Up Smoke

I was the firm’s star. The one they called for the impossible cases. My latest miracle? The “Titan Project” patent case. I made the firm a billion dollars. My cut was supposed to be a two-million-dollar bonus. But today, a fresh-faced intern waltzed off with it. I thought payroll had made a mistake and stormed straight into the senior partner's office. “Preston. My two-million-dollar bonus. Tell me there’s been a mistake.” Preston didn’t even bother to look up. “Victoria, I’ve looked into it. We won this case because of Chloe’s client management.” “She was schmoozing clients. Late-night golf games. Weekend yacht parties. While you were what, exactly?” “You never showed your face outside the courtroom. Teamwork is everything.” I almost laughed. It was absurd. “She’s a rookie who can’t even recite the rules of discovery.” “Enough!” Preston cut me off. “The firm doesn’t make mistakes. I see what everyone contributes.” “If you're not happy, you can prove your worth somewhere else.” He tossed a severance agreement on the desk. My heart went cold. I signed it on the spot. Before I left, I got the last word. “Preston, next time the firm has a real fight on its hands, you’d better call your social butterfly, Chloe. Don’t bother me.” He blew a perfect smoke ring, smirking right through it. Unfazed. Soon later, my phone blew up. It was him. Begging me to come back and save his ass.

This is a BadBoy Billionaire series novel. Book 1: This story is about a two characters in a contract marriage... A simple girl from a humble background! A bad boy billionaire with a scandalized réputation ! They come together to play the 'It' couple but it's all just pretend, smoke and mirrors... Zeke hates the word love, thinks it's naive and deadly. While Blair thinks love is everything in the world, now she's supposed to pretend not to be in love with the man she's actually in love with? Book 2- The Greek’s Marriage Proposal. Blurb She was never his! She was his late brother's fiancee, But he had always desired and lusted after her from the day she was introduced, he has no idea why those green eyes sets ablaze a forbidden fire in him! He wonders if she felt the same way too! And now that one forbidden night between them seems to be the start of a road trip to consequences and guilt! Zion Zephyr Vasilakis is the eldest son of the Vasilakis wealth not the favorite of course! That title belongs to his twin brother Hermes Vasilakis! His parents favourite, the son they doted on the one they made him be responsible for! Hermes is like a bird while Zion was raised to be the fence around the building Hermes shouldn't fly out of. Now his brother’s fiancée is pregnant for him and that might just be the most ludicrous thing that might just happen to him! Now they are stuck together with a binding marriage proposal, Hermes parents believe the child belongs to their dear son! Could they risk the truth from coming out? Can they handle the backlash! The shock? Or the scandal!

When my body is engulfed in flames, my firefighter father is watching a new movie with my sister. My mother is baking them a cake. I hear laughter in the living room, and I can smell the caramel popcorn in the kitchen. Today is my family's weekly family day—it's a day for my sister and parents to be with each other. The doorbell rings, and the perpetrator gives me a chance to ask for help. My limbs are bound, and stones fill my mouth. I stand at the door and desperately wait for my parents to open it. They don't get up. Instead, they sit on either side of my sister and hug her. "We promised you we'll only be with you on our family days. No one can disturb us." "What if it's Danica?" Ravenna Sutton, my sister, asks. "Her? She hasn't answered her phone in days—who knows where she's off being wild? I'll think of her as dead if she still doesn't return tomorrow!" Ravenna giggles. Mom feeds her some popcorn, and Dad discusses the movie's plot with her. The perpetrator drags me back upstairs and laughs mockingly in my ear. "Looks like I did something unnecessary. They genuinely don't care about you." Smoke permeates every corner upstairs, and the flames start to lick at my body. Mom and Dad protect Ravenna as they run downstairs. They have no idea their birth daughter is screaming in pain amid the blazing fire.

This is the ninth year Dante and I have honored the Month of No Masters. The Corinni family's heir apparent believes this will make our relationship last longer. For one month after our dating anniversary each year, he is free, and we stay out of each other's lives. If either of us finds someone more suitable, we are to wish them well. If not, we go back to the way things were after a month. Around me, the men of the family are spraying champagne with abandon. "To another year of freedom! Congratulations to our Underboss on reclaiming his bachelor status!" "The family betting pool is open! Place your bets on the left if you think they'll still get married, and on the right if you think it's over for good!" Through the hazy cigar smoke, I sat on the corner of a leather sofa, a cold observer, as if this whole farce had nothing to do with me. Dante's hand was curled around Scarlett's waist as he brushed past me, whispering, "Don't get any ideas. You'll always be my only Donna." "I'm a kite. No matter how far I fly, the string is always in your hand." I pressed my cold fingers against the gentle swell of my belly, my expression a blank mask. Dante, this time at the family's betting table, I'm putting my money on "the end." I'm going to vanish from your world completely. That kite string you're so proud of? Tonight, I'm cutting it myself.

There were five things I was absolutely certain I wouldn't miss even if I became blind: -The first one was the fact that I was a slave and my life would never go back to the way it was. -The Second one was the Duke who bought me was a dragon hiding his identity for a reason I didn't know. Weren't dragons supposed to be powerful and all? Using his race might give him a huge advantage in politics. -The third one I was certain the Duke was hungry for me and I started to love him. Furthermore, he was cursed and the cursed ones didn't live for more than a year. Conquering him was a lost cause; a battle with less than 50% of success. However… Was it really necessary to label numbers on everything that was happening? -The Fourth one: Was it really necessary for Dotoria, the human land, to curse the other races existing within its borders? I wasn't confident about the statement. Nonetheless, everyone was looking for a wish granter gem. The nine kingdoms collided eying the gemstone like a prize for dominion. -The Fifth one had the magic of belief in it; Do you work on your dream or stay back hiding behind a smoke of mist fearing failure? I wanted to escape but I gradually lost interest in it. The world was a mystery in my eyes and I was taught to never engage in a battle with less than 50% of success. Do I even have a dream because the only thing I wished for was the reason I was a slave. People were driven by dreams and goals and I didn't have one yet.

` It was a cool, breezy and stormy night. Rain came down in sheets, as a dark figure stood before a house. The house was pretty ordinary, white with blue shutters; it didn't have more than two bedrooms. It looked like a cozy little family home with flowers and shrubs lining the front lawn, and then the smell from the pellet stove smoke invaded his nostrils. He took a deep breath and pulled out an old, rusted compass from his black trench coat. It looked like it could have been from the 14th century, the small, brass disc was dented and the Victorian designs were faded. He studied it as it pointed east, towards the small house. He looked the house over carefully, looking for the best entrance, before proceeding towards the side to gaze into the window. Inside you can see the small kitchen; the brand new, all black appliances off set the linoleum floor. Cabinets filled almost every wall of the small space that made it look more crowded than it should have been. The kitchen opened to a larger room which seemed to be used as a living room and a dining room all at once. The whole house looked crowded, with the furniture in the living room all touching except for a small gap to walk through and the dining room was so close to the sofa, it could have been sitting on it. He stepped back into the shadows as he watched a young couple enter the kitchen. The wife was tall and slender, had strawberry blond hair formed around her face accenting her jaw-line and her deep blue eyes stopped your heart as you got lost in them. Her fair complexion was silky and complimented her soft face.

A wild night of reckless and careless thinking, what could possibly go wrong? -----☆----- 19-year-old Jake Miller isn't your typical everyday guy, he doesn't drink, smoke, party nor does he like girls. In fact, he's an antisocial butterfly whose wings were clipped at childhood. But what happens when his new roommate asks him to accompany him to a party? An accidental kiss with a stranger was definitely NOT on his list. The kiss rocks Jake's world and he's left questioning everything he ever thought he knew about himself and his interests. 24-year-old Liam Morgan, smart, handsome and always prepared and the next CEO of a renowned empire. He thought he had his life all planned out: he'd have the perfect wife, perfect home with his dream job as CEO and most importantly, never be like his father. But then everything took a turn for the worst and he's left to re-evaluate his life. He doesn't know what to do anymore and in a moment of self pity, decides to have a wild night out. While in his drunken state, Liam accidentally kisses a total stranger not knowing the domino effect it would create. Their encounter leaves Liam questioning himself and his values. Fear and obsession soon find themselves following hard after Liam. His first chance encounter turned him into someone he vowed never to be like. With secrets cutting deep, can Liam be the guy that Jake deserves or will their chance encounter remain only but a burning memory in Liam's mind, to look but never touch? To have but never truly be yours?

"You wanted me to fail," she yelled, her voice shaking with rage and desperation. "You wanted me to prove you right." "No." My voice was a low, feral growl. "I wanted to know if you'd stand your ground. And you did." You stood your ground, held my life in your hand, and chose to keep it breathing. That was all I needed to see. Her defiance was a thin wall, her trembling betraying her. "This doesn't make me yours." I leaned in, my lips a hair's breadth from hers. The scent of her… of wood smoke and sweat, and something wild and unmistakably Lyra… filled my senses. "You already are," I whispered against her lips. "Even in your hate." *************************************** Lyra, the last warrior-heir of Ravengarde, detests Kael, the cruel enemy alpha who murdered her family, burned her castle, and claimed her as his ruthless spoils. Imprisoned in his domineering Shadowfen Keep, her rage is a burning blaze, battling the forbidden, wild linkage that brings her closer with each bitter glance and each jealous touch. She promises to kill him, break free from his shadow magic, even as his control ignites a deadly, forbidden desire in her. But when Lyra learns the horrible truth… that the betrayal that had destroyed her clan was not schemed by Kael, but by her own ruthless bloodline in a lust for power… her world shatters. Every sadistic phrase, every brutal touch she endured under Kael's command now bears an abject truth: the enemy that she had sworn to kill was, in reality, protecting her, and is now very likely the only one who can save her from a much darker fate than his claim.

In Alabama’s rot-soaked bayous, Drucilla Drakes survives by three rules: silence, scars, and never letting Louise—her Bible-thumping captor—catch her hoping. But when a schoolyard ambush leaves her bleeding beneath a stranger’s leather jacket, invisibility becomes a death sentence. Enter Dragon Morales: New Orleans’ most notorious runaway, a cartel prince turned outlaw mechanic with grease-stained hands and a death wish. He doesn’t save people—he survives them. Yet in Dru’s lashed flesh and hellfire gaze, he sees his own shattered reflection. Their bond is gasoline and matches. Dragon’s father—Colombia’s cartel kingpin—hunts them relentlessly. Louise, armed with voodoo rites and the chaos-hungry loa Marinette, vows to break Dru. Their only allies? The Lou Nwa, a bayou biker gang trading in bullets and black magic, and Papa Legba, the crossroads spirit who offers Dru a lethal bargain: *“Her soul or yours.”* Fleeing through the Deep South’s cursed underbelly, they dodge cartel hitmen, haunted swamps, and safehouses reeking of betrayal. Dark magic seeps into old wounds; family secrets tighten like nooses. Dragon swears he’s too ruined to love. Dru knows she’s too shattered to trust. But in the bayou’s choking heat, desire is a grenade they can’t outrun. This isn’t a fairytale. It’s switchblade kisses and saintly curses—a collision of fire and ruin where protectors become predators. Dru doesn’t need saving; she needs an inferno. And Dragon? He’s got a lighter and nothing left to burn. Will they raze the South to ashes, or become the sacrifice the crossroads demands? One truth remains: in the bayou, even survival leaves scars. **Warning:** No princes here. Just bayou smoke, blood-soaked magic, and the kind of love that devours.

“I, Alpha Arthur Grant, reject you, Phineas Wells. You were never my mate; you were just a placeholder for a King.” The words didn't just break Phineas’s heart; they shattered his soul. Standing in the center of the pack gala, clutching a hidden sonogram in his pocket, Phineas watched as his husband of three years handed him divorce papers in front of the very people he had served, healed, and protected. Behind Arthur stood Phineas’s own younger brother, Clement, wearing a smug smile of betrayal. They didn't just want Phineas gone—they wanted him erased. Thrown into the freezing rain of the Dead Lands, pregnant and broken, Phineas expects to die. Instead, he finds a nightmare far more seductive. Enter Lucian Aurelius. A Mafia Kingpin with a wolf of pure shadow and a heart of ice. He doesn’t offer Phineas love; he offers a cage of gold and a contract written in blood. Lucian is the ultimate Black Flag—possessive, obsessive, and dangerous. He monitors Phineas’s heartbeat, tracks his every breath, and whispers terrifying promises of protection that feel exactly like imprisonment. But as Phineas’s life is reduced to a "Scattered and Shattered" mess, the "Sunshine" Omega dies, and something colder is born in the dark. While Arthur’s pack begins to crumble and Lucian’s obsession turns into a lethal addiction, Phineas stops crying. He begins to watch. He begins to learn. He realizes that a monster’s greatest weakness is the thing he claims to own. In a world of fated mates and brutal betrayals, Phineas will play the "Helpless Omega" one last time. He will make them crawl. He will make them bleed. And when the smoke clears, the two Alphas who broke him will realize the terrifying truth: