Maya Davis, a 25-year-old returning from studying abroad, meets the captivating Zane Moretti, a 36-year-old CEO, at a high-society event. Their instant chemistry sparks a passionate one-night romance, which results in Maya's unexpected pregnancy. Maya, forced into an arranged marriage, battles with Zane's mystery past, family betrayal, and rising threats. As Maya struggles with her affections for Zane and the danger that surrounds them, she discovers family secrets, including Zane's hidden twin sister. With foes closing in, will Maya and Zane's turbulent relationship withstand the continual threats, or will evil powers destroy their love?
View MoreMaya’s pulse raced as Luca’s words hung above the group like a heavy smoke. Gabriel Laurent.It wasn’t one of those surprises that should have caught her off guard. The Order was not about cleanliness. There was nothing trustworthy about its leaders. But to hear Luca say it so casually—as if it were the most natural thing in the world—knotted her stomach.Zane reclined in his seat, his silver eyes shrewd, calculating. He wasn’t responding, which meant he was getting creative.Luca smirked. “You look like a man trying to ascertain if I’m lying.”Zane exhaled. “That’s because I am.”Luca let out a low chuckle. “And?”Zane’s fingers rapped the table slowly and deliberately. “And you’re great at misdirection.”Luca clutched a hand to his chest, mock-offended. “That hurts, brother. Truly.”Maya clenched her fists. She hated this. The games, the deceits, the endless mind games where everyone was deceiving, and the only way to live was by out-lying everyone else.She exhaled sharply. “If Gab
Maya couldn’t sleep.She lay in bed, watching the ceiling, hearing the tick-tock of the clock up on the wall. And it was late — too late — but all that had transpired kept her awake.Her father was gone, at least from the world. For now, the Order had been fooled. But Gabriel’s warning was still ringing in her ears.“If I discover that you are lying, I will put a bullet between your eyes myself.”Maya sucked breath between her teeth, rolling onto her side. They were playing with fire. One wrong move and not just her life would be at stake — Zane’s, Victor’s, Elara’s.How the hell had these gotten here?A knock at the door roused her from her thoughts.She sat up, heart beating a little fast. “Come in.”The door creaked open; Zane stepped through a moment later, his silver eyes bright even in the pallid gloom. He was still wearing his dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, tie looser. Also, he looked like he hadn’t slept.Maya sighed. “You too?”Zane smirked slightly, shutting the door behind
Zane twisted through the empty roads, the lights of the city twinkling in the distance, their brilliance brought into contrast by the blackness of the sky. Sitting next to him, Maya’s thoughts were full of what they had just gone through. Her father was dead — dead to the world but still somewhere breathing in the mountains.It should have been a relief. It wasn’t.Zane’s silver eyes glanced at her momentarily. “You’re thinking too much.”Maya rolled her eyes, studying the view through the window. “And you’re under thinking simultaneously.”Zane smirked. “On the contrary. I am thinking the right amount.”Maya breathed out, pushing her fingers against her forehead. “This was the easy part, right?”Zane waved his hand, eyes on the road ahead. “Now comes the part where we sell The Order on the idea things went according to plan.”Maya sighed. That was the piece that made her terrified.Neither spoke for a moment, silence echoed in the space between them. At last, Zane spoke up. “How long
The deal with Charles should have brought relief, but didn’t. Maya felt weighed down with what they were going to do heavy as a vice, tightening every second. There was no going back at this point.She took a slow breath, her eyes fixed on her father’s. “We have less than a twelve hours to make this work.”Charles turned his head, and something unreadable filled his sharp blue eyes. “And if it doesn’t work?”Zane leaned on the desk, silver eyes placid but stern. “Then you’re dead. Either way.”Charles laughed, but it was dry, humorless. “Comforting.” He turned to Maya. “And you? What do you think?”Maya took a deep breath and crossed her arms. “I think if we don’t do this right, The Order isn’t just going to kill you — they’re going to come for me, too.”Charles watched her closely, his face unreadable. “And Moretti? Do you trust him?”Zane smirked, responding before she had a chance. “She don’t gotta trust me. She just has to know I’m better at this than you are.”There was a subdued
The name on the paper stared back at her, clipped and brutal. Charles Davis.Maya sensed time slow around her, the meeting buzzing with a dull range that faded into the background. Her father.She wasn’t that close to him — not really. Charles Davis was a cold man, a man who saw business as a series of transactions, one after another, with no loss and no emotion, and he had used that machine to build his empire. He was never the warm, doting type. But he was still her blood.And The Order was out to kill him.She fought her body to be still, to keep her face blank while Zane peeled back the paper, reading it with the same dead cold calculation he applied to every kill order that came before this. But Maya knew him too well.He wasn’t unaffected.His jaw was slightly too tight. He flexed his fingers to see their utility and set the paper back down. And when his silver eyes darted to her? It was a knowledge there.Gabriel smirked, taking both of them in with interest. “I expect this won
The weight of the death of Julian Devereaux still hung in the air, heavy and oppressive. His body crumpled on the cold marble, a propensity for bloods to trickle in slow, measured tendrils around him. The man who thought himself above the law was down, not in a blaze of glory, but with a single shot and a round thud.Maya looked at the body a second too long, not of regret but calculation. What they had done at that moment altered everything.Zane was now sitting upon the throne that Julian had abandoned, and that made him next目标.Gabriel Laurent straightened his cufflinks, strolling over Julian’s corpse like stepping over a fallen tree branch. “Well,” he drawled, his voice smooth and untroubled, “that was cleaner than I expected.”Victor let out a low whistle. “Yeah? What were you expecting? Some Shakespearean monologue before he dropped dead?”Gabriel smirked. “I was expecting begging.” A narrow-eyed look was cast to Zane. “And now, Moretti, it’s the time for the real work.”“Zane h
For his entire life, Julian Devereaux had thought he was untouchable. A king in a world of pawns. He had gone through life pulling power plays, making people jiggle like puppets on some invisible string. Until now.She could see this in his eyes: the flicker of doubt, the unspeakable fear. This was not how things were supposed to turn out for him. He was the one in control, the one moving the pieces, but now? He was the piece now, and Zane Moretti was about to remove him from the board.Zane smoothed the cuffs of his suit, silver eyes alight with what seemed to be boredom. “You seem uncomfortable, Julian.”Julian’s jaw set, his shoulders went tight. “You think this will all end with me?Zane smirked. “No, but it starts with you.”Camille, still tied to the chair, released a shaky breath, but her eyes blazed. “For once in your life, Julian, just stop pretending you’re invincible.”Julian gave her a hard look, but this time Maya saw something else in his eyes. Not anger. Not calculation
The SUV barreled down the darkened street, the city's blinking lights fading behind it as they drove toward the outskirts. The estate where, Julian claimed, he was holding Camille was remote, fortified and precisely the sort of place where a man like Julian would stow someone whose fate he was unsure of.The backseat occupant, Maya, adjusted her gun, in and out in crescent movements. Her hands were steady, her mind a razor. There wasn’t any hesitation, any second-guessing. Camille was leverage, but she was also a test — Julian’s way of demonstrating that he still had the upper hand, that they were the ones who responded to him.That was about to change.Zane was next to her, silent, his silver eyes on the road ahead. He had said little since they pulled away from the safe house, but what Maya knew better than to interpret as anything other than controlled restraint. He was already formulating his plan for disassembling Julian.Victor was at the wheel, one hand guiding the car, the oth
Maya’s blood turned to ice. The safe house had been compromised. Camille was still there — guarded, vulnerable. They had expected Julian to go to battle to regain her. Instead, he had turned the game back on them.Her fingers twitched toward her gun, but Julian’s smirk just broadened. He had planned this.Zane’s silver eyes were unreadable, but Maya could see the way his jaw clenched tight, the way his finger curled, just so slightly, at his sides. He wasn’t shaking but he was recalibrating.Julian took a breath, angling his head. “I mean, I have to admit, I didn’t think you would play this so well. Most people who come after The Order die before they understand that they’re being hunted. But you?” He chuckled. “You really made me see you as a threat.”Zane smirked. “I would have been offended if I wasn’t.”Julian sighed dramatically. “And yet, clever as you are, you had one flaw. You assumed I would panic.” His blue eyes twinkled with humor. “You assumed I would choose.”Maya tighten
Maya stood in the middle of her big bedroom, taking in the warm familiarity of it. The walls were painted soft cream, the tall windows letting in the late afternoon sunlight, dancing across her old bookshelves and childhood trinkets. A nostalgic smile tugged on her lips. It felt good to be back after years of studying overseas in Asia. She was unpacking her belongings in silence, the quiet hum of the estate seeming to settle her nerves. She wore a great, loose, oversized shirt that fell to mid-thigh and a pair of simple cotton underwear—her favorite outfit for comfort.She had politely declined, though, when the maids offered to assist her, because this was going to be her space, and she wanted to settle into it on her own terms. Her father, Charles, was downstairs somewhere, precisely in his study, buried as always in his work.The ringtone of her phone cut through the silence, and she looked at the screen to see Reese's name flashing and a grin spread across her face. Reese had been...
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