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  • Sold to the Devil’s Empire novel by Judith C-Tagoe

    Sold to the Devil's Empire novel by Judith C-Tagoe

    👉 READ NOW

    Born minutes apart, raised in the same house, yet Delphina Moore was always the outsider. The unwanted twin.

    So when she tries to leave, her family makes sure she never gets the chance.

    They sell her to Evander Thorne.

    A man whispered about in fear. A man no one escapes.

    Delphina is supposed to disappear like the others.

    But she doesn’t.

    Instead, she survives… and forms a bond that was never meant to exist.

    A bond that ties her to Evander in ways neither of them can control.

    And worse, it awakens a secret buried long before she was born.

    A secret powerful enough to destroy everything or remake it entirely.

    👉 READ NOW

    Sold to the Devil’s Empire novel Chapter 1

    Delphina’s POV
    In our house, innocence meant nothing, only who cried first. And Ceilia always cried first.
    “Mummy!”
    Ceilia’s scream tore through the house.
    I froze.
    She stood in the centre of the bedroom, clutching her finger as blood welled from a neat crescent bite. Her bite. She had bitten her finger right in front of me.
    “I’m bleeding!” she wailed.
    My feet would not move. There was nowhere to hide anyway. The wardrobe door had no lock. The bathroom lock never worked. The window had iron bars.
    I heard footsteps approaching, and my heart raced in my chest.
    “What happened?”
    Mum appeared at the doorway, holding a spatula still in her hand from the kitchen. Oil glistened on its surface. Her eyes moved from Ceilia’s tears to the blood, then slowly to me.
    “Delphina hurt my finger,” Ceilia sobbed.
    I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
    Mum took Ceilia’s hand gently, inspecting it as if she were examining a crystal in her shop. She cooed softly. Wiped the blood with the edge of her apron.
    Then her arm swung. The spatula struck my shoulder before I could brace myself.
    “How dare you hurt her?” she shouted.
    “Mummy, I didn’t…”
    The second blow landed across my arm. The third on my back.
    The spatula made a flat, cracking sound each time it connected with my skin. She was holding my hand and repeatedly hitting me with the spatula.
    Ceilia’s crying softened.
    “Mummy, please,” I begged, while my attempt to free myself proved futile. “I didn’t do it.”
    Like always, my voice did not exist.
    She beat me until her breathing grew heavy and satisfied. When she finally stopped, I was shaking. My skin marked with red patches, and injuries resulting from the beating, but she didn’t care.
    She had never cared.
    “As your punishment, you will stay locked in the basement,” she said, seizing my wrist.
    I was only six years old.
    I stumbled as she dragged me down the narrow staircase. The basement door creaked open. Damp air rose to meet us.
    While she shoved me inside, I turned.
    Ceilia stood at the top of the stairs.
    She stuck her tongue out teasingly.
    The door slammed, and the lock clicked before I could get to it.
    I pressed my back against the wood and slid down slowly. My arms burned. My legs stung. My skin would become redder by nightfall.
    This was how it had always been.
    Ceilia is my twin.
    We shared a birthday, not a face. She had black hair and warm brown eyes that made people smile. I had brunette hair and green eyes that made people whisper.
    From the day we were born, she had been the miracle, and I, the mistake.
    I learned very early that one word was forbidden in Ceilia’s world. No.
    I had a storybook. Kevin from next door had given it to me. He said it was his favourite and that I was clever enough to understand it.
    Ceilia wanted it.
    “No,” I said.
    And that was it. She bit her own finger.
    And here I was, beaten and locked up in a basement.
    Father never questioned anything. He worked, ate, and slept. Mum owned a boutique where rich women shopped for imported silk and perfume.
    We were not poor. Yet I delivered newspapers before dawn.
    Ceilia went to school in polished shoes and pleated skirts. I scrubbed floors that were already clean. In the afternoons, I cooked, washed, ironed, and dusted until every surface shone like glass.
    Yes, I started cooking for the family at the age of six.
    The only good thing they did for me was buy the groceries and provide me with cooking books. That started when they discovered I had learned to read and write on my own.
    “If there is dust, you do not eat,” Mum would say.
    We shared a room once. Ceilia slept on the queen-sized bed. I slept on the floor.
    “It will be easier when Ceilia needs something,” Mum had explained.
    By the time I was thirteen years old, even that small space was taken from me. The servants who cleaned the compound were dismissed one by one. I replaced them all.
    “You are old enough to earn your keep.”
    I moved into the kitchen storage room. It smelled of flour and detergent.
    “It will help you wake early,” Mum said.
    It helped me understand what I was.
    Staff.
    Kevin was the only soft thing in my world.
    Over weekends, he would teach me what he learned at school. Algebra frightened me. History fascinated me. He said I asked questions like someone meant for more.
    When I turned fifteen, he told me his father had now taken over from his grandfather to manage the Wilson’s Group. They were moving.
    “Delphina, take this.” He pressed a cheap plastic ring into my palm. Blue stone. Too large for my finger.
    “I’ll come back for you when I’m older,” he said with a grin he believed in.
    I hugged him tightly.
    That was the last time I saw him.
    I slid a thread through the ring and wore it around my neck for years. I wore high-neck tops, so it was easy to hide it from my family.
    Hope is a stubborn thing, but it was the only thing that kept me going.
    One day, I will be free.
    I always encouraged myself with those words.
    It will not be like this forever.
    By twenty, hope had turned into something sharper.
    Enough.
    I had counted the days quietly. Planned silently. I kept my thoughts in a diary hidden under the kitchen shelf behind the sacks of rice.
    I did not know where I would go, but I knew I would leave.
    That morning, I woke at four as usual.
    “After today, I’ll be free,” I whispered as I folded my thin blanket.
    I cleaned with a lightness I had never felt before. Washed dishes carefully. Polished the bannister. Prepared breakfast.
    At seven, they would leave.
    Father to work, mum to her shop, and Ceilia to her friends, who never visited our house because she did not like them seeing me.
    I would pack my small bag, walk out that door, never to return.
    I cleared the breakfast table, humming under my breath.
    “Delphina.”
    My stomach tightened.
    I hurried to the sitting room.
    If she called twice, I would be struck.
    “Mummy, you called?” I bowed slightly.
    Father sat stiffly on the sofa. Ceilia lounged beside him, scrolling through her phone.
    “Delphina, you are twenty,” Father said.
    I blinked. They remembered.
    “We have decided it is time you settle down.”
    The room tilted slightly.
    “Settle down?” I repeated.
    “Do not interrupt,” Mum snapped.
    “Sorry.”
    “Mr Evander Thorne has made us an offer,” Father continued. “In return, he requires something to seal the arrangement.”
    Understanding crawled over me slowly.
    “You offered me,” I said quietly.
    “I said be silent!” Mum’s hand struck my cheek.
    The sting blossomed.
    “No,” I said, and the word surprised even me. “I will not be silent. What have I done to deserve this? Am I even your child?”
    Another slap.
    “You should be grateful,” Mum hissed. “A man of his stature is willing to take you.”
    “Then let Ceilia marry him,” I said. “If he is so wealthy, surely that suits her.”
    The third slap sent me sideways.
    “How dare you compare yourself to Ceilia?” Mum barked. “Our angel already has a proposal from someone far superior.”
    Ceilia smirked.
    Evander Thorne.
    Everyone knew the rumours. Ruthless. Cold. Untouchable. Hates women. A man whose name alone could make businessmen tremble.
    And I was to be the price of some bargain.
    I swallowed.
    Fine.
    They would not find me here when they returned tonight.
    A knock sounded at the door.
    “See who it is,” Mum ordered.
    I stepped out of the balcony corridor and descended to the front entrance.
    Two men in black suits stood outside. Their expressions were blank, professional.
    “Yes?”
    “Is Mr Moore home?” one asked.
    “Yes.”
    Heavy footsteps approached behind me.
    “She is ready,” Father said.
    My blood turned to ice.
    “She?”
    Before I could move, the men seized my arms.
    “No!” I struggled, but their grip tightened.
    “Mummy, Daddy, please!” The words tore out of me, though I knew better than to expect mercy.
    Ceilia watched from the staircase, behind mum and dad.
    Holding a book.
    She deliberately held it up so I could see.
    My diary.
    The ribbon I used as a bookmark dangled from her fingers. And on her pinkie was the plastic ring Kevin gave me. My hand flew to my neck. It was gone.
    She knew of my plans. And she planned her own.
    She smiled, looking pleased.
    They dragged me outside. A sleek black car waited at the gate. One of the men opened the back door and shoved me inside.
    I clawed at the handle.
    Something cold pressed against my nose.
    A sharp chemical scent filled my lungs, and the world blurred.
    My last thought before darkness swallowed me was simple and devastating.
    I had tried to run.
    But freedom had never been mine to claim.

    Sold to the Devil’s Empire novel Chapter 2

    Evander’s POV
    “Sir, it is the final day. Mr Moore has still not paid what he owes.”
    Marcus’s voice carried across the balcony, steady as ever.
    I did not turn immediately. Below me, Draevik City pulsed in disciplined silence. Glass towers reflected the late afternoon sun. Traffic moved like blood through veins I owned.
    I tightened my grip on the railing until the cold metal bit into my palm.
    “Where is he?” I asked.
    “In the basement.”
    “Good.”
    I walked past Marcus without another word. He fell into step behind me.
    The lift descended smoothly. Stainless steel. No mirrors. I disliked reflections.
    The basement air was colder. Thicker. Concrete and iron. A single overhead light cast sharp shadows against the walls.
    A chair was placed at the centre of the room. I sat. My face mask in place.
    Seth Moore knelt between two guards. Sweat clung to his thinning hair. His expensive suit was wrinkled now, stained at the collar.
    “Seth Moore,” I said quietly, “I despise promise breakers.”
    “Mr Thorne, have mercy,” he begged, voice cracking.
    “Why should I?”
    “Dead men are useless to you,” he stammered.
    I leaned forward slightly. “What makes you think I care whether you are dead or alive?”
    He swallowed hard. “I will pay. I just need time.”
    “You are out of time.”
    He began rambling about former positions, future appointments, and companies that might still hire him as CEO. Words spilling like coins from a torn purse.
    “That ship has sailed,” I said.
    His breathing quickened. Panic sharpened his eyes.
    Then he said it.
    “I will give you my daughter. She will serve you. Do with her as you please.”
    The guards shifted slightly. Marcus did not move.
    “Human trafficking,” I said evenly.
    “No, no. Not trafficking. Service. She will work for you without pay while I raise the money. When I settle my debt, I will take her back.”
    I looked at him for a long moment.
    “Cut his finger,” I instructed.
    One of my men stepped forward.
    “Wait! Please!” Seth cried, fumbling inside his jacket. “Look at her first. Please. Look.”
    He held up a photograph with trembling fingers.
    I was not interested at first, but something about the image caught my attention.
    I raised my hand, and the guard paused.
    The image was slightly creased. Taken in poor light. A young woman stood stiffly in what looked like a kitchen doorway.
    Her hair was brunette, falling past her shoulders, down to her waist. Her eyes, green, sharp even in print, did not carry the softness of someone loved.
    Something was unsettling about the picture. I stared longer than necessary.
    She was not smiling, but she was not afraid either.
    She looked… resigned.
    And that disturbed me more than fear would have, but I still wanted to see this girl. This strange girl with green eyes.
    I lowered my hand slowly.
    “I accept your offer,” I said.
    Relief flooded Seth’s face so quickly it disgusted me.
    “Three days,” he pleaded. “Allow me to prepare her.”
    “Three days,” I agreed, and stood.
    As I walked towards the door, I gave Marcus a brief glance, and he understood.
    The first crack of the whip split the air just as I exited. Seth’s scream followed, muffled once the steel door shut behind me.
    I believe pain, when properly administered, is educational.
    “Sir,” Marcus said once we reached my home office level, “please tell me you are not truly considering this arrangement.”
    I removed my cufflinks slowly.
    “Are you questioning my judgement?”
    “No, my Lord. But she will be the only woman within these walls. Curiosity breeds speculation.”
    Women did not enter my space. They never had, and I had my reasons.
    “Are you saying security will fail?” I asked.
    “No.”
    “Then there is no problem.”
    He hesitated, which meant he was thinking beyond logistics.
    Only Marcus would dare.
    “She could expose…” He paused carefully. “Certain truths.”
    My gaze sharpened.
    “Are you incompetent, Marcus?”
    His jaw tightened. “Never.”
    “Then ensure she does not become a liability.”
    “Yes, my Lord.”
    As he turned to leave, I added, “I want everything about her. Every detail. And I want to know why her father offered her so easily.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    When the door closed, silence settled.
    My phone vibrated against the desk.
    “Father.”
    “The meeting is this weekend,” he said without greeting. “No excuses.”
    “Very well.”
    The line went dead.
    The Wilson alliance.
    A strategic merger disguised as marriage, to save their empire, which was bleeding quietly. Ours was not.
    Marissa Wilson.
    A woman I had seen from a distance once and only met once. She was well polished, educated, and impeccable.
    She had tried to get close upon meeting me for the first time. I quickly stepped back, keeping a distance between us, while keeping my father in the middle.
    Her perfume had been too sweet.
    Women unsettled me.
    Aside from my personal reason, at five years old, I learned that affection could be performance. My mother’s smile was reserved for rooms where my father stood watching. In private, her gaze was colder than any basement I owned.
    At six, I learned worse watching the woman I called my mother.
    That memory remained locked.
    Marcus was the only living person aware of my reaction towards women.
    I did not allow women close to me. I did not touch or entertain them. The idea of physical intimacy did not stir hunger in me.
    It stirred caution.
    In this world, control had been my solution.
    Marcus returned within the hour and placed a file on my desk.
    “Preliminary report on Delphina Moore. Also, the President has requested an audience.”
    So, that is her name. I thought.
    “I am not receiving him today.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    He left.
    I opened the file.
    Delphina Moore.
    Twenty years old.
    No formal education.
    Paper delivery.
    Domestic labour within her own household.
    No criminal record.
    No social footprint.
    Invisible.
    Her photograph, paper clipped to the front, was clearer than the one her father had shown me.
    In this image, she was younger. Perhaps eighteen. Standing slightly behind another girl, identical in age but not in physical appearance.
    Twin.
    The resemblance was biological, not emotional.
    One shone.
    One endured.
    “Interesting,” I murmured.
    Seth Moore had not offered his daughter.
    He had offered the spare.
    That detail lodged somewhere uncomfortable.
    In the Republic of Vaelorin, power had layers.
    Averelle City held the politicians. Marble buildings. Press conferences. Diplomacy rehearsed for cameras.
    The President signed documents.
    I decided which ones reached his desk.
    Draevik City held the money. Stock exchanges. Corporate towers. Conglomerates stitched together by invisible agreements.
    They all answered to someone.
    Me.
    Velmire Port City held what was never spoken aloud. Private docks. Restricted zones. Shipping manifests that changed before customs officers saw them.
    Officially, I was a businessman.
    Unofficially, I was the spine.
    Very few had seen my face.
    But they knew my name.
    And they feared it.
    I closed the file slowly.
    Why did her image unsettle me?
    It was not an attraction.
    I did not experience desire the way other men described it. I had listened to enough conversations in boardrooms and private clubs to understand that.
    Men spoke of women like acquisitions.
    I did not understand the impulse.
    But when I looked at Delphina Moore’s photograph, something shifted.
    Not hunger.
    Recognition.
    She looked like someone who had been managed. Contained. Silenced.
    I understood containment.
    Three days later, I sent my men.
    Marcus stood by my desk that afternoon.
    “Sir, are you certain?”
    “Is the second floor prepared?”
    “Yes.”
    The second floor of my private residence was a self-contained apartment. Two bedrooms. Kitchen. Security access limited.
    No woman had ever occupied that space.
    “She will remain there,” I instructed. “She may access the third floor only under supervision. Cleaning. Cooking. Nothing more.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And Marcus?”
    He paused.
    “She does not wander.”
    “Understood.”
    By mid-afternoon, I had completed two virtual negotiations and rejected a government proposal.
    “Sir,” Marcus announced, “she has arrived. She is sedated.”
    I looked up.
    A strange tension settled beneath my ribs.
    Good, I told myself.
    I stood.
    Marcus hesitated, as though considering speaking. He did not.
    We walked down the corridor.
    The second-floor door unlocked with a soft electronic click.
    The apartment was quiet.
    I stepped into the bedroom.
    She lay on the bed, unconscious. Brunette hair spread across the pillow like silk brushed with warm earth tones. Her hands rested loosely at her sides.
    She looked smaller than in the photograph.
    Less resigned.
    More fragile.
    The faint scent of antiseptic lingered in the air from the sedative.
    I stood at the foot of the bed.
    For a fraction of a second, warmth flickered beneath my skin, but gone before I could identify it.
    This was new.
    I had stood in rooms where governments negotiated their survival. I had ordered sanctions, dismantled companies, broken men.
    My heart had never altered its rhythm.
    Now it did.
    I moved closer despite myself.
    Her eyelashes trembled slightly in sleep. There was a faint bruise near her cheekbone.
    My jaw tightened.
    I wanted to reach out.
    The thought alone startled me.
    I do not touch.
    I do not reach.
    Experience had taught me that proximity often came with consequences.
    My hand lifted a fraction before I forced it back to my side.
    This is illogical, I told myself.
    She is leverage. Nothing more.
    Yet something about her stillness made the room feel unfamiliar.
    Uncontrolled.
    “Sir?” Marcus’s voice came from behind me, careful.
    I stepped back immediately.
    “Let’s go,” I said.
    I left the room as though it were the source of heat and I had stood too close to the flame.
    Once the door shut, I exhaled slowly.
    For the first time in years, I felt something dangerously close to fear.
    Not of her.
    Of myself.
    I had faced nations without flinching.
    Yet a sleeping girl had unsettled the architecture of my control.

    Sold to the Devil’s Empire novel Chapter 3

    Delphina’s POV
    I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a ceiling I did not recognise.
    For a moment, I did not move. I simply stared. Pale. Smooth. No crack. Nothing like the storage room I spent countless nights in. The fruit fragrance of the room hit me next. My heart jolted, and I pushed myself upright too quickly.
    My body quickly recognised the softness of the bed. The mattress dipped beneath me. My balance faltered, and I scrambled backwards, tangling in unfamiliar sheets before tumbling off the bed entirely, and ending up on the floor.
    The floor was smooth hardwood, cool against my palms.
    I looked up.
    The room was clean.
    Very clean.
    Cream walls. White sheets pulled tight and unwrinkled. My nose picked up the fruit scent, lemon and coconut, it lingered in the air, subtle but deliberate. Nothing like the damp storage room I had slept in for years, where mildew clung to the corners, and the only scent was dust and old wood.
    My breathing grew shallow.
    Is this Evander Thorne’s house? Or did someone rescue me?
    I stood to my feet and took a good look at the room. The bed stood neatly at the centre, dressed in white sheets, so crisp it almost glowed in the filtered daylight. A wardrobe stood against the far wall. Closed. Polished.
    There were no bars on the windows, only a beautiful white and grey drape decorated them.
    No visible restraints.
    This did not look like a prison.
    If it was, this was one hell of a comfortable prison.
    The door opened before I could steady myself.
    I froze.
    An average-height man stepped inside. Dark hair, precisely groomed. Suit pressed without a crease. He carried himself with quiet authority, not hurried, not uncertain.
    Is that him?
    I stayed half-crouched beside the bed, painfully aware of the state of my clothes. Faded. Worn. I looked like dirt that had been dropped into a showroom.
    “Delphina Moore,” he said evenly. “Good. You are awake.”
    His voice was controlled, measured.
    “Please,” I blurted, scrambling to my feet. “I can’t stay here. Please let me go.”
    “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” He placed a file neatly on the bed. “I am here to assign your duties.”
    Duties. He can’t be Evander Thorne.
    “For your sake, I hope you can read,” he added calmly. “Ensure you understand everything on the paper. Your work begins at six a.m. tomorrow.”
    “My work?” I echoed.
    But he was already turning away.
    The door shut with a soft mechanical click.
    Locked.
    The quiet that followed was heavier than the words.
    The rumours about Evander Thorne echoed in my mind.
    Ruthless. Untouchable. Dangerous. Hates women. A man who could erase a life without consequence.
    I approached the bed slowly and picked up the file.
    Household duties.
    Every task listed with military precision. Start time. Finish time. Allocated minutes for each task, and each room meant to be cleaned.
    Six a.m. to six p.m each day.
    “I was brought here to be a housekeeper?” I whispered.
    The word felt too simple for the transaction that had delivered me here.
    I moved to the wardrobe and opened it.
    Uniforms.
    Black dresses with white collars. Crisp aprons. Identical. Lined up in silent expectation.
    On the other side were five sets of pyjamas.
    All my size.
    My fingers tightened around the paper.
    He knew.
    My father had not spoken blindly. This had been arranged.
    I shut the wardrobe and pushed open the inner door.
    A bathroom.
    My own.
    White tiles. A glass shower. Clean towels folded with symmetry.
    At home, I bathed outside behind the kitchen window, beneath the standing pipe. My parents had their bedroom with a bathroom. Ceilia had hers.
    I was not permitted in the bathrooms designated for families.
    And yet here, in the house of the most feared man in the country, I had a private one.
    Mr Thorne might be a terrible man, but he provided well for his servants.
    Servant.
    The word settled in my chest.
    I returned to the bedroom just as the door unlocked again.
    The same man stepped inside.
    “I require your thumbprint on several documents,” he said, approaching.
    I instinctively stepped back.
    “Delphina,” he said quietly, and there was warning beneath the calm. “Do not make this difficult.”
    He took my right hand firmly but not roughly, pressed my thumb onto an ink pad, then opened the file.
    Oath of Secrecy.
    The bold heading burned into my vision before he flipped to the final page.
    He reached for my hand again. I pulled it back.
    “Delphina.”
    My name in his mouth felt less like a call and more like a command. He took my thumb and pressed it onto the signature line.
    “There,” he said.
    “What is this?” I asked, my voice thinner than I intended.
    “It is an Oath of Secrecy,” he replied. “This is Lord Evander Thorne’s empire. Nothing you see or hear leaves this building.”
    He held my gaze.
    “If information becomes public, the agreed punishment will be carried out.”
    He paused.
    “Death.”
    The word did not rise in volume. It did not need to. Cold spread through my limbs. My breath shortened.
    “I, I don’t know how to clean properly,” I managed, looking at how clean the environment was and recalling how my mum constantly tells me I suck at cleaning. “There must be someone better suited.”
    “Your father has already collected payment for your service.”
    Payment.
    He left before I could speak again.
    The door locked.
    My knees gave way.
    Payment.
    Was I sold? Or I am working, and they are collecting the payment?
    I pressed my hand against my mouth to stop the sound that threatened to escape.
    My diary.
    Ceilia was holding it. She told them about my plan to leave.
    My father would rather sell me to the country’s most feared man than allow me freedom.
    I forced myself upright.
    “No. I will get out of here,” I whispered.
    I just needed time. Study the environment, and I can plan my escape.
    But then another thought struck.
    If I leave, he will find me. If he cannot find me, he will find them.
    I lowered my lashes in defeat. They may have treated me like an inconvenience, but they were still my family.
    I exhaled slowly, steadying myself.
    Fine.
    I will work. I will learn the terms. I will complete whatever period is required.
    And then I will leave properly.
    My father has said that this was to seal a deal. The man who just left said I was here to render service. It must be temporary.
    The door unlocked again.
    Another man entered with a tray and placed it silently on a desk near the window. Only then did I notice the subtle extension of the room, a small dining nook tucked behind heavy curtains.
    He was dressed differently. Nothing like the man who had come in earlier.
    “Thank you,” I said instinctively.
    He did not respond.
    The bowl revealed a chicken Caesar salad. Fresh. Crisp. Real food.
    I ate without hesitation.
    Afterwards, I showered. The hot water stunned my skin. I stood beneath it longer than necessary, letting it wash years of cold baths from memory.
    I changed into one of the pyjamas and slid into the bed.
    The sheets were impossibly soft and comfortable.
    I closed my eyes, and sleep took over.
    When the shock of cold water hit my face, I gasped and shot upright. The same man stood over me, holding an empty glass.
    “You were to be ready at five fifty,” he said. “It is now six.”
    My heart pounded.
    “You have five minutes.”
    He left.
    I wiped water from my face, breathing unevenly.
    Comfort had made me careless.
    I dressed quickly, pulling on the uniform. The black dress fit perfectly. The white collar lay sharp against my throat. I tied my hair into a tight ponytail and approached the door.
    Locked.
    The moment I stepped back, it clicked open.
    He was waiting.
    “Follow me,” he said.
    We walked through a corridor lined with neutral walls. We entered a lift and ascended.
    The third floor opened into something that felt less like a home and more like a luxury hotel lobby. Polished floors. Controlled lighting. Everything arranged with intention.
    He knocked on the door before opening it.
    “Wait.”
    He disappeared briefly and returned with cleaning supplies.
    Broom. Mop. Cloths. Dusters. Bucket.
    “I expect every room to be immaculate. You have thirty minutes.”
    He turned to leave, then paused.
    “Do not go to the top floor.”
    He did not explain, but I nodded.
    I began cleaning.
    The rooms were expansive, far larger than necessary. Bedrooms with private sitting areas. Bathrooms bigger than entire sections of my former home. I was able to enter all rooms except one. It was locked.
    Half an hour was not enough. I worked quickly, pulse steadying as routine replaced panic.
    Then I saw the staircase.
    It curved upwards discreetly, almost hidden.
    The top floor.
    He had said not to go there.
    I hesitated only a second before climbing out of curiosity.
    The air felt cooler.
    I reached the landing and stopped.
    Through a glass partition, I saw a man.
    Shirtless.
    The waistband of dark training trousers rested low against his narrow waist. His skin was pale but defined, lean muscle etched with quiet precision.
    He held a weighted bar attached to a chain, pulling it down towards his waist in controlled repetition.
    The muscles in his back tightened and released with each measured pull.
    There was nothing frantic in the movement.
    No aggression.
    No display.
    He did not look like a man who needed to prove his strength.
    He looked like one who measured it.
    My breath caught, not from attraction, but from awareness.
    Was that him?
    I continued to stare.
    This was a man of discipline.
    Of calculation.
    He paused mid-repetition, head tilting slightly.
    As though he sensed something.
    “Breaking rules on your first day?”
    The voice came from behind me.
    I jolted, spinning so quickly my shoulder struck the wall. My hand flew to my chest.
    The man from earlier stood on the staircase, watching me.
    “Marcus,” he said evenly, as though offering a courtesy. “I suggest you remember that name.”
    I swallowed.
    “I, I’m sorry.”
    When I glanced back through the glass, the room was empty.
    He was gone.
    And somehow that was worse.

    👉 CONTINUE READING

  • Bride by Chance novel by Delight Write

    Bride by Chance novel by Delight Write

    👉 READ NOW

    On the day of her arranged wedding, Isabella Torres flees the altar, desperate to escape a loveless union her influential family is forcing upon her. Rumors say her groom, the powerful CEO of a multinational empire is a cruel, arrogant man with no capacity for love.

    Running through the streets in her bridal gown, Isabella throws herself into the car of a man she believes is a simple driver. In truth, he is Sebastián Alvarez, the very CEO she is running from abandoned at his own wedding only hours earlier. Hiding behind his second name, Sebastián listens as Isabella curses the man she believes destroyed her life. Instead of revealing the truth, he makes her a startling offer.

    Their scandalous union ignites outrage among both families. Enemies whisper, plots unfold, and secrets deepen. Isabella struggles to reconcile the tender, protective man she is falling for with the arrogant CEO she swore she would never love. Sebastián, torn between pride and passion, must prove his heart before his hidden identity destroys their fragile bond.

    In a world of betrayal, deception, and burning desire, their marriage of convenience becomes a dangerous game of love and destiny. What began as an accident may turn into the greatest love story of their lives.

    👉 READ NOW

    Bride by Chance novel Chapter 1

    It was her wedding day.

    The Torres house was filled with noise and frenzy. The smell of stew drifted from the kitchen, neighbors spilled into the compound, and borrowed plastic chairs clattered against one another as boys arranged them under the tent. From the outside, it looked like a celebration. From the inside, it felt like a prison.

    Isabella stood in her tiny bedroom, pressed against the wall as if the plaster itself might open and swallow her whole. Her chest rose and fell with frantic breaths, and the wedding gown which was a stiff lace and heavy satin felt more like a shroud than a dress. Her fingers itched to tear it off, but there was no time.

    Her father’s voice thundered from the living room.

    “Where is she? Bring her out! The priest has been waiting for hours!”

    Her mother’s sharp reply followed. “Isabella! Enough foolishness. Do you know what this marriage means for us?”

    Yes, she knew. It meant money. It meant her father’s debts would be wiped clean, her brothers would return to school, her mother would finally have respect in the neighborhood. It meant her freedom, her dreams, her life traded like goods in the market.

    For a man she had never seen.

    Sebastián Álvarez. His name carried weight like a curse. The CEO of Velasco Holdings, rumored to be older, proud, untouchable. Some said he had ruined men with a flick of his wrist. Others said he was cold as steel, incapable of kindness. To Isabella, it didn’t matter what the rumors said. He could be kind or cruel, young or old. The truth was the same: he wasn’t her choice.

    The doorknob rattled, her mother’s hand beating against the wood. “Isabella, open this door!”

    Her heart slammed against her ribs. If she didn’t move now, they would drag her out and force her to the altar like a goat tied for sacrifice.

    Her decision was made.

    She grabbed her small backpack, already hidden beneath the bed stuffed with nothing more than a water bottle, an old sweater, and a little money she had managed to save. With shaking hands, she shoved the window open. The wooden frame groaned in protest. The lace veil snagged on a nail and ripped, but she didn’t care.

    The cold morning air slapped her face as she pushed herself through. Her bare feet hit the earth.

    “Isabella!” her mother screamed as the door burst open behind her.

    But Isabella was already running.

    The gown tangled around her legs, her veil caught on a branch, her knees burned as she stumbled over stones. Still, she didn’t stop. She ran past children pointing and laughing, past neighbors gasping at the sight of a bride fleeing through the street. The sound of voices rose behind her-shouts, calls, curses.

    “Catch her!”

    “Don’t let her go!”

    But Isabella’s fear was stronger than their reach. She tore through alleys, her lungs aching, her throat raw, her vision blurred with tears.

    She didn’t know how long she ran, only that her legs screamed in protest and her body felt close to collapsing. She turned onto a wide avenue, and cars roared past, horns blaring as she darted across recklessly.

    Then she saw a sleek black car, parked at the corner with the engine humming softly.

    Without thinking, she yanked the back door open and flung herself inside. The smell of leather and cologne filled her nose. She slammed the door shut behind her, heart hammering.

    “Please!” she gasped, clutching the seat. “Drive. Just-just drive!”

    The man in the front seat turned his head.

    For a moment, Isabella froze. He wasn’t what she expected. Not scruffy, not ordinary. His suit was immaculate despite the loosened tie, his watch gleamed, and his eyes-dark, unreadable-stared at her in stunned silence. Too polished, too perfect to be just a driver.

    But desperation drowned her suspicion.

    “I’ll pay you,” she blurted, her voice trembling. “Any amount. Just take me far away from here. Please.”

    He didn’t answer immediately. His gaze swept over her-her wild eyes, the torn veil, the trembling hands clutching the gown. Something flickered in his expression, but it was gone before she could name it.

    “I…” he started to speak but stopped almost immediately.

    At last, without a word, he shifted the gear and pulled the car away from the curb.

    Relief flooded her body, and she sagged against the seat. The dress pooled around her like stormclouds, heavy and suffocating. For the first time that morning, she felt a breath of freedom.

    But his voice cut through the silence. Low, calm, steady. “Who are you running from?”

    Her laugh came out bitter, and broken.

    “My family. They want to marry me off. Today-right now-I was supposed to be Sebastián Álvarez’s bride.” She spat the name like poison. “They say he’s arrogant, merciless. I’d rather die than marry him.”

    His fingers tightened slightly around the wheel. Still, he said nothing.

    Isabella turned her face toward the window, tears streaking her cheeks.

    “Men like him think they can buy everything. Wives. Loyalty. Even love. But no money in this world can buy me.”

    The car was silent except for the hum of the engine. She wiped her eyes and glanced at him again, uneasy with his quietness.

    Bride by Chance novel Chapter 2

    The hum of the car was the only sound for a long while. Isabella sat stiff in the backseat, her fingers twisting the veil that had torn during her escape. At first, relief had washed over her. She had gotten away. She was free. But now, staring out at the streets flashing past, the truth dawned on her.

    She had nowhere to go.

    No relative she could run to, no friend bold enough to hide her. If her parents caught her, they would drag her back, bind her wrists if they had to, and throw her before the priest.

    Her throat tightened. Slowly, she leaned forward. “Gabriel?”

    His eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. Calm, unreadable.

    “Where are you taking me?” she asked, her voice trembling.

    The question made her blood run cold. She hadn’t thought this through. She had jumped into a stranger’s car without a plan. Now her hands shook with the weight of that mistake.

    “Anywhere you want, ma’am,” he said, calmly.

    Her voice broke as she begged, “Please… take me to the cheapest hotel. Somewhere far from here. Somewhere they won’t think to look for me.”

    He gave a small nod, not asking further questions. Relief loosened her chest, though it was short-lived.

    As the car turned, Isabella studied him again. The way his suit sat perfectly on broad shoulders, the way his hands gripped the wheel with quiet control. He didn’t look like any Bolt driver she’d ever seen.

    “You know,” she said softly, “you look too good to be a driver.”

    For the first time since she met him, his lips curved. Not a full smile, but close.

    “Thank you for the compliment.”

    She blinked, surprised at his answer. Most men she knew would have laughed or boasted. But before she could say more, he added, almost casually, “My bride abandoned me this morning. Left me standing at the altar.”

    Her jaw dropped. “What?”

    The corner of his mouth twitched again. “Hard to believe, I know.”

    Isabella let out an incredulous laugh. “Impossible. What kind of foolish girl would abandon a hardworking, decent man like you?”

    He didn’t reply, but his eyes flicked toward her briefly, as if weighing her words.

    “I mean it,” she went on, indignant. “That girl is blind, ungrateful. She deserves… she deserves someone like that arrogant CEO they wanted to force me on. Sebastián Álvarez. That kind of man should marry selfish, brainless girls like her.”

    The silence in the car thickened, but Isabella didn’t notice. She shook her head with fire in her eyes. “If I had a man like you, kind enough to help a stranger, responsible enough to keep his word, I would never run. Never.”

    He said nothing, though his grip tightened on the wheel.

    Minutes later, he slowed the car and pulled over in front of a run-down hotel, its neon sign flickering weakly in the dusk. Isabella sighed in relief.

    “How much?” she asked, fumbling with her backpack.

    His eyes met hers in the mirror. “Ten thousand dollars.”

    Her mouth fell open. “What?!”

    His face was unreadable. “That’s the fare.”

    “That’s outrageous!” she burst out. “Even if I saved for five years, I wouldn’t have that kind of money! I was planning to look for a job, not rob a bank.”

    He didn’t flinch. “That’s the price.”

    She threw her hands up, frustration spilling over. “What kind of driver are you? You think because I’m in a wedding dress I have money hidden somewhere?”

    This time he turned to face her fully. And in that moment, Isabella froze.

    She saw him clearly for the first time-tall, strikingly handsome, with sharp cheekbones and a mouth curved in a way that could almost be called charming. His eyes held hers with a calm intensity that made her heartbeat stutter.

    And then he said it.

    “Marry me.”

    Her breath caught. She almost choked on the air. “What?”

    “Marry me,” he repeated, his voice even, steady.

    She blinked, stunned. Then anger flared hot. “Are you sick, Gabriel? Did you hit your head this morning? You can’t just-just-”

    He didn’t interrupt. He only waited, as if her outburst meant nothing.

    “You told me your bride left you, and I’m not that bride,” she said.

    “And you ran away from your husband. So marry me instead,” Gabriel replied.

    Her laugh was sharp, disbelieving. “Never. Do you hear me? Never!”

    The click of the locks echoed around the car. Isabella’s stomach dropped as she realized he had closed all the doors. Her pulse skyrocketed.

    “What are you doing?” she whispered, panic lacing her voice.

    He turned the key, the engine growling to life again. “If you won’t marry me, I’ll return you to your family.”

    “No!” she cried, leaning forward, grabbing at his arm. “Please don’t take me back there. Please!”

    “Then marry me.” His tone was calm, almost casual, but his eyes burned with something she couldn’t name.

    Tears welled in her eyes. “Gabriel, this is insane. We don’t even know each other!”

    His jaw set. The car rolled forward, turning back toward the main road.

    “Stop!” she sobbed. “Stop, I’ll do it! I’ll marry you-but on one condition.”

    His eyes flicked to her, curious.

    She swallowed hard. “It will be a contract marriage. Nothing real. Just an agreement between us.”

    The car slowed again, his expression unreadable.

    “Contract marriage,” he repeated slowly, as if tasting the words.

    She nodded, tears streaking down her face. “Yes. That’s the only way.”

    He watched her in silence for a long moment. Then his lips curved into that faint, disarming smile again.

    “Deal.”

    Bride by Chance novel Chapter 3

    Gabriel started the car and drive for what seems like hours. Finally, the car rolled to a stop on the quiet road, the hum of the engine fading into silence. Isabella glanced up, confusion tightening her chest. They were nowhere near the hotel now.

    “Why are we stopping?” she asked, wary.

    Gabriel’s eyes flicked to her, calm and steady. “We’re going to a church.”

    Her throat tightened. “A church? Why?”

    “Because we’re getting married today…you accepted to be my wife, right?” His voice was firm, no hesitation.

    Her mouth fell open. “So fast? You can’t be serious!”

    He turned slightly in his seat, his expression unreadable. “I want this done before my family ties me to another woman. Another arrangement I have no intention of honoring. You want freedom, Isabella. So do I. This is how we get it.”

    Her heart pounded. Everything about this was wrong, reckless, insane-but she was cornered. Slowly, she drew in a breath, gathering what little courage she had.

    “Fine. But if we’re doing this, then I have rules.”

    His brow arched, amused. “Rules?”

    “Yes.” Her chin lifted, though her voice shook. “No sex. We won’t stay together. We live our lives separately. Do you understand?”

    For the first time, he laughed-low, deep, almost mocking. “I never planned to have sex with you anyway.”

    The ease of his answer stunned her. He didn’t look embarrassed or offended, just amused, as though her declaration had been childish. Isabella’s cheeks burned, but she crossed her arms, determined not to show weakness.

    Before she could retort, he reached for his phone. She watched as he dialed a number, his tone shifting into something sharp and commanding.

    “Prepare the chapel,” he said. “I am getting married and I want the papers ready. We’ll be there within the hour. And no one is to know. Not a soul.”

    The voice on the other end seemed to protest, but his response cut like a blade. “Do as I say.” And with that, he ended the call abruptly.

    Isabella blinked, startled. The authority in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. Too sharp. Too arrogant.

    “Too arrogant for a poor man,” she muttered under her breath before she could stop herself.

    His head turned sharply. “What did you say?”

    Her heart leapt into her throat. “I-I said you sound… too caring for a stranger. That’s all.” She forced a weak smile.

    He didn’t look convinced, but after a moment, he returned his eyes to the road, the car gliding smoothly forward. Isabella exhaled, pressing her hands together to keep them from trembling.

    Minutes later, the car pulled into the courtyard of a small, dimly lit church. The building was old, its white paint peeling, its bell tower leaning slightly as though burdened by secrets. Isabella’s stomach knotted.

    “This is insane,” she whispered.

    Gabriel didn’t reply. He opened the door and stepped out with the quiet assurance of a man who knew exactly what he wanted. She hesitated, but when he held the door open for her, she found her legs moving.

    Inside, the church smelled faintly of candle wax and dust. A priest stood waiting near the altar, his eyes flickering nervously between the tall man in the suit and the trembling bride in her torn gown.

    “Mr…” the priest started speaking, but Gabriel cut him off.”

    “No pleasantries, her name is Isabella Torres..go straight with the marriage.

    Isabella paused, staring at him.
    “How did you..?” she asked but he ignored her, as he held her hand and pulled her towards the altar.

    Two weary-looking witnesses, a young woman from the parish choir and an old man sweeping the floor were called to stand in.

    Isabella’s hands shook as the priest began.

    “In the name of God and this holy church, we are gathered here today…”

    Her ears rang. She barely heard the words as her mind screamed at her to run. But her feet wouldn’t move, and her heart wouldn’t obey.

    The priest’s voice droned on, the words both surreal and terrifying.

    “Do you, Gabriel Álvarez, take this woman-”

    Her head snapped up.

    Álvarez.

    The name sliced through her like a knife.

    Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Álvarez. Where had she heard it before? It clawed at the back of her mind, tugging at every whispered rumor, every late-night conversation she had overheard.

    “I do,” Gabriel said firmly.

    The priest turned to her. “Do you, Isabella Torres, take this man-”

    Her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear herself whisper, “I do.”

    “Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may sign here.”

    Her hand shook so badly the pen almost slipped. She scrawled her name across the page, her signature jagged and messy.

    Gabriel took the pen next, his movements calm, deliberate. She leaned closer, eyes darting to the paper.

    There it was.

    Gabriel Álvarez.

    The name rang a louder bell now. Her blood ran cold.

    She turned to look at him, her lips parting, but the words caught in her throat.

    Álvarez.

    Could it be-?

    Her knees felt weak, the ground shifting beneath her as the priest murmured a final blessing. Gabriel’s hand brushed lightly against hers as he closed the book, his eyes flicking to her face.

    “You’re trembling,” he said softly, almost like a taunt.

    “No, I’m,” she replied, adjusting her dress.

    “Yes, you’re,” he said coldly.

    And Isabella knew. Deep down, though she couldn’t yet piece it all together, something was terribly, terrifyingly wrong.

    👉 CONTINUE READING

  • Claimed by My Father’s Rival by 4Rose

    Claimed by My Father's Rival by 4Rose

    👉 READ NOW

    Five years ago, I shattered my father’s skull and vanished into the shadows. To the world, I was a ghost. To the medical school, just a quiet student. To the most ruthless mafia Don in New York? I was the ultimate prize.
    Killian O’Connor is a monster in a bespoke suit. Cold. Lethal. Dominant. He took over the city with blood on his hands and an iron rule: No drugs, no mercy, and no loose ends. My father murdered his little sister. Now, Killian has come to collect his debt.
    He didn’t just break into my clinic on a rainy midnight-he pinned me to the exam table, stripped away my forged identity, and dangled my family’s lives on a string.
    “You are my hostage now, little Moretti,” his dark voice purred against my ear, his large hand ripping through my clothes without an ounce of pity. “Your freedom, your safety, and your body… all belong to me.”
    I promised myself I would do anything to survive. I gave him my father’s secret list of political puppets. I let him lock me in his golden cage. I even let him press his cold steel knife-and his scalding lips-against my skin.
    In his subterranean hell, I was supposed to be his enemy. So why does his cruel possession feel like the only safe haven I’ve ever known?
    “Claimed by My Father’s Rival” is a dark, angsty mafia romance with explicit steam, a possessive hero who’ll burn the world for his woman, and a strong heroine with a dark secret. Guaranteed HEA.

    👉 READ NOW

    Claimed by My Father’s Rival Chapter 1 Found at Last

    Flashback, age fifteen
    “…When morning breaks, I’ll keep you safe beside me…”
    I sat on the carpet with my eyes closed, listening to the song through my earbuds, my brown hair still damp and fragrant with lemon-scented shampoo, spread loose over my shoulders.
    This was the one brief, precious stretch of the day when I didn’t have to hold myself together.
    Even turning a page sent a spike of pain through my wrist. Courtesy of my father – the buckle-shaped bruise from last week hadn’t healed yet, and last night had added a fresh one. I glanced up at the mirror. A bruise the color of a storm cloud bloomed across my forehead. I dabbed on a thin layer of iodine, and the second it grazed the swollen skin, I hissed and sucked in a breath.
    “Bang!”
    A crash exploded from downstairs – the sound of a door slamming so hard it hit the wall.
    The man they called my father – Carmine Moretti – was home.
    I could gauge exactly how much he’d had to drink just from the sound of that door. And there was no mistaking it: this was the worst he’d been in six months.
    My father had ruled this city’s underworld for a decade. Lately, word was he’d run into a bit of “trouble” – some hot-headed upstart, avenging a dead sister, was chewing through his territory.
    I’d overheard that much from behind the staircase railing. Not that they ever bothered to lower their voices around me. Why would an elephant bother hiding anything from an ant?
    I scrambled to shove the book and earbuds out of sight. Anything that made it look like I was enjoying myself became kindling for his temper. I hated how practiced I’d become at hiding it.
    Please, I begged the empty air. Let tonight pass quietly.
    Tears were already gathering.
    Downstairs, my mother’s voice rang out, falsely bright: “Carmine, you’re home-”
    The words never finished. A sharp crack of a slap cut her off.
    “Shut your mouth, you useless bitch.”
    “No!” My mother’s cry was short, cut off almost as soon as it started.
    Then came the thudding – dull, heavy, one after another, tangled with the slur of my father’s curses.
    Bile rose in my throat. Cold sweat slid down my forehead, and my hands went numb and icy.
    For one unbearable second, I wanted to crawl under the desk and disappear.
    No. I couldn’t. He’d kill her.
    Fifteen years old, and was I still that child who only knew how to hide? I bolted out of my room, ducking first into my sister Mia’s. Six-year-old Mia was fast asleep, clutching her stuffed animal. I slipped a pair of noise-canceling earmuffs over her ears, then ran downstairs.
    I smelled the blood before I even reached the living room.
    My father’s knee was pinning my mother’s spine to the floor. One hand fisted in her hair, slamming her head against the tile again and again, blood already spreading across the grout lines. As if that weren’t enough to satisfy him, his other fist came down on her back – one dull, heavy blow after another.
    At first my mother screamed. Before long, all that was left was a broken, breathless rasp from somewhere deep in her throat.
    “Dad… please stop… Mom’s going to die…” My lips trembled as I clung to the table for support.
    He didn’t even look at me. I was invisible to him right now – I’d only become his next target once he’d finished with her.
    My fingers moved without thought across the tabletop and closed around something heavy and cold – a brass ashtray.
    My heart lurched.
    Maybe. Maybe this could be the night this nightmare ended.
    I closed my eyes, took one step forward, and swung the ashtray as hard as I could into the back of his skull-

    ***
    Present, age twenty
    A crack of thunder yanked me out of that five-year-old abyss.
    I looked up. Rain hammered the window like it had gone mad, and it had been coming down for hours now. Every storm dragged me back to that blood-soaked night. I shook my head and slotted the hemostat back into the sterilizer tray.
    I was studying pre-nursing at community college – straight A’s. My professor had tried more than once to talk me into transferring to a four-year state program, had even lined up a scholarship for me. I turned her down every time.
    I wanted a better school. But only a place this overcrowded, this forgettable, was safe enough. The Morettis could scour the whole East Coast and never think to look here.
    To me, safety mattered more than anything. All I wanted was for Mom and Mia to stay alive, and to stay together.
    Classes in the day, the clinic in the afternoon, home with them in the evening. Tight on money, but steady. A resident once or twice had asked me out for coffee. I always turned them down. I didn’t dare. Someone like me – someone the past could swallow whole at any moment – didn’t get to fall in love.
    Mia had asked me once why I never went on dates. I’d lied and told her I was saving up to buy her headphones. She believed me.
    The new mint-green pair sat in my canvas bag right now, bought with this month’s paycheck. If it weren’t for this storm, she’d already be wearing them.
    Just picturing her smile put a little life back into my legs after a full day on my feet.
    A car pulled up outside, its headlights sweeping the window and setting off every alarm bell in my body. Five years of running had taught me to bristle at anything that disturbed the stillness. Most of the time, it turned out to be nothing but my own paranoia.
    Mia always told me, Sis, you’re too jumpy.
    She’d been too young to remember how terrifying our father really was. Besides – what was the harm in being careful?
    I slipped behind the curtain and fixed my eyes on the car.
    No one got out. A few minutes later, it pulled away, leaving nothing but rain under the streetlight. I let out a breath. Just some poor soul who’d gotten the wrong address. Nobody ran a clinic out here at midnight – not unless they had a doctor’s private number.
    I turned back to the exam room and went on packing up the instruments.
    Crash-
    The glass in the clinic door shattered in an instant, and the door was kicked open, letting in a gust of cold, rain-soaked air.
    That same car sat outside, its high beams blazing straight through the doorway, blinding me. Silhouetted against the light stood a tall figure.
    I raised a hand to shield my eyes, still unable to make out his face – only that two eyes had fixed on me and refused to look away.
    He stepped inside, boots crunching over broken glass with every stride, and with each step closer, the thick copper smell of blood filled the clinic.
    He stopped a yard away. Every hair on my body stood on end.
    Damn it.
    I snatched a scalpel from the tray and backed against the wall – an instinct hard-wired into me after five years on the run. I studied him: too tall, a black suit stretched taut over a powerful frame, collar loosened, a bead of water tracing the line of his jaw.
    He stood there, a yard away, and his eyes – dark, unreadable – swept over me the way a predator looks over something it already owns.
    “The Moretti heiress,” a cold curve tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’ve been a hell of a lot of trouble to find.”
    -So. Found at last.

    Claimed by My Father’s Rival Chapter 2 Hostage

    Sloane’s POV
    Was he one of my father’s men?
    I studied him more closely – a handsome, unfamiliar face. His suit, soaked as it was, was clearly expensive, tailored. The watch on his wrist was a limited edition.
    I knew my father. He never spent that kind of money on anyone who worked for him.
    “Who are you?” I gritted out, and the moment his attention flickered, I struck – the scalpel aimed at the side of his throat.
    I wasn’t trying to kill him. Just to buy myself a window to run.
    Everything blurred. His hand closed around my wrist before I even saw it move. I drove a knee toward his ribs; he caught it against his thigh and shoved it back, and my knee buckled under the force, nearly folding.
    Every technique I’d ever prided myself on meant nothing against him.
    He held my wrist and, almost lazily, guided the blade closer to his own throat – close enough to graze his collar.
    “You-” My eyes went wide.
    “Not really a girl’s toy,” he said, twisting my wrist until the scalpel clattered to the floor, “especially not in front of me.”
    “Who the hell are you?” I demanded, and in the next breath my arm was wrenched behind my back and I was pinned face-down over the desk, the edge biting into my hip hard enough to knock a groan out of me.
    He leaned down, his body large over mine, his breath hot against my ear, and gooseflesh rose along my neck. I braced my forearms and tried to push up; he pressed me flat again. This time harder – my shoulder slammed into a file folder, and I gasped.
    “Care to try a different move?” he murmured, looking down at me like I was some minor entertainment. “Let’s see what the Morettis actually taught you.”
    Inwardly, I scoffed. This wasn’t one of my father’s men. My father would have killed me outright – he wouldn’t have the patience for this cat-and-mouse routine.
    “Killian O’Connor.” He spared me the trouble of guessing. “Perhaps you’ve heard the name.”
    Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. Of course I’d heard it. Heir to the O’Connor family. Five years ago, his sister had died at my father’s hands, and from that day on, the blood feud between our families had been carved in stone – nothing left to bridge it.
    “I’m not a Moretti anymore. Let go of me.” I struggled against the desk. “Taking me does nothing to them.”
    “Sure it doesn’t,” Killian said with a cold laugh. “Though that old bastard would probably rather carve you up himself – considering five years ago, thanks to you, he spent a week in the hospital before he crawled back from the edge of dead.”
    “Then why me?” I was still struggling.
    The weight on my back pressed down harder, his patience visibly thinning. “Keep moving, and I can’t promise they’ll keep smiling like this.”
    A Polaroid dropped in front of my face.
    I looked down, and my mind went white with static.
    My mother, at the stove. Mia beside her, grinning ear to ear. The photograph had gone soft and wrinkled from the rain, the edges blurred – but I recognized the apartment instantly. Ours.
    I stopped fighting.
    He could have pressed that scalpel to my throat right then, and I wouldn’t have dared resist.
    …
    The blindfold was torn off without ceremony. The light was blinding.
    I raised a hand against the glare, and it took a few seconds before the room came into focus. Small. Bulletproof glass sealed every wall, reflecting nothing back at me but my own blurred outline – no trace of what lay beyond.
    Killian had changed out of his soaked suit and now sat across from me on the sofa, a glass of whiskey turning slowly in his hand. His shirtsleeves were rolled up carelessly, veins standing out along his forearm.
    I glanced down at the iron shackles around my ankles. Pointless, really. Even without them, there was nowhere for me to run.
    He took a sip. “Welcome,” he said, “to being my guest.”
    I bit my lip and said nothing, my mind racing through everything I knew about this man.
    Five years ago, my father had dismissed him as some “reckless kid,” even as he’d already begun gnawing away at Moretti territory. Three years ago, at twenty-four, he’d made his name in a single night – dropping his own traitor uncle, along with a few hundred of the man’s men, straight into the ocean. After that, no one inside the O’Connor family dared to challenge him again. Seven ports along the southeast coast, and every ounce of the black-market trade that ran through them, belonged to him alone.
    Four of those seven ports had once flown Moretti colors.
    The one thing he never touched was drugs. Any man under him caught so much as sampling it lost a hand, or a foot. In this world, that rule made him something close to an anomaly. Rumor had it, it had something to do with his dead sister.
    I understood the blood feud between him and my family – his sister had died by my father’s hand. But if he wanted vengeance, my father was the one to bleed for it. Why me? I was the daughter who’d fled the family. My own father would be thrilled to hear I’d died out here.
    “You’re useful to me,” he said, as if he’d read the question straight off my face.
    “Useful how?”
    “I don’t like wasting time,” he said, tapping a finger against the rim of his glass. “The Morettis have connections buried in the government, in every other family in this business. I imagine you know quite a few names.”
    I drew a slow breath, forcing myself to think past the fear. He wasn’t wrong. Those names – I’d grown up hearing them, knew them better than I knew my own.
    “Give me the list.” He raised his glass toward me, almost a toast. “You managed to disappear from your father’s manhunt for five years. You clearly know what serves you best.”
    I thought of a headline from last month’s Financial Times – federal regulators freezing three of O’Connor’s offshore accounts, launching a full audit. That kind of investigation could drag on for as long as the government wanted it to, and it was more than enough to choke his cash flow dry.
    I’d suspected it the moment I read it: my father’s fingerprints, all over it. He couldn’t take back his territory, so he’d make sure his enemy couldn’t enjoy the spoils either.
    “You understand now, why I came for you.”
    His gaze slid from my face down to the shackles at my ankles.
    “And frankly, I’m curious. If Carmine found out the daughter he beat half to death five years ago wasn’t just alive, but had sold out every card he was holding to the man who wants him dead – I wonder what his face would look like.”
    I forced my voice level, already calculating what this bargaining chip might be worth.
    “If I hand you a network the Morettis spent half a lifetime building – what do I get in return?”
    He set the glass down, and his eyes cut into me like a blade. “Sweetheart, do you honestly think you’re in a position to negotiate?”
    “I do.” I clenched my fists and laid out my terms. “I’ll give you the list – more than you asked for, even. But I have conditions. Conditions that cost you nothing.”
    He tipped his chin up slightly, a signal to continue.
    “You guarantee my mother’s and my sister’s safety. Don’t drag them into any of this.” I held out one hand, palm up. “And give me a phone. I need to tell them I’m alive.”
    Killian rose, crossed the room, and tipped my chin up with two fingers, forcing my head back.
    He was too tall, too close. My neck strained to its limit.
    Our eyes locked. A faint smile touched his mouth, and his thumb brushed over my bottom lip. “Direct. I like that. But the O’Connor family doesn’t deal in verbal agreements. As of now, you’re my hostage. Your freedom – your body – all of it belongs to me.”
    He let go, pulled a phone from his pocket, and dropped it in my lap. “Speaker.”
    I grabbed it and dialed home.
    “Hello?” My mother’s voice, and behind it, Mia’s chatter.
    “It’s me, Mom.” My eyes stung. I forced the tremor out of my throat.
    “Sloane? Why aren’t you home yet?” A pause. “Whose number is this?”
    “My phone died. I borrowed a coworker’s. Mom, the clinic’s sending me to a conference last-minute – I’m leaving tonight, might be gone a few days.” It was a lie I’d used twice before this year; convincing enough.
    “So sudden?” A pause on the other end. “Sweetheart, is this about your father-”
    “No, of course not.” I cut her off, softening my voice. “He can’t find us. Anyway – Mia’s headphones, I’ll bring them home with me. The color she wanted.”
    A muffled cheer came through the line.
    That was when Killian leaned in without warning. His hand slid beneath my shirt, and with a sharp snap, my bra clasp gave way. I went rigid, breath catching in my throat, my fingers tightening around the phone as I forced the gasp back down.
    I looked down and watched his hands – two hot, coiling things – slide from my back to the front, closing over my breasts, kneading without rhythm or mercy. Every inch of my skin broke out in a shiver.
    His mouth found my ear. “Don’t move,” he murmured. “Or your mother will hear.”
    On the other end, my mother kept talking – some last piece of advice. My ears burned, my mind went blank, and I bit down hard on my tongue, using the pain to hold on to whatever control I had left.
    “Mom, I have to pack.”
    “Sis-!” Mia’s voice cut in, like she had something to say.
    Right as her voice came through the speaker, Killian’s fingers pinched the peak of my breast, deliberate, precise.
    I sucked in a breath and forced the words out fast: “Mia… mm… I’ll see you when I’m home, okay – bye!”
    I nearly slammed my thumb down on the call-end button – one more second and I had no idea what sound would have come out of me instead.
    That devil leaned in close again, his voice thick with amusement. “I told you. Your body belongs to me too. And this – this is only the beginning.”

    Claimed by My Father’s Rival Chapter 3 Boxes

    Sloane’s POV
    “Don’t drag them into this.” I pressed my hand over his, stilling it where it still moved beneath my shirt, and forced a breath into my lungs. “I thought you meant to keep your word.”
    “That depends on how well you behave.” Killian didn’t stop.
    Two knocks broke the moment. I nearly sagged with relief.
    “Come in.” Killian withdrew his hand from beneath my shirt, lingering a moment longer at my waist, thumb and forefinger giving one last, deliberate pinch.
    Only once his warmth had fully left my skin did I dare breathe again.
    A woman in a dark uniform entered, head bowed, shoulders drawn in on themselves. “Don, the room’s ready. I’ll take Miss Sloane there now.”
    “Go.” Killian walked back to the sofa and sat.
    The maid knelt and unlocked the shackles at my ankles, then gestured toward the door.
    I forced myself upright and reached to straighten my soaked shirt – the bra clasp was beyond repair, the fabric bunched uselessly against my chest, impossible to smooth into any kind of dignity. I made myself walk to the door anyway. I would not let him see anything more than what he’d already taken.
    The moment I stepped through the doorway, I understood exactly where I was.
    An alloy corridor stretched out ahead, no end in sight, sterile as an operating room. Along both sides ran a row of one-way glass cells. I glanced back once – Killian was still seated where I’d left him, glass in hand, lost in some thought of his own.
    The maid led the way, her pace unhurried enough that I couldn’t help but see everything on either side of me.
    In the cell to my left, a man in port-worker’s overalls hung suspended by chains, his toes barely grazing the floor, his face swollen a deep, bruised purple.
    Across from him, another man – reduced to nothing but skin over bone – huddled in a corner, staring at the floor with hollow, unseeing eyes.
    Further on, a cell that had just finished its work: blood sprayed across the inside of the glass, a body slumped over a steel stool, flayed raw. A guard hosed the floor down, rinsing the blood away in thin red streams.
    Nearly every room staged its own horror.
    “You’re the first one to walk out of a ‘Box’ without a mark on you,” the maid said, a quick glance flicking toward me before dropping away again.
    “Box?” I repeated the word. “You call these – these chambers of hell – boxes?”
    “Yes, miss.” Her voice dropped even lower. “It’s the Don’s word for them.”
    I walked on in silence.
    I’d seen how my father punished his enemies and his traitors – pure savagery, violence with no shape to it, nothing but rage looking for a place to land. This was different. The clean corridor, the deliberate order of it all – this felt less like punishment and more like specimens laid out behind glass. That kind of clean, methodical cruelty chilled me far more than anything my father had ever done.
    My steps faltered.
    “How could she-” My hand flew to my mouth before I even registered the thought.
    Through the glass, I recognized the woman inside – a federal prosecutor I’d seen countless times on the evening news, always composed, always sharp, carrying an authority that brooked no argument.
    Yet here she was inside the interrogation room, her tailored suit cast aside, wearing nothing but a torn white shirt with lace panties hanging from one ankle. Several naked men were gang-raping her. One forced her head down, thrusting himself fully into her mouth as her saliva spilled onto the floor. Another held her by the waist, sneering as he drove brutally into her lower body. The others crowded around her, hands roaming freely, relentlessly tearing through her sensitive spots.
    Multiple cameras and studio lights were set up nearby, recording every angle of the nightmare in agonizing clarity.
    What unsettled me most wasn’t the violence itself. It was her eyes. There was no fight left in them – only a kind of hollowed-out compliance, as if whatever had made her her had already been methodically taken apart.
    I’d watched her on television just two days ago, delivering a verdict with absolute conviction.
    The maid saw me stop and offered a quiet explanation. “Anyone who crosses the Don – death is the mercy. The Don says stripping someone like her of her pride is worth a thousand times more than simply killing her.”
    “He’s insane.” My stomach lurched violently. “An absolute monster.”
    I didn’t look toward either side again. I kept my head down and followed the maid until we reached a door at the top floor.
    It was a cage – an obscenely beautiful one. A massive, antique four-poster bed dominated the center of the room. Electric flames flickered in a fireplace nearby. Deep crimson drapes hung from the canopy all the way to the carpet. Four narrow, Gothic-arched windows had been sealed shut with steel plating – no sunlight would ever reach this room. Not even a breath of wind.
    I turned to the maid. “I’m nobody. Why would he need a cage this reinforced just to hold me? Not even special forces could get out of a room like this.”
    She hesitated, her gaze sweeping the dim, opulent room before finally landing on my soaked shirt. She didn’t answer my question – only said, quietly, “Miss Sloane, the door won’t be locked. But I wouldn’t recommend stepping outside it. This place is dangerous.”
    There was something like pity in her eyes. It was the only warmth I’d felt since walking into this hell.
    Instinct made the decision for me before I could think it through.
    I dropped to my knees on the heavy carpet and seized her hand. “Please. Help me.”
    “My mother is sick. My sister has no one else. I can’t die here.” I clung to her, begging.
    Fear and something like anguish crossed her face. She tried to pull away; I held on tighter.
    “Please. I’m only twenty. I’ve never hurt anyone.”
    Her eyes darted around the room, as if the walls themselves might be watching. Then she leaned in close and murmured, so quietly I almost missed it: “Tonight, three a.m. Wait here.”
    The instant the words left her mouth, she shoved me away, her voice rising sharply: “You’d best behave and give up on that idea.”
    She turned and walked out. The heavy wooden door swung shut behind her.
    I sank to the carpet, the strength that had held me upright all night finally giving out. The electric fire cast a trembling orange light across the drapes – flickering, flickering.
    If I could get out of here, I would take my mother and Mia and run to the ends of the earth.
    If I could just get out.

    👉 CONTINUE READING

  • A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss by Gregory Ellington

    A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss by Gregory Ellington
    👉 READ NOW

    Madison Harper knows all too well the chaos Alexander Knight leaves in his wake. As the billionaire CEO’s personal assistant, she’s cleaned up after countless scandals, soothed ex-lovers, and kept his messy private life from spilling into the boardroom. But when one fateful night lands her in Alexander’s bed, the dynamics shift dramatically.

    What begins as a moment of uncontrollable spirals into a neither can resist: Madison needs financial help for her mother’s mounting medical bills, and Alexander offers the resources-on the condition she becomes his girlfriend for a year. No strings, no emotions, just business.

    But as the lines between their professional and private lives blur, Madison’s resolve to keep her heart guarded begins to waver. Beneath Alexander’s reckless charm lies a magnetic that draws her closer than she ever intended. Just as she starts to believe she might be more than his latest “arrangement,” the ghost of Alexander’s long-lost first love, Katherine, reappears, threatening to unravel everything they’ve built.

    Can Madison protect her heart while navigating this high-stakes game of desire and deception? Or will this with her infamously reckless boss cost her more than she’s prepared to lose?

    👉 READ NOW

    A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss Chapter 1

    Madison

    I lifted my gaze from the computer screen as the elevator dinged. A woman in a red dress strutted toward me, her heels clicking against the marble floor like a timer counting down to chaos.
    “I’m here to see Alexander.” She planted her manicured hands on my desk, leaning forward with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
    “Do you have an appointment?”
    “I don’t need one. We have… history. Just tell Shim Vanessa’s here.”
    “I’m sorry, but Mr. Knight only takes scheduled appointments. I can help you set one up for next week-“
    “Listen here, little secretary.” She interrupted. “I’m Vanessa Caldwell. I spent the night with Alexander last weekend, and I’m not leaving until I see him.”
    “As I mentioned, without an appointment or express permission from Mr. Knight-“
    “Who do you think you are? Just because you stand next to him all day, fetching his coffee and taking notes, you think you’re special?”
    “Ma’am, I need to ask you to leave-“
    “You’re pathetic. Playing gatekeeper, pretending you matter. I bet you fantasize about him noticing you, don’t you? Honey, even if you spread those thighs on his desk, he wouldn’t give you a second glance. He needs a real woman, not some desperate little assistant playing dress-up in her Target blazer.”
    “Security will escort you out if necessary.”I maintained an expressionless face.
    “You wouldn’t dare. Do you know who my father is? I could have your job with one phone call.”
    “And I could remove you from the premises with one button.” I placed my hand near the security alert under my desk. “Your choice, Ms. Caldwell.”
    Vanessa’s face contorted with rage. In one fluid motion, she snatched the water pitcher from my desk and emptied its contents over my head. Ice-cold water drenched my hair, makeup, and brand-new blouse – for the record, it wasn’t from Target.
    “Oops.” She smirked, dropping the empty pitcher on my keyboard with a clatter. “Looks like someone needs a towel.”
    But before I could process my next move, the elevator dinged again.
    Alexander Knight stepped out, filling the lobby like a storm front. His easy stride faltered as he took in the scene – me looking like a drowned rat, Vanessa preening like a cat who’d gotten the cream, and water pooling across my desk and expensive electronics.
    “Well.” His voice cut through the tension. “This is certainly not the greeting I expected.”
    Vanessa’s face lit up. “Alexander, darling! I was just-“
    “Assaulting my PA and damaging company property?” He crossed to us in three strides. “Bold strategy.”
    “I was simply having a conversation with your PA.” Her voice dripped honey while her eyes stabbed mine. “She refused to let me see you.”
    “Because that’s her job.” Alexander handed me his monogrammed handkerchief. His touch sent an unwanted tingle up my arm. “Miss Harper follows my protocols to the letter. That’s why she’s invaluable.”
    I dabbed at my face, grateful I’d worn waterproof mascara today. The handkerchief smelled like his cologne – a detail I wasn’t focusing on.
    “But darling,” Vanessa stepped closer to Alexander, her hip swaying. “After our magical night together-“
    “You mean the charity gala where you had too much champagne, and I called you a cab? That was hardly magical, though I hear you’ve been telling a different version around town.”
    I bit my lip to hide my smile.
    “I-” Vanessa gaped like a fish.
    “Now,” Alexander’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I prayed he couldn’t feel how my pulse jumped. “You’ve just assaulted my favorite employee and probably destroyed about ten thousand dollars worth of equipment. Would you like me to call security or the cops?”
    I felt my cheeks heat at my ‘favorite employee.’ He was always like this-charming, flirtatious, and making everyone feel special. It didn’t mean anything.
    “You wouldn’t dare.” But Vanessa’s confidence wavered.
    “Try me. I protect my people, especially those who keep my life running smoothly. In fact, I should ban you from the building entirely. What do you think, Miss Harper?”
    “I think that sounds reasonable, Mr. Knight.” I stayed professional despite his touch warming me.
    Vanessa’s face cycled through fifty shades of red. “This is ridiculous. You’ll regret this. Both of you will.”
    “The only thing I regret is not having my phone out to record this tantrum. Security’s on their way up. I suggest you leave before they arrive.”
    “My father will hear about this!”
    “I’m sure he will. Give Charles my regards. Tell him his company’s stock is looking shaky these days.”
    As soon as the elevator doors closed on her scowling face, Alexander’s hand left my shoulder, and I immediately missed its warmth – a thought I quickly shoved into my brain’s ‘do not examine’ folder.
    I stood from my chair, water dripping onto the floor.
    “Are you alright?” Alexander’s brow furrowed as he assessed the damage. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”
    “Just my pride. And maybe my electronics.” I poked at my waterlogged keyboard, which responded with an alarming spark.
    “Leave that. I’ll have IT bring up replacements.” He pulled out his phone. “John can get you to the mall in fifteen minutes. Use the company card to pick up whatever you need-clothes, makeup, hair products.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Knight, but it’s no big deal. My shift ends in an hour, and I have a prior engagement after work.”
    “You’re going to sit in wet clothes for another hour?”
    “I’ll manage,” I insisted with a smile. “But I appreciate the offer.”
    He gave me a look that said he didn’t believe me but nodded anyway.

    I pushed open the door to the restaurant, ready for a relaxing dinner with Hazel after my disaster of a day. The hostess led me toward our usual corner booth, but I stopped short. Instead of just my best friend, a man sat beside her.
    “Mads!” Hazel bounced up, waving like I might miss her in the half-empty restaurant. “You made it! Come meet Derek!”
    I forced a smile and sat across from them. Of course, Hazel would ambush me with a surprise blind date after the day I’d had.
    “Mads, this is Derek. He’s a financial analyst, and I met him at that yoga retreat last month.” Hazel’s eyes sparkled with matchmaking glee. “Derek, meet my best friend Madison.”
    “Pleasure.” Derek flashed perfectly whitened teeth. “Hazel told me so much about you.”
    I resisted the urge to kick Hazel under the table. “All good things, I hope?”
    We fumbled through awkward small talk about the weather and restaurant specials until Derek excused himself to the restroom.
    The moment he was out of earshot, Hazel pounced. “Isn’t he dreamy? Those shoulders! And he’s so successful – you should see his condo downtown.”
    “Haze…”
    “Come on, when did you last go on a real date? You work too hard, sweetie. Everyone needs someone to lean on.”
    “I’m fine on my own right now. With Mom’s treatments and everything…”
    “How is she doing?” Hazel’s expression softened.
    “The same. The new medication is expensive, but…” I shrugged.
    “And that brother of yours is still MIA?” Hazel’s face darkened. “What a selfish asshole, leaving you to handle everything alone.”
    “I don’t want to talk about him. Mom worked three jobs to raise us. The least I can do is help her now.”
    Derek slid back into the booth, adjusting his designer tie. “Sorry about that. Now, where were we?”
    “Madison was just telling us about her day at work,” Hazel chirped.
    “Oh, right – you work as a secretary or something?” Derek asked.
    “Personal assistant to Alexander Knight at Knight Industries.”
    “Alexander Knight? The CEO?” He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Must be quite the… demanding position.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Come on, we all know how these things work.” He winked. “Beautiful young woman, powerful executive-I’m sure you’ve found ways to make yourself invaluable to the company.”
    Hazel’s jaw dropped. “Derek!”
    “What? I’m just saying what everyone thinks when they see these arrangements.” He gestured vaguely at me. “No judgment here. A girl’s got to use her assets.”
    “You absolute pig.” Hazel’s face flushed red. “Get out.”
    “Hey, I’m just being honest. No need to get defensive-“
    “Out!” Hazel stood up, pointing toward the door. “Now.”
    “Alright, alright. Guess some people can’t handle the truth.” He slid out of the booth, adjusting his jacket. “Call me when you’re ready to be real about things.”
    We watched him weave between tables toward the exit. Hazel collapsed back into her seat, mortified.
    “Oh my god, Mads. I am so, so sorry. I can’t believe I thought he was decent. He seemed so nice at yoga!”
    “Hey, at least we found out he was trash before the appetizers arrived.” I grabbed the menu, determined to salvage our evening. “Now, about those loaded nachos we always get…”
    “But still! The things he said about you and Mr. Knight!” She shook her head. “I feel awful.”
    “Forget him. Seriously.” I waved down a waiter. “The nachos and two margaritas, please. Make mine a double.”
    Hazel brightened with mischief. “Although, maybe Derek had a point. Not about you being – you know – but about Mr. Knight liking you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
    I choked on my water, sputtering. “What? No! That’s – that’s impossible. He’s my boss!”
    “Why not? You’re smart, gorgeous, and he’s clearly interested.”
    “Stop it!” I grabbed a napkin to wipe my chin. “It’s not like that at all.”
    Hazel burst out laughing. “Relax, I’m kidding! Everyone knows Alexander Knight is Manhattan’s most notorious playboy. Different supermodels every week, yacht parties in Monaco.” She leaned forward. “Just be careful, okay? Don’t let that pretty face and charm fool you. Men like him don’t do relationships – they collect trophies.”
    “Trust me, I know exactly who he is.” My phone buzzed.
    I pulled out my phone to check the message. Alexander’s name flashed on the screen.
    “325 Park Avenue, Penthouse. Come now.”
    No explanation, no context. Typical Alexander.
    “Everything okay?” Hazel peered across the table.
    “Work.” I grabbed my purse, already sliding out of the booth. “Rain check on those nachos?”
    “Again? This is getting ridiculous. It’s almost 8 PM!”
    “I know, I know. But-“
    “But nothing! You’re not his personal servant. You have a life, too. What could possibly be so urgent?”
    “It’s probably another last-minute networking event. He does this sometimes-invites potential investors over for drinks. Someone has to coordinate with catering and handle the guest list.”
    “And that someone always has to be you?”
    “It’s my job.”
    “Your job ended three hours ago.” Hazel’s voice softened. “I worry about you, you know?”
    “I know you worry. But this job – the benefits, the salary – it’s helping Mom fight. I can’t risk losing it.”
    “Just be careful, okay?”
    I nodded, already halfway to the door. The cool night air hit my face as I flagged down a cab.
    The cab wound through Manhattan’s glittering streets. Mom’s medical bills haunted me, mounting higher each month. I couldn’t mess this up. Not when she needed me.
    325 Park Avenue loomed ahead, all gleaming glass and steel stretching into the night sky. The doorman nodded as I crossed the marble lobby to the private elevator. My finger hesitated over the penthouse button. Something felt… off.
    Usually, when Alexander hosted impromptu gatherings, the lobby buzzed with activity-caterers rushing supplies, guests arriving in designer suits and cocktail dresses. Tonight, there was silence.
    My heels clicked against the marble floor as I stepped out, echoing through the empty space. Warm lighting spilled across modern furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows, showcasing the city’s sparkle below.
    “Mr. Knight?”
    No response. Just the soft whir of the central air.
    The hair on my neck stood up. Something definitely wasn’t right.
    A floorboard creaked behind me.
    I spun around, heart hammering. Alexander stood there, leaning casually against the doorframe.
    He stepped forward, closing the distance between us in three long strides. Before I could react, he had me cornered against the wall, one hand braced beside my head.

    A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss Chapter 2

    Madison

    His presence was intoxicating. Alexander’s cologne wrapped around me, lingering like dark spices and something earthy. My pulse quickened as he leaned in, our faces just inches apart.
    “You’re here,” he murmured.
    “Mr. Knight, what’s going on?” My voice trembled. I placed a hand on his chest, meaning to push him back, but all I felt was the chiseled muscles under his shirt.
    He took my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine and pressing them back against the wall. The heat from his touch was electric, coursing straight to my core. My breathing turned shallow, and my heart thudded in my ears. His eyes were dark, pupils blown wide.
    “You’re really here.” He whispered huskily. His gaze swept my face, lingering on my lips as his breath warmed my cheek.
    “Are you… okay?” I stammered. His pupils seemed larger than normal, almost swallowing the blue of his irises. Something felt off. Was he on drugs?
    “I’m more than okay.” He nuzzled against my neck, lips brushing my skin. “You’re perfect.”
    “I think you might need medical assistance-“
    He didn’t let me finish. His mouth captured mine, and the world tilted on its axis. The kiss was fierce, desperate, and filled with a hunger that took my breath away. His free hand found my waist, pulling me against him.
    The sensible part of my brain screamed for me to push him away, to get help. But then his tongue parted my lips, and my knees went weak. I grabbed onto his shoulders to steady myself, my fingers digging into the fine fabric of his suit.
    His kiss grew more intense, leaving me scarcely able to think or breathe. A moan escaped my lips.
    My hands roamed over his shoulders and back, feeling the hard muscles flex beneath my touch. His grip on my waist tightened, lifting me effortlessly.
    Before I knew it, he maneuvered me backward, guiding me toward the bedroom. We stumbled, our lips never parting, until the back of my knees hit the king-sized bed. He gently pushed me onto the mattress, positioning himself above me. His eyes were wild.
    “Off,” he said, tugging at my blouse.
    I fumbled with the buttons. Finally, I managed to undo the fabric and slip out of it.
    His gaze darkened, and he pulled down the cups of my bra.
    He bent down, and I arched up, gasping.
    His free hand roamed lower, slipping under the waistband of my pants. A sharp jolt shot through me.
    “Fuck,” I moaned, my fingers threading through his hair, holding him to my chest.
    With one swift motion, he tugged my pants and panties down my legs. His hands spread my thighs apart. I cried out.
    “You’re so ready,” he muttered, almost to himself.
    Before I could respond, I watched, breathless, as he quickly moved to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. He didn’t bother removing his clothes.
    He climbed between my legs, and I squirmed.
    He moved against me, and my nails dug into his back.
    His mouth crashed against mine in a desperate kiss. His hands gripped my hips as our bodies moved together, mingling with our groans and panting breaths.
    “God, you feel incredible,” he growled, breath hot and ragged.
    We moved together. I felt the pressure building. He angled his hips, and I cried out, my entire body tensing.
    “I’m close, Alexander,” I gasped, my nails raking down his back.
    My voice seemed to spur him on, his movements growing even more frenzied. I clutched at the sheets, trying to ground myself.
    “Yes,” he groaned, his pace becoming erratic. “Come for me.”
    His encouragement drove me over the edge. With a final scream, I shattered, waves washing over me as he continued moving with me through it.
    It was then, just as the intensity began to wane, that I heard him mutter, “Fuck, Katherine.”
    I froze. My mind reeled. Katherine?! Who the hell was Katherine?
    But I couldn’t dwell on it for long because he was still moving with me. My overstimulated body responded despite my confusion, another wave already building.
    “Katherine, you feel so good.” He drove into me one last time, with a guttural moan. His body trembled, triggering another wave that left me breathless and shaking.
    As the haze faded, reality sank in. Alexander had called another woman’s name while we were together. He didn’t even know who I was.
    As he collapsed next to me on the bed, his breathing heavy, I stared at the ceiling, my mind racing. Who was Katherine? Did she work for him, too, or was she just one of his many conquests? The thought gnawed at me like a persistent itch I couldn’t scratch.
    I slipped out from under his arm, my legs still trembling. Alexander’s soft snores filled the bedroom as I gathered my scattered clothes. Of course, he’d pass out – typical man. At least he hadn’t called me “baby” or some other generic pet name. No, he’d gone with “Katherine” instead.
    I stumbled to the bathroom, wincing at my reflection. My carefully straightened hair now resembled a bird’s nest, and my lipstick… well, that was definitely not where lipstick should be.
    As I cleaned up, my mind wandered to the stack of NDAs in my desk drawer – all the women who’d crossed paths with Alexander Knight.
    “At least I didn’t have to draft my own NDA,” I muttered. Being Alexander’s PA meant cleaning up his messes and arranging flowers and “sorry” gifts for the parade of models and socialites he left in his wake. But Katherine? That name wasn’t in any of my files.
    I smoothed down my outfit and checked my phone – 10:27 PM. The doctor would still be awake. I scrolled through my contacts, finding Dr. Peterson’s number. My thumb hovered over the call button as Alexander’s snores echoed from the bedroom.
    “Dr. Peterson? Sorry to bother you so late.” I kept my voice steady and professional. “It’s Madison Harper, Mr. Knight’s PA.”
    “What’s he done now?” Dr. Peterson sighed.
    “He seems altered. Dilated pupils, unusual behavior. I found him like this when I came to drop off some urgent paperwork.” The lie slipped out easily. Too easily.
    “Drugs?”
    “Possibly. He’s sleeping now, but-“
    “I’ll be there in twenty.”
    “Thank you, Doctor.” I ended the call and slipped my phone into my pocket.
    Back in the bedroom, Alexander sprawled across the unmade bed like a fallen Greek statue, suit wrinkled and pants still undone.
    “Right. Time to make you presentable.” I surveyed the scene. The nightstand had shifted a foot to the left. A decorative vase teetered on the edge – how had we not broken that?
    I approached Alexander’s sleeping form. “Don’t you dare wake up,” I muttered, reaching for his zipper. My fingers trembled as I worked quickly to tuck in his shirt and fasten his pants. The belt proved trickier – threading it through the loops while he was dead weight required some creative maneuvering.
    His head lolled to the side. “Mmm… Katherine…”
    I yanked the belt tight with more force than necessary. “Yeah, yeah. Katherine. Whoever she is.”
    The doorbell rang. Shit. Dr. Peterson was early.
    I sprinted to straighten the nightstand, shoving it back into place. A quick scan of the room – nothing else seemed obviously disturbed. I grabbed a pillow and wedged it under Alexander’s head, trying to make it look like he’d dozed off.
    Dr. Peterson strode in, medical bag in hand. “Evening, Ms. Harper.”
    “Doctor. Thank you for coming so quickly.” I gestured to Alexander. “I found him like this when I came to drop off some urgent documents.”
    The doctor knelt beside the bed, checking Alexander’s pulse. “Any idea what he might have taken?”
    “None. He seemed… not himself.” Understatement of the century. “Dilated pupils, erratic behavior.”
    Dr. Peterson lifted Alexander’s eyelids, shining a small light. “Probably some party drug. Though it’s unlikely for him to indulge alone.”
    “Should I call security? His driver?”
    “No need. I’ll stay until he comes around.” He pulled out a blood pressure cuff. “You should head home, Ms. Harper. I’ve got it from here.”
    I nodded, gathering my purse. “Of course. Thank you again.”
    I hurried to the elevator, my reflection in the metal doors nearly composed except for my swollen lips and flushed cheeks.
    The night air slapped my face as I hailed a cab, needing to get home and think.
    “Where to?” the driver asked.
    “Anywhere but here.” I caught his concerned look in the rearview mirror. “Sorry. 42nd and 8th, please.”
    As the city lights blurred past, I wondered how I’d face Alexander tomorrow. Would he remember? And more importantly – who the hell was Katherine?

    A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss Chapter 3

    Madison

    I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck – a very sexy, Alexander Knight-shaped truck. My body ached in places I’d forgotten existed, and my inner thighs bore the telltale bruises of last night’s activities.
    “Get it together, Madison,” I muttered to my reflection as I applied concealer under my eyes. Despite my best makeup efforts, the woman staring back looked debauched.
    The subway ride to work was torture. Every bump and sway reminded me of how Alexander had moved inside me. How his hands had gripped my hips. How he’d called me Katherine.
    Katherine. The name bounced around my skull like an angry ping-pong ball.
    I’d spent half the night googling “Katherine Alexander Knight” with zero results. Not that I was jealous or anything. I mean, why would I be jealous of someone whose name my boss moaned while high on God-knows-what?
    The elevator ride up to the office felt longer than usual. I checked my phone seventeen times in thirty seconds, praying there wouldn’t be a message from Alexander. Nothing. Thank God.
    I peeked into Alexander’s office. Empty. The relief that flooded through me was embarrassing.
    Collapsing into my chair, I buried my face in my hands. “This is fine. Everything’s fine. He probably doesn’t even remember. And if he does, well… I’ll just move to Antarctica. I hear they need secretaries there.”
    My phone buzzed. I jumped so hard that my knee slammed into the desk drawer.
    I rubbed my throbbing knee while checking the message. Just a spam email about enlarging body parts I didn’t possess.
    The morning crawled by in a haze of paranoia. Every footstep in the hallway had me tensing like a guilty teenager. By ten, my neck muscles felt like steel cables from constantly whipping around to check the door.
    My coffee mug sat empty, mocking me. I needed caffeine.
    I grabbed my mug and power-walked to the break room. I beelined for the coffee maker, already tasting that sweet salvation.
    “Madison! Just the person I wanted to see!”
    I nearly dropped my mug. Stella from Accounting materialized beside me, grinning like she’d just discovered tax evasion in the company books.
    “Hey, Stella.” I focused on pouring coffee, willing my hands not to shake.
    “So,” She leaned against the counter, eyes twinkling. “Hot date last night?”
    Coffee sloshed over the rim. “What? No. Why would you-“
    “That’s quite the love bite you’re sporting.” She pointed at my neck, smirking. “Unless you’ve taken up wrestling in your spare time?”
    My free hand flew to my neck. Horror dawned as I felt the tender spot just below my ear. The spot where Alexander had marked me like some overenthusiastic vampire.
    My mind raced faster than my morning subway ride. “Oh, this? My curling iron. Total klutz moment this morning.” I forced a laugh that came out like a strangled cat.
    “Must be some curling iron. Looks more like someone was trying to-“
    “Would you look at the time!” I glanced at my naked wrist, where a watch definitely wasn’t. “Those expense reports won’t file themselves!”
    “But you haven’t finished your coffee-“
    I abandoned my half-filled mug on the counter, speed-walking toward the exit with all the grace of a newborn giraffe. My heels clicked against the tile floor in what felt like morse code for “Help me!”
    I collapsed into my desk chair, heart pounding like I’d just run a marathon in heels. My hands trembled as I tried to pull myself together. What was I thinking? Curling iron? Really? I might have said it was a one-night stand. That would have been slightly more believable. God, a one-night stand would be even worse.
    Rumors about Alexander and me have been circulating since I became his PA. It was bad enough that I landed this position after being in the company for a short time.
    Everyone thought I’d slept my way to the top, that I’d spread my legs for him to get ahead. Despite all my hard work, the whispers never stopped.
    Colleagues who used to be friends now barely make eye contact with me. Their hushed conversations stop whenever I enter the room, replaced by forced smiles and awkward silence.
    Although I didn’t initially want this job, I took it because of the high salary necessary to cover my mom’s medical expenses.
    But now? The situation was an absolute mess. If anyone found out what happened last night, they’d think the rumors were true. They’d believe I used my body to climb the social ladder, something I would never do.
    No one could find out that Alexander and I had slept together. The very thought twisted my stomach into knots. I prayed Alexander would forget it all, erasing the memory as if it never happened.
    Of course, I knew I couldn’t hide from him forever. Sooner or later, I’d have to report to him for work. But I was convinced the doctor would tell him nothing happened. And even if he remembered something, he’d go to Katherine.
    Every woman Alexander slept with wanted to be his wife. So if he asked Katherine if she was with him the other night, she’d definitely say yes to get closer to him.

    The conference room felt smaller than usual as I arranged the meeting materials, hyper-aware of Alexander’s presence at the head of the table. My hands trembled as I distributed the financial reports, careful to keep my eyes glued to the papers.
    “Everyone here?” Alexander’s voice sent shivers down my spine. The same voice that had whispered things in my ear two days ago.
    I risked a glance up. Fatal mistake.
    His eyes caught mine, and suddenly, I was back in his penthouse, feeling his hands on my skin and his breath hot against my neck. My face burned hotter than fresh coffee.
    “Miss Harper?”
    I jumped, nearly dropping the remaining reports. “Yes, Mr. Knight?”
    “The quarterly projections?”
    Right. Work. Professional. I could do this. I shuffled through my papers, willing my racing heart to calm down.
    “Here they are.” My voice came out squeakier than a mouse in a cheese factory.
    Alexander’s brow furrowed. “Are you feeling alright? You look flushed.”
    Of course, I looked flushed.
    “Just warm in here.” I tugged at my collar, accidentally exposing the fading mark on my neck.
    His eyes flickered to the spot, then back to the reports without recognition. Nothing. Not even a flicker of remembrance about our passionate night together.
    The meeting droned on. I took notes mechanically, sneaking glances at Alexander between bullet points. He was completely at ease, discussing profit margins like he hadn’t rocked my world two days ago.
    The meeting finally ended, but my relief was short-lived. Alexander beckoned me into his office with a crook of his finger. My legs turned to jelly as I followed him inside.
    He settled into his leather chair like a king on his throne while I hovered near the door like a guilty teenager. The morning sun through the tall windows bathed him in an angelic glow. Unfair. The man looked like he’d just stepped out of a magazine photoshoot while I fought the urge to bolt.
    “Close the door, Miss Harper.”
    I did, my hand trembling slightly on the handle. This was it. He remembered everything and was about to fire me. Or worse, proposition me. I wasn’t sure which scenario terrified me more.
    “Take a seat.” He gestured to the chair across from his desk.
    I perched on the edge, ready to sprint at a moment’s notice. The leather squeaked beneath me, betraying my nervousness.
    Alexander shuffled some papers on his desk, his expression unreadable. My heart performed an Olympic-worthy gymnastics routine in my chest.
    “I noticed something concerning.” He looked up, those blue eyes piercing right through me.
    He remembered everything. I’d be fired, humiliated, and probably end up on some reality TV show called ‘I Slept With My Boss.’
    “You didn’t check in yesterday when I was absent.”
    Wait, what? Of all the things he could’ve brought up, he chose this?
    “As my PA, I expect you to maintain contact, especially during unexpected absences.” His tone carried that signature Alexander Knight authority, making board members squirm and competitors sweat.
    My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. How exactly was I supposed to respond? ‘Sorry I didn’t check in; I was too busy having an existential crisis after our intense encounter where you called me another woman’s name’?
    “I apologize, Mr. Knight. I thought…” I thought you were sleeping off whatever happened between us. I thought you needed space. I thought a lot of things, none of which I could say out loud.
    “You thought?” Alexander’s piercing gaze made my brain cells commit mass suicide.
    “I thought… well…” My mouth went drier than the Sahara. What could I say?
    A phone’s shrill ring cut through the tension. The ringtone echoed through his office like a chorus of angels. Thank you, merciful universe!

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