Quackity Las Nevadas の小説・ストーリー

I was once the most respected female intelligence officer in the underworld. I controlled black market trade, port lockdowns, and risk assessments for every smuggling route. These were the basics every new recruit learned on their first day in the Mafia. But my intel was never reliable. As time went by, everyone caught on. In this city, whether the ports were locked down or open for business didn't depend on intel. It depended on whether Vincenzo's childhood friend was in a bad mood. I had just sent an order over the family's secure channel: "Level-one lockdown. All shipping routes are closed." A moment later, the ports were thrown wide open. My rival mocked me in front of everyone. "Isabella's supposed to be the queen of underworld intelligence, isn't she? What happened, did she lose her touch?" Other family members twisted the knife without a second thought. "Her husband changes the rules at a word from his precious Amelia. Who's going to listen to her anymore?" "She's on the hook for any losses from this. That route reopening is going to bankrupt her!" I clutched a stack of formal censures from the family. I said nothing. It didn't matter. I was done being a pawn in their games. Soon, I would be gone for good.

At the label showcase, Lily Monroe pointed at the second microphone beside Adrian Vale and asked, "Is this where Mira usually sings with you?" The room went quiet. That mic had been mine for seven years. From dive bars with sticky floors to sold-out theaters, I had stood to Adrian's left for every acoustic closer. I wrote the lyrics, arranged the harmonies, booked the early gigs, and talked club owners into paying us when Adrian was too proud to ask. Everyone in the band knew that final song was ours. Adrian had once promised me that when we sold out our first arena, we would sing it together before he announced our engagement. But Lily only tilted her head and smiled, all nervous charm and pretty innocence. "Can I try her part?" Adrian looked at me for half a second. Then he handed her the spare in-ear monitor. "Go ahead." The rehearsal room went silent in the way people go silent when they know they have just watched someone get replaced. Lily stepped up to my microphone. Adrian leaned close to adjust the stand for her height, his hand lingering at her waist as he showed her where to come in on the chorus. The band looked anywhere but at me. That was the moment I realized Adrian Vale and I were over.

This is the ninth year Dante and I have honored the Month of No Masters. The Corinni family's heir apparent believes this will make our relationship last longer. For one month after our dating anniversary each year, he is free, and we stay out of each other's lives. If either of us finds someone more suitable, we are to wish them well. If not, we go back to the way things were after a month. Around me, the men of the family are spraying champagne with abandon. "To another year of freedom! Congratulations to our Underboss on reclaiming his bachelor status!" "The family betting pool is open! Place your bets on the left if you think they'll still get married, and on the right if you think it's over for good!" Through the hazy cigar smoke, I sat on the corner of a leather sofa, a cold observer, as if this whole farce had nothing to do with me. Dante's hand was curled around Scarlett's waist as he brushed past me, whispering, "Don't get any ideas. You'll always be my only Donna." "I'm a kite. No matter how far I fly, the string is always in your hand." I pressed my cold fingers against the gentle swell of my belly, my expression a blank mask. Dante, this time at the family's betting table, I'm putting my money on "the end." I'm going to vanish from your world completely. That kite string you're so proud of? Tonight, I'm cutting it myself.

Loree Koester got hurt over and over by her dream guy—Harvey Geake—while I dragged her up from nothing to a damn fortune. Ten years later, she stood at my proposal, eyes full of tears, and said yes. Then she ditched our wedding ninety-eight times. Every time, same excuse—Harvey threatening to kill himself. On the ninety-ninth, she didn't even hesitate. Left our friends, our family—hell, left her ring on the floor. "Rowan, just wait a little longer. Two hours. I'll deal with Harvey and come right back." I'd already waited ten years. I wasn't waiting two more hours.

To save the man she truly loved, the princess locked me in our room and cut out my heart's blood. The last time she drew blood from me, I finally reached the end of my strength and died. But without a shred of pity, she drove the knife into my chest again. "Alec, just bear it a little longer. Stephen's illness came on so suddenly. I need you to give one more bit of your heart's blood." She thought I would struggle in pain. Instead, I lay motionless on the bed and let her take what she wanted. She finally froze, then softened her voice and said, "I'm glad you've come to your senses. I'll make it up to you some other day." But she didn't know there would be no other day. Because I was already dead. What lay before her now was nothing more than a ghost without pain or feeling. In seven more days, I would disappear completely.

What is the price of a mistake? Alexis had his whole life planned out, becoming the strongest leader of his entire pack and having a beautiful omega fiancée, he had everything any could dream of. Alexis was perfect in the eyes of his subjects, the most respected alpha king. But all is not what it seems, and in the past, Alexis was an incorrigible , who made many unforgivable mistakes. In a society where the alphas are the best and the omegas are the weakest, Alexis played with the wrong omega, breaking his heart and hurting an innocent. But now after several years of that terrible incident, Alexis meets again with Luka, that omega to whom he hurt so much in the past, and who now threatens to tell a terrible truth that could ruin Alexis' whole life. And it will no longer be the alpha king Alexis who will manage that game of , now it will be the weak omega Luka who will play with the king who so long ago broke his heart and destroyed his life forever. *** Novel BxB/BL/Yaoi and Omegaverse.

Humanity reaches its untimely demise after the discovery of shifters. The war between those who became wolves and those born raged for three centuries. Jaykob Tyler and his pack know that they can't lead what remains of the world. Not with the way they grew up. Dagmar Tyler has the perfect life. As perfect as it can get when the world is at war with itself. It wasn't always perfect. She'd seen things little girls should never have to see, but her brother and his friends had always looked after her and ensured she always had everything she needed. Coming of age, born Alpha Female comes with complications. The probability of a mate, a wolf spirit, and the responsibility of those who can't fend for themselves. It terrifies her—all of it. The last thing she thought of was finding her mate only to come face to face with Miles and Micca. Her childhood friends and Jayk's enforcers who have been watching over her for years. Keeping her out of trouble and making sure she did everything that was expected of her. The pack has plans for her, plans that offer a happily ever after she never wanted.

The day I found out I was dying, I ran into my ex-husband—yeah, the richest guy in the country—and his three-months-pregnant wife. He asked if I regretted leaving him when he got sick. I just asked for twenty grand. He told me I didn't deserve to live. What he never knew? Back then, when he was fighting leukemia, the only bone marrow match he had... was me.

Gabe Hunter, CEO of one of the biggest Advertisement agents in the US, a family run business. He is , rich and arrogant. The kind of man most women swoon over, but Aubrey Winters isn't most women. She disliked him the moment they met, and she doesn't care that he is the CEO of where she works. He isn't her biggest fan either because she isn't like other women. She is fiesty, confident and independent. Gabe is used to people doing as they tell him, something it isn't so easy when it comes to Aubrey. But what does it matter, right? They don't see each other often, and that is how she likes it, so when Gabe decided to take the lead on a new project, a project that Aubrey has been chosen to work on, she soon finds herself spending more time with him than she would like. Aubrey soon finds herself clashing with the CEO. Will their time together make them dislike each other more, or will the time they have to spend together change things? Is their hatred for each other honest or masking something else, something stronger...

Mom was a world-class micro-expression expert. She always said no lie got past her. To replay every emotional moment of Maya and me, she packed our house with HD security cameras. When Maya scraped her knee and burst into tears, Mom called it real pain. But when stomach cramps twisted my face, she pointed at the monitor and picked me apart. "The mouth twitch. The darting eyes. Classic attention-seeking." That day, I'd accidentally eaten something I was deadly allergic to. My throat swelled shut. I could barely breathe. Panicking, I clawed at my neck and crawled to her feet, begging for help. Mom adjusted her glasses, flipped open her notebook, and calmly wrote everything down. "Rapid breathing. Bluish skin. Sophie Schneider, your acting's gotten better again. Too bad your micro-expressions gave you away." To punish me for lying to her, she shut off the house's panic button, locked the front door, and took Maya to a concert. "If you love putting on a show so much, keep performing for the cameras. We'll see how long it takes before you admit you were wrong." I curled up on the cold tile, shaking in pain, and looked at the camera's blinking red light. My vision faded. Mom, you spent your whole life reading people. But you never understood your own daughter.