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11|Human Truth Serum
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Beautiful Disaster 12|Faith In You
The two men in the front blinked several times in Marybeth's direction when she jumped in beside Austin, giving her appreciative smiles in the rear-view mirror. But they knew better than to speak out of turn, especially in their boss' presence.Nothing would stop Austin from sharing his unnecessary and unwanted opinion, though. "You are beautiful, žena!""Flattery is wasted on me," she muttered, annoyed by the warmth surging through her veins when his appreciative gaze roamed over her form from head to toe, lingering a little too long at the hint of cleavage peeking over her dress.She crossed her arms, huffing as she stared out of her window.Austin laughed, the sound of his amusement rattling the car as he handed her a file. "Here. Read it and familiarise yourself with its contents."Marybeth glanced at the file. "What's this?""Your biggest assignment yet," he announced. "My father will likely ask you all sorts of questions to make sure our relationship is real. You have to pass hi
Beautiful Disaster 13|Full Of Surprises
"Well, well! Who do we have here?" said the elderly gentleman in a low, gravelly voice when Marybeth finally stood before him."Marybeth Tyson," she replied with a nervous smile."Lukas Hawthorne, Blake and Austin's father," the man introduced himself as he pulled her in his embrace and kissed both her cheeks.Old Spice—or some other old man cologne—and a whiff of Cuban cigars and bourbon fumes enveloped Marybeth as soon as he swathed her in his arms. It was an oddly comforting scent on him, but she would have found it downright disgusting on any other man.His eyes, too, as dark as the sky on an overcast day, when he held her away from him to take her in, had a softness—no—a sadness she'd seen in Austin's when he first walked into the waiting room at Home Affairs.It was a look that made Marybeth want to trust him. To like him even.But a man like him, who was clearly the head of what she was now certain was a crime family, couldn't exactly be trusted—"They are the greatest loves of
Beautiful Disaster 14|кума
Marybeth had no idea why they kept calling her 'кума,' and when it came up again, she had to ask the sullen brunette beauty beside her dripping in Swarovski diamonds."It's godmother in Serbian," she said waspishly, malice glistening in her stunning hazel eyes. "I suppose I should congratulate you on the title. But, sweetie, you'll never have Austin's heart. Iris beat you to it. And well, his body… Let's just say I know what makes him tick.""Excuse me?" Marybeth said, baffled by her needless hostility. "Who are you?"Before the woman could reply, Austin waltzed over and drew her to his side, nuzzling her neck. "Žena, I see you've met Hadley.""We were just getting acquainted." Hadley smiled sweetly, batting her long lashes like Tweety, and Marybeth barfed a little in her mouth. She didn't care what their relationship was, but she wanted no part of this drama. If Austin wanted to screw around, so be it. After all, they were married in name only."Come on, a few people are dying to mee
Beautiful Disaster 15|Locked Inside A Gilded Cage
The lunch ended much sooner than Marybeth wanted, and Austin pulled her aside long enough to update her on his plans for the afternoon."I'm heading into a meeting, and I'm not sure how long it will take," he said, rubbing her arm lightly. "Benji and Arno will drop you off at your place if I'm not done by five."Marybeth didn't understand why he was carrying on with his charade of a doting couple in the throes of a whirlwind romance. Half the people in the room may have bought it hook, line and sinker, but judging by the shrewd way old man Hawthorne kept looking at her throughout their meal, he hadn't."Beth?" Austin shook her a little to get some reaction from her.She sighed, her voice heavy with irritation when she spoke, "Seriously, there's no need to report every little aspect of your day to me; after all, my job is to look after your daughter. Where is she, by the way? When will I meet her?""For as long as we're in company, žená, you will act like a glowing bride, so quit your
Beautiful Disaster 16|Love Means Nothing
The meeting wasn't going as well as Austin had hoped. In fact, it turned into a circus as soon as they sat around the oval table in one of the conference rooms on the fifth floor, with everyone demanding to know what had possessed him to blindside them with his shotgun wedding.His father was the most aggrieved. He couldn't understand why he'd keep such a huge secret from him or deny him the opportunity to be at his wedding."Marybeth wanted something small," Austin explained for the hundredth time.Frustrated, he eased out of his seat and paused in front of the window. A pang of nostalgia hit him hard as he watched a handful of surfers ride the waves in the distance. It had been a while since he'd gone to the beach to unwind and be one with the ocean. Maybe he should go surfing one of the days. Better yet, he should take Orlando and Beth for a weekend getaway on the yacht. They'd make it a pre-honeymoon vacation. Not that he'd pitch it as that to Beth. She'd made it clear how much sh
Beautiful Disaster 17|Make It Make Sense—Part 1
By the time the birds began to chirp their morning call, Marybeth was long awake. She sat at the kitchen island, nursing a cup of instant coffee in her hand, and contemplated the several empty boxes scattered around the open plan living room floor.When she moved in two years ago with her bestie, Scarlett, she vowed never to see another cardboard box in her life again. Not until she'd found her soulmate, at least, and they had to move into their seaside mansion.But here she was, faced with a damn near impossible task of stuffing twenty-eight years of her life into cardboard boxes she'd rounded up from the building manager the previous afternoon when she got home after her disaster of a lunch with the family.A door down the hall creaked open. Barefooted steps on the tiled floor treaded closer, followed by a loud yawn as Scarlett paused inside the entryway. She blinked several times at the boxes and rubbed her bleary eyes, shaking out her messy blonde hair. "What's going on? Are we mo
Beautiful Disaster 18|Make It Make Sense—Part 2
Scarlett gently nudged her shoulder, shaking her out of her melancholy. "I'm sorry. I'm guessing Austin didn't mention any of this to you?"Marybeth brushed off the question with a quick shake of her head. "Why would he? We're married in name only. In exactly a year, after Daddy pays him off, we'll go our separate ways.""Are you sure about that?" Scarlett asked."What do you mean?""I mean, it's not just you and Austin. There's also a little girl involved. Can you honestly walk away from her after your time is up?"Marybeth tilted her head slightly and played with her hands. "Please, Scar, don't put me on the spot. I'm still getting my head around everything. My father, his debt, Austin and our fake marriage. It's all too much for me.""I understand," Scarlett said, stifling another loud yawn with the back of her hand. "But seriously, I think this whole thing is absurd. I mean, who marries someone just to pay off a debt?"Marybeth could only nod her agreement. She, of all people, kne
Beautiful Disaster 19|Make It Make Sense—Part 3
Sure enough, at 1:00 PM, Arno, Benji and two brawny men who could easily moonlight as bouncers were on Marybeth's doorstep.Within ten minutes, the four of them had cleared her apartment of the ten boxes with her books and keepsakes, and three suitcases stuffed to the brim with all her clothes.Marybeth ran through her apartment one last time, making sure she hadn't left anything behind. Satisfied she had everything she'd need for the foreseeable future, she turned to Austin's men with a smile. "I think I'm done."Pointing at her laptop bag and purse, Benji asked, "May I?""Sure." Marybeth gladly handed over the items and locked up the place, before she followed the men down the hall to the elevators.When Arno offered to carry the case with her mom's acoustic guitar, Marybeth politely declined. It was her most cherished possession and the only link to a woman who'd discarded her like she meant so little.Phoebe Tyson picked it up for a song at a Waterfront flea market, but she never
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