Highest Bidder Sara Cate 소설 & 이야기

Cole McKnight is a disciplined, bodyguard hired by Senator Richard Irwin to protect his 23 years oldson, Ashton, after he begins receiving threats. Cole's impression of Ashton just another rich kid living off his father's money. But small moments reveal Ashton's depth and intelligence, Cole finds his professional mask slipping. When Cole is forced to move into Ashton's house for round-the-clock protection, the tension becomes unbearable. Charged conversations and stolen moments build a connection neither can deny. Cole is terrified not just of his job, but of the senator's power and what he could do to destroy Cole if he discovered his bodyguard had crossed the line. Everything changes when Marcus, Cole's contact and trusted ally, reveals the truth: the threats aren't random. Senator Irwin is involved in campaign finance fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering at the highest levels. The threats are leverage a way to keep him compliant. And Ashton is the point. Cole and Ashton flee to a safe house, their forced proximity finally breaking Cole's resolve. They become intimate, but the moment is shattered by armed attackers. Cole kills the intruders, but one injures Ashton before Cole takes him down. They ran to safe house not knowing it's compromised from the inside. The betrayal becomes clear in the final chapter: Marcus, the man Cole has trusted for years, has been working for the criminal the whole time He orchestrated every every plan, every moment of danger. When Marcus sends Ashton a photo of his father beaten in an industrial warehouse, he demands Cole bring Ashton to him—alone—or he dies. Cole's is No longer a bodyguard bound by professional ethics, he's a warrior. With Ashton's hand in his and backup secretly in place, he walks toward the warehouse, toward Marcus, toward a confrontation that will determine whether they survive

COLE : Being the alpha of the largest shifter pack in the state isn't easy or glamorous. It takes quick decisions and a level head, and sometimes I have to make ruthless choices for the greater good. It's a constant balancing act, only achieved with the highest level of organization- every aspect of my life is carefully curated. Some say I'm cold. Detached. Controlling. But we'd descend into chaos if I didn't rule with an iron fist, so I do, and my pack falls in line. Little did I know, all it'd take is one girl to upend my life into chaos. One girl who won't bow to me and fall in line with the rest. Juliet is too young, too wild and stubborn. She's the one I want but can never have. ~ JULIET : All my life, I've played a part. The daughter of our pack's former alpha; the sister of its current alpha. The darling of the Westfield pack. The smart girl. The good girl. The pretty girl. Everyone in my life seems to want me to fit a certain mold and behave a certain way, but I just want to be free. That's why I jumped at the chance to get away from home for the first time. Enrolling at the University in Denver is my golden ticket out of my small town; my first real shot at freedom. It's my chance to let loose and have fun away from the watchful eyes of my brother, and it's one I'm not going to waste. I'm going to flirt with boys. Dance the night away. And the Denver Alpha? Now that I've set my sights on him, he doesn't stand a chance. ~ *While this book is connected to the six-pack series universe, it can be read as a standalone*

There was an unspoken rule in high society. When families arranged marriages, the woman chose her partner through an auction. I had chased Zayn Farrell since I was young. At the auction, I did not hesitate. I bid at the highest tier and chose him. Not long after our engagement, my parents died in a car accident, and my family fell from power. I thought Zayn would take the chance and leave me, but he still married me. He doted on me and turned me into the woman everyone in Ravenwood envied. I believed I had moved his heart, until his first love, Yara Xavier, returned. The first time I met Yara, she brought her luggage into the Farrell family villa. Soon after, someone threw all her belongings out. The servants later said I had ordered it. I tried to explain, but Zayn did not believe me. He locked me outside and made me kneel in the rain for the whole night. The second time, Yara tripped and fell down a steep slope. She said I had pushed her. Zayn lost his temper and punished me. He made me climb a rough mountain path in high heels. He did not stop until he saw that I was covered in blood. My legs were bruised and swollen. The third time, I found out the truth by accident. My parents died because Yara found out about my engagement to Zayn and had orchestrated it. Zayn married me to keep me close so he could watch me and make sure Yara would never go to prison. My world collapsed. On the day I finally got the evidence and went to the police, Zayn drove his car into me and killed me. When I opened my eyes, I was back at the auction. It was the day I chose my fiance.

At the celebration, the pampered heiress in Crownridge, Aveline Sage, confessed her love for me in front of the entire school. I turned her down flat. I was one of the Sage family's candidates—handpicked top students from every state—to improve their next generation's genes. In a few days, when the exam results came out, whoever earned the highest national score would become her fiance. For three years straight, I had been ranked first in the country. In my previous life, I achieved that top score. I got engaged to Aveline and became the envy of everyone—the son-in-law of Crownridge's most powerful family. But on the day of our engagement, her first love, Caspian Lorne, jumped off the top of the Sage Group building. His body was shattered beyond recognition. Aveline hired the best mortician to restore his face and placed him in a crystal coffin, where she slept beside him every night. During our honeymoon, she brought Caspian's body along, then kissed and clung to him right in front of me. When I confronted her, she looked at me with disgust. "The Sage family sponsored your education for twelve years. You knew Caspian and I were in love. Couldn't you let him win just once? You've been in first place for twelve years. What would it have cost you to lose? You ruined his future, ruined our love. You deserve to die." She drugged me, turned me into a fool with the mind of a three-year-old. I couldn't recognize my parents. I lost control of my own body. And I died in agony. … Then, I opened my eyes again, back on the morning of the exam. Last time, I beat Caspian by a single point. This time, I left an answer blank. Let him be the top scorer. Let him marry her. I hoped they grew old together, with plenty of children to match their love.

"Do you hate me?" He asked, nibbling my ear with his teeth. I couldn't form words. I felt... I didn't know what I was feeling. A minute ago, I was sure I hated him but now that he's so close, so close that I could feel him breathing on my skin, I wasn't sure. "Do you hate me?" He asked again, his voice a low growl in my ear. "I...I..." I tried to form words but ahis lips left my ear and trailed kisses down my neck. “I need words,” he whispered. “Tell me you hate me.” My fingers tightened on his shirt as he continued. “Say you hate me, and I’ll stop right now and walk away.” What? There was a pause, I still hated him but I don't want him to stop.. “Don’t…and I won’t be responsible for what I do next.” Lena Hartwell is a girl who has been bullied all her life for being plus size. After the sudden death of her father, her family falls deep into debt, forcing her to accept the highest paying tutoring job she can find to support her Mom. The job turns out to be tutoring one of her bullies, the school’s hottest quarterback, Jace Dawson and despite hating him, she takes it the job because her family is at risk of losing everything they have left. What happens when the hatred they have for each other slowly turns into something darker, when forced proximity turns every argument into temptation? He is everything she is taught to fear. She is the weakness he was taught to crush. And when one forbidden moment shatters the boundary between hate and desire, will Lena be able to walk away from the boy who might ruin her life?

"Boss.. Boss please forgive me! I was drunk so I thought she was one of the clan's whóre I swear I didn't know she was yours" The man begged like his life depended on it. "Which hand did you use to touch her" Aurelio spoke calmly. "My.. My... L-Left-" He wasn't chanced to finish his sentence when Aurelio cut off his left hand completely. Blood splashed on his cheek as it began bumping out of the man's hand. "Aarrrgghh!!!" The agonizing cry from the man echoed in the room as he peed on himself. Aurelio turned to Amour who looked horrified with the scene she just witnessed. His hands found his way to her neck and he gripped it tightly, bringing her face close to his so he could have a clear view of the terrified look on her face. "This.. Is just the highest level of my kindness compared to what I can do. Remember this, you're mine! Mine to touch, mine to fuck, mine to do whatever I want with... No one else... But me" A drop of tear fell from Amour's eyes. •••• Aurelio Giovanni is the second in command of THE DARK BULLS, one of the biggest mafia empire in Los Angeles, he's the underboss He ruthless, to him "second chance" doesn't exist in his vocabulary Just like air, one never knows his next move. He can be as calm as a gentle breeze but the next minute, a raging hurricane What happens when he sets eye on 22 years old Amour who's just curious to discover the world around her? How did both of them meet? What happens when Aurelio claims Amour as his possession? Will Amour ever escape from his déadly clutches? Or not? What if there's more to it than what meets the eye?

The night I ran, I left everything behind. My dead fiancé's ghost. His brother's cold hands reaching for me. A father who won't meet my eyes because he's already sold me to the highest bidder. I thought I was escaping. Then a stranger pulled me from the darkness, and I learned what real danger looks like. Damon moves like he owns the world. Talks like every word matters. Looks at me like I'm the only woman who ever made him feel something. He says he's the son the Kings family erased, the bastard they tried to bury. He says Evan loved me and that's why I should trust him. He wants me to sign a contract. One year as his wife. One year to help him destroy the family that destroyed us both. One year pretending to belong to a man who makes my heart race and my skin burn every time. He touches me like I'm fragile. Looks away when I ask about Evan. Holds the truth behind his teeth like it might cut us both. And the whole time, I'm falling. Falling into his warmth. His danger. His impossible kindness that feels too real to be fake. But if I've learned anything from the Kings: the men who save you are always the ones who need you most. And the ones who need you? They're the ones who hurt you in the end. Evan knew something. About my father. Something about the deal that would make the Kings the most powerful in the country. Damon knows too. And the only way he'll tell me? Is if I say yes. Say yes to the contract. Say yes to the fire between us. Will the man holding me survive what comes next? And more terrifying: Will I survive loving him?

I got a car straight from the Lycan Chairman himself—a ride costs more than tens of millions and can turn every traffic light green. I got it because the Lycan Chairman once fell on the battlefield, his heart torn open. And me? I'm the one bound to him by a blood-sealed contract, the only secret healer who could save his life. To win me golden hour for surgeries, I was awarded with such an honored ride. I treated it like sacred ground, kept it hidden in my mate Yorick's underground garage, polished and guarded, ready for the day the Lycan Chairman might need me again. That day came. The summons burned in my hand, urgent and sharp. I rushed to the garage, ready to drive, and the second I approached the garage, a strange woman slid into the back seat. "Take me to the Nighty Bar," she ordered, flipping her hair. "Yorick had waited for me minutes. If he's mad at me being late, I'll make you regret it." My hands froze on the wheel. "This is my car," I told her, calm but firm. "I have urgent business. You need to get out. Now." She sneered. "What a joke. A chauffeur pretending to be the owner? You must have a death wish." Her soldiers glanced at me sideways, voice dripping with disdain. "Everyone in the pack knows that this car is Alpha's exclusive for picking up Selene! You're just a little healer. Do yourself a favor and listen to her." Their words cut sharper than any blade. The car that carried the highest secret of the werewolf race, the car tied to the Chairman's very heartbeat, in their mouths, it was nothing more than a toy. A plaything my mate used to please another she-wolf. They wanted me to bow. To surrender. To sit there, silent, while they spat on me. But what they didn't know, the Lycan Chairman's soldiers were already on their way.

My mom is an HR professional. She uses KPI to determine my entire life. "If you get into the top ten of your grade, you'll receive a B grade as well as a bonus of 500 dollars. If you can achieve a ranking at a state-level competition, you'll receive an A grade as well as a bonus of 1,000 dollars. Of course, if you can get into a top-tier university after scoring well in your SATs, I'll give you an S+ grade as well as a year-end bonus of ten thousand dollars!" I work my ass off in my studies and manage to earn the offer letter to a top-tier university. But that's when my mom puts a contract in front of me. "Congratulations on getting hired. From today onward, your allowances will be determined by the total of your base salary, KPI, as well as your full attendance award. "Your base salary is 500 dollars. It's to make sure that you won't starve to death, at the very least. In order to help you adapt to workplace stress in advance, I'll check on your progress randomly. If you don't meet my requirements, I'll deduct your salary." When I'm down with a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, my mom deducts my full attendance award, claiming that my physical attributes aren't up to par. In order to catch up on my studies, I've completely forgotten to submit my weekly report to my mom. Because of that, she suspends my allowances. So, I have to sell my blood to a hospital behind her back just so I can survive. At the end of the school term, I show my mom my grades as well as the certificate to my scholarship, thinking that I'll be eligible for the highest KPI and the bonus. But that's when my mom tells me coldly, "The company has decided to give your S+ bonus to your younger brother as a form of investment. After all, he has more potential to achieve better results compared to you." As I gaze down at the 200-dollar consolation prize, I can't help but laugh. It turns out that I'm not even worthy of being recognized as a good employee in my mom's company.

When I was five years old, I was kidnapped by the human traffickers. Later on, I was abandoned at Dreadvault Isle's prison meant for serious offenders located in the infamous no-man's land of Cloudguard Continent. In order to avoid dying from starvation, I clung to Edgar Blythe, who was a serial killer with the highest bounty known on the Internet, and called him "Grandpa Eddie". Then, I moved to grip Franklin Graves, a former boxing champion, by his diamond-crusted belt just to beg for scraps. Finally, I entangled myself around a top-tier assassin's leg while yelling at the top of my lungs, "As long as you don't let me starve to death, I'll make sure to take care of you once you grow old!" All the international mercenaries, arms dealers, and professional assassins were stunned by my declaration. In the end, they gave me some leftovers from their own plates. That was how I was raised in prison. Since my grandpas have enemies all over the globe, the first thing I do after returning to the country is act like a cowardly impoverished student. When I'm a college sophomore, Leonard Hargrove, a rich scion from a conglomerate, has accused me of stealing his laptop. He even beats me up relentlessly on the campus field and breaks three of my ribs by stomping on my chest. To make things worse, he forces me to swallow blood-drenched soil. I'm in so much pain that I've practically gone nuts and bitten off half of Leonard's ear as a result. Jordan Chappel, the dean of the college, kicks me to the floor when I meet him later on in his office. "Do you really think you're in the right for stealing from someone else, you broke bastard? All he did was hit you a few times! It's not like you'll die from those attacks! "You'd better tell your guardians to come here as soon as possible! I want to see them groveling to me and apologize on your behalf!" After spitting out a mixture of blood and saliva, I turn to stare Jordan dead in the eye. "Are you sure you really want my guardians to show up?"