Collateral Damage Book Novels & Stories

Ares' Pov. The room was a mess. Papers and books were scattered everywhere, and clothes were thrown haphazardly on the bed and floor. I paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching my fists. I couldn’t believe how things had gone wrong. Just when I thought I was making progress with Dahlia, she started putting her walls back up. This wasn’t part of my plan. She was crucial to my revenge. Without her trust, my whole scheme would fall apart.

I jab my elbow into his arm, and he twists his lips and looks away. "Hey," I say, "do you know about Hawthorn? About what it is?" Damon's face lights up. "I went there. That's ... Oh, no. You said you were looking for the coin to help ... You ..." He looks stricken. "What happened to Hawthorn?" "Silver Hunters happened." Alec folds his arms. Damon looks like he's about to collapse. "Oh my God." "They took over the school," I explain. "Killed a lot of people. We think there are survivors still, though. If we can get the coin, then we can help them."

In that moment, it felt like the blood vessels in my brain were about to explode. I froze where I stood. The glass slipped from my hand and shattered against the floor, shards scattering everywhere. Caitlin Watson flinched like a startled cat and whipped her head around. The sultry look on her face hadn’t fully faded. Around her neck, a black leather collar gleamed under the light. A dog’s collar. Half-naked, Jackson Dalton sat sprawled arrogantly across the expensive leather sofa I had just bought, the leash clenched in his hand. When he saw me, he didn’t panic. Instead, he broke into a wide grin.

Ryan said removing a few books that were on the table creating space for me to put their food. “Enjoy.” I said smiling a bit and turning around as quickly as possible to go back to the counter. “El watch out!!” Treadway shouts grabbing my right hand to stop me from bumping into Andre who was holding a couple of steaming hot coffee mugs. He pulled me back so hard that I ended up smashing into him causing us to both lose balance and fall. I fell right on top of him centimetres away from his face. I did not waste time standing up and muttering a thank you before rushing to the changing room.

I bent down to pick them up, but whoever that was apparently had the same plans too. Our heads bumped so hard I just had to cry out in pain. “Ouch!” “Oh, shit... that was- I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry.” I looked up at the sound of the deep fascinating voice. Of course, I'd recognize that voice anywhere. Dylan Thomas. I stood up slowly, still in a stupefied daze and watched as he knelt down and collected all my books off the ground. It was a stupid thought, but a part of me wanted to scream;

This was no longer emotional damage. No longer a broken marriage. No longer corporate rivalry. This was criminal. And criminals could be exposed. He placed the photograph inside his safe and locked it. The metallic click echoed quietly through the office. A beginning disguised as an ending. Damian finally understands: The enemy was never outside his life. The war is no longer emotional. It is criminal.

It’ll be about a tragic accident in the Hamptons. ​Damian, the floorboards, I whispered. ​He looked at me, and in that split second, we communicated more than we ever had in the contract. We weren't a billionaire and a debt-bride. We were two people who had found a reason to fight for something real. ​Damian didn't give her the books. He threw them. Not at her, but at the massive, floor-to-ceiling glass wall behind her. The heavy leather hit the glass with a sickening crack, and the entire wall shattered into a million shards of diamonds.

I purr in his ears, nibbling it as he leaps out of bed. "Lily, please." He took a step back, but I proceeded forward. "If we do this, there is no turning back." Liam's back hit the wall, and I drew him a cage between my arms. "I don't want you to get hurt." "If Randy or Devin or whoever gets in my path will face my wrath," I say. I push my chest up against his and see the hunger in his eyes before they darken. "Liam, I'm going to tell you this, and you better stick it in your head, or else I will traumatize you from what I'm about to do for you."

I am sorry I would be stopping this book and possibly delete it as I have lost the inspiration or the storyline for Collide. I thank everyone of you for reading my book so far. I am really over whelmed. I have personal things going, and hence, I cannot continue this book. Don't worry too much as I have another book. "The Protectors" ongoing. Hope you use the book as a replacement for "collide" even though Gemma and Kayden are forever priceless.

Operation remains active. Collateral damage. The words stared back at me. Collateral damage. My brain stalled, refusing to process what I was reading. I blinked, rereading it. Once. Twice. Collateral damage. No. No, no, no. My stomach clenched, nausea crawling up my throat like poison. My hands were shaking, but I couldn’t stop scrolling. They didn’t mean… My breath hitched, my chest tightening as the truth slammed into me. “Oh my God,” I whispered. “They killed her. They killed them.”