Michael Connelly The Crossing

Giorgo Romero, the Don of the Romero family, gets ambushed by a suicidal madman who has bombs strapped to him. When that happens, my husband, Fabio Lopez, and his troops have already gone to a fashion show with his childhood sweetheart, Reina Digiorno, so that they can protect her there. Instead of pressing the signal button on my ring, I launch myself at Giorgo despite being heavily pregnant. Just like that, I'm able to protect him from the explosion with my body. In my previous life, I had pressed the button. Fabio had ditched Reina in favor of hurrying back to the scene to save Giorgo's life. Because of his contribution, he gets elevated to the position of Underboss. But Reina got mad at Fabio for leaving her in advance, resulting in her crossing the highway out of pure spite. That was how she got hit by a car and died. While Fabio didn't say anything, he chose to send me to an underground auction house on the day I went into labor. "The Don had so many soldati protecting him! Why did you force me to come back in the first place? Isn't it because you just want the glory of being the Underboss's wife? "If it wasn't for you, Reina wouldn't have died! You must go through a thousand times the suffering she did!" I could only watch as the guests bid for my organs one by one. Not even my newborn's umbilical cord could be spared from the auction. In the end, I died from an infection that had occurred while my organs were being removed. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Giorgo gets ambushed.

Sabrina Auburn never dreamed that her humble life as a housemaid would thrust her into the glittering yet icy world of the elite Thompsons. Between the shadows, she secretly admired Benedict Thompson-the amazing, arrogant Billionaire and CEO of BMX Estates. For him, she harbored a secret crush-to him. But one stormy night changed everything. Benedict forced himself on Sabrina, igniting a scandal that shook both families to their very foundations. Sabrina was left humiliated and trapped in an arranged marriage orchestrated by Benedict’s mother, all to shield their family’s reputation. "How can I marry her? I don't even love her and I will never love her. You know my type, Mom." From that moment on, Sabrina became the target of Benedict's contempt.He refused to love her, hurled insults her way but Sabrina endured his bitterness and her unreturned love. Then came a staggering twist: a betrayal that threatened to dismantle the Thompson family’s empire, revealing Sabrina’s true lineage and a fortune that would forever alter the balance of power. Years later,Sabrina emerges stronger, fiercer, and wealthier than ever as the CEO of her global luxury bag empire, Sabrina Ultra. No longer the naïve girl once cast aside. But when Benedict finds himself confronting the destruction of his own empire, crossing paths with her once more, he is stunned by what he has lost: the woman he could never claim, the son he would never know existed. As Benedict fights for his last chance at regaining Sabrina's heart, Will she forgive the man who has broken her heart, or is it too late for a second chance? Is Sabrina really going to let Benedict know that he has a son named Saben, or is she keeping it locked away in her heart forever?

When Wakely transfers to a new university, she has one goal: keep her head down, finish her final credits, and get out. The plan is simple: stay invisible, avoid drama, and leave behind her abusive past. But the moment she steps onto campus, she has no idea what is about to happen to her. She quickly crosses paths with Cora, a bold, orange-haired wild card who takes Wakely under her wing. Cora introduces her to the unspoken hierarchy that rules the school, warning her about the campus “gods”: the Walker brothers. Sinfully attractive, effortlessly powerful, and notoriously cruel, the Walkers are known as much for their charm as for their dangerous pranks. Students either worship them or fear them. Wakely? She wants nothing to do with them. But Waylon Walker, the darkest of the three, has other plans. Unlike the others, Wakely doesn’t care about his reputation. She doesn’t flirt. She doesn’t chase. And she certainly doesn’t fall for arrogant boys with too much control. That only makes her more fascinating to him. What begins as curiosity spirals into obsession. Waylon watches her, follows her, learns everything he can—and slowly starts crossing lines no one’s ever dared to before. As their worlds collide, Wakely finds herself drawn into a twisted game of desire, secrets, and violence. Her carefully buried past begins to unravel when she discovers that her abusive father holds a far darker secret. A secret that she was unaware of, that could change her life forever. Now, with the weight of betrayal, obsession, and legacy pressing down on them, Wakely must decide whether to run from the danger or face it head-on, with Waylon at her side. And some secrets are never meant to be uncovered.

Blurb: She was his brother's wife. Now she's his obsession. Scarlet Cole endured six years of a loveless marriage, watching her light dim as her husband Lucas and his family crushed her spirit. When she discovers Lucas's affair with her own stepsister, pregnant with his child, Scarlet finally walks away. But freedom comes at a price. Enter Damian Cole: ruthless, dangerous, and harboring a decade-long obsession with his brother's wife. He's watched her suffer in silence, memorized every flinch, every forced smile. Now that she's free, he'll stop at nothing to claim her, even if it means crossing every moral line. "This is wrong," I whispered, even as heat pooled low in my belly. "You're Lucas's brother." "He stopped being my brother the day he made you cry." "Damian..." "Six years, Scarlet." His thumb brushed my lower lip, and I trembled. "Six years of wanting something I couldn't have. Of watching you slowly disappear. Of hating myself for wanting you when you belonged to someone else." I feel my heart tug, "I don't belong to anyone." "You do now." His eyes darkened, possessive and raw. I should protest. I should remind him of the boundaries we'd agreed on. Instead, I breathed, "Then take what's yours... I want you to claim me as yours," I said and in the next second he smashed his lips on mine, his hand going straight to cup my crotch. "oh...fu-fuck" "This damn p*ssy," hr growled as he grind the palm of his hand into my clothed cunt. "belongs to me. Only me." ""Ye-yes. Just you."

My eyes linger on her mouth, and the desperate urge to kiss away the pain she is going through begins to twist deep inside me. "Dane… " I watch her enticing lips whisper my name quietly, like a plea for me to fucking say or do something. Not able to deny the urge any longer, I lean down, pressing my mouth to hers in a passionate kiss that instantly erupts pleasurable sparks inside me. Goddess…. the taste and softness of her lips against mine is fucking more than exquisite. Always more than exquisite. The instant she fully parts her lips and begins to kiss me back, I lose all control. This is everything I have ever wanted, but everything I know I should not fucking want. ☆☆☆☆☆ Tempting fate can be a cruel game, and Dane knows better than to fall for Cara, his bestfriend's little sister who is likely going to be mated to another. What they currently share is an addictive, 'no strings attached relationship', but Dane is beginning to lose control, and he knows the only way out is to break things off between them. So, under the moonlight night sky, he ends his 'no strings attached' relationship with Cara, ignoring her true love confession to him. Haunted with shame, fear, guilt and brokenheartedness, he flees his pack, leaving behind a broken soul to pick up the pieces he painfully shattered. However, no one can run away from fate forever. When duty calls, Dane is plunged back to his pack, crossing paths again with the one girl who still owns every bit of his heart. With the shadows of an evil omen hovering over their pack, Dane and Cara must set their conflicts aside to protect the people they love, or they risk losing everything they hold dear.

She could sacrifice everything just to save her mom from death who suddenly had been diagnosed with leukaemia. The only way to do so was to ask her unimaginably wealthy grandad for help. And Victor only waited for such an occasion. He promised to give her all his fortune so that she could pay for the treatment of his own daughter, but there was one condition - Bianca must marry a complete stranger. So there she is, standing in front of ten fabulously handsome men and having just one night to make a final decision. But she doesn’t realize one thing - all of them are werewolves. There is also something more that takes her by surprise - her second nature. Apart from being a nice loving girl, in her veins floats someone else - a Crow Woman. And that is supposed to be her curse. Victor believes that his granddaughter is the key to absolute power - her future child, conceived with a werewolf, could become something exceptional - a CROWOLF. And that would mean dominance over all other species. But not everything goes according to Victor's plan. Bianca finds herself in mortal danger, discovers the dark side of her nature and hates being a beast. What's more her heart is split between two werewolves, Samuel and Michael, who desire her like any other woman in their lives before. It looks like the collision of their worlds brings painful consequences for all of them and the question remains: Will Bianca accept herself as a Crow Woman? Who is she going to fall in love with? Will she be able to save her mom? And the last one - will the legend about the Crowolf prove to be true?

Ian Tost was the prince of the notorious underworld. Everyone in Harbor City knew he spoiled me rotten. He even went so far as to hire ninety-nine female bodyguards to keep me from harm. It did not prevent a kidnapping attempt on me. One of those bodyguards, Cece Yates, ended up with nothing more than a scratch. Ian immediately brought in the nation’s top medical specialists to treat her. To comfort her, he even took her to the Maldives for a vacation and gifted her an island. Not long after they returned from their trip, Beatrix Kazinsky, my mother, suddenly suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Then, Michael Kazinsky, my younger brother, died in an accident during a competition. I burst into the morgue while in tears, only to overhear Ian comforting Cece. “All right now, it was my fault you got hurt last time. I’ve made Mira’s family pay for it. You’ve got too much grace to hold a grudge against her.” With my nails digging into my palms, I finally realized everything that had happened to my family was Ian’s doing. It was all just because his precious bodyguard got hurt because of me! I stumbled out of the hospital with my brother’s death certificate in a daze. On my phone, messages from that person kept coming. It added up to ninety-nine share transfer agreements, along with his promise. [As long as you want me, my arms will always be open for you.]

A year ago, my life was simple. I was just Ariel Anthony…a regular college student, cheerleader with decent grades, daughter of a struggling baker, and recently appointed step-sister to a guy I barely knew. Nothing special. Then came the storm. Not just the thunderstorm that trapped me in Professor Grayson's apartment that night, but the storm that followed. The one that's still raging around me, that I created. They don't warn you about men like Luther Grayson in freshman orientation. They don't tell you how a single glance from the right person can make you question everything you thought you knew about yourself. About what you want. About what you'd risk to get it. They also don't warn you about guys like Ethan Cross, with his perfect smile hiding something dark. The kind of guy who's used to getting what he wants and doesn't understand the meaning of the word "no." And no one, absolutely no one…prepares you for what it feels like when the person who's supposed to be your brother looks at you with something else in his eyes. Mom once said I had a gift for making complicated situations worse. If she only knew. My phone buzzed beside me, and I glanced down to see Luther's name on the screen. My heart still jumps every time, even when I'm aware of what could happen if people learned about the two of us. I should ignore it. I should block his number, focus on my classes, help Mom with the bakery, and pretend none of this ever happened. But I'm already reaching for the phone. That's the thing about crossing lines… once you step over them, it's almost impossible to step back. And I've crossed so many lines now, I can't even see where I started.

My sister-in-law, Maeve Cohen, floored my luxury car and blew past traffic at about 125 mph, killing a family of three. She pretended to be me and acted as if nothing could touch her. "Those idiots walked into my path! It's not my fault they got hit!" she snapped. "I'm the Lincoln Enterprise heiress. Even if I ran, who would dare catch me?" In my last life, Maeve said her husband wasn't home and she needed a car to visit her parents, so she borrowed mine. She ended up racing down the road, plowing into a family crossing the street, and driving back over them to make sure they were dead. The couple had just bought a house. The baby was only a month old. When the victims' family demanded an explanation, she hid behind my reputation and spat venom. "They're just three worthless people! I'm the Lincoln Enterprise heiress; why should I explain myself? Tell them to come to me for funeral expenses!" The grieving family couldn't take it and came to my in-laws' place. "Three worthless people, huh? Today, we'll end you so you can apologize to them in person!" My husband had died the year before. With no one to protect me, the victims' family turned on me, and I was stabbed to death. The valuable wedding gifts my family had given to me became Maeve's overnight. My family tried to appeal for me, but trolls who hated the rich maliciously reported tax problems about my father's company. My father was driven to exhaustion. One night, he fell asleep at the wheel, and the car plunged off a cliff, killing him. Only after I died did I discover it had all been Maeve's plan to ruin us out of spite. Then I opened my eyes. I was back on the day Maeve took my car and ran into those people.

He is a 10 but he is a decade older than me, my brother’s best friend, a therapist who wants to counsel me and... he likes to hurt little girls like me. “What were you doing this morning?” “I was meditating.” He is right. I am a terrible liar. Aiden raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?” He waited for my answer, crossing his arms over his chest. I got distracted by the way his biceps bulged. He noticed me staring. I glanced down at my lap, twiddling my thumbs. “Y-yes, Doctor Aiden, I was meditating and I-I focused on my breath like you taught me—” “Why are you lying to me, Ivy?” My head snapped at him. “I-I am not lying.” Aiden tilted his head and my throat went dry when he said, “Then why did I hear your voice moaning my name when you orgasmed with your fingers inside you?" He is her first love. She is his best friend's little sister. Will a chance reunion lead to true love? I was a good girl. An honor student. A dutiful daughter, sister and a sweet girlfriend to my boyfriend until I found him in my best friend’s bed. I didn’t want goody-two-shoe nice boys who gave me empty promises. What I wanted was a man who wouldn’t hurt me. When I found my brother’s best friend, Aiden Stone, with only a towel around his hot Greek body dripping wet from a shower, I decided that what I wanted, what I had been wanting for years, was him. The only problem? He is a decade older than me, my brother’s best friend, a therapist who wants to counsel me and... he likes to hurt little girls like me.