Lingering Antonym

“Fuck me, Dante.” He was my uncle. Not by blood, but by name, by family, by everything that should’ve kept me safe from him. Instead, it made me his obsession. Dante Martinez—consigliere of the Italian mafia, the man who could dismantle empires with a single glance. One family dinner. One lingering gaze across the table. One move into his penthouse that became my undoing. He warned me not to test him. I ignored him. He promised he’d break me if I kept pushing. I pushed harder. Now I know what it means when a monster decides to love you—when his control snaps and you’re dragged into the darkness he rules. He says I’m his ruin. But Dante was never my salvation. He was always the sin I was born to crave.

I know I shouldn’t want him. Or them. There’s my best friend’s father, whose low, velvety voice makes my pulse stutter whenever he speaks. My stepbrother, whose accidental touches make my skin burn with unspoken tension. And my sister’s mate, whose cold, lingering gaze betrays a hunger I shouldn’t see. Every glance, every brush of skin, drags me deeper into temptation. Every heartbeat reminds me that wanting them is dangerous, forbidden… and maybe reckless. I’m caught between loyalty, morality, and desire, and every moment I give in only makes the fire stronger. Some lines aren’t meant to be crossed. Some fires are impossible to resist. And I’m learning the hard way… forbidden has never felt this good.

Nichole’s perfect life crumbles when she discovers her husband, Blake Williams Hamilton, is having an affair with his childhood sweetheart. Her heartbreak turns into a nightmare when she’s falsely accused of poisoning his mistress and forced to sign divorce papers while locked away. Betrayed and humiliated, Nichole realizes she’s been living a lie. Just as she hits rock bottom, her ex-fiancé, Adrain Gonzalez, steps in to save her from the clutches of Blake. Now Nichole must step in as the heiress to Valmont Empires, Orion Heights’ most powerful conglomerate. Determined to rise from the ashes, Nichole embraces the opportunity, stepping into a world of power, deception, and second chances. But as she works to rebuild her life and seek revenge, she must also confront the lingering question: Can she truly trust Adrian, or is his help just another trap?

She was born into power He was hired to protect her But falling in love could get them both killed. After Isabella Morretti, heiress and ruthless Mafia leader takes over from her father, she's drawn into the dangerous world of drugs, threats and lies. When her life is being threatened on different occasions with encrypted letters, she lets her guard down and decides to get a bodyguard, jovial, yet extremely serious, quiet with lingering secrets of his own and little by little her carefully controlled world begins to unravel. Justin Warren, was meant to watch her, not crave her, not want her and definitely not fall for her. But with enemies within her household, old flings, debts surfacing and lies unraveling they both must decide where their loyalty stands, either with their blood soaked families or, the devotion growing between them behind the shadows. In a world of lies, threats, power and betrayal, love may be the most dangerous weapon afterall.

She promised to loathe him. He never meant to hold her. The heart was never addressed in their contract. Elena Vega has to marry the guy who broke her family's inheritance in order to save it. Julian Thorne is a millionaire who is cold and calculating. His proposition is straightforward but cruel: one year of perfect, public marriage in exchange for her family's safety. There are no feelings and no true closeness; it's all a show for the cameras. She enters his world of chilly luxury, holding on to her wrath as her only protection. But the line between their fake love and real, dizzying tension starts to blur. A lingering touch, a kiss stolen in the dark, and whispered secrets in the dark—none of these things were in the tiny print. The most dangerous thing for them right now isn't that their lie will be found out; it's the horrible, unmistakable truth: they are falling for the one person they were told to stay away from. A marriage based on hate. A love built on secrets.

Riviera Mendes, an 18-year-old high school senior. Who can only be described as an All-American girl from California, who loves to skate, surf and go on some wild adventure, never expected her mother to root her up from the life she knows and loves. She still can't believe what her mother had told her two nights ago. She didn't even break the news to her gently. All her mother said was. "I'm a werewolf and so are you.'' After moving to her new home in the gated community of Havendale, she noticed that something was off. There was a certain evil lingering in the air, and with it came strange occurrences. It is up to Riviera to reveal her true nature of being the true Alpha, while working with the pack's Alpha (her mate) to stop the looming treath before it gets worst. But can these two put aside their pride aside and actually work together?

Monica's life was turned upside down when her stepfather sold her out to Alpha Baxter, the ruthless Alpha king of the rouge wolves. But she has no option but to follow her fate as she hoped that things would get well soon in her life. Still, when she was pregnant, she saw herself trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who only saw her as nothing and she was determined to start a new life on her own and protect her unborn baby from Baxter's cruel grasp. Despite everything that had happened between them, fate decided to make them meet once again and Monica couldn't deny the lingering feelings she had for Baxter and the way he would always hold her tight. But could she trust him again after all he had done? And would he be willing to put aside his thirst for power and fame to love her and their child?

Everyone calls him the perfect husband. Successful. Devoted. The kind of man who remembers anniversaries brings flowers “just because,” and makes the world believe love can still be pure. He smiles the way heroes do. He listens the way good men should. He protects his wife like she’s his entire universe. But perfection is a story he tells so beautifully… No one ever questions who wrote it.When whispers start slipping through the cracks, it becomes harder to ignore the truth lingering beneath his polished surface.What if he’s the most dangerous lie of all? "It's not revenge ,it's the circle of life..." Get ready to dive into a thrilling world of suspense, love, and danger in The Perfect Husband. warning ⚠️ This is not a healthy love story. It deals with manipulation, control, and mind games that blur the line between devotion and danger. If stories about psychological abuse are triggering, this book may not be for you.

Winter, 2025. Seattle is shrouded in the cold mist of its endless rainy season. For the sake of a single recommendation letter to Stanford, Catherine Hale—a destitute but proud art student—knocks on the doors of the Highlands Manor to return a restored Song Dynasty porcelain. She intends to leave as quickly as she came, but instead stumbles into the world of William Sterling, the young, enigmatic patriarch of an old and powerful family. Cold, noble, and unfathomable, William draws her into a game of testing and maneuvering that plays out in the cracks between social class and self-esteem. From their first meeting on a rainy night to a silent rescue amidst the vanity fair of high society, Catherine fights to escape a glittering vortex she doesn't belong to, only to find herself falling step by step into William's gentle trap, lingering with the scent of cold cedar. In this rain-soaked city, a forbidden attraction blooms across the divide, unaware that fate has already secretly marked the price of its gifts.

Scarlett never wanted this. A quiet life as a writer was all she dreamed of, but fate had other plans. When Liam DeLuca, a ruthless mafia leader, storms into her life, demanding the truth about a child she doesn’t remember, her world is turned upside down. His accusation is both chilling and impossible: that she drugged him, seduced him, and bore his child before vanishing. Scarlett doesn’t remember any of it. But Liam wouldn't take no for an answer. Liam isn’t just searching for answers; he’s playing a game of obsession and control. And Scarlett is the unwilling pawn. Caught between Liam's obsession and her lingering feelings for her first love—who no longer recognizes her— Scarlett realizes one thing: the truth might destroy her, but the lies will cost her everything. Can she fight her way out, or has she already lost everything?