Too Hard To Catch

I was eighteen when I left Italy for Chicago. My brother Leo handed me over to his most powerful ally for “protection.” Don Damien Volkov. His eyes locked on me the first time we met. They never looked away. By day, I was his private doctor. By night, I was the only thing in his bed. His seduction was a slow, deliberate hunt. The way his body brushed against mine during an exam. A stray kiss that landed behind my ear. The weight of his hand resting on the small of my back. I fell fast and hard for his dark charm. I gave myself to him, letting him claim me, again and again. For four years, our affair was a secret hidden in the shadows. In that time, he sculpted my body, teaching it to crave his touch, molding me into his perfect obsession. Then she came back. Isabella, his exiled ex-fiancée. He sent his private jet for her. I swallowed my pride and crashed his reunion. An hour ago, his hands, still smelling of blood, gripped my chin. He forced his kiss on me. But now, right in front of me, he was stroking another woman's hair. "Elara, you're the one who climbed into my bed four years ago." "You act like a whore, but you expect me to treat you like a Donna?" The way he looked at Isabella was so tender. The way he looked at me was pure scorn. Shame burned through me. Head down, I sent my brother a coded text. Accept the Moretti proposal. I looked up. A smile bloomed on my face. "Fine. Then this is goodbye, Damien."

Seven years into her marriage, Maria was diagnosed with brain cancer. For her husband Richard and son Jonathan, she bet on a 50-50 percent chance of survival. Enter Eleanor, her husband's old flame and one true love. It was then that Maria realized the painful truth: her marriage to Richard was nothing but a scam. When Eleanor appeared, everything changed. Richard made her his secretary at work, while his best friend addressed her as Mrs. Shaw—a title that should belong to Maria. Even Jonathan came to believe that Eleanor would make a better mother. Maria gave up entirely. In a final act of despair, she severed all ties with Richard and Jonathan before vanishing into thin air. When Richard and Jonathan finally saw Maria's cancer diagnosis, they were filled with regret. They traced her overseas and groveled at her feet, begging for her forgiveness just so she would look their way—but she didn't spare them a glance. Who needs a heartless husband and an ungrateful son?

“I love you always and forever.” Carl whispered in my ears, making my face flush red but seeing his mother's glare from behind him, the blush faded. Georgia Timbers stood as an obstacle to our union, she stood against our relationship and did all she could to ruin us. “You'll never be good enough for my son!” She cursed at me occasionally. She always reminded me that I'd never live peacefully as long as I remained in Carl's life. “Will you marry me?” Carl proposed to me—The only dream I wished to come true for years but thinking back to the warnings from his mother, I wondered if our love was worth risking my life for. Staying with him would kill me gradually with every day that passed by. Leaving him would leave me broken until we meet again. This was a tough decision but I made my choice. And the consequences of my choice changed my life in a way that I would have never imagined!

On New Year's Eve, my boyfriend, Leon Parker, proposed to Charlotte Rain in front of all our relatives.  I didn’t cry or make a scene. All I wanted was an explanation for the years of love I had invested in him. Then, I overheard a conversation he had with his brother. “You’ve been together with Annabelle for so many years. Have you never had any feelings for her?” “Feelings? What are you talking about? I only kept her around to entertain myself and kill some time.” “Aren't you worried she’ll leave you?” “That’s impossible! We’ve been together for five whole years. She’s so used to being with me that she could never leave me even if she wanted to.” After that, I had a whirlwind marriage with a blind date my family matched me with, and our wedding just so happened to be on the same day as his. Before his wedding, he was on edge, worried I’d show up to make a scene. That was when he saw the wedding invitation I posted online.

Five years after we broke up, my ex-fiancé Bruce, yes the mafia one, suddenly called me out of the blue to announce our wedding date. I was speechless. Shocked, I blurted out, "Wait… didn't we break up five years ago?" He replied with his usual arrogance, "Break up? I never agreed to that. You left in a fit of anger. "And let me guess. You came back to the country only because you heard I was getting married. Out of jealousy, hoping to reclaim our engagement?" He even had the nerve to tell me to be magnanimous and accept Bella, the so-called 'perfect girl' who had spent the last five years by his side. I let out an icy laugh and hung up immediately. I had long been married to the most powerful Don of the strongest mafia family and had two adorable sons to show for it. Honestly, I had no idea what Bruce was thinking. Now, who even cares about him?

Tatlong taon. Three years of hell. Ganoon katagal tiniis ni Maria ang isang loveless marriage sa piling ni Javier Elizalde. Sa mata ng cold-hearted CEO, isa lang siyang desperadang gold digger na humahadlang sa kaligayahan nito. Pero nagbago ang lahat nang ma-aksidente si Javier. Tragedy struck, leaving the powerful billionaire blind and helpless. Sa panahong tinalikuran siya ng mundo, si Maria ang nanatili. She became his eyes, his hands, and his sole comfort. Sa ilalim ng katahimikan at walang pagpapakilala, inalagaan niya ito. She nursed him back to health, umaasang sa wakas ay matutunaw na ang yelong nakabalot sa puso ng asawa niya. And it worked—he fell in love with her gentle care, promising to cherish the woman who saved him once he recovered. Pero ang akala ni Maria na happy ending, naging bangungot. When Javier finally opened his eyes, he didn't look for her. Instead, he embraced another woman—his first love—believing she was the one who stayed by his side. Wasak na wasak at pagod na sa pagiging option, Maria made the ultimate decision. Ibinigay niya ang kalayaang matagal nang hinihingi ni Javier. She handed him the divorce papers with a final, broken whisper: "You are free now, Javi. And so am I." She left without looking back. Kaya bakit ngayon ay parang asong ulol na naghahabol ang makapangyarihang CEO sa kanyang ex-wife? Bakit siya lumuluhod at nagmamakaawa para sa isang second chance? Sorry, Mr. CEO. The wife you took for granted is dead and gone. And this time? Walang bawian.

At the annual company raffle, I had barely stepped onto the stage when my supervisor, Lily Smith, pressed a crumpled slip of paper into my palm. "A special reward for our top salesperson," she chirped. "Go ahead, open it. Let everyone see." Under the eager gaze of the crowd, I unfolded the note. Written in messy handwriting were the words: Clean the company toilets for three days. The room erupted in laughter. Lily folded her arms, cocked her head, and smirked at me. "Nice, right?" she said. "Everyone knows those sales of yours came from sleeping with old men. Dirty money. To keep things fair, the others get a break, and you pick up a little extra work. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" The laughter surged again, nearly lifting the roof. From the side of the room, my boyfriend, Seth Hoffman, the company's CEO, watched everything unfold. As usual, he said nothing in my defense. They all thought I would fall apart, cry, or make a scene. Instead, I simply gave a calm nod. The very next day, the company was hit with over three hundred property cancellations. Its cash flow collapsed overnight. That was when Lily and Seth rushed to me, demanding I go plead with the buyers. I smiled and said, "No thanks. I wouldn't want to help the company recover and end up with strong numbers again. That might make everyone even more uncomfortable."

I’m Oliver Lance. Yes, the Oliver Lance. The one that all men want to be and all women want to be with. Every Sunday a million fans watch me throw a ball down a field, win games, and sign huge endorsement deals. Everything was going perfectly, until a car accident tore it all away from me. I want it back, and only she can help me. At first, I think about ‘Doc’ Elsie the same way I think of every other woman. Just another possible conquest, another notch on my bedpost. Only Elsie is different. She’s not starstruck by me. She’s not interested in my money. She’s the most real woman I’ve ever met, and those tempting curves are making it hard to stay focused on my recovery. Now, I’ll do anything to keep her by my side. I’ll defy my manager, my coach, even lay down my career as quarterback to stay with her. It’s third and long, and I’m gonna make my play Hard and Deep. From New York Times bestselling author Krista Lakes comes this sexy story of sports romance!

Connor Lockwood abandons me at the hospital's entrance even though I'm bleeding in the middle of my pregnancy. He insists on sending his client, a divorcée, home. The blood flows down my legs, but he hurries off without another look back. He should've been at the hospital and by my side, but instead, I see him in his client's social media update. It's captioned, "Thank goodness for my wonderful lawyer. Do you know who gets to have hangover soup when they're drunk? Me!" I spend the rest of the night wide awake. The following morning, I calmly dial a number. "Dad, I've made up my mind. I'll return home in three days to take over the company."

There was only one week left until my marking ceremony with Alpha Mason Wright. And this time, he was asking to postpone it yet again, all because his puphood sweetheart, Eira Padmore, the she-wolf who once saved his life, had another episode. She was in tears, begging to go to Bhador to see the snow, just like every time before, claiming she wouldn't be able to breathe otherwise. The ceremony had already been pushed back three times. All the wolves of the north had been waiting for us to complete it. But I was done waiting, and so was the pup growing inside me. If Mason refused to mark me, then I'd walk away and build my own future. But what I couldn't understand was... Why was it that the moment I left, Mason went mad searching for me, and suddenly insisted on marking me after all?