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Neal Kowalski is in thorough shit. His life is in danger, his reputation on the line and his company on wobbly stakes. While the people see a shy stuttering billionaire, owner of Kowalski Inc, very few know about the man behind the stutter, his dark past and haunting demons. And Dorothy Lane is determined to find out. As his ex-best friend, Dorothy Lane is assigned as a personal guard to Neal. She ignores the thickening tension between them, determined to prove to the world and her parents, that she is more than just a wild child. She will protect Neal from those who threaten his life even if it meant she would lose hers. But no one told her anything about Protecting Neal from himself. And Dorothy finds this out the hard way.
Neal was in knee-deep shit.
He had known it the minute a bang sounded and shook the whole building, rocking everyone on their feet. He hated public events and had no idea what had moved him to attend that one.
Okay, he knew why he had attended.
Mikhail Salvador was going to be there. The keyword 'was'. Somehow a few minutes before the blast, the burly Mexican man conveniently disappeared. If Neal was going to go all gungho, he would bet his fortune that Mikhail Salvador had everything to do with the explosion.
Neal coughed, trying to stand on his feet. His black hair had broken concrete in them, and debris from the fallen ceiling of Crystal Event Hall fell all over his black tuxedo. His vision was blurry and he blinked his blue eyes rapidly so he could adjust his eyes sight to the partially dark room.
It had been planned.
He may be a stuttering fool, but he had a working brain and knew well enough that someone was after him. Someone ruthless enough to not care about the deaths of other people as long as he was dead.
"Shit." He cussed, feeling a sharp pain at the back of his head. Around him, screams and wails prevailed almost drowning him in a cacophony of noises. Everyone was afraid and he didn't blame them. He was afraid too.
Glancing up at the ceiling above him, he eyed the hole where the huge ass chandelier that had fallen was before. It was supposed to smash him through the floor, but his dancing partner had pulled him too close at the last minute, grinding her chest against him in a move that was definitely not part of the waltz. Neal had been too stunned to move and it would've taken forever anyway before he could tell her to back off so he had held his breath.
Until the chandelier crashed beside him.
Then his breath seized completely and he had fallen to the ground out of shock.
Lifting his heavy legs, he moved in the direction of what he thought and hoped was the door, hoping that whoever planted the bomb would assume that he was dead. No one seemed to be running in that direction however but he was fairly certain that was the entrance to the hall. Gingerly he stepped around the broken chandelier glass that was sprayed everywhere and he wondered how he would handle it if- when he got out eventually.
It wasn't that Neal considered himself to be pretty big and important to be the target of an assassination. He was big yes, a solid 6"2 and his frame was bulky but if he had any say in it, most of it was rather inherited. And his huge frame had been a problem for him in middle school- Everyone loved to torture the big dumb ox and he was one. So yeah he was big but important?
Important was relative, wasn't it? Because while Neal didn't think he was important, the media certainly made him seem like he was essential oxygen and they couldn't stay out of his damn business! Ever since his public blunder four months ago, he had never had a more hectic daily schedule in his entire life. Everyone in California wanted to know when Neal Kowalski, CEO of Kowalski Inc, the one who raised the company from the rubble and helped it hit the hundred billion mark, would stutter at an interview again.
Preposterous.
Sore and starting to feel tired, Neal pressed onward, he had to get the hell out of there. And find a way to disappear. At least until the police found whoever wanted to claim his life so bad.
As he reached the entrance, he heard the click of a gun and froze. Before his very eyes, outside the Crystal event Hall, there was a man in a black hoodie a few meters away, pointing a cocked gun at him.
Well shit.
Gathering his balls as a man should, he took a deep breath, ignored the pain at the back of his head and stood straighter.
"Wh...who are you?" He bellowed. His voice, when he wasn't yammering like an idiot, was deep and solid.
The hooded figure remained quiet. Figures. Neal hadn't expected he would listen, he just hadn't wanted to beg for his life like those cliche politicians in movies. He wasn't a saint, but he wasn't a devil either.
"What...what do... What do you want?!" He asked again and felt his hands grow sweaty. Oh, wonderful. He was getting nervous and soon he would be unable to speak clear words. Heck, soon he would be unable to speak at all.
He frowned at the hooded figure. If he had wanted to kill Neal, then he should've done that already. Instead, the person simply held a gun up and waited. Neal would bet that he was simply delaying for the one who was supposed to kill him. The true assassin. And it was a good thing Neal excelled at waiting games.
Slowly unbuttoning his suit jacket, he tossed it at the hooded figure suddenly and dashed back inside the hall, racing away from the rain of bullets that followed.
****
"Surround the perimeter!" Dorothy's commander echoed through the earpods placed in her right ear and swiftly she slid out of the police van along with her colleagues.
This had to be the best night of her life!
For someone who got stuck with pansy jobs like writing tickets and parking duty, she was immensely grateful to be on a heart-pulsing mission. She adjusted her helmet and clutched her gun like it meant her life.
Because in a way, it did.
"Move fatty!" An officer hissed behind her, shoving her out of the way.
"Move small di-"
"Not now Lane!" Her commander hissed and she winced.
"Sorry, sir." She muttered in response. He was right. She had no time to contend with shitty people who thought they had the right to judge her. There were civilians inside the bombed building who needed help. She'd deal with Charles Dutch later.
"Who has a visual of what's going on inside?"
Radio silence met the commander's question. Dorothy eyed her surroundings. She was stationed at the exit of the building along with four others, two on her left and right. A Series of gunshots could be heard inside the already damaged building and her heart slammed harder in her rib cage.
This was it. This was why she had joined the police academy. Why she had become a cop? Oh, she wished she could whip out her phone and take a selfie. Her shoulders shook in laughter as she imagined the shocked look on her parents' faces.
"Charles was. right. You're a freaking weirdo." The cop closest to her said and she gave him a stink eye.
The world was a bitter place from Dorothy Lane's point of view. No, she hadn't always seen it that way. Heck, she hadn't cared one tiny bit about the world when she was younger. But as you grow, you learn the hard way.
And Dorothy learned that when you had a 36-inch waist and your hips spanned close to 50 inches, you're NOT supposed to be a detective. If her parents had anything to do about it, they would've stashed her behind a counter in a library. And if her superiors had anything to do about it, she'd be their personal Ashley Graham.
Steeling herself against his remark and all the other remarks that lived on in her head over the years, she peered into the building.
It was hard to see underneath the dust and rubble in the large rectangular hall. She flitted her eyes around.
An older woman crouched to the ground in a corner, holding onto her three grandchildren. Fear. Dorothy thought and gnawed her lip in anger. Whoever was responsible for this deserved a helluva beating.
"There are a couple of civilians huddled in the back. Everyone seems shaken sir. But I don't see any terrorist in sight." She said into her earpiece.
The commander mulled over it for a while. Chief Davis, the head of the Belmont police department ordered that his subordinates call him commander not chief because he had wanted to be a soldier, but his height failed him. Yeah, that was the kind of man he was. He also didn't like Dorothy much but she was fairly certain it was because he was a bit of a misogynist. Having female police under his command to him was like having an ugly baby foisted upon you by his mother.
"Fine." He said spitefully and she grinned. "Dutch, Lane, move in. All of you on the right-wing, cover them. Getting those civilians out is the priority."
"Copy that." She muttered and swooped into the building, clutching her gun while eyeing the area for any sudden movement. Charles dashed in front of her, grinning widely at Grandmother and three grandkids.
"Aren't you a bit old to be attending these events, ma'am?" He teased as he helped her stand up. Her frail body trembled in his arms.
Dorothy rolled her eyes. Of course, Charles wanted to play the hero. She'd bet her horses that were why he had joined the police force. To save the day, and get the women.
Scruffling in the hall drew her attention and she whipped around to face it. A man. He ran towards them rather blindly and her fight and flight instincts kicked in.
She strengthened her stance, cocked her gun and aimed at the attacker.
"Stand down, your hands in the air. Now!" She ordered.
First Book in the P.I.E.C.E.S series_ Six lives and a load of drama. Tokunbo moves to the great IB city for a fresh start. But somehow she finds herself tangled up in webs of secrets and lies. She knows she isn't supposed to care, but deep within a fragment of herself, she does. Betty, Vicky, Eli and Enoch try to ignore that all is not as it used to be. No one can seem to pull away from their already frail friendship but none can seem to draw closer either. Enter a new kid with issues and a crazy girl hell bent on revenge. Will the crew come out whole or in shards of what they used to be?
Charlee was left at the altar and became a laughingstock. She tried to keep her head high, but ultimately lost it when she received a sex tape of her fiance and her half-sister. Devastated, she ended up spending a wild night with a hot stranger. It was supposed to be one-time thing, but he kept popping up, helping her with projects and revenge, all while flirting with her constantly. Charlee soon realized that it was nice having him around, until her ex suddenly appeared at her door, begging for another chance. Her tycoon lover asked, “Who will you choose? Think carefully before you answer.”
“You need a bride, I need a groom. Why don’t we get married?” Both abandoned at the altar, Elyse decided to tie the knot with the disabled stranger from the venue next door. Pitying his state, she vowed to spoil him once they were married. Little did she know that he was actually a powerful tycoon. Jayden thought Elyse only married him for his money, and planned to divorce her when she was no longer of use to him. But after becoming her husband, he was faced with a new dilemma. “She keeps asking for a divorce, but I don’t want that! What should I do?”
For ten years, Daniela showered her ex-husband with unwavering devotion, only to discover she was just his biggest joke. Feeling humiliated yet determined, she finally divorced him. Three months later, Daniela returned in grand style. She was now the hidden CEO of a leading brand, a sought-after designer, and a wealthy mining mogul—her success unveiled at her triumphant comeback. Her ex-husband’s entire family rushed over, desperate to beg for forgiveness and plead for another chance. Yet Daniela, now cherished by the famed Mr. Phillips, regarded them with icy disdain. "I’m out of your league."
Natalie used to think she could melt Connor’s icy heart, but she was sorely mistaken. When at last she decided to leave, she discovered that she was pregnant. Even so, she chose to quietly leave his world, prompting Connor to mobilize all of his resources and expand his business to a global scale—all in a bid to find her. But there was no trace of Natalie. Connor slowly spiraled into madness, turning the city upside down and leaving chaos in his wake. Natalie finally surfaced years later, with wealth and power of her own, only to find herself entangled with Connor once again.
Warning! Mature Contents! ***Excerpt*** "You belong to me, Sheila. I alone am capable of making you feel this way. Your moans and body belong to me. Your soul and your body are all mine!" *** Alpha Killian Reid, the most dreaded Alpha in all of the North, wealthy, powerful and widely feared in the supernatural world, was the envy of all other packs. He was thought to have it all... power, fame, wealth and favour from the moon goddess, little was it known to his rivals that he has been under a curse, which has been kept a secret for so many years, and only the one with the gift of the moon goddess can lift the curse. Sheila, the daughter of Alpha Lucius who was an arch enemy to Killian, had grown up with so much hatred, detest and maltreatment from her father. She was the fated mate to Alpha Killian. He refused to reject her, yet he loathed her and treated her poorly, because he was in love with another woman, Thea. But one of these two women was the cure to his curse, while the other was an enemy within. How would he find out? Let's find out in this heart racing piece, filled with suspense, steamy romance and betrayal.
They don't know I'm a girl. They all look at me and see a boy. A prince. Their kind purchase humans like me for their lustful desires. And, when they stormed into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervened to protect her. I made them take me too. The plan was to escape with my sister whenever we found a chance. How was I to know our prison would be the most fortified place in their kingdom? I was supposed to be on the sidelines. The one they had no real use for. The one they never meant to buy. But then, the most important person in their savage land-their ruthless beast king-took an interest in the "pretty little prince." How do we survive in this brutal kingdom, where everyone hates our kind and shows us no mercy? And how does someone, with a secret like mine, become a lust slave? . AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is a dark romance-dark, mature content. Highly rated 18+ Expect triggers, expect hardcore. If you're a seasoned reader of this genre, looking for something different, prepared to go in blindly not knowing what to expect at every turn, but eager to know more anyway, then dive in! . From the author of the international bestselling book: "The Alpha King's Hated Slave."