She never liked him. Or maybe she did. Amber Kingston had always been irritated by her boss's lifestyle. She never wanted anything to do with him outside of work, but then he brought a proposition to her table. To marry him. She did it for a price, and now she is breaking his one rule. How would she tell him, she'd fallen in love with him when it was something he'd clearly warned her about?
Amber's POV
"... You have a meeting in five minutes, a newly booked appointment with CadLtd," I glanced up from my tablet to take in the man sitting in front of me, with no ounce of emotion on his devilishly handsome face. Not even a goddamn flick.
His mask was always in place, I doubt it ever slipped. What is he? A statue of a damn Greek god?
His brows raised ever so lightly and my eyes fell back to my tablet and I cleared my throat.
"Well, the CEO of CadLtd wants to meet with you and probably discuss the merging of... "
" Cancel it"
The command was low, so damn low I'd have missed it if I was breathing so loudly. What!
"Cancel it?" I asked, he tilted his head staring at me in that 'do you have a problem with it' manner. I drew in a deep breath and fucking resisted flipping off my boss.
He's an asshole, I would agree with anyone on that. He was a beautiful one at that who had the attention of both male and female and yeah, they flocked around him a lot.
"Do you have a problem with that, Amber?" he asked and I shook my head even though my blood was simmering beneath my veins.
I'd managed to put up with him for three fucking years as his PA, his attitude never gets old but it gets on my nerves the whole time.
He stood up like a predator watching his prey, green eyes fixed on me with so much intensity I almost shuddered, but I managed to pull myself together.
I don't like this one bit.
"Good. I have a meeting to attend" he said before leaving the office in smooth, long strides without sparing me another glance.
I waited for a second, glaring at his back. If I had my way, I'd have knocked some sense into his 'not dumb head'.
Getting my feet to move, I knew better than to lag around.
When he said he had a meeting to attend, he was flatly biased... because we were both attending the meeting. That's how it's always been from the start.
If I wasn't present in a meeting, it pisses him the hell off. But I knew better than to say Xavier had an obsession with me because ha! The man was a stone.
Hurrying after him, I was fast enough to see him get into the elevator. I raised a finger, silently pleading with him to hold it for me as the doors were already sliding shut.
His face was impassive and he didn't even move a muscle. The doors shut right in my face and yeah, I lost my cool.
"Asshole!" I cursed my face and ears hot from either anger or embarrassment.
Luckily, we were the only ones occupying this floor of the company. My office came before his, I was doing both the job of a Secretary and a Personal Assistant and because my boss was Xavier, it sucked.
I ran my fingers through my hair before I stiffened, my eyes almost fell out of their sockets when the elevator slid open and my eyes met with that of Xavier's.
Oh shit!
The silence hung in the air thick and heavy. What does one say after calling their bosses assholes?
I took the easier route. Cleared my throat, straightened my spine, and walked right into the elevator avoiding his hunter's eyes and pretending I did nothing wrong. Well, I didn't.
"Thank you" I muttered, expecting him to be quiet just as he'd always been, but I was in for a big surprise.
He pressed the button leading us to the second floor which had the conference and meeting room.
"Did you call me an asshole?" He asked, his voice dry and dead serious. I shifted uncomfortably on my foot.
I lowered my head a fraction.
"No sir. You probably didn't hear right" I said, staring at my shoes. I loved my job too much to lose it, well I meant the pay.
There was silence and I risked glancing at him. His broad shoulders leaned against the elevator wall, his hands tucked into the pocket of his Tuxedo pants, and...amusement danced in his eyes for a slight second before it disappeared.
I was sure I'd seen it.
" I don't have hearing issues, '' he said and I almost huffed. Everyone thought he did. I wasn't going to touch that topic.
I won't be the one telling him he had hearing issues because the man heard right.
"I doubt" it was a grumble. Under my breath, he wasn't supposed to pick on it but he did.
Of course! Psychopathic abilities.
"You think I have hearing issues? Seriously?" I closed my eyes. I'd have pinched the space between my brows to wedge off the headache that I could sense brewing.
Before I could come up with a reply, his phone rang, cutting off our awkward little chit chat and I was grateful for the interruption.
His face darkened. His eyes once held a little warmth hardened and turned into frosty green slits. His lips pulled into a hard line, tension oozing off him.
I took a step back.
I know there was a lot to Xavier Castillo, he was a beautiful surface with the deepest and darkest secrets lurking beneath.
The elevator dinged and the doors parted, I stepped out of it almost too quickly.
But Xavier remained in it, his jaws set hard, his eyes staring into nothing, and his fingers wrapped tightly around his phone that I feared for the poor phone.
Whoever had called was a trigger or an enemy or... I don't know. The doors slid shut, but not before his gaze rested on me.
I shivered, his eyes weren't as predatory as they'd been earlier... they instead looked calculative.
And a calculative Xavier was dangerous.
It could never mean a good sign.
Alessia De Luca is determined to prove to her family that she has moved on from the man who left her at the altar two years ago. Desperate to avoid their pity, she enlists her arch-nemesis Noah Wilson, a moody colleague, to pose as her boyfriend during a summer trip to Italy, where her ex-fiancé, Antonio, is getting married. But circumstances changed and she's thrown into a dilemma that almost ruins everything. However, things get more complicated when Noah plays his role a little too well, and Alessia realizes that she's falling for her perfectly 'fake' boyfriend.
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
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.
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
Betrayed by her mate and sister on the eve of her wedding, Makenna was handed to the ruthless Lycan Princes as a lover, her indifferent father ignoring her plight. Determined to escape and seek revenge, she captured the interest of the three Lycan princes, who desired her exclusively amid many admirers. This complicated her plans, trapping her and making her a rival to the future Lycan queen. Entwined in jealousy and vindictiveness, could Makenna achieve her vengeance in the intricate dance with the three princes?