Showing results by narrator "Chloe" in All Categories

Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

Deceitful. Arrogant. Cold. Those are the three perfect words to sum up my husband to be. After little deliberation, my parents decide Isiah Darcy is the perfect suitor. He’s rich, British, and the perfect ally for the Benedetto family business. I can’t stand him, but they don’t care what I want. He’s stuck up and has little respect for women. Once we’re married, he makes it painfully clear I have no rights. I’m nothing more than a puppet. A way for him to get what he’s always wanted. Revenge on my family for something that happened years ago. My husband wants to tear my family apart.

For over a year, I've been hiding from my ruthless mob boss father and lying to everyone around me. Jordan is a sweet, protective biker who thinks we eloped in Vegas the night we met. The truth is, he was just supposed to be my ticket out of my gilded prison. I had nowhere to go, so when Jordan asked me to live with him after we got to his home in Rockland, I reluctantly agreed. After that, it was impossible to resist falling in love with him. But every second we're together is ruined thanks to the agonizing guilt eating away at me.

When I was nine, I went to my first funeral. Along with accepting my father's death, I had to accept new and awful truths I wasn't prepared for. When I was nineteen, I went to my mother's funeral. We weren't close, but with her gone, I became more alone than ever before. Sure, I have a half-brother who runs The Alliance. And yeah, he's given me his protection—in the form of a bodyguard and chauffeur. But I don't have anyone that really knows me. No one to really love me. Until I meet him. The man in the airport.

Okay, so my bad for assuming the guy I was going on a date with wasn't married. And my bad for taking him to a friend's house for dinner, only to find out my friend is also friends with his wife. Because, in fact, he is married. And she happens to be at my friend's house because her husband was "busy working." Confused? So am I. Unsurprisingly, my date's wife is super angry about finding out that her husband is a cheating asshole. Girl, I get it. Then to make matters more convoluted, there is the man sitting next to my date's wife. A man named King, who is apparently her brother.

I'm a dangerous man. A man who has spent the last two decades removing so many souls from this earth that it's a miracle my hands aren't permanently stained red. I'm a man who belongs in the shadows. I certainly don't belong in my pretty little neighbor's bedroom when she's not home, touching her things and inhaling her scent. I shouldn't follow her. Shouldn't watch her. No number of cookies on my doorstep will change the fact that love isn't an option for me. The only option left for me is violence.

The ruthless mafia king is no stranger to violence, but when he lays his eyes on my bruised and battered face, he's furious. I thought my makeup was thick enough to cover the beating I suffered until my inappropriately flirtatious boss noticed. As a cocktail waitress in his casino, I've always been on Mr. Salvato's radar, but now he's obsessed, demanding to know who hurt me and why, intent on making them suffer.

I was born to be the queen of Sin City. I just have to prove it to my father, Italian mafia king Dante Salvato. He thinks that I'm a spoiled, weak little girl who could never be capable of taking over his empire. The only thing standing in the way of me proving myself is a cocky asshole who doesn't know a thing about our world. For some reason, my father's preferred heir is Cole Brooks, which means he's now my competition.

Life has a sick sense of humor. One minute, I'm arguing with my mobster ex while dripping wet in nothing but a towel. The next, he's dead on the floor, and I'm naked, vulnerable, and at the sole mercy of the most dangerous man in New York City. I've heard the rumors that all the mafia families bow to Creed Ferraro, but I never expected him to drag me into their world. Creed blames me for his brother's death, and now, I'm also a witness to his violent crime. I know the rules. In the mafia, witnesses and enemies don't get to live.

I've always heard there's a fine line between love and hate. No one told me that line could destroy me. Noah Fontaine. King of the school. My living nightmare. The object of my fantasies. My new stepbrother. I did whatever it took to survive him. Every day he took more of me. I just didn't expect him to take my heart. Because of the boy I once hated, I'd never be the same girl again.

She's back. We were kids the last time I saw her, but my innocent crush from childhood is full-grown now. And it's not so innocent anymore. She's a breath of fresh air from the series of one-night stands since being drafted into the NHL. I've only got one shot with her, and I'm not taking it for granted. I may give her the passion she's been craving, but she's the intimacy I've waited for my whole life.

I live my life head over heart and never rock the boat, which is how I wound up engaged to Bryan Davenport—the biggest mistake I ever made. We were a power couple, but no one knew how cruel he could be behind closed doors. When I decide to leave, my fiancé shows just how ruthless he can be and sends me running to the last person I expect: his best man.

My older sister ran away from home to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage with the mafia family blamed for her mother's death. Now, that burden has fallen to me. Eighteen and sheltered, my life has only ever revolved around the familiar comfort of the tennis court. I've always been shielded from the brutal realities of my father's world, protected from his enemies. Enemies like Lochlan Dunne, who my father now wants as an ally.

Three is the magic number. I gave them my heart, and they gave me theirs. But the downside of living my best life is that I have everything to lose. And sometimes it's not the obvious thing that rips it all away. It's fate. It's chance. It's the worst luck in the world for the soul who least deserves it, leaving me drowning in the one cruelty I can't take. The one storm I can't weather. I'm not a religious man. Not even close. But I'm praying right now. For her. For him. For me.

Ryan and Sophie are a golden couple in Melbourne, the charming, salt-of-the-earth country boy and the charismatic, gorgeous social butterfly. When Ryan’s father dies, leaving them the family farm, it seems like a chance for Ryan to get back to his roots and for Sophie to embrace the bucolic country life she always dreamed of. But reality proves very different, and years spent struggling against an implacable drought have pushed their marriage – and finances – to the absolute limit.

Teacher by day, stalker by night. Who ever thought college could be this interesting? I'm teaching a hundred students. But my eyes are only on one. She's my obsession—and I'll stop at nothing to make her mine.

Erin has had a crush on her brother’s best friend Ward for as long as she can remember. But eleven years ago he disappeared from their lives—breaking Erin’s trust, and her heart. When the person they both love most—Erin’s brother Tommy—is nearly killed in a terrible crash, she and Ward are thrown back together for the first time. Their lives couldn’t be further apart. Erin still lives at home, working two jobs and dealing with a series of family disasters. Ward, now a multibillionaire entrepreneur and a household name, seems determined to make amends. But is it too late?

In an era where the foundational elements of business are being disrupted, Essential emerges as a crucial guide for leaders navigating the profound changes reshaping industries and markets worldwide. This book, penned by a team of seasoned business and leadership strategists, offers a radical and necessary perspective on management transformation, emphasizing the importance of human-centered leadership in meeting the full potential of the technology age.

Sold to the highest bidder? Check. Swept away by a dangerous silver fox? Check. Surprise pregnancy with a side of danger? Oh, honey, you bet. I thought I could fix our problems by giving up my most precious gift. Instead, I landed in a world of trouble, with a target on my back. Meet Valentino Barrone: tattooed kingpin, walking red flag, and now... my baby daddy. He says he's protecting me, but his eyes scream "mine" louder than any mob hit.