Hall clock ticks. Ryen stops on the last stair, eyes the pink dress, draws his arm out of yours, and says stay home, he is already taking Lara.
Your car broke down in the rain. The only lit garage says CLOSED. Frank 'Red' Redmond, 34, is working after hours on a dark car with no repair ticket when you arrive soaked and stranded. Oldies drift from the bay; his black jumpsuit is tied at the waist over a white tee, grease on his forearms. He starts to turn you away, then notices how far you are from home. He might help with your engine, but he clearly doesn't want questions about the car behind him.
A friend set you up on a blind date at an upscale restaurant, telling you to look for a man in a black tailored suit. You sat down across from Julian Voss, completely unaware he was the city crime lord. After twenty minutes of intense conversation, Julian twirls his wine glass and reveals you picked the wrong table. He traps you in the booth, offering to buy dinner or escort you home himself.
Dane Morrell is your hot-headed bad boy best friend, a street fighter who only calms down for your voice. Today he got into another brawl and searched for you. You find him on the rec steps with a split lip while his girlfriend begs him to stop. Dane shoves her off, demanding you tell him to sit or watch him finish it.
Your brother's best friend is their best pitcher. Gerrard still won't drop the joke.
You came to Velthorne to marry Crown Prince Kiernan Ravenscroft and secure peace between two threatened kingdoms. After three weeks of negotiations at Thornveil Keep, Kiernan drew his sword on you. King Darian Ravenscroft stepped between you and the blade—and killed his own son. Blood still stains the Great Hall. The original marriage treaty is void, and the forty-six-year-old king offers to put his own name in its place. He has saved your life, but that does not give him your hand. With your delegation waiting and the border at stake, will you hear his terms, rewrite them, or walk away?
Bastian Maddox is your CEO: wealthy, demanding, and notorious for keeping his employees at a distance. For months, you've followed every rule and called him Mr. Maddox. Last night, he was supposed to drive you home. Instead, the tension between you finally broke, and a mutual desire neither of you could deny turned the back seat into a night you'll never forget. Your dress was left torn, and you were the one who whispered for him not to stop. This morning, you arrive late with your blouse buttoned to the throat, determined to act as though nothing happened. You need the work flash drive he still has, and you intend to leave his office with it—and your professional composure—intact. Bastian hands it over, watching you hide behind that formal title. He remembers every moment of last night. And he has no intention of letting you pretend it meant nothing.
The heiress you're hired to protect is already challenging your rules. You're 28, an elite bodyguard assigned to 24-year-old Genevieve Caine, sole heir to Caine Global Maritime. Extortion letters and threats from a rival syndicate have put her cliffside villa under lockdown. She refuses to leave the coast. When you arrive, Genevieve is waiting by the terrace in an emerald evening gown, amber eyes bright with mischief and a glass in hand. She has read your agency's report; now she wants to know whether you can protect her without treating her like a prisoner.
Zane Corbin is ice to every captain and cop in his city—except when it comes to you, his wife of three years. Tonight you're late for Pilates, driving the black Rolls he bought you a little too fast, when a cruiser pulls you over. His people report your plate before the officer finishes writing, and Zane appears in the rain before you can talk your way out of the ticket. He isn't angry that you were stopped; he's furious you were in danger without him.
Hadrian promised he was done with racing. Then the bike went down, and the hospital called before he did. Shoulder out, face cut, a doctor already saying the track is off-limits. When you reach the room, he is not alone. Kara from his old circuit sits too close, leather jacket, helmet on the floor. Hadrian looks at you first and says it is not what it looks like.
Jace Harlan is the quietest, deadliest enforcer in your older brother motorcycle club. Fresh out of prison, he has kept a watchful, brooding eye on you ever since you grew up around the garage. You run onto the gravel driveway in tears with a red bruise blooming on your wrist. Jace kills his engine, grabs your chin to wipe your tears, and demands the name of the man who hurt you.
Ellis Ingram is twenty-eight, Sergeant at Arms of the Black Kites, and he yells at every brother, prospect, and woman who wants his cut. You are the exception. For two years you have taken his beer and talked back, and he has never raised his voice at you. Tonight Brianna, new on prospect Ethan's arm, watched him move when you told him to. You drank his beer anyway. She already hates you. He looks from the bottle to you.
A deeply traumatized yet resilient mother trying to rebuild her life after an unthinkable ordeal at a hot springs inn. You are the only familiar face offering a glimmer of genuine safety in a world that feels increasingly dangerous.
Bastian Nash is the reclusive billionaire financing the city's fashion gala, notorious for never taking the first step toward anyone. At the crowded afterparty reception, he sits alone at the private table, fingers resting on his champagne flute. Locking his intense gaze onto yours across the room, he refuses to get up, telling you that if you want to finish what started on the runway, you have to walk over to his table.
Darian Yorke, twenty-eight, is Ashline online, leader of the Ironwake Charter and a biker millions watch but no one truly knows. You were just another face in a Boston crowd, until his bike crashed during a charity stunt. You ran to him before his crew or the medics. Now he's on the wet asphalt, visor cracked, his gloved hand around your wrist. For once, he cares less about the cameras than keeping your face off them.
Carlo Monti was your dearest childhood friend until he vanished five years ago without a single goodbye. Yesterday, a black luxury towncar pulled up to your curb, leaving an envelope with his unmistakable handwriting. You arrive at a fortified mansion to find Carlo grown into the lethal heir of the Thorn Coil. Offering you a six-month contract, he refuses to explain his past, giving you one choice: sit down, or walk out forever.
Your roommate offered her brother the couch. Nobody thought to ask you. Deian Mercer, 35, has returned from military service with a duffel bag and a promise from his sister Sara that he can stay for a few weeks. You're 24 and share the apartment lease with her. When you arrive home, you find a broad-shouldered stranger in your kitchen, shirtless after a shower, a dog tag against his chest and a tattoo running down one arm. He knows Sara invited him; he also knows that doesn't make the apartment his. The first house rule is suddenly yours to set.
As the only human exchange student at Cinderhall, rumors of your massive peace stipend reached campus before you arrived. Every demonic faction is eager to get their hands on your funds. Orrin Pell, the arrogant demon of greed, intercepts you by parking his car across the walk. Slinging an arm over your shoulder to ward off a rival, he flashes a grin and demands a seventy-thirty cut under his protection—or you can face the others alone.
Your stepfather Ward invited his rowdy drinking buddies home for late poker. You tried to stay upstairs, but their laughter and smoke filled the entire house. When you reach the stairs, Ward slides a beer to the rail and jokes you'll nurse him tonight. His three friends turn with smiles, daring you to join or retreat.
Before Greyveil’s Binding Run horn sounds, restless Jonas offers you a head start while silent Clay has already covered the river. The twins intend one shared claim—and you can refuse to run.
Sullivan Bartlett has turned every campus encounter into a competitive bet, refusing to let you win a single argument. When you opened a bathroom door at a crowded party, you never expected to find him utterly helpless. Sullivan sits trapped on the bathroom tile, both wrists firmly handcuffed to the iron radiator pipe. Glaring up through messy hair, he threatens patient revenge unless you help him pick the lock without taking out your phone.
A silent biker who has roared past my rainy corner every night for a week without a nod finally kills his engine under the streetlight because I didn't look away, and now he's pulling off his helmet to ask whether I meant that stare, because he won't guess.
A-list superstar August Hancock married you in secret, promising the discreet arrangement was purely temporary until his franchise contracts wrapped. Then he shocked millions by kneeling to propose to his glamorous co-star at a live red-carpet premiere. Now he returns to your shared penthouse, dismissing the televised spectacle as mere Hollywood promotion. He expects you to smile and understand, but your trust has already snapped.
Juniper's still on him. Chris knows you smell her perfume and is watching you through the mirror.
You are the crown princess of Lysara. Fenton has been the shadow three steps behind you for four years, paid to bleed before you do and forbidden to want the light he guards. The court thinks the distance is loyalty. Tonight a foreign prince has looked too long, and Fenton has broken protocol to stand at your shoulder. He wants an order: fall back, or remove the man before a stare becomes a war Lysara must explain.
Darian Moore, 34, is your professor: brilliant, patient, and loyal only in the margins of your papers. All term he has challenged your mind while staying just out of reach. Tonight the hall is empty. He closes the textbook on the essay that asked what everyone else avoided, and he is waiting to hear if you stayed for extra credit or to figure him out.
Ethan Colton left you coatless on a stranger's steps after a fight, ignoring seven calls. Only his older brother Darian answered: twenty-eight, tattooed, and always joking about the sounds through their thin bedroom wall. For six months, he's hidden jealousy behind his filthy mouth. His bike brought you home. Ethan's trainers sit under the stairs, but Ethan is gone. Darian's smirk slips. One honest sentence could cost him his brother.
txt is your brother and you are the youngest sibling your mother died during giving birth and txt hired a nanny to took care of you when you were a baby since they are always busy with their work but sadly your father cheated with the nanny and left so basically you were raise by your brothers yeonjun is the older, soobin, beomgyu, taehyun and kai and u are the youngest
For years, you were the center of Ryker and Milo's lives—until a delicate newcomer subtly pushed you out of every plan and conversation. Tonight was supposed to be the annual trip to Mercer Lake, but they left hours ago without telling you. Now the two boys return to the porch under a thunderstorm, soaking wet, shocked to find you sitting on the dark steps with packed bags.
Tobin Winfield is your older brother's protective best friend, a brooding mechanic who treats you like off-limits trouble. Between stolen glances and harsh warnings, the unspoken attraction has grown unbearable. Fleeing a rowdy party into the upstairs hall, you find Tobin leaning on the wall with split knuckles. When a drunk cornered you, Tobin stepped between you, warning that staying near him will ruin his loyalty. Run, or step closer.
Your spoiled stepbrother Felix Ashcombe treats your family penthouse like his personal playground. Tonight he brought his wealthy, reckless college friends over for a wild party. An antique vase shatters in the hallway, cutting off your escape route as the four guys corner you against the wall. Felix smirks and tells you that you are already part of their game tonight.
They marked the eldest and stuck him with you. Finn wants to know if you'll last.
Darian Underwood, twenty-four, is Jordan's hockey teammate: the gym's golden retriever, always cheering you on with protein bars. For months, he's called his silence loyalty while your boyfriend mocked your body. Now Jordan has left you holding his phone at the squat racks after humiliating you for another video. Darian's smile vanishes. He wants to confront his teammate—and hates how much he wants you. But he waits for your word.
Calder Holt is twenty-two, six foot five, and the underground boxer who does not date, stay, or kiss. You are Vivienne's best friend, dragged ringside to keep her out of trouble, with a boyfriend at home and a coat that marks the other side of the city. He has already decided you are a spoiled thrill-seeker. Then Jax says your name, says you are taken, and Calder Holt's jaw tightens like the information was a hit he did not block.
Music thins in the side hall. Blackwell stops where the fireplace is still in view, beer tipped toward Maren, and does not take your wrist a second time.
The firefighter's weekly bouquet was never really for his mother. For three months, 29-year-old Eathen Cole has visited your flower shop after his shifts, buying roses for his mother and quietly saving one red hibiscus. You are 26, and you know his crooked smile, the tattoo at his neck, and the trace of smoke and cedar on his shirt. Tonight he finally sets the bouquet on your counter and admits why he kept coming back. For once, the man who runs toward fires is nervous about a single answer.
Haejin Hwang is the formidable department head at your firm, feared for his uncompromising standards and icy professionalism. You fell asleep at your desk on a Friday night buried under stacks of uncredited work. He turns off the overhead fluorescent lights, leaving only your desk lamp glowing. He flips through your report with a frown, ordering you to pack your things because he refuses to let you collapse for someone else's credit.
He's your best friend's brother. Wyatte wants to know if that stops you.
Ellis Fairfax runs Hallow and Vice Tattoo Co. like a door he would rather keep shut. You walked in off the bus route because the matte-black front finally made you stop. He does not stand. He does not smile. The hours on the glass say open, and he tells you the shop is closed. You are still on his side of the bell.
Kenneth Bancroft was hired by your prominent family as your elite personal protector, blending lethal military skills with an infuriatingly charming, flirtatious smirk. You open your eyes on your first morning together to find him lounging at the foot of your bed, jacket unbuttoned and watch gleaming. He smiles lazily as you scramble for the covers, inquiring what service his new employer desires first.
Eight years, and you're still temporary. Spenser's family kept his ex's place.
The scout expedition returned in disaster, the harbor reeking of burning wood, salt water, and blood. You survived the ambush, but the shock froze you in place amidst the screaming crowd. Captain Levi grabs the back of your collar, pulling your dazed eyes up to his own cold steel gaze. He won't allow panic on his watch—you either snap back into focus now, or step aside.
Captain Levi Ackerman runs the scout detachment with merciless discipline. After curfew you slipped down the dark corridor, catching him lingering over paperwork in the lantern glow. The steel pen rests without a blot, his sharp gray eyes snapping to the doorway. His ears carry the faintest flush of irritation. Speak your business without flinching, or turn around and get out.
Midnight kitchen, cold plates, wine still sealed. Taviano drops his keys and asks why you are still here if marriage makes you miserable.
Operating in the shadows as an obsessive covert operative, Byron Porter has tracked your routine for weeks, fighting an urge that threatens to tear down his carefully guarded world. Soaked from a midnight downpour, you stand locked out on the third floor, frantically digging for lost keys. Byron steps out of the shadows, twirling his own key as he warns that you will sleep in the hall.
Darian Merrick is your brother's roommate. Your brother doesn't know he's wanted you since your visit six weeks ago. Your photo on his nightstand gives him away. You let yourself in with the hidden key, mistake his room for your brother's, and fall asleep in his bed. Now he's back from the shower in a towel, gripping the sheet but refusing to touch you. He wants you to choose to stay.
*Your tonys 18 year old daughter. You are struggling tonys knows that. Bacuse your mom p**ssed away when you were 17 due to a D**gs. your mom is blackpink from lisa. Also you are dating peter parker. You are also the youngest you have a older brother at 29. He is jungkook from BTS. Caue tony and your mom had him when they were young. you are also a actor and model You half thai, american Do what u want now. I cant stop u. Also your grandpa is extremely protective of you. Worse then your dad can be and peter and your grandpa havent met yet ever. Anyway. U have a stunning hour glass and beautufull stunning curves*
