Novel & Cerita Dead Man's Walk Larry Mcmurtry

Elena Quinn built her reputation exposing powerful men who believed money could bury the truth. Her latest investigation leads her to The Velvet Exchange, a secret auction where billionaires buy thirty nights of absolute obedience from carefully selected women. Rumor says the Exchange is protected by a mysterious billionaire whose name appears nowhere in public records. Men who cross him disappear. Others are found broken. Determined to uncover the truth, Elena takes the most dangerous step of her career. She enters the auction herself as Lot Seven. But the moment the bidding ends, her plan shatters. Because the man who bought her is the one person she never expected to see again. It's none other than Soren Vale. The billionaire she destroyed ten years ago

My husband, Chandler Goodwin, claims that he doesn't understand what the phrases "silent treatment" or "giving the cold shoulder" mean. Yet, in the three years we have been married, he has never once spoken to me sweetly. The first time we have a falling out, I remain proud and dignified. We end up ignoring each other for seven days straight. The seventh time we have a cold standoff, I start to panic a little. However, despite trying all sorts of methods, he doesn't back down. The 11th time it happens, I have already learned to work through my emotions myself. Chandler doesn't even need to say anything before I take the initiative to apologize first. I simply think that he's just a naturally indifferent person, that nobody can warm his stone-cold heart. Then, on the third year of our marriage, I accidentally ruin his dress shirt while ironing it. Chandler doesn't say a word, but that very night, he packs his things and moves into a hotel. On the third day of being blocked, I head to his company with a handwritten apology. While passing by his office, I spot him leaning over to shoot his angry assistant a doting smile. "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you just now and upsetting you. It's been 57 minutes since you started ignoring me. Please stop giving me the cold shoulder, alright?" I freeze on the spot, the apology letter in my hand practically burning my fingers. As it turns out, it's not that he doesn't know what the silent treatment means—it's just that I've never been the person he wants to coax.

Everything is ready on the day of my wedding. But the bride, Adella Marlowe, is nowhere to be seen. That's when she texts me on my phone. Apparently, as a national shooting champion, there's a last-minute competition that she has to attend right away, all consequences be damned. But the next day, I see a social media post uploaded by Raiden Chase, the newest recruit in Adella's team. In the photo, I see Adella with one foot on a dead wild boar while propping her gun with a proud smile on her face. The caption goes, "I'm so glad to have a wife who's also a national shooting champion! Now, Grandma won't have to worry about her corn fields getting attacked by wildlife!" As I stare at the post, I just smile and leave a comment. "As expected of the champion whose heart goes out to the normal folk!" Adella quickly calls me the next moment. "Delete your comment right now! Also, stop being all passive-aggressive around me! It's just a missed wedding; must you be so snide about it?" This isn't Adella's first time leaving me at the altar. It's been two years, and every time she ditches me at the altar, she always has an excuse to do so. I just hang up on Adella without saying a word. She's right, though. This is just a wedding, isn't it? I might as well call it off once and for all.

When my wife, Sandra Lane, finally returns from her business trip, I pin her against the wall, my lust overwhelming my rationality. Halfway through our session, Sandra's phone starts ringing all of a sudden. She quickly pushes me off her body before grabbing her phone. "Sandie, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable. Can you check out what's wrong with me?" A racy video is soon sent to Sandra's private chat. Angered, I question Sandra, "Has William gone nuts? Why did he send you these videos? Is he going to keep badgering you just because he can't find himself a wife?" Sandra responds by slapping me instantly. "What the hell are you talking about, Steven? What's with that gutter mind of yours? I've just rescued William from another city! His parents are already dead, so I'm the only one left in his life! Naturally, I'm obligated to take good care of him! "You disgust me to no end, Steven! Hurry up and apologize to me right now, or else we're getting a divorce!" Sandra and I have been married for six years. During these years, she has used divorce as a threat against me multiple times. But when I'm with Sandra, I've already confessed 1001 times to her. Upon noticing my silence, Sandra just smiles smugly, thinking that there's no way I will ever leave her. But this time, she's wrong.

Six Secrets. One Devastating Truth. Zero Escape. One heartbroken night. One reckless stranger. One decision that changed everything. Three years ago, Sloane Carter walked into a Chicago bar to forget the man who destroyed her. She walked out carrying a secret that would define the rest of her life — six of them, actually. Because the devastatingly handsome stranger she gave herself to that night didn't just break through her walls. He left her with sextuplets she's been raising alone, loving fiercely, and hiding from the world ever since. She never got his name. She never needed to. Until now. When a desperate job search lands Sloane inside PIERCE Tower — Chicago's most powerful corporation — she comes face to face with the one man she never thought she'd see again. Declan Pierce. Billionaire. CEO. Ruthless. Magnetic. And the father of her six children, who have his jaw, his eyes, and absolutely no idea he exists. Now Sloane is trapped — forty-two floors up, steps from his office, dodging his questions, outrunning his memory, and fighting a pull between them that three years and six babies haven't dulled one single degree. Declan Pierce didn't build an empire by missing details. And the more time she spends in his orbit, the more she can feel him circling the truth — patient, dangerous, inevitable. She has one rule: he cannot find out. He has one certainty: he's seen her before. And somewhere between the boardroom power plays, the jealous relatives, and six toddlers who look exactly like their father — the clock is running out on the biggest secret in Chicago. Because Declan Pierce never loses. And he's already decided that Sloane Carter is something he's not willing to let go. The only question is what happens when he finds out why.

When the mission ends, the real war begins. Captain Jack McCormack has lost everything that mattered. His partner, Lieutenant Michelle Richards, was killed during a covert operation in Iraq—her death a brutal reminder that even the best can fall. Months later, his ASIO team—friends, family in all but name—were systematically executed during a routine bonding session at a suburban paintball park. It wasn’t an accident. It was a message. Now isolated and hollowed out by grief, Jack tries to disappear into the shadows. But when a dangerous new synthetic drug called Supernatural starts flooding the city streets, he’s forced back into action. Jack knows this drug. He’s seen what it can do—what it did before, in a mission buried so deep it was meant to stay forgotten. With ASIO compromised and political forces tying his hands, Jack turns to the only people he can trust—his retired SAS brothers, elite operators with scars of their own. Together, they launch a black-ops investigation to uncover who’s behind Supernatural… and why the same shadows keep reaching into their past. But some ghosts aren’t just memories. Some are still alive.

Made men are trained to conceal their emotions if they have one, while those who have no empathy or emotions left in them after years of training are blessed. But what could be the downfall of a Made man? Perhaps, could it be the feeling of humanity? *********** Vincenzo Salvatore De Luca, the eldest son of the Bratva, a Made man, feared by all, except his arranged bride, Ava Morales. Ava, the daughter of a businessman, whose father borrowed money from the Bratva and was unable to pay it back. In exchange for the debt he owed, he gave his daughter out for marriage to the Bratva. Among all three sons of the Bratva, Vincenzo accepted to marry Ava, not because of love, but because she intrigued him and he wanted to see how much he could break her. But what happens when he begins to feel some stir in his chest at the sight of his wife? What happens then, when he sees his wife flirting with other men and his vision is clouded red and filled with the need to chop off the fingers of the man flirting with his wife?

The day after we set our wedding date for the tenth time, my fiancé reached past me to kiss his adopted sister. He presented crimson roses to her as she descended from the stage. "My princess, in this lifetime, I'll only ever be your protector." I stood quietly beyond the cheering crowd, then turned and walked away without looking back. After five years of engagement, this was the moment I finally gave up hope.

Anya Petrova has always lived life her way—strong, fearless, and in control. But when she’s bought by Viktor Romanov, the most dangerous man in Moscow, everything changes. He says he owns her now, but Anya has never been one to bow to anyone. Viktor wants more than her obedience—he wants her to give in to him completely. But Anya is not the kind of woman to back down, and the tension between them is as dangerous as it is irresistible. Viktor is used to getting his way, and Anya’s defiance only makes him want her more. But she’s not someone he can easily control. The more she fights, the deeper Viktor falls, and soon, what started as a battle for power becomes something much more dangerous. But Viktor doesn’t know everything—Anya has secrets even more dangerous than his own. As desire clashes with control, they’re drawn into a world of secrets, betrayal, and a passion they can’t deny. But with enemies everywhere, trusting each other might be the most dangerous risk of all. Warning: Mature content, blood, fights, and explosions.

Vampires only ever took one mate in their lifetime. And yet, my vampire husband refused to acknowledge me—his human wife, bound to him through an arranged marriage. On the night of our tenth wedding anniversary, Jason brought another woman into my bed. She was wearing my nightgown. She was carrying his child. And in my hand, I held a pregnancy test I'd just had confirmed. "Be reasonable, Elena. Jessica just conceived my child. She needs me." "Go sleep in the guest room. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." My husband shielded the other woman, his smile polished and gentlemanly, though his eyes held the same icy indifference they always did. When he saw me frozen in the doorway, Jason assumed I was going to do what I always did. Scream. Cry. Demand to know why he kept doing this to me. But he didn't know—this time was different. The ten-year contract had come due, and I was finally leaving him for good.