means your 300-dollar punctuality fee will be deducted as well. "After adding on 150 dollars for your basic necessities, you shall receive only 350 dollars for this month's allowance. Remember to write a reflection report on your lack of punctuality later. I'll only transfer you the money if your report is acceptable." I become so overwhelmed by anxiety that my voice starts trembling. "I was busy with my finals last month, Mom! I had to line up outside the library at 5:00 am every day just so I could secure myself a seat! That's why I couldn't call you in time!" In a choked-up tone, I plead to my mom, "I need 600 dollars for the train ticket all the way home during the holidays! 350 dollars really isn't enough for me! Mom, can you please—" But my mom cuts me off firmly, "The allowance system is something that I've specifically designed for you so that I can help you get rid of the bad habit of wanting to receive everything without putting in hard work! Why can't you just understand that I'm doing this for your own good?" After that, she ends the call mercilessly. Just as I'm filled with despair and helplessness, a blond appears before my eyes. He's willing to buy my train ticket for me, but in return, I need to leave with him.

"What are you doing, Ms. Samantha?" Jack angrily said after seeing the employee chit-chatting with some random guys while the other girls are waiting for her service.  The surprised look was evident to the librarian when she sees her boss in front of them. She also stood up in her seat, and she gave a quick bow to her boss. But Jack ignored it. He walks in the direction of a librarian. "This is not an hour of flirting. I'm not paying you a lot of money only to flirt. But, if you like to seduce some guys. So, why don’t we make it intense for the men you’re flirting with? Hmm?" He smirks at his librarian, whose name is Samantha. "S-Sir…I-I'm sorry…I-I will never do…i-it…a-again…j-just please…s-spare my life." "Oh, sweetie, I'm not going to kill you. But, I'll help you to seduce a guy, you want?"The woman quickly shook her head many times because of fear. "N-no…no… si-sir please…no!" But she can't stop her boss from ripping her uniform. When Jack finished tearing off her upper and lower uniform, he even grinned demonically. "You're welcome, sweetie, don't cry. I'm just helping." Jack Krean Tomizara Miller is known as heartless and ruthless. He doesn't even care about people who beg him or asking him to forgive them for what they've done. He humiliated many employees.  So it isn't easy to get a new one on his property, even how significant the income is because they knew him as a demon. But a woman will give a try to apply as a new librarian. She's Linzi Mikaele Franzie.  What will be her fate after entering the famous library and meeting the Notorious Mafia King, Jack?

My stomach flared up again after pulling an all-nighter at work, so I asked my fiancee to go home and grab my medicine. Two hours later, she finally came back, but she was empty-handed. "Where's the medicine?" I asked weakly. "Oh, I forgot. Chris called last minute and said he had a fever, so I went to bring him some fever meds first." After she said that, she dialed a number on her phone and asked worriedly, "Are you feeling any better now?" On the other end of the line was the childhood friend she always talked about. At that moment, I calmly pulled the IV needle out of my hand and told her we were done. She frowned. "Just because I went to take care of Chris first?" "I was on an IV drip. He just has a common cold." I said each word slowly. "Can you be a little more mature?" she asked with a look of disappointment on her face. "Fine. If that's how you feel, then whatever." She thought it was just an ordinary argument. She had no idea that the moment she chose to forget the medicine that could've saved me, our relationship had already reached a point of no return.

When Ethan Reed shoves divorce papers across the anniversary dinner Mia Thompson spent hours preparing, he believes he's trading up — swapping his quiet schoolteacher wife for her glamorous best friend and the "power couple" image his investors demand. What he doesn't know: the woman he's throwing away funded his entire empire with her dead parents' life insurance money — and still owns 45% of the company he just sold for $25 million. For six years, Mia paid his loans, wrote his pitch decks, and worked two jobs while he coded his dreams into reality. She loved him enough to carry his child alone for eight weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to tell him. That moment came in a doorway — divorce papers in one hand, her best friend smirking behind him in a red dress. She signed. She walked out. She collapsed in a hospital parking lot and lost the baby no one knew existed. Some men burn down the wrong house. Some women have to lose everything before they realize they were holding the match the whole time. And some betrayals come with a price tag — exactly $25 million, plus interest.

At twenty-one, Ashley Knowles is forced into an arranged lavender marriage with the most feared biker president in California. Twenty-four hours later, she’s a widow. Thrust into the ruthless world of the Sons of Chaos Motorcycle Club, Ashley inherits an empire of oil rigs, ranches, illegal dealings, and blood-soaked power she never wanted. But the club brothers don’t bow to outsiders—especially not a girl who knows nothing about their world. Three dangerous men circle her like wolves: Matt —her dead sister’s fiancé blames Ashley for the death of his fiancée and wants brutal personal revenge. He’ll break her body to heal his grief. Bran —her scarred brother-in-law craves slow, psychological payback for the high-school sin that scarred him forever and ruined his life. He’ll take her body piece by piece until there’s nothing left. Ripper —the Vice President, protects her with fierce loyalty no one understands… but his devotion comes with secrets that could destroy them all. Caught between these three men, Ashley must find a way to protect herself,because the Sons of Chaos don’t share. CONTENT WARNING: This story is strongly 18+ It delves into dark romance themes such as obsession, lust and crime. While this is a beautiful love story, readers discretion is advised.

Riccardo Salvatore Armani is a man with a great body and brilliant mind who can be compared to a Greek god but with the heart of Lucifer. Yes, with both devilish and lovable hearts. Everyone conquered his devilish heart and none conquered his lovable heart, or yet… With no parents, no helpers, no bodyguards, no friends, no past, and no girls around, he is living a robotic life with the only character of yelling at people and killing ruthlessly everyone who comes in his way. Ishita Kapoor is a girl with a goddess physique, an Angel heart, and a brilliant and stupid brain at the same time. Having everyone around her, she is living a best yet worst life because of society's pressure on her. Everyone who sees her from the outside will see her best life but only when those who get to see under her always-covered body, will come to know her true life. Having everything and everyone doesn’t help her in her state.But, when a simple dare locked these two people in 2000sq. feet for 24 hours, he thought that this was just a day and it wouldn’t change his life and she thought she successfully completed her dare with the mystic man but they both didn’t know that there was more on their way which would change their life completely. MAFIA'S NOT SO INNOCENT GIRL is created by Priya Amour, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.