Synonym For Strangers

By day, Don Pope is the untouchable king of Cross City’s financial empire. By night, he is something far darker—an infamous mafia don whose enemies vanish before dawn. Ethan Cole never intended to cross paths with a monster like him. One quiet night drive across the city turns into a nightmare when Ethan is kidnapped by masked men and thrown into an underground cage beneath the most luxurious mansion in Cross City—Don Pope’s estate. When the Don himself descends to inspect the prisoners his men captured, something unexpected happens. The moment Don Pope looks into Ethan’s eyes, he stops walking. He was supposed to pass the cage. Instead, he orders the others released… except for Ethan. What begins as cruel possession soon spirals into something neither of them expected. Don becomes obsessed with the fiery captive who refuses to bow to him. Ethan swears he would rather die than submit to the ruthless mafia lord. But obsession is a dangerous thing. What starts with violence slowly becomes dependence. Hatred becomes something far more complicated. And in a city built on betrayal, blood, and power, the line between captor and lover begins to blur. As war erupts between rival mafia families and secrets about Ethan’s past begin to surface, Don Pope must choose between his empire and the one man who refuses to belong to him. Because some loves are not meant to exist, but some destinies are written in the blood.

Erin cole had it all, money, power, a penthouse in the sky. But one bad decision turned his world into a nightmare. Now he’s broke, hunted by loan sharks, and desperate to survive. When a strange job poster promises two million for a nanny position, Erin thinks it’s a scam. Instead, it leads him straight to Michele Galetto the most feared mafia boss in the city. Cold, dangerous, and untouchable, Michele is a man everyone fears. But to his young son, he is simply a father in need of help. Erin should run. He should stay far away from this world of guns, blood, and secrets. Yet he stay s. Because he needs the money. Because he needs to breathe. But the longer he stays, the more dangerous it becomes. Not from the mafia. Not from Michele’s enemies. But from the feelings growing between him and the man he should fear most.

Ashton Johnson is a formidable presence, a person who refuses to be controlled. With a strong will, unwavering resilience, and complete accountability, this twenty-two-year-old billionaire alpha male navigates his extraordinary life with ease. Every day brings a flurry of adoring fans, transforming a simple lunch into a chaotic spectacle. By afternoon, his face is plastered all over the internet, capturing the attention of millions. From the moment he was born, Ashton's life was destined for fame and recognition, thanks to his prominent family. He is the epitome of American royalty, carrying the weight of his lineage on his shoulders. However, his world takes an unexpected turn when he is assigned a new bodyguard, someone who will be with him around the clock. This is when Ashton comes face-to-face with his worst fear: being paired with a tattooed, MMA-trained professional who is notorious for disregarding rules within the security team. As if that weren't complicated enough, this bodyguard also happens to fulfill one-third of Ashton's deepest desires. Lennox Burke, twenty-seven years old, has a singular duty: to protect Ashton Johnson at all costs. Anything beyond the realm of strict professionalism, such as flirting, dating, or engaging in intimate encounters, is strictly forbidden and could lead to Lennox's termination. However, when unexpected emotions begin to surface, the task of safeguarding this stubbornly alluring celebrity becomes increasingly complex for Lennox. As their paths intertwine, the boundaries that separate them start to blur, and the consequences of their growing connection could be catastrophic for both of them. The risk of exposure looms large, threatening to upend their lives in unimaginable ways.

Dylan Walker is one of New York city's richest businessmen. He has the reputation of being a ruthless businessman, and as hot as he is so is he arrogant, proud, and a full-time Casanova but not heartless though... His whole business carrier is at stake and the only thing that can save it is something he doesn't see himself doing. Getting married... Dylan turns to Lorraine, who isn't the regular woman he'll go for, she's beautiful and feisty with a voice men call 1-900 numbers to hear. Dylan offers her ten million dollars for a one-year contract. And there's nothing indecent about this proposal. The money will help with her family's bills. All Lorraine will need to do is keep her attraction to her new husband to herself and avoid his bed. But Dylan's toe-curling kisses and sexy charm prove too difficult for Lorraine to resist. It was a marriage contract that planned for everything...except falling in love.

In the fifth year of my marriage to Jordan West, he cheats on me with a blind woman. She's young, pretty, and demure. Jordan scours the best hospitals in the country to treat her eyes. In the end, he fixes his gaze on me and tells me he wants me to donate my corneas to her. "They're just a pair of eyes, Hazel. Please help her. Can you really stand by and watch as she withers away?"

My wife, Christine Leigh, forced me to the brink of death all for her first love, Henry Carson. To give him a liver transplant, she sent me to the surgery table. I told her I had cancer and that the doctors had advised against the surgery. She just looked at me with an undisguised contempt, "Jason Lowe, stop with your petty tricks. Don't forget, you owe our family your life!" I lowered my head and smiled bitterly. I never left the surgery table.

“I'm not just the vampire king of tales, Ellie. I'm a talented artist.” Vanchure said with every stroke he made on the canvas with his paintbrush. “So you can either be the one posing on my couch, behind the canvas, or be the one whose blood I will use in replacement for paints.” In a mystical world named Shirlon, there was a division of two powerful mythical creatures, two great kingdoms, with two great rulers. Speaking of which were the Black Pack, the werewolves, and the Thorx Coven, the vampire with the respect of law and order. These two kingdoms had a ball of symbiosis where they worked hand in hand to maintain their stable world. The werewolves were considered as the soldiers, the ones left to do the tough and dirty jobs within both kingdoms. While the soldiers had the day and night to themselves, the vampire blossomed in the dark. The vampires were also known as Royalties. They've been known to have ancient riches, making them superior to the soldiers. In these two kingdoms, they had their kings. Eamonn, Alpha of Black Pack, and Vanchure, king of Thorx Coven. They had maintained the order of peace and had always set their boundaries between each other until Ellie came along. Ellie was born of the soldiers, just a commoner that the Alpha of her Pack proclaimed as a mate. Ellie was set on a path to rescue her missing sister from the hands of the vampire king, Vanchure. But on her first encounter with that handsome devil, her whole life takes a different turn.

When sweet and shy Ava Banks meets mysterious Tobias Aetós, she was swept off her feet. Literally. She had no idea he'd turn out to be the infamous Reaper who plagued the streets. Just a whisper of the name Reaper would make a grown man tremble. Tobby had lived his whole life as an assassin and he never questioned his life's choices... Not until a ray of sunshine in the shape of Ava, waltzed into his life. Through the ups and downs, the killings and the torture, the crime and the thrill...has Tobias gone past redemption? Or will Ava be just what he needs to make him whole again?

I just closed a deal worth 50 million. The room did its job, so I went to the reception to check out, and I got myself a bottle of water worth 2 dollars. That very same day, I got an email from the company accusing me of misusing company funds. They canceled three months' worth of KPI from my records and fined me 5,000 dollars. I ignored that, thinking that it was a mistake some new guy in finance made. When I went to work the next day, my access card was denied. It was canceled. I couldn't even get into the building. Furious, I called my CEO fiance, but his secretary took the call instead. "How many times do I have to tell you to follow the rules when it comes to money? Did you tell finance about that bottle of water? No? Then that's against the rules! Everyone else follows the rules, so why can't you? You're a veteran!" The CEO chimed in, "Christina, you're a veteran of the company. You must be an example. You're not allowed back to work until you finish your 8000-word reflection and read it out loud at the all-employee meeting!" They tossed the phone aside, and a moment later, moans of delight and passion traveled through the air. Stone-faced, I hung up and called our competitor's CEO. "I've got a 50-million-dollar deal and a sales manager who just got fired for you. Are you taking that deal?"

"What is your biggest fear?" a friend casually asked as the tip of the bottle stopped at my direction. I smiled bitterly as I threw my head back, "Be forgotten..." I paused for a while bago lumingon sa kinaroroonan nang dating asawa. "By the man I love the most." It is so easy to create memories but the moment a person decided to forget about it, everything will be useless. And that's what I fear the most.