Kylie Kent

Lailani Out of all the jobs I’ve had over the years, this has to be the most mundane. It requires me to be someone completely different. A meek, quiet girl working to put herself through college. I really do deserve an Oscar. It’s easy money, though.

Blood. Pain. Tears. Despair. Hate. All words I associate with those around me. But it’s true what they say. You can’t choose your family. And mine? Well, I don’t think anyone would choose them.

The moment I see Alyssa enter my club, I knew I wanted her. Even as she sat across the bar with another man—I knew I’d make her mine. The moment our skin connected every cell in my body exploded like fireworks. That moment sealed her fate....

My mother taught me one valuable lesson that I’ve used to get to where I am today. And where am I? Las Vegas. Who am I? Well, that depends on who you are. To some, I’m the king.

Work, sleep, and sometimes eat. Rinse and repeat. That’s been my life for the past two years. One struggle after another. Fighting to keep my sister alive. Fighting to maintain the strength to not give up. I had everything under control. I had a routine. Order.

Hockey has always been my sole focus, getting to the playoffs, winning the Stanley Cup—that’s my number one goal. I won’t let the fact that I’ve just been traded to a new team derail my future. Nor will the daughter of the so-called King of Canada, aka my new boss....

Being the eldest son has always been a blessing and a curse. I was raised to be one thing and one thing only. A monster. My father did everything in his power to make sure that’s exactly what I became too.

I never thought I would be seeking shelter here of all places. I’m out of options though. I needed a place to hide out. Somewhere I could get my bearings and develop a plan to get myself out of the mess I’ve landed in. It was a fail-proof plan. Then he found me.

Everything was perfect until it wasn’t. Nobody warns you that it can all be taken away in the blink of an eye.

Luca Would you risk it all—your career, your dream, your life—to save a stranger? I would. I did. Except, in saving her, I destroyed any chance at living out the future I was destined for.

Most men I date are scared away as soon as they meet my family. Travis isn’t most men. He’s stared down the barrel of my father’s gun without flinching. He should have run, though. If he had, he wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed right now.

Being judged isn’t something foreign to me. I’m used to the whispers, the stares, the way people scatter or cross the road when they see me walking their way. It comes with the territory when your last name is De Bellis.

SantoCold. A deep, bone-chilling cold. I’ve felt it since the night I clutched my pregnant fiancée to my chest and had a pair of cold, lifeless eyes stare back at me. My family wants me to move on. To start living again. But it’s not so easy to do when your heart and soul are still six feet under.

Have you ever loved someone so much it physically hurts? That’s how much I love my best friend, Matteo Valentino. It’s also the reason I’ve done everything I can to make sure he’s firmly rooted in the friend zone.

Emily came crashing back into my life, bringing with her everything I was missing. But she’s not the same girl I knew years ago. Gone is the girl who was always happy and eager to please everyone. The one who didn’t let life get her down.

Some things are off-limits. My best friend’s little sister has always been one of those things. Years later, I can still hear his voice in my head telling me not to go there. The fact those warnings are coming from beyond the grave doesn’t help matters either.

Everything we’ve built is crashing down around me. I’m consumed by the darkness, my blood boiling with the need for revenge. My wife is the only light in my life; she’s the very reason I keep on fighting. They’re coming after me. And worse yet, they’re coming after her. But let them come....

Five years ago, my life was turned upside down. I’ve avoided any kind of emotional connections with men. The walls I built up around my heart have a foundation no man has been able to crack. That is until Bray freaking Williamson came crashing down on me....

A lie. Presenting a false impression. To be deceptive. That’s what I am. A lie. My family sees one version of me. The world sees another. Neither is real. I like it that way. Prefer it even. And then there’s her. She sees right through the lie. Through me.

Four years ago, I did the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I walked away from the love of my life. She was young; she needed to go and live her dreams without me dragging her into my darkness. She’s also the little sister of my best friend. Now, Ella is back, and she’s not 18 anymore....