Solo Player

He was supposed to be a stranger. A bruised, scarred, filthy-mouthed stranger who pinned me against a bathroom wall and made me forget the boy who broke my heart 20 minutes earlier. I walked away first without his name or number, and I didn't look back. Then I found out my mom was engaged. To his dad. Rhys Maddox. Number seventeen. 6'3" of tattoos, bruised knuckles, and the kind of jaw that makes good girls do stupid things. The most dangerous player to ever step on our ice. My one-night stand. My new stepbrother. He doesn't follow rules - he breaks them. On the ice. In my bed. Against every surface in our parents' house while they eat twenty feet away. He calls me "sis" just to watch me squirm. He watches me like he already owns me. And the worst part? He does. Publicly, we're fake dating - a deal to keep my ex-bestfriend away. Privately, we're a stepbrother and stepsister who can't keep our clothes on the second we're alone. It's our biggest secret. Now the boy who I once considered my best friend suddenly wants me back. And the stepbrother who wasn't supposed to mean anything won't let me go. One wants to protect me. One wants to destroy me. And I can't tell which is which anymore. --- For readers 18+ who like their men possessive, their romances FORBIDDEN, and their chapters dripping with filthy, unapologetic spice.

La noche en que la banda rival de mi familia irrumpió en el baile de la mafia, me tomaron como moneda de cambio. Mi novio, Nolan, y mi mejor amigo, Riven, estaban a solo unos pasos de distancia. Sin embargo, prefirieron proteger a mi prima, Anna, en mi lugar. Horas después, un hombre misterioso me rescató; estaba llena de moretones, conmocionada y ya todos me habían olvidado. Nadie preguntó qué me habían hecho. —Anna estaba asustada —se limitó a decir Nolan—. Ella nos necesitaba más. Días después, Anna me invitó a su fiesta de cumpleaños. Fui por cortesía, solo para ver cómo me convertía en la villana de su historia. Nolan y Riven se quedaron a su lado, protegiéndola una vez más. Esa noche acepté la alianza matrimonial que mi familia había preparado años atrás. Cuando me fui de la ciudad, Nolan me envió un mensaje; estaba enojado, herido y ofendido. “¿En serio te vas?” Le respondí con una sola frase: “Eres más que bienvenido a mi boda”.

For so long, Favilla has wanted only one thing: to kill her Sire. However, on the eve of her success, she learns that she was only ever a chess piece in a game being played out by the most powerful vampires in the city. Her loved ones have betrayed her, and the one who was her greatest enemy wants to save her with his dying breath. She dies for her mistakes, but the goddess is merciful. She is granted a second chance. Only, why is nothing the way she remembers it? Will she become a player this time around, or will she remain a pawn? Most importantly, can she make him understand that she loves him back? * Favilla (f., n., 1st dec.) - glowing ash, cinder, ember Dies iræ, dies illa, / Solvet sæclum in favilla * 'Everything is ready, then?' he says, a little sad. I feel bad about it. 'It's not too late to back out, you know. He doesn't suspect anything yet.' 'No,' he says, 'I'll still do it. I'll kill him. For you, my love.' * 'I'm scared,' I say. 'Don't be,' he says. 'You won't have to do anything but stand aside and watch.' * His arms are around me, and he's murmuring to me, 'Oh, you stupid, stupid girl.' Only, it doesn't sound like him at all. It sounds cold, detached. Cruel. * Finally, the pieces start snapping into place—he's betrayed me.

Book Two of Cruel Intentions Series. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but for better comprehension of the characters, it is recommended to be read after Betrayed the Mafia. Theodore is the second in command of the Irish mob in New York. He is known as a player, use and toss. Theo hates relationships seeing them as useless. Theodore is funny and lighthearted around his friends, but when dealing with business, he is ruthless and heartless. His cold heart always prevails. Theodore is manipulative and a great liar. Theodore is chosen to help forge an alliance between the Irish and the Americans. He needs to marry the daughter of the boss. He takes his job and position seriously and accepts his fate. He doesn’t believe in love anyway, so that nothing will change for him. He will just have to wear a ring and play house. What happens when she is the girl he has avoided for years, the girl he feels the need to protect? He sees her as a weakness. He condones how she lives her life, but the day he allows himself to get close to her, everything changes, and his addiction to her becomes impossible to resist. Theodore is everything Everly has always dreamed of as an online romance novel writer, and she is inexperienced and sassy. The only way she has experienced love is through her books. She lives almost in captivity because of who she is, and Her purity will be negotiable. But once Theodore pops her cherry, he can’t stay away, involving her in a thread of lies and manipulations that she could only imagine as a plot of one of her books.

“Andreas… you’re young. I don’t want to hurt you,” Mia breathed. He chuckled darkly. “Hurt me? I think I’m the one with power here,” he murmured, smirking. “You flew across the world just because I asked.” Her pulse raced as he pinned her to the desk, his fingers sliding beneath her skirt, brushing her damp panties, and his lips grazing her ear. “So…for two weeks, you do exactly what I say. No arguments.” “Yes…” she whispered. “Yes, what?” “Yes… Sir.” “Good girl,” he whispered. “On your knees. Now.” .......... Mia, a 34-year-old, recently divorced musical superstar and single mother, finds herself in an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Andreas Leonardo, the scandalous and hottest soccer player on the planet. Despite their instant attraction, their 10-year age gap and Mia's troubled past make her hesitant. Defying all odds, they ignite a forbidden romance. The media frenzy threatens to destroy Mia's reputation and career. Things get more complicated when Mia's ex-husband, Lucas, blackmails her with compromising photos of her past. Also, Andreas's cheating ex-fiancée, Tania, returned and is desperate to secure a wealthy future for her ailing son. But when Lucas is found dead, Mia becomes the prime suspect, and Andreas risks everything to clear her name. As they navigate their perilous quest for truth, they must also rescue Mia's daughter, who's been kidnapped. Will Mia and Andreas overcome their past mistakes and find love and redemption, or will their rumors tear them apart?

With flights suspended at airports, Berat tries to escape by car from the harsh Turkish winter and the pain of having lost his wife, traveling with their two children: Ferhat, four years old, and Volkan, two, to Georgia. Unexpectedly, a rock slides across the road, causing it to overturn and leaving Berat and the children trapped by their seat belts. Efé, who was returning from a family wedding, next to his wife and also their six-month-old twin children, did not think twice before parking the vehicle on the side of the road and saving that man and his children. After saving Berat and the boys from death, a strong friendship begins between them, making both sign a Marriage Contract between their children Ferhat and Luna. Twenty-one years pass, Ferhat and Volkan study and graduate in the USA and when they return to Turkey they start working at their father's Automobile Company. Volkan became a famous basketball player, but abandoned his career to be his father's right-hand man in business. His brother Ferhat despite being the eldest son, is nothing more than a seductive bohemian, who will steal the heart of Rabia, the daughter of his father's partner. The beautiful Luna will grow up knowing that one day she will have to marry a man she has never seen, but destiny will cross her paths with Volkan in a charity basketball match, in favor of the homeless of the earthquake, making a beautiful story of love start for them. Never having been touched by a man, Luna will be kissed by Volkan, who will fall madly in love with her. Upon discovering that Luna is his brother's betrothed, Volkan will despair and will do the impossible for the Marriage Contract to be undone and for him to marry in her place.

En el primer día de mi renacimiento, entré directamente en la habitación de Don Raffaele Caruso y empecé a quitarme la ropa. En mi vida anterior, tuve un matrimonio de conveniencia con su hijo, Matteo Caruso, pero no había amor entre nosotros. Ambos éramos conocidos en el círculo mafioso de Liberty City. Matteo creía que yo era la razón por la que perdió a su primer amor. Pensaba que había entrado deliberadamente en su habitación la noche en que lo drogaron con un afrodisíaco, atrapándolo así en un matrimonio. Por lo tanto, durante ocho años después de nuestra boda, él se emborrachó cada noche y se negó a volver a casa. Incluso cuando entré en trabajo de parto obstruido y estuve al borde de la muerte, nunca preguntó por mí ni una sola vez. Entonces, llegó el huracán. Una tormenta ciclónica se tragó Liberty City. El puerto se derrumbó bajo las olas y solo quedaba un asiento restante en el barco de evacuación. Todos pensaron que Matteo se lo quedaría. En cambio, me empujó con fuerza hacia el barco. —¡Vete! Te doy mi oportunidad de vivir, Chiara. Si hay otra vida, no vuelvas a intentar salvarme. Solo quiero estar con Lucía. Al instante siguiente, su cuerpo fue arrastrado al mar tan negro como la boca del lobo. Yo sobreviví, solo para ser asesinada a machetazos por una familia rival. Lo que Matteo nunca supo fue que no fue el único drogado esa noche. Su padre también lo fue. Así que, esta vez, entré en la habitación justo cuando los efectos del afrodisíaco empezaban a surtir efecto. Raffaele se estaba obligando a soportarlo, con su control al límite. Me acerqué y le dije en voz baja: —Déjeme ser su antídoto, Don Caruso.

La discípula de mi esposo, Camila, alardeaba de su técnica de desactivar bombas con los ojos cerrados, guiándose solo por la intuición. El resultado fue un error de juicio que activó el sistema de detonación de respaldo de la bomba. Yo tuve que intervenir de emergencia, usando el peligrosísimo método de condensación con nitrógeno líquido para salvar todo el edificio. A Camila la apartaron de la primera línea y, además, la suspendieron. Mi esposo, Sergio, quiso hablar en su defensa, pero yo me interpuse resueltamente: —Si la defiendes ahora, no la salvarás y te hundirá con ella. Hasta a ti te suspenderán. Abrumada por la presión, Camila terminó con su vida provocando una explosión. En una carta que dejó, acusaba a Sergio: “En el momento que más necesitaba de él, él prefirió lavarse las manos.” Sergio no dijo nada. Solo guardó esa carta como un tesoro en su estudio. Años después, Sergio ya era un experto en desactivación de bombas, famoso en todo el país. Durante un ataque terrorista, unos secuestradores me colocaron una bomba de tiempo. Él acudió en persona a desactivarla, pero frente a mí, repitió el mismo error fatal de su discípula. Mirando la cuenta atrás, me dijo con una sonrisa burlona: «Mira, solo estaba nerviosa aquella vez. ¡Si la hubiera apoyado entonces, ahora ella sería la heroína!». La bomba estalló. Quedé hecha añicos. Al abrir los ojos otra vez, había vuelto a aquel momento en que él intentaba defender a su discípula. Lo que él no sabía era que en ese edificio se albergaba un servidor crítico con los secretos nacionales de máximo nivel.

“You're more exciting than I expected” Alex whispered behind me, his voice sending hot shivers down my spine and I gulped down on my saliva. “W - W - What do you want from me” I stammered while asking him the question, he laughed out before turning me to face him. “I want you, all of you. You will be my new toy” He said, staring deep into my eyes and I could feel my heart beating fast. He did something that I could never forget in my lifetime, something that would make me the target of every girl present in the school. He took a few steps away from me before drawing the attention of everyone present in the cafeteria. “Announcement everyone, starting from today, Katherine is my girl. No one is allowed to go near her or harm her, if you have a problem with that come face me” with that he walked out of the cafeteria left me alone to face the glaring eyes of the ladies. Katherine Thrones is a good girl, has good grades, and is amazing at everything she does, living her life as quietly as possible until one day, she bumps into the shoulder of Alexander Walter, the bad boy, the player, and the troubles maker of the school. The captain of the football team. What happens when Alexander decided to focus his attention on the quiet geek girl Katherine and make her his play toy. Will Katherine fall victim to his trap or will the table be turned around?

Aurora “Rorie” Montgomery never expected to wake up married to a billionaire, but when she impulsively takes the place of an heiress forced into an arranged marriage, she finds herself trapped in a world of power, contracts, and ruthless business deals. Nathan Westfield, CEO and notorious workaholic, agreed to marry for convenience—not love. His only conditions? His wife must be discreet, loyal, and provide a future heir. Rorie has secrets. Nathan has rules. And neither of them expected to actually want this marriage to work. From the moment she steps into Nathan’s world, Rorie challenges him at every turn. She’s nothing like the obedient wife he anticipated, and she refuses to be a silent player in his life. But when Nathan discovers her true identity, instead of walking away, he protects her—publicly and mercilessly shutting down anyone who dares to question her place at his side. As past betrayals resurface and enemies threaten to unravel their carefully crafted arrangement, Rorie realizes the greatest danger isn’t losing her secret—it’s losing her heart. Because somewhere between the heated arguments, the stolen glances, and the moments where Nathan looks at her like she’s his entire world, she starts to wonder… What happens when a marriage built on lies starts to feel real? Perfect for fans of slow-burn romance, enemies-to-lovers tension, and billionaire love stories with high stakes and sizzling chemistry, The Last Minute Bride is a tale of deception, power, and a love that refuses to be just another deal.