Would've Could've Should've

Life has a way of awakening us…Often cruelly. Astraia Ilithyia, a humble art gallery hostess, finds herself pulled into a world she never would’ve imagined existed. She meets the mysterious and charismatic, Vasilios Barzilai under terrifying circumstances. Torn between the world she’s always known, and the world Vasilios reigns in…Only one thing is certain; she cannot survive without him.

⚠️ Reader Advisory: This story contains steamy scenes, mature language, and forbidden romance. Recommended for readers 18+ who enjoy emotionally intense and sexually charged love stories with depth. ~ “I’m going to turn every dirty page you’ve ever read into your reality, Teyana.” And Jeremy Carter did. ~ It started with a simple party dare and ended with my legs wrapped around the ever-addictive Jeremy Carter’s waist. I never thought the boy who never noticed the nerdy me in high school, the emotionally unavailable biker god I’d secretly fantasized about, would become my stepbrother. Or that I would find a naked painting of myself hidden in his closet — painted by his own twisted hands. Jeremy is inked sin, raw dominance, and a filthy mouth. I was just the quiet, virgin bookworm, that took solace in dark romance novels… until he dragged me into his dangerous world of racing, rage, and ruin. I should run. I should regret it. But when a man like Jeremy Carter kisses you, there’s no coming back. But what happened when family, friends, and even the campus tried to pull us apart? This is the story of how I got ruined by the one man I might never have… and how I let him.

I’d been dead a month before my family even noticed. It wasn’t concern that brought them to that realization. It was my silence after the so-called “dinner” with Adam Rossi, the infamous mafia boss. My father scoffed like always,“She probably shacked up with that bastard. Too busy spreading her legs to pick up the damn phone.” My sister texted me a photo of them smiling under the Christmas tree, ornaments twinkling like nothing was wrong. Bitch, she wrote. You better talk Mr. Rossi into working with Dad, or you might as well be dead already. And my mother—once the softer one—was now colder than the frost on their windows. “I told you, we should’ve sent Gia to charm Mr. Rossi. Serena always screws things up.” They didn’t think I would die. Not until they found my body—broken, rotten, and forgotten—in Adam Rossi’s basement.

Bryson POV Blackridge University was already a nightmare before I dumped hot coffee all over Julian Hayes. He's tall, built, with this perfect smirk that makes me want to punch him. Captain of the hockey team and the biggest asshole I've ever met. He destroyed me in front of everyone. Made sure I knew exactly where I stood. But then I joined the hockey team to make my mom happy, and suddenly everything changed. I could actually play. And Julian? He started looking at me like he wanted to destroy me in a whole different way. Now every practice feels like war. Every time we're alone in the locker room, I can barely breathe. I hate him. I want him. And I'm pretty sure he knows it. Julian's POV I run Blackridge University. Team captain, golden boy, everyone wants to be me or be with me. Then some transfer kid crashes into me and ruins my shirt. Bryson Miller. Smart mouth, cheap clothes, and eyes that look at me like he's not impressed. I should've crushed him and moved on. But the little shit joined my hockey team and turned out to be good. Really good. Now I can't get him out of my head. Every practice, every fight we have feels like something else entirely. Something I don't want to think about. I thought that was complicated enough. Then I walk into my house tonight and find Bryson unpacking boxes in my living room..

Harlow's father never liked her because she reminds him too much of his late wife so she is forced to live with her wicked step mother who makes her life a living hell. Just when she's about to elope marriage comes knocking, and in the most humiliating way possible. She is sold off to the highest bidder, but Harlow would've never guessed what was coming next.

LEILANI: I owe my life to Phoenix Baxter, leader of the Sandcastles MC. He'd saved me from my abusive father, gave me a life, gave me a home. I'll forever be indebted to him. Which is why when he propositions me to marry him, I don't refuse. But the Sandcastles MC isn't what it once was, and war rears its ugly head. To protect me, Phoenix places a bodyguard in charge of my welfare. It would've been better if it were someone else. But he choose Mason Vampelt. The one man whose presence does unspeakable things to my body. As the war casts it's shadow over the city, my feelings for Mason develops, and soon we're crossing lines, not giving a damn. I love two men: one out of gratitude, and the other out of my body's devotion. MASON: Leilani and I grew up together in the Sandcastles MC. Once inseparable, we drifted apart as we grew older. Reason being because my boss Phoenix wanted her for a wife. She owes her life to him, as I do mine. But I've seen the way she steals glances my way. Seen the way her body reacts to my presence. We both want the same thing. Each other. Phoenix might've saved my life once, but it's Leilani that gives me the will to keep on living. And I'll have her as mine no matter what.

I'm one of the entertainment industry's most popular celebrities. One day, the Holmes family, the richest family in Hemmingville, comes to me and tells me I'm one of them. The day I return home, the city's paparazzi follow me to capture every second of my return. When I arrive at the Holmes residence, my adoptive sister stops me from entering. "We've looked into you and found out that you shot to fame after starring in an adult film. "The Holmes family has its rules—you have to change your clothes in public before you can step foot in here. Dad said that I'm the one who calls the shots when he and Jason aren't at home, so I hope you can understand me." In my past life, I would've acted cautiously and adopted a lowly stance for the sake of my image. But I've been reborn. I kick aside the things in my way and shove Nancy Holmes aside. "How ridiculous! You'd better stop and think whether you're worthy of telling me what to do. How dare you ask me to strip in public? "I'm insured from head to toe—you can't afford to pay me back if you even touch a hair on my head! And you call yourself the heiress of the family, huh? I'd like to see you grovel at my feet and beg me later!"

The doctor said I only had three days left to live. Acute liver failure. My only hope was an experimental clinical trial. It was extremely risky, but had the faintest sliver of a chance to survive. But my husband, David, gave the last available spot... to my adopted sister, Emma, also my daughter’s godmother. Her condition was still in its early stages. He said it was the "right decision," because she “deserved to live more.” I signed the papers to forgo treatment and took the high-dose painkillers prescribed by the doctor. The cost? My organs would shut down, and I would die. When I handed over the jewelry company I’d poured my heart into, along with all my designs, to Emma, my parents praised me, saying, “Now that’s what a good big sister should do.” When I agreed to divorce David so he could marry Emma, he said, “You’ve finally learned to be understanding.” When I told my daughter to call Emma ‘Mom,’ she clapped her hands and said, “Emma is such a gentle and kind mother!” When I gave all my assets to Emma, everyone in the family thought it was only natural. No one noticed anything was wrong with me. I’m just curious. Will they still be able to smile when they find out I'm dead?

Have you ever been confused by what you've been feeling? Precisely, a sense of hatred and strangely tucked away a concern?

I was only eleven when my life changed. My parents were gone, and my innocence was taken away. I grew up in a world where danger wore a suit and love felt like power. I learned to guard myself. But nothing prepared me for him, Lorenzo Vitalio. He is my guardian’s stepbrother. He watched me grow up. He is the man I shouldn’t want. Yet he is the only one I do. He’s 32, and I’m 20. The age difference is wrong. The feelings? Right—so painfully right that it hurts. I’ve loved him for as long as I’ve known what love is. But to him, I was just the girl he had to protect, not the woman he could claim. So I did what any heartbroken girl would do—I pushed him away. I made him notice me. I broke rules, crossed boundaries, and opened up the cracks in both of us. Just when I thought I’d finally lost him, he came back. Now the question is, can love survive the burden of secrets, danger, and years of denial? Or am I doomed to suffer for a man who knows how to protect but not how to love? This is the story of Evelyn Rose and Lorenzo Vitalio. A love too forbidden to begin. Too deep to end. And far too reckless to ignore.