How To Pick Locks

On the day I go to the car dealership to pick up my car, I'm told that the previous salesperson has resigned, so a different salesperson will attend to me. Yet the first thing the salesperson does is say that I paid too little for the car and demand that I pay more to make up the difference. "The other salesperson is truly an idiot. How could he sell a car for 300 thousand dollars in cash? It's no wonder he got chewed out and quit. If you want to take the car, you'll have to switch to a five-year loan with an interest rate of 12%." I'm rendered speechless as he blatantly tries to extort me. "I've already paid and signed the sales contract. You're breaching the contract!" The salesperson scoffs. "So what? The car is with us anyway. If you're not going to pay the difference, don't even think of taking the car with you!" I can't help but chuckle. I calmly pull my phone out of my suit pocket. "Walter, place Mr. Paul Roland's loan application on hold for now. He's earning big bucks for his business. It seems like he doesn't need it anymore."

The fearful time to leave the nest arrives for everyone, even more for Catherine, a recent graduate full of dreams in front of her and now receiving a job offer in a renowned law firm far from her hometown, this is the time to move on and fly high, but things are not as easy as she imagines, the obstacles seem to focus on a single person, her boss Miguel who apparently loves to be a tough guy and pick on her, is this all bitterness or is the weirdo hiding something?

Jace Thorne—my childhood crush—crashed a car with me. I walked away fine. He "lost his memory." Plot twist: my dead grandma's soul moved in. "Jace is faking amnesia again to mess with my sweet granddaughter. If I were alive, I'd break his legs myself!" I blinked. Hard. Grandma's voice wouldn't shut up. "In her past life, Demi was miserable. Jace left her to rot while he partied with that Stafford girl. Had a heart attack, and he was lighting birthday candles. Trash!" Then came the kicker: "Your grandpa's letting you pick your fiancé. Don't even think about Jace. Pick Leroy. That boy's actually decent." Right on cue, Grandpa strolled into the hospital with the elder squad, slapped down pics of four legacy heirs, and told me to choose. I didn't even blink. Picked Leroy Leighton—my childhood nemesis turned fiancé. Because yeah, I'm a grandma's girl to the core. If she said Jace Thorne didn't love me, then I was so done.

Book One: Protecting My Mafia Princess "I promise you if Trinity gives me the slip, then I am pinning her to a tree." Just thinking of her sends shivers up my spine and belief me that they're not the good shivering kind. I love a beautiful woman in my bed and to look at. To be surrounded by ugly for almost a full day is seriously going to put a damper on my ego. But time to push that thought to the side, for our location has just come up on the right. We slowly cruise up the driveway… But as we step through the doorway… And we turn the corner… There is a tall brunette in what could possibly be the tightest dress I have ever seen. But what strikes me the most is her long slender legs that are held up by deep blood red stilettos. Her long locks of hair fall like waterfalls over her shoulders. Just looking at those plump lips is enough to send me raging. I don't know who she is... Colton Cruz is the best of the best, an ex-Marine, now bodyguard to the Mafia world’s elite. He is a man that lives for the rush and danger that his lifestyle brings. You might find yourself on his speed dial, but you will not be the one that will capture his heart. Trinity Stone is a spoilt brat that becomes Colton's next assignment. She's a pleasure on the eye but an absolute nightmare to be around. This lonely and misunderstood girl is the heir to the Stone Crime Family. And that's where the problem begins… Colton soon finds him desiring what he cannot have, the daughter of a Mafia Boss. How far will he go to get what he desires the most?

It is the night before our wedding when my fiancee, Whitney Sullivan, reunites with her childhood sweetheart, Steven Foster, a mercenary who has been missing for five years. He is brought to our doorstep by his teammates, bloodied and barely clinging to life after being poisoned with a deadly aphrodisiac on a mission. Whitney, usually so aloof and controlled, immediately breaks down. She locks the door, defying my efforts to stop her, and stays with Steven all night long. I choose to stay outside the door, never closing my eyes. I confront her the following morning with a torrent of accusations, only for her to stand in front of Steven protectively and say shamelessly, "I couldn't just stand by and watch Steven die. Isn't it just my virginity? What's the harm in letting loose the night before the wedding?" In that instant, all my affection for her is utterly destroyed.

Emily’s world is turned upside down when her husband, Nathan, serves her divorce papers in a shocking public display. But the betrayal cuts depper when she discovers her own sister is behind the break down of her marriage. As Emily tries to pick up the pieces, she discovers a sinister plot that will change everything she thought she knew about love, family, and herself. Can she rise above the lies and betrayal to find redemption and love again?

Azura just turned 18 and is finally going to meet her mate. All of the packs get together when an alpha’s daughter turns of age to help her find her mate before she goes into heat. Half way through the party Azura finally senses her mate in the room. When all goes quiet as the Dark Wolf enters with his family, Azura’s wolf goes nuts. She found her mate but is terrified to learn it’s to the Dark Wolf. Lyall has been gone for years, the night he comes home he finds his mate. When he entered the ballroom and his wolf goes nuts he instantly locks eyes with Azura, but all he can feel though is her fear. Will his mate’s life come to an end like his own mother? Or will Azura break the Greyback curse as the family calls it and bring light to his darkened soul?

The aloof CEO and his childhood sweetheart bring the tragic novel's female lead to an orphanage to adopt a child. All the children pounce on the childhood sweetheart, saying, "Mommy, pick me! Pick me!" The viewers' comments come flooding in. "She can't birth her own child, and now even the orphans don't want her. The tragic female lead is truly pitiful, humiliated by both her husband and his childhood sweetheart!" "The childhood sweetheart keeps winning—spoiled by the CEO, and the orphans scramble to call her 'Mom.' The female lead is nothing but a piece of decor." "It's not tragic enough! Make her even more miserable! It's even better if she cries on the spot so that later, when the CEO recalls this scene, he'll have to work double time to win his wife back!" I glare at the comments, feeling so mad that my short legs push me forward, landing me right in front of the ignored female lead. I tug at her sleeve. "Missy, can you make stew?" The female lead freezes up. "I… I can." My eyes light up with joy. "That's it then! That's exactly what I love. I'll go with you!"

I watch as he gently places the gun on the table. Seconds tick by a heavy silence filling the room. He takes a stand and makes his way to me. He takes a stance behind my chair and places his firm arms on my armchair, caging me. I bask in his scent and warmth. "You choose now Lana, here and now." He whispers into my ear. His traces my knuckles before grabbing my notebook out of my hands, and tossing it on the table. "I wasn't done with that." I say. He laughs, I feel his chest rumble as he laughs. I turn to face him, feeling my breaths shorten with each passing second. "Eyes on the prize, Lana." He turns my head back towards the table. "You choose the notebook you can go back to living your life in fear and delusion, then one day end up dead in a dumpster or," He brushes a strand of hair from my face, " You could pick up the gun and hunt your past which shall it be Lana?" I feel beads of sweat on my back and my anxiety prickling through my skin. I have to choose, here and now. I extend my hand and pick my choice.

“Tell me, Isabella…do you still taste me on your tongue?” Damien’s whisper is fire against her neck, his fingers tracing the curve of her hip through silk, pulling her flush against the hard proof of how much he’s never stopped wanting her. She came to L.A. for a quiet Christmas. Instead, the billionaire who once claimed her body in one reckless night, and vanished, steals her off the street. Damien Voss thinks she’s his rival’s daughter. Locks her in his penthouse. Plans to use her. But her eyes, her scent, the way she trembles under his touch… It's her. The woman he’s craved for a year. She escapes. Starts over in another country. Finds calm, safety… even gets engaged to Jace Salvador. However, that peace is short-lived when Damien finds her and tears her away from Jace. Carries her back to his bed, his rules, his hunger. She doesn’t remember Damien as the man from the scorching one night stand years ago. To her, he’s just the man who makes her pulse race and her walls crumble. Until the truth crashes in, and the memories of that night return to haunt her. Betrayals burn. A murder trial looms. And Isabella holds the power to save him…or destroy him. She swore she’d never forgive the man from that night. But Damien’s touch makes her forget everything but yes. Damien’s Willing Captive; where Stockholm becomes sanctuary, and the only escape is deeper into his fire.