The hottest man I've ever seen is now my new boss- and I'm stuck in a house with him... Until one of us cracks. I've got debt-yeah, I know, so does everyone else on Planet Earth. But the bills I'm paying keep my dad and my grandma alive. So it's pretty messed-up for Timofey Viktorov to use them as a threat to keep me under control. Not that he cares. As a billionaire CEO, he takes no prisoners in the boardroom. And as the don of the Viktorov Bratva, he takes no prisoners in real life, either. Which is why he has no qualms about extorting me into taking his deal. Live in my mansion... Care for my baby... Or suffer the consequences. But he's not the only one with an agenda. Timofey has skeletons in his closet-and I'm determined to dig them out. He's just as determined to keep me far away from the secrets of his past. The longer I'm in his house, the tenser things get. Every time we brush past each other in the hallway, something sparks. Every time we cross paths in the night, the ice grows thinner. Sooner or later, it's going to crack.
Piper
Thunder rumbles through the ground under my tired feet the moment I step out of work. If I wasn't so sick of hearing my own voice, I'd laugh. Or maniacally cackle. Whichever would more clearly denote that I am losing my ever-loving mind.
The world seems to agree, via brooding cinematic ambiance, that today sucks. A flash of lightning? The patter of raindrops turning into a steady downpour? Sure, why not? All the better to wash away the last of the day's hopes and dreams.
I lean out from under the threadbare awning and glance up at the dark sky. I'm not sure what I expect to see. Maybe a countdown clock in the clouds. Some sign of when the rain will end and I can resume my miserable life.
There's nothing, of course.
Thick clouds cover the waning moon and the streetlight outside the downtown Child Protective Services office is still burnt out, so it's eerily dark. I registered a complaint with the city four months ago, but the person in charge of replacing lights is probably as overworked as I am.
Still, all of that means it's dark outside.
"Like my soul," I quip quietly to myself.
Apparently, my week from hell hasn't stolen all of my wonderful qualities. My self-deprecating sense of humor is fully intact.
That being said, the guardian I dealt with today wouldn't find my joke especially funny. He'd probably call it accurate, actually.
Dark soul? More like a stone-cold bitch.
That's the thing about working for CPS: you're the face people associate with their child being ripped out of their arms.
It doesn't matter that the face of the child in question is filthy, scrawny, and covered in unexplained bruises.
It doesn't matter that the arms of the parent in question are studded with track marks from dirty needles.
They still think you're the bad guy.
Or, to quote yesterday's gem of a birth parent, a "raging bitch with shit for a heart and a bear trap for a coochie." As far as things go, that one was pretty good. I rated it a ten out of ten for creativity and submitted it to the office-wide "Best Insults" email thread.
"You should add that line to your dating profile," my boss, James, responded with a crying-laughing emoji.
What dating profile?I wanted to respond. But at some point, the self-deprecating humor isn't funny... or a joke, even.
I deleted my dating apps months ago, only a few weeks after downloading them post-break up. Hence why I am standing on the doorstep of work trying to muster the courage to ride my bike home in the dark. In a rainstorm.
Because there is no one else to call.
I don't have a boyfriend waiting for me at home anymore, Noelle is working tonight, and Ashley's car is the most compact of compacts. She went on a "save the world" kick last year when she got out of rehab and bought a used Smart Car online. Even if she were available, I'd rather ride home in the rain than jam myself into that death trap.
When the claustrophobia starts, it lasts for hours.
"Okay, Pipe," I say to myself, hopping lightly from one foot to the other to psych myself up. "Here we go. Make it home and you can take a shower and put on your pajamas and eat that frozen stuffed crust pizza in the freezer."
And die alone.
I groan at my own intrusive joke and shake out my shoulders. "It's just a ten-minute ride. Then this day will be over and you can relax. Ready, set-"
To try and trick my own brain, I skip "go" and leap out into the rain.
I'm glad I didn't bother with a hat or the cute-but-useless rain jacket I keep in the bottom drawer of my desk for occasions like this. Because this is a soaking rain. The kind that drenches you through and through the moment you step into it.
There is no protection from this.
I keep my eyes down at the ground as I run, making sure I don't trip on the uneven pavement or slip in a giant puddle. Looking around is pointless, anyway-no one is out in this deluge. Even if they were, I wouldn't be able to see them. Every time I lift my head, the rain blurs what little of my vision the dark hasn't already stolen.
I round the corner into the alley next to our building. There's a dingy orange security light attached halfway up the brick facade, but it doesn't offer light so much as a strong sense that I've stumbled into the apocalypse.
I kneel down in an orange puddle to unlock my bike.
"If I'd known it was going to rain, I would have carried you up the stairs," I say.
If maniacal laughter wasn't already a clue that I'm losing my mind, talking to my bike surely is. I fumble with the lock chain in the dark. My fingers are slippery from all the water, and when they slip and I accidentally bend a fingernail all the way back, I want to curl up in a ball and cry right then and there.
Shower. Pajamas. Pizza.
I repeat my evening plans like a mantra as I finally pop the lock free, loop it around the base of the sopping wet seat, and tug my bike away from the rack.
Then the world tips sideways.
Correction:someone tips my world sideways.
For a second, the hands around my throat blend in with the pounding rain. My brain is overloaded with things to notice, so when I'm yanked to my left and thrown unceremoniously into the garbage-filled stream of dirty water running down the alleyway, I'm confused.
"What the-"
"You fuckingcunt," a deep voice hisses.
That was definitely not the wind. Or the rain.
Panic lashes through me. Someone fists the wet material of my shirt and hauls me to my feet like I'm a sack of potatoes. I look back over my shoulder, but rain is pouring down my face and the man is backlit by the orange safety light.
So much for safety-I can't see shit.
I try to scream, but the man slams me against the brick wall. The air in my lungs leaves me in a whoosh.
"Not so tough now, eh?" He pins me in, crowding so close that he blocks some of the rain.
And for the first time, I get a good look at my attacker.
"I know you," I wheezed. "I-I-"
"You-you-," he mimics, his voice going unnaturally high. Then he lets out a deep, bitter laugh that isn't mirthful in the slightest. "You took my kid away from me."
Tom Thomas never thought he'd fall in love with the only girl he's ever befriended. Mira Tomic has issues with commitment after the ultimate betrayal. When Mira decides to make broody Tom's day better, she never thought she would end up friends with the hard man. Tom has never had a woman be so affectionate to him without expecting something in return. Tom and Mira cordially invite you to read Just Friends. A story of friendship, humour and love.
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She thought she was the love of his life, and he became the love of her life that fateful day she had seen him at the pack's party. Selene Grace was only a replica of Alpha Leo's real mate, and when he spotted her, Leo immediately claimed her as his Luna in order to suppress the rumors of him being mateless. Being unable to conceive turns Selene's marriage into a nightmare, and as if that wasn't enough, Alpha Leo finally reunites with his long time lover and mate, rejecting a pregnant Selene as a result. 5 years later, Selene, a now successful doctor, receives an invitation to the moon shadow pack in order to rid the pack of a deadly disease which has struck it. Will Selene return back to the pack which had caused her so much pain, and what would she do when she realizes that she is mated to the Alpha who had betrayed her in the past?
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A sudden twist of fate connected Helena to a prominent and influential person. To onlookers, she appeared as a naive bimbo. In truth, she was a top-tier specialist, shrouded in layers of hidden identities. Charlie declared, “She’s quite delicate and easily hurt. Cross her, and you’re crossing me.” The elite families, outwitted by Helena's prowess, kept these truths from him. Helena eventually broke free from Charlie, sending him on a frenzied worldwide hunt. To him, she was a bird with dazzling wings, and his goal was to help her reach new heights.Â
Eliana was framed by her best friend and her fiance into sleeping with a boy toy in the club and getting impregnated by him. Five years after she had given birth to twins, she returned home and worked under the Moran Group, where she met the CEO-- Maurice. Maurice was a brilliant businessman who did his job well. But in order to stay under the radar, he lived a double life. One as Maurice, and one as Preston. Fate brought the two together again, roping them in on an exciting love story. It all became more complicated when Eliana faced Preston, the man she had slept with before, once again. Now that she was being pursued by two men, how could she ever choose? When would Eliana uncover the secret of Maurice's identity? When was Maurice going to know that he already had two children of his own? How would Eliana face this man when the truth came to light one day? Come and find out.
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?