The Elevator By William Sleator Novels & Stories

I thought my life was already a disaster— In my father's eyes, only my perfect sister mattered. I was always the forgotten second daughter. My sole comfort was my upcoming wedding to the man I loved. Until the night before my wedding, when everything changed. "You're going to take your sister's place and marry the most dangerous mafia don in New York." I had to pretend to be my sister and fool a man who could end my life without hesitation. Most importantly, a car accident two years ago had left him blind and wheelchair-bound. He couldn't even make love, yet he demanded I bear him an heir. However, when I'm straddling his powerful thighs, when he takes me night after night and fills me so completely that I'm left trembling and breathless... my legs give out beneath me. I'm the one who's truly powerless. The disability and blindness were all part of his elaborate deception. When my sister returned, filled with regret and determined to expose my identity and reclaim him, I thought I would lose my life for deceiving the mafia don. "You thought you could deceive the devil himself? You've been mine since that first night." His fingers find places that make me arch and beg. His mouth claims every inch of my skin. His touch fills me so completely I forget my own name.

On the eve of her engagement, Jade Moretti thought the worst thing she would face was cold feet. She was wrong. When she walks into her fiancé’s penthouse, she finds him in bed with her step-sister. Humiliated and desperate, Jade runs to the only man who should protect her—her father. But he chooses business over blood. With her name dragged through scandal and her future destroyed overnight, Jade is forced into a world where power is the only currency that matters. That is where she meets Killian Montclair. Cold. Strategic. Untouchable. Killian doesn’t believe in love. He believes in control. And he offers Jade a deal that could save her… and ruin her. A contract marriage. No feelings. No attachment. No mistakes. But when Jade becomes a part of Killian’s life, she discovers he isn’t only fighting business rivals—he’s fighting ghosts, a ruthless ex, and a custody battle that could destroy everything he built. And the more Jade plays the role of wife… the more real it starts to feel. In a marriage built on lies and contracts, Jade must decide: Will she remain bound by an agreement… or risk her heart for a man who was never meant to love?

Lisa Knox The day I caught my husband and my sister having sex on the bed while my son had drowned in the pool was the day I made my decision and stood by it. Nothing was going to make me stay in this five years marriage. So, I took the divorce papers, signed it and left everything behind. Including the wealth and company I Inherited from my late dad. I had handed everything in my life over to him when I was blinded by love. Now, I vowed as I stepped out to get back everything until my sister and my ex husband are reduced to nothing. * Andrew McCarthy The day before my wedding, I had caught my first love and wife-to-be getting fucked by my PA in the study room. I had said nothing and simply went out to drink, completely hopeless for love. There I met her, a beautiful young lady whom I could use for the night. The sex had been good but that was about it. I cancelled the wedding when I got a call to come back home and take up the responsibility of a father, to adopt my niece because my twin brother had just been murdered. Five years later, everything is in chaos and I need a woman who is experienced in raising children who will stay. So when I met that lady from the one night stand again, I made up my mind to have her for myself. She would be my wife and would raise my daughter, no matter what.

" sometimes the strongest hearts carry the heaviest scars." Two years after losing her parents, 21-year-old Jane is left raising her two little brothers on her own. Abandoned by her oldee sister and juggling two exhausting jobs, Jane barely has time to breathe_let alone chase her long-forgotten dream of studying law. Every day is a battle to survive: Working long hours, skipping meals, some strange dreams, and hiding her tears behind a fake smile. But even when she breaks down in the middle of the street or collapses from exhaustion, she always gets back up- for Elhoïme and Mathias, the only family she has left. Just when she thinks no one sees her pain, Brian, a kind coworker and a long time friend, start offering small gestures of help- cofee, silence, time, understanding. She pushes him away at first, afraid of needing anyone. But his quiet presence slowly starts to feel like hope. Can Jane allow herself to lean on someone else for once, without losing her strenght- or her heart?

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My name is Violet. I was the consigliere to the Leon mafia family in New York, and I wrote the rules of this city’s underworld myself. Yet, the man I had kept by my side for ten years, Drake Leon, was now trampling all over them. Ten years was more than enough time for a stray dog to grow into a wolf that can stand on its own. A decade ago, he was hacked to pieces by enemies on the streets of Brooklyn. Covered in blood, he crawled to me like a dying dog. I took him in. I put a gun in his hand. I taught him the rules of the mafia. Step by step, using my position as the Leon mafia family’s consigliere, I groomed him to become the boss of the Manhattan port district. Ten years later, he controlled the most valuable port under the Leon family for me, and for another woman, he framed her in standing grace. When that girl named Lina showed up pregnant, wearing the blue diamond necklace my mother left me, and sat in the seat that was supposed to be mine, I didn’t lose my temper. Instead, I had someone take the pathology report from the hospital, along with the child, seal them in a gift box, and deliver them to Drake’s new estate. Half an hour later, the study door was kicked open. He stormed in, drenched in night rain, carrying the scent of gunpowder. The barrel of his gun pressed straight against my forehead. “Violet.” He stared at me, his eyes bloodshot. “You touch her child, and I’ll make sure you’re buried with her.” I stayed seated by the fireplace. I didn’t move. I simply pushed a document to the center of the table. “Don’t rush into madness.” I looked up at him and continued, “As of fifteen minutes ago, I’ve frozen three warehouses under your name, two shipping routes, and seven offshore accounts.” Only then did his expression finally change. I smiled faintly, my voice soft. “Drake, you seem to have forgotten something. The reason for your accomplishments today isn’t because you know how to pull a trigger. It’s because I allowed you to live.”

"Now tell me, young lady, who wants you dead?" Nicholas asked as he stared intently at me. His words froze me in place. My eyes widened, and my heart raced uncontrollably in my chest. I looked at him, my eyes diverting to the blood trickling from his shoulder where he was hit by a bullet while trying to save me. "I... I don't know," I stammered, still bewildered by the events that had unfolded. Laura Dickson had endured an abusive relationship at the hands of her boyfriend Santos, to whom she felt indebted for assisting her in settling some debts. Eventually, she reaches the conclusion that she can no longer tolerate the relationship and flees, disregarding Santos' threats of ending her life should she ever leave him. At a charity ball event, she encounters Nicholas, a strikingly handsome and powerful billionaire, the head of Brandson mafia family, who saves her from a serial killer intent on shooting her. Nicholas takes it upon himself to provide her with protection at his covert hideout until the serial killer is captured. What will unfold when they discover that the serial killer was actually closer to them than they had presumed and was in fact not who they thought it was? How will Laura react when she uncovers a grave secret that will profoundly shake her foundations? And what will occur as Laura falls In love with Nicholas, a billionaire mafioso who only sees women as objects of sexual desires? Discover the answers within the gripping pages of the thrilling novel, "Bound by Passion."

His family was like Messiah in her life. Everything in her life she achieved was because of them. Otherwise how a maid's daughter can study in the best college in New York? She was returning to Italy with a heart filled with respect and gratefulness only if she knew what awaited her. Leonardo Rossi was a terror in the Italian business world. Any deal he wants he would achieve it. But only one thing that his heart wanted to achieve. A sweet innocent girl Isabella Beth. This was forbidden in many ways. But when did he care? Her Innocence was the thing he wanted to possess.

**This book contains a trigger warning. Mention about rape and torture in this book. Please read with caution** "Our marriage is nothing but a deal," he said looking at the girl, her green eyes met his cold silver eye, and both of them glared at each other. "For any rules you break, I will claim any part of your body," his gaze grew dangerously darker at his word. ************* Ashley Harlow was at the top of the world, living the perfect and luxurious lifestyle as the legitimate daughter of the well-known Daniel Harlow. But sadly, a one-night stand put an end to that and brought her life upside down and that of her family's name to the ground. To restore his family's reputation, she was forced into marrying Damien Albrecht, a young, ruthless, obnoxious, brutal billionaire and the head of a mafia gang in exchange for her father's company.

Isn't it amazing for you and your childhood best friend to attend college together? That's what Emma and Mila thought, not knowing that college days held a lot for them. What they had in mind was nothing like what they faced in reality. Mila has always been the extrovert, wise and reliable one while Emma was the introvert and naïve one. Despite their differences, the two girls had a strong friendship and an amazing bond that many people wished for. When Emma starts hanging out with her new group of friends at college, her friendship with Mila will go downhill and no matter what Mila does, Emma won't listen to her best friend. Things will get worse between the two girls and their friendship will get tested in many ways. Will their friendship be strong enough after all the things they will go through to make them hold onto each other?