Novels by River Audra

*WARNING! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED* *SUICIDE ATTEMPT/TALK OF SUICIDE* MILES "You should just fucking die already. No one wants you. Oh and, don't call him again." I didn’t even hang up. I just dropped the phone and took step after step forward. It landed with a soft thud behind me, but I didn’t turn back. Didn’t reach for it. It didn’t matter anymore. My body was still moving, still breathing, still aching. But my mind? That had already given up. I couldn't tell the difference between pain and nothingness anymore—maybe they were the same. Maybe I was just too tired to care. My foot dragged against the gravel on the road to the Cliffs. I was supposed to meet the guys at the party to watch the ocean storm and hit the highest cliffside. I was supposed to be having a good time and finally let myself...be. But of course, not if my mother had anything to do with it. Tanya's words hit home. "You should just fucking die already." The words coiled around my throat, venomous, unsha

*WARNING: SUICIDE ATTEMPT**READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED* DOM Something was wrong. I had been feeling it all night. The way my phone burned in my pocket. The way my gut twisted every time I checked my screen and saw nothing. No messages. No calls. No Miles. I had tried. Three times. Three fucking times, and she hadn’t answered. Marcus was already knee-deep in some girl’s attention, laughing, drinking, having a good time. But even he noticed. "Dude," he called over, watching me check my phone again. "She probably just fell asleep or some shit." I forced a half-smirk, pocketing my phone before I squeezed the back of my neck. "Yeah. Maybe." I didn’t believe it. Not even Marcus believed it because the bastard was dead wrong if he thought I hadn't caught him checking his phone as well. I knew Miles. She didn’t just disappear. Not like this. Not without a fucking reason. "Dom." The voice was too close, too familiar, and I already knew who it was before I turned. Tanya. Fucki

*WARNING VIOLENCE AND ABUSE * MILES My mother had been watching me all morning. Not in the usual way. Not with irritation. Not with thinly veiled disgust like she always did when I so much as existed in her space. No, this was different. She was calculating. I could feel it in the way she lingered in doorways, in the way her eyes flicked toward me at breakfast, in the way she adjusted her rings, twisting them around her fingers like she was thinking. Plotting. I had half a mind to ask her what the hell she was up to, but instead, I let her wait. Let her decide how she was going to approach me. And then when she finally did? I nearly laughed. "Miles, come with me." It was demand but it lacked her usual bite. Maverick had left early this morning on a business trip so it was a surprise she wanted to be near me at all. I arched a brow, barely glancing up from my book. "Excuse me?" She sighed as if I were the most difficult person in the world, then crossed her arms,

DOM I wasn’t getting enough of her. That was the problem. Miles had been right there—in the house, in the hallways, at the dinner table—but it wasn’t enough. Not anymore. She had been keeping her distance, not too much, not enough to be obvious, but just enough to make me ache. To make me want more. And I couldn’t have more. Not like I wanted. Not with my father watching. Maverick had been more observant lately. Not just with me, but with everyone. I noticed it at dinner. The way his eyes tracked conversations, the way his fork hovered mid-air as he listened. The way he watched Miles. She had been more talkative. Not forced, not in the way that would make anyone suspicious, but in a way that felt natural. Like she had finally settled into her place at this table. And my father? He had noticed. Not in a bad way. If anything, he seemed pleased. It made sense—he liked her, actually liked her. She was sharp. Smart. She could hold a conversation and keep up with him, somethin

MILESThe venue was grand.Too grand.Every inch of it reeked of wealth—chandeliers dripping in crystal, tables lined in pristine white linen, golden accents catching the light at just the right angles to remind everyone just how much money had been poured into this production.And that’s exactly what it was. A production. A show for the people. For Maverick Black. For the perfect Valentine-Black union.I was supposed to be impressed. Supposed to stand in awe of the splendor.But I couldn’t bring myself to care.Because the real performance was happening off-stage between me and her.Candice was watching me. Not with open suspicion, but with patience. Like she was waiting to see what I would do next. I knew she had noticed. Knew she felt the shift.She just wasn’t sure why it had happened.Not yet.She waited until we were alone.The moment the men were out of earshot, pulled away by the wedding coordinator, Candice’s heels clicked sharply against the marble as she stepped closer."Do

DOM Something happened. I could feel it in the tension hanging over the house. In the way the air thickened, pressing against my chest, settling in the spaces between conversations. More than anything, I could tell by the way Miles had changed. It wasn’t anything obvious. Nothing dramatic. She didn’t act different, didn’t suddenly move or speak in ways that set off alarms. No. It was in the way she walked. The quiet certainty in her movements. The way she carried herself with purpose, like someone who had made a decision and planned to see it through. And her eyes? Her misty gray eyes weren’t empty. Weren’t hollow or afraid. They were on fire. It took everything in me to be good for the rest of the week. No searing looks across the dinner table. No careful touches in the hallway. No stolen kisses in the library. Not even when she sent me those filthy fucking texts late at night, taunting me, reminding me that she was still there even if she was keeping her distance. I