Synonym Quietly

Claire nodded, then groaned as he withdrew his finger from her pulsing, aching sex. She heard him walk down the hallway, heard him open the drawer in the bedside table, heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper, heard him approach her again. And that whole time, she stayed where she was: legs trembling and open, hands clenched into fists on the wall, heart pounding and pussy fluttering. Suddenly, he was on her, his cock nudging her from behind, his hands on her hips. Claire whimpered again, pushed back against him. **** John “Griff” Griffin lives by rules. Always has. From the Navy to the SEALs to his job as a bodyguard at Solid Security, control is survival. Protocol saves lives. Boundaries exist for a reason, especially during honeypot ops. Break the rules, and people get hurt. Griff knows that better than anyone. The problem is Claire Worthington. Claire is supposed to be a spoiled socialite hiding after a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. A criminal. A mark. Instead, she’s living quietly in Denver: working, rebuilding, and starting over like she actually means it. She doesn’t look guilty. She looks… real. When Griff breaks every rule and falls for her, it feels like freedom. It’s also a lie. He’s hiding his name, his job, and the truth – that he was sent to get close and gather evidence. If Claire knew, would she forgive him? Should she? And if she really is guilty, will Griff turn her in… or protect the woman he loves, no matter the cost?

In order to protect me, Don Salvatore deliberately announces that my fiance, Simone Pozzi, is his long-lost son. Simone shakes with excitement when he sees the man in a bespoke suit stepping out of the Rolls-Royce that is parked outside my house. Just as I'm about to tell him it's all a lie, he shoves me aside. He even brushes his sleeves in disgust, as if he has touched something filthy. Simone says, "Stay away from me. Don't let your poverty rub off on me! Since I'm the Don's son, we'll call off our engagement. An illegitimate bastard like you isn't even fit to wipe my shoes!" When I try to explain, he cuts me off by writing out a check and flinging it hard into my face. The sharp edge of the paper slices across my cheek. "Take this one million dollars as our breakup fee and don't bother me again. We're no longer from the same world," Simone says. I watch the check flutter down into the mud and quietly turn off my phone screen. On the screen is a message Papa—Don Salvatore—has just sent me, "Just bear with it a little longer, Principessa. Papa will bring you home soon to take over the famiglia." Simone is so determined to cut himself off completely. He might have the luck to claim a fortune that big, but not the life to enjoy it.

Nobody wants a rejected Omega—or so she has always been told. Cast aside by her fated mate, mocked by her pack, and scarred by betrayal, she hides behind her work as the healer, quietly mending others while her own heart bleeds. She never asked for destiny, never sought power. But fate is merciless. When the Alpha King claims her, everything changes. Ruthless, feared, and untouchable, he binds her to him in a bond that is both salvation and curse. To belong to him means safety, but also danger beyond imagination, for enemies hunger for her downfall. Her greatest wound comes from betrayal—her dearest friend stealing her scent and deceiving the Alpha into believing she is his fated mate. Stripped of her bond and dignity, cast aside once more, she suffers in chains and darkness. But pain shapes her into something new. She refuses to break. The world calls her weak, unworthy, Omega. Yet buried within her is a gift tied to the moon itself, a power that could save or doom the realm. Every trial tempers her spirit, molding her into a Luna no one can ignore. But love and power come with a price. The Alpha King’s devotion is possessive, consuming, and inescapable. To stand by him means surrendering everything—her freedom, her past, even her heart. With war brewing and enemies rising, her destiny demands a choice: remain the broken girl once rejected, or rise as the Blessed Luna, feared and revered by all.

I was Claire Vitale, the lost daughter they forgot, the bride my lover betrayed—and the dying girl they failed to notice. For five long years, I lived like a stranger in my own home. The Vitale mansion was a beautiful prison, where every kind word hid a lie, every promise was false, and even Lawrence, the man I was supposed to marry, cared more for Vanessa than for me. None of them saw how my body weakened each day, how the pain grew sharper. They were too busy watching their precious Vanessa. Vanessa—the perfect adopted daughter, was the girl my parents loved more than me. She came into our family when I was lost, and when I returned, I found my place already taken—by her. Just as the illness was quietly taking my future. Now she was gone, and they all pointed fingers at me, convinced I was behind her disappearance. The machine they strapped to my head would pull memories straight from my mind. "Where is she?" my father roared. My mother sobbed in the corner. Lawrence, my fiancé, stood silent—his accusing eyes louder than any shout. But I knew the truth would shock them—how Vanessa hurt me, how she faked accidents, how she made sure no one ever believed me. The machine would show them everything. As the machine began its work, I trembled—from fear and exhaustion. After all these years of being unheard, would they finally see?

I've been pregnant for six months, but my Alpha mate, William, has delayed our mating ceremony 29 times. He's waiting for his adopted sister, Rita, to find a mate so they can have a "two-couple mating ceremony." The 30th time I altered the waist of my beloved mating ceremony dress, the bridal shop assistant looked embarrassed, "Miss, this dress really can't be widened anymore. How about you choose another one?" Disappointment rose in my throat like bile. I called William, asking when the ceremony would finally happen. But William said: "I will give you an unforgettable mating ceremony, but Rita's mate hasn't been matched yet. Darling, can you wait a little longer? We shouldn't ruin her whole life over such a small thing, right? I know you'll understand. You're always so kind." My heart clenched suddenly. So, my dream mating ceremony is just a small thing. Rita's sweet, high-pitched voice chimed in: "Brother, my mating ceremony dress matches yours so perfectly!" That was the moment I realized I was never the one being chosen. I looked down at my round pregnant belly, tears slipping quietly from the corners of my eyes. Then, with a trembling hand, I dialed the number that had always been waiting for me. "I'm ready to leave." After the call ended, the clerk cautiously asked: "Would you like to choose another one?" "No. Just cancel it, please." I took one last glance at the dress that would never belong to me. If this ceremony was never for me, then I won't stay for it.

A mafia romance trilogy about dangerous men who love harder than they kill and the women bold enough to love them back. Three ruthless men, born in blood and bred to destroy, are about to meet the women who bring them to their knees or make them burn the world trying to keep control. Book One: The Don's Obsession After her family betrays the New York Outfit, she's taken hostage by a man who wants revenge more than air. He's cold, brutal, and beautiful. And he thinks breaking her will fix what her family destroyed. But what starts as punishment quickly turns into something far more dangerous because some women aren’t built to shatter quietly… and some hearts fall in the most unexpected cages. Book Two: Her Favorite Enemy They were raised to hate each other but when they’re forced into a fake alliance, hatred isn’t the only thing that burns. He wants to ruin her. She wants to make him bleed. Too bad they can’t keep their hands or their lies to themselves. Book Three: Marked by the Monster She witnessed something she shouldn’t have. Now she’s in the middle of a bloody turf war and the only thing standing between her and a bullet is the mafia’s deadliest enforcer sent to kill her. He’s cold, lethal, and doesn’t believe in feelings. But the more she runs, the closer he gets. And when she finally falls into his hands, there’s only one rule left: She lives or dies as his. Three savage men. Three sinful love stories. One underworld that doesn’t play fair.

By the third year of my marriage to Daniel Hawthorne, the war had already taken more than it ever returned, and this time it took his younger brother, Thomas Hawthorne. My sister-in-law, Eleanor, collapsed, and in the weeks that followed she tried to follow her husband into death— once with sleeping pills, once by the river beyond the officers’ quarters— only to be dragged back both times, each time clinging to me afterward as though I were the last thing keeping her grounded. I stayed with her, wiped her tears, and whispered that Thomas would want her to live, until the day she received the test results confirming she was three months pregnant, and the grief of losing her husband was slowly softened by the arrival of new life. I smiled too, believing grief had finally loosened its grip. That night, holding my own pregnancy test in my hand and thinking it was finally time to tell Daniel, I passed the study and heard his friend say quietly, “She’s carrying your child. You convinced the doctors to adjust the timeline so everyone would believe the baby belonged to your brother. Aren’t you afraid Margaret will find out?” Daniel didn’t hesitate. “She won’t,” he said calmly. “She loves me. She wouldn’t leave. I won’t let her know.” I didn’t step inside. I didn’t confront him. Instead, I opened the letter I had received weeks earlier— an official deployment order from the international medical corps, assigning me to a frontline war zone— and tapped Accept.

After sixty-six months of waiting,on the day of our Mating Ceremony, my fated mate, Alpha Asher, rejected me. He held his first love, Cora, in his arms, his gaze on me cold and cruel. "Cora is already carrying my pup," he said, his voice void of any warmth. "I am rejecting you. Once the pup is born and its place in the pack is secure, we can still be mates." He added, a cruel smirk on his face, "Besides, being my mate is the greatest honor an Omega like you could ever hope for." Everyone expected me to endure the humiliation, to wait quietly for Asher to come back and finally accept me. But that very night, I followed the Moon Goddess's guidance and left for good. Five years later, I returned to my old home. My mate Ronan called away on urgent business. So he had no choice but to arrange for a local Alpha to greet me. I never expected it would be him: my ex-mate, Alpha Asher. Exhausted from the long journey and weary from my pregnancy, I was met with mockery. With Cora on his arm, he sneered at my plain clothes, telling me I was nothing without him. "Seeing as you've hit rock bottom and look like some pathetic rogue, I suppose we can be generous enough to take you in. Our pup could use a healer." I just laughed coldly and refused. He has no idea — I’m now the Luna Queen to the Alpha King. His entire pack existed only at my mercy.

Seven years I spent with Jason Shaw, but I never got a ring. Rather, all I received was an invitation to another person's wedding. That day, as a wedding planner, I was at the rehearsal, making last-minute adjustments. Looking up, I saw the man whom I waited every day to reply to my messages, walking down the aisle, arm in arm with another bride. "Her boyfriend had something urgent come up, so I'm filling in for him," he said, standing straight, his tone light, a small smile on his lips. But his eyes couldn't hide the hurt, like a child who lost his favorite toy. As if that wasn't enough, he told me to hand over my wedding plan. He patted me on the shoulder, saying sincerely, "There's no rush for us. We've got plenty of time. I promise I'll give you an even better wedding. Just help me out this time. It's not like I'm not going to marry you." He didn't know that I had revised the wedding plan hundreds of times, even counted and recounted the bouquets seven times. To me, it wasn't mere work—it was a dream I held for five long years. I didn't argue anymore, just quietly stepped aside. Later, I lay alone in a hospital bed, listening to the rain tapping against the window from outside. I counted each drop as the hours slipped through my fingers. Perhaps those who worked so hard to create happiness for others had lost the right to their own happiness.

Tullah Richard, a young woman, left her family to be with Saul, her beloved boyfriend who, unfortunately, turned out to be a drunkard and abusive. Despite enduring his violent behavior, she remained committed to him. However, as time passed, the relationship took a darker turn. Despite the challenges, Tullah, determined to break free from Saul's toxicity, found herself facing a complicated situation when she discovered she was pregnant. Now torn between her desire to leave and the responsibility of impending motherhood, Tullah must navigate a difficult choice. Will she choose to leave despite the pregnancy, or will the impending arrival of their child tie her to Saul? If she decides to break free, will Saul ever find a way to reconnect with Tullah? The story unfolds with questions about whether Tullah can forge a new and happier life without Saul. --- "Saul, please let go of me!" she whispered, her plea audible in the tense air. "Never," Saul's fury was palpable, evident with just a glance at him. "I can't continue this way. I need to leave your life. Please, let go of me," she pleaded, attempting to free herself from Saul's grip. "You are stuck with me, Tullah. All of you is mine," he forcefully pushed her into the basement room, locked the door, and left. Tullah, no longer able to cry, lay quietly on the cold floor. This wasn't the first time she found herself confined, but she was determined it would be the last. Wiping away her tears, she wished for the morning to arrive swiftly, bringing with it the promise of a new beginning for her and her unborn child. ***** Diva_Unsual. nnenneuche84@gmail.com.