Startled Meaning

BOUGHT! BOUND! OWNED! Kyomi King is the first born child in her family, meaning she has to scrape and fend for herself and her brother, now that her parents are gone. Her life is not all sunshine and rainbows because not only were they orphaned when they were young, but they live in a country without legal papers, making the two siblings always on the receiving end of bad things. She slaves for his only family to put bread on the table and keep the roof over their heads, enduring endless sexual assault from her boss and the customers. But it is her life, and she has learned not to thirst for things that are out of reach. Until one day when her very own flesh and blood walks in followed by a bunch of mobsters, then brazenly sells her to them without much of hesitation. Betrayed, she finds herself trapped in a world of darkness, only to discover her inner strength and blossoms into an unstoppable force. All with the help of the man who owned her. Vincenzo Russo.

Blurb;    Reena Walters was possibly the worst spy to have ever existed. Recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the stronghold of a dangerous man, Reena decided that seduction was the way to go. Dressed in the ridiculous yet most alluring way possible, Reena Walters succeeded in infiltrating the dungeon like mansion for the biggest and most exclusive ball of the year. Armed with her glittery mask that helped her blend in with several others, Reena finally got her hands on a Thorne brother and did what she knew how to do best, seduction, and charmed the secrets out of him by winning a game of wits. Unknowingly to her that the dominant and ridiculously attractive silver eyed man beneath her was none other than the younger Thorne rumored to be crazy and volatile, and worse, he was playing a game with her, a game she was not aware of. Charming the secret codes and location out of him, Reena continued on her mission, shaking off the nagging feeling that it had all been too easy. Finally getting her hands on the highly sought after flash drive, Reena could not resist the urge to blow an obnoxious kiss to the face of the startled yet crazy eyes that stared at her in the dark. And that split second was all it took for a dangerous obsession to take root and grow in the mind of the older Thorne. Caught like a bird between two dangerous men, Reena must place all her stakes in one game by recklessly choosing the one she deemed lesser of the two evils, but what she did not know yet, and what she would soon learn was that hell was not hot at all, it was freezing cold, and yet burned hotter and brighter than an inferno.

After being forced to marry a man she didn’t know to save her father’s business, Cassandra thought her life would change. But it didn’t. The marriage was married on paper that meaning nothing. After she married, she was still allowed to continue living as she wished. A year after her marriage, Cassie applied for a job at a big company that brought many changes to her life. That was when she discovered that her boss was a cold-blooded mafia who killed with his bare hands—the worst man she had ever met. Their first encounter happened when she accidentally walked into her boss’s room and caught him having sex with a woman. And to her shock, her boss turned out to be her husband—the man who hadn’t shown up on their wedding day. *** “Cassandra Ainsley Floyd?” Chris repeated the name, then looked up to see the woman standing in front of his desk. “Yes, Sir." “Are you married?” The question slipped freely from his lips as he waited for an answer. “No, Sir. I’m not married.” Her answer broke the silence between them. “Alright, you’re hired, Miss Floyd. Starting tomorrow, you’ll work as my secretary. Come in tomorrow morning, and my personal assistant will show you what you need to do.” As soon as Cassandra walked out of his office, Chris called his trusted person impatiently. “Yes, Christ?” “Do you still have my wife’s information? I’ve forgotten her name, but as long I remember, her last name is Floyd, isn’t she? I think she just applied for a job at my company without knowing I’m her husband. Interestingly, it seems she has a special relationship with my cousin.”

My whole body began to quiver as I looked up at Ryan who wore a smug or was it? I couldn't tell as my vision was blurred with tears. "What is the meaning of this?" I questioned still in disbelief. Where had it all gone wrong??!. "It's exactly what it says in the paper, Ciara" "And what is that?" I stubbornly inquired. It was as if I didn't want to believe what the paper read until Ryan says it. A part of me still wanted to fight for whatever we still had left. But then he'd said it. Ryan had uttered those words I so desperately dreaded," I want a divorce, Ciara" *** Ciara is the heiress to her father's company but she left all of that to be in a contract marriage with Ryan. It was supposed to be a 'no-strings-attached' kind of feeling but, she couldn't help but fall in love with him. Just when she wanted to start a clean slate on their first anniversary, she was handed a divorce paper. Ryan is a billionaire and a man with a hardened heart. He never saw Ciara as something more than just a 'fake wife' who was willing to help him out with a case. Deciding that he had had enough, Ryan hands Ciara a divorce paper setting himself free from her. But on his way to the office of the new investor of his company one day, he is overcomed by a welling shock that the name of his new investor was Ciara. The same Ciara he'd once known. What happens when this two duo meets for the first time since their rough divorce? Find out!