Nicknamed the Ice Bitch, corporate exec Lana Holt is a notorious ball buster known for getting the job done and getting it done right. With her reputation and track record, she is perfectly positioned to become the next CEO of Renault Corporation, until the grandson of the owner, Harvard grad, boy genius, Matthew Renault snatches it right out from under her. Matthew Renault has no designs on the CEO job, and knows that Lana deserves it, but there is little either of them can do when faced with politics on the board. In truth, the only thing he does have designs on, is her. But when she abruptly quits, he is forced to make a risky and desperate move to win her heart. Hopefully he can convince her that despite their differences they are perfect for each other, before she discovers his deception and he winds up losing her for good.
Senior Vice President, Lana Holt stomped angrily past the cubicles of her nosy employees, ignoring their probing stares and low snickers. They could barely contain their joy. The Ice Bitch was finally gone. They thought she didn't know what they whispered behind her back, but she
did. She knew everything the close to one hundred employees she
supervised said about her. They thought she was a sad, lonely, pathetic
frigid bitch. And maybe they were right.
She'd worked for the Renault International Hotel Corporation ever
since she'd graduated from college. And over the past twenty years,
she'd steadily climbed the corporate ladder, sacrificing everything to
achieve one goal-to become CEO of the largest hotel chain in the world. She had always remained professional and distant from her employees, running her division with cool efficiency and precision. The marketing
division was undoubtedly the most productive arm of the company. So when Tom Salkind retired earlier that year as CEO, she'd been sure the
job was hers.
She wrenched open the door to her corner office with the amazing view of downtown Atlanta, stepped inside and slammed it behind her. She wasted no time in grabbing a Xerox box full of new stacks of paper. Dumping the unopened packets to the floor, she began to clean out her
desk.
As she haphazardly stuffed her most personal belongings into the
box, she replayed the words that had changed her life forever.
" ...So, it is with great pride and enthusiasm that I introduce to you
Renault's newest CEO, my grandson, Matthew Renault." She had sat
there stunned when the owner, Gerard Renault, had delivered the news to
the twelve member Board of Directors, the new CEO, Matthew Renault,
and to her.
She gritted her teeth at the thought of him. She was being usurped
by a twenty-nine year old Harvard Business graduate who'donly been
with the company for two years. He was barely out of grad school and
now he was the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company.
The sound of her office door closing caught her attention and she
whirled around to face the last person she wanted to see.
"Lana, I'm sorry. I didn't know -"
She held up her hand to halthis next words. "It's fine Matthew. I could tell from your shocked expression that it was news to you too. Still,
congratulations," she said stiffly, before twisting back around to finish
packing.
"I couldn't believe you stormed out of there-hey, what are you
doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she snapped as she continued to
dump her things into the box.
She froze at the touch of his hand against her arm. Blowing out a long, jagged breath she turned around to face him. And as soon as she
met his gaze, and glimpsed the hurt look on his handsome face, she
instantly regretted her terse words. It wasn't his fault. Actually Matthew didn't deserve any of her anger. Ever since he'd joined the company two
years ago as the CFO, he'd been nothing but kind toward her, even
though she'd always kept him at arm's length.
"Don't quit," he said softly.
She shrugged his hand from her arm, flashing him a weak smile. "I
have to."
"But, I need you-," he said, and she almost swore she saw
something flash in his eyes that hinted at a more intimate need, but then it disappeared and she figured it had just been her imagination. He cleared his throat. "-to advise me. You have the most experience of any of the
senior staff and I need your expertise."
"I'm sorry, Matthew, but you know I can't stay," she said quietly,
holding his penetrating blue gaze.
"What will you do?"
She shrugged as a she curled her lips into a wry smile. "I don't
know and for the first time in my life, I don't care." It was true. She had
lived her life for so long always striving to accomplish her next goal.
Well, for the first time ever she had no goal and it felt good.
The disappointment on his face tugged at her, and for just a moment she experienced a pang of guilt. Feeling compelled to do something she
was sure she would later regret, she grabbed one of her business cards
and scribbled on the back. "Here is my home number. If you find you have a question just call me." She shoved her card into his hand and
whirled back around to finish with her task.
She heard him mumble "thanks" followed by the soft click of the
door closing shut. Contrary to what her employees thought, she did have feelings and she felt bad for dumping her anger on Matthew when he'd
had nothing to do with the events that had transpired earlier. But she
couldn'thelp feeling a twinge of resentment. He now held the position that she'd coveted for the last five years. Still, that had been no excuse for
her abrupt dismissal and downright rude behavior. She toyed with the
thought of going after him to apologize, but quickly abandoned the idea.
He'dbe fine. She on the other hand wouldn't.
The knowledge that she'd given up so much for a dream that had
been snatched so cruelly from her was enough to send her spiraling head first to depression. Painful memories from the past twenty years of all the
sacrifices she'd made replayed themselves in her head. The main one
being from three years ago when her ex-fiancé walked out on her shortly after she'd miscarried their baby, all the while hurling accusations at her
that her workaholic schedule had been the cause. She knew now that
Toby was nothing but an asshole and a jerk, but at the time the pain and
guilt had only driven her to work harder, making her even more
determined to achieve the goal that had cost her the family she'd always
wanted.
Tears burned the backs of her eyes and she drew in a deep breath, as she forced them not to fall. She needed to hurry up and finish packing so
that she could get out of there before she did what she so desperately
longed to do-slump to the floor and indulge in a good cry. But her pride
would not allow her to give into the impulse. The Ice Bitch did not crack,
and she certainly didn't melt.
*****
Matthew Renault flopped down in the plush leather cushions of his
office chair and blew out a long breath.
How could his grandfather do this to Lana-to him even? He ran
an angry hand through his close cropped, jet black hair, disheveling it into
wild spikes. When Tom retired, his grandfather assured him that Lana
would be promoted to CEO. So it had been a shock to him when his name
had been announced instead.
Right after Lana stormed out, he'd pulled Gerard Renault aside for
an explanation.
"What was that about? You told me Ms. Holt was going to be
promoted," he'd accused.
His grandfather had shrugged his stocky shoulders and the lines of
his face had deepened when he'd spoken. He at least he had the decency
to appear remorseful. "I wanted to promote her, but the Board refused to support her bid for CEO. They were really uncomfortable with having someone from outside the family in the position again. I had no choice
but to appoint you. I'm sorry Matthew."
"It's not me you should be apologizing to," he'dwhispered angrily
before spinning on his heels to follow Lana.
He leaned back in his chair and stared out across Midtown Atlanta,
his eyes vacant. Lana didn't deserve this. She had devoted herself to
Renault Corp, and this was her thanks? If he'd been her he would have
quit too.
He glanced down at the card in his hand, twisting it between his
fingers. She'd given it to him and told him to call her if he had any
questions. A small grin flashed across his face. He had a question -
would she have dinner with him Friday night? That had been the main
question he'd wanted to ask her since he'd first laid eyes on the
voluptuous older woman two years ago.
He remembered their first meeting like it was yesterday. She'd been wearing a form fitting white turtle neck Cashmere dress that hugged her gorgeous figure down to her knees, where it teased the tops of her spike
heeled leather black boots. The soft white hue of the dress had
complimented the warm tones of her rich, chocolate complexion. Her shoulder length hair had been pulled back into a severe bun and she'd worn standard wire rimmed glasses that obscured her beautiful almond
shaped brown eyes.
She'd shaken his hand with a cool authority and he'dbeen smitten ever since. No matter how hard he tried to invite her to lunch or engage her in small talk, she had always remained polite, but aloof-the epitome
of professionalism. Everyone called her the Ice Bitch if they were nice,
worse if they weren't. But he sensed beneath her chilly exterior was a
warm and sensual woman who she worked hard to hide, and it was
that woman he wanted to discover. He wanted to get to know the real
Lana Holt, not the one she showed to the rest of the world.
He stared at the ten digits she'd hastily scrawled on the back of the card. What would she do if he called her and asked her out? Or better yet
showed up on her doorstep with an invitation to dinner? He knew the
answer to both of those questions. She would give him a cool, but polite, no.
If he wanted to get to know Lana more intimately then he was going
to have to come up with something far better than a phone call or a visit.
A thought popped into his head and he sat up, ramrod straight, in his chair. It was a long shot, a crazy idea even. He curled his lips up into
a smile and glanced back down at the card. Crazy idea or not, he was
fresh out of options. He shot up from his chair and bounded out of his office just in time to see the doors to the elevator close with Lana inside.
His smile grew wider. Perfect timing.
Robert ,alpha of the Silverclaw Pack, is tired of Arabella . Even more, he's tired of her disobeying his every command. And he knows exactly how to fix both problems. Devour every inch of her until she's begging for him at his feet.
After three loveless years, Neil's betrayal deeply wounded Katelyn. She wasted no time in getting rid of that scoundrel! After the divorce, she devoted herself to career pursuits. Rising to prominence as a top designer, skilled doctor, and brilliant hacker, she became a revered icon. Neil, realizing his grave mistake, tried in vain to win her back, only to witness her magnificent wedding to another. As their vows were broadcast on the world's largest billboard, Vincent slid a ring onto Katelyn's finger and declared, "Katelyn is now my wife, a priceless treasure. Let all who covet her beware!"
Amy didn't expect that her husband whom she had loved and trusted earnestly for many years would be cheating on her by having sex with his secretary. When she confronted him, he and his secretary mocked and ridiculed her, they called her barren to her face, afterall, she had not conceived for the past three years that she had been married to her husband, Callan. Terribly Heartbroken, she filed for divorce and left to the club, she picked a random gigolo, had a hot one night stand with him, paid him and dissapeared to a small city. She came back to the country six years later with three identical cute boys and three identical cute girls of the same age. She settled and got a job but soon find out that her CEO was the gigolo she had sex with six years back at the club. Will she be able to hide her six little cuties from her CEO, who happens to be the most powerful man in NorthHill and beleived to be infertile? Can Amy and the most powerful man in NorthHill get along considering the social gap between them.
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.
My name is Katia, and I am just trying to survive until my fated mate arrives. Which may be easier said than done. Rejectection is the last straw. Whispering my acceptance of his rejection. I run through the pack house, out across the manicured lawn into the forest. "I'm sorry, my sweet girl," I say to my wolf. I'm sorry you have been stuck with me and have had to suffer everything I have. She whispers," it's not your fault, Katia. We came to a cliff with a waterfall. The hurt keeps pounding at me. I need it to stop. My sweet girl, and I just want peace, I keep running and leap off the cliff. Spreading my arms wide, with tears streaming down my face, I fall, not making a sound, waiting for sweet oblivion where we feel nothing ever again. "I love you, my sweet girl! Until we meet again, "My wolf replied just before we hit the water, "I love you too, Katia. I have never regretted a moment with you." The Snow Moon pack is having their last barbecue of the summer next to the waterfall on their land. The adults are laughing and joking while watching the pups play. The alpha, beta, and gamma are swimming with some of the older children and playing a game of Marco Polo. Someone yells, "Oh my goddess, someone just jumped over the waterfall!" Everyone is frozen as they watch what looks to be a child falling arms spread wide, no one makes a sound. The small body hits the water like a plane crashing into the side of a mountain. The alpha, beta, and gamma, spring into action, swimming towards the area the person went under. The alpha is screaming his wolf is going crazy repeating, "Find her. Find her...find her!" They dive and the beta surfaces with a small person in his arms. Alpha takes the girl from his beta, laying her on the ground. The men are shocked by what they see. She is covered in scars and injuries. Her body is twisted and broken. The Beta asks, "Who could have done this to someone so defenseless?" Alpha drops to his knees, repeating, "MATE...MATE...MATE!"
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."