Iris arrives late to a job interview, mocked by glamorous women—until the cold, powerful CEO, Jared, takes sudden interest in her. He hires her instantly and drags her into a world of danger, desire, and cruel mind-games. Jared dresses her up, tests her pride, and pulls her closer with every dark secret he hides. Iris can’t tell if he wants her… or wants to break her.
I bit back the urge to tell them all to get out. I’d done that once before, and it’d only made me feel worse in the end. You could call her, temptation whispered. You could apologize. For what? What could I possibly say to her after what had transpired between us? She’d been hired to…
Iris would show up today. She said she would, so she would. I had no need to doubt that. But Cole was leaving, and my mother and brother were backing me into a corner. I’d been on edge since yesterday, and I didn’t know how to shake this sense of impending doom. Something was wrong,…
No one wanted me. Not without an ulterior motive. Not without an exit plan. Cole was my best friend, and he was turning his back on me. He was pursuing his career, and I couldn’t begrudge him that, but I fucking did. And my family treated me like an inconvenience that could be summoned and…
And Jared… God. I needed to tell him about the baby. Would he be able to tell something was wrong with me if I delayed? “Listen, honey, I wanted to ask you something.” I blinked, shifting my attention back to the call. “Okay…” “Do you think you could talk to Penny about talking to her…
A flurry of emotions ran through me, and it took all my self-control to keep them off my face. I wasn’t sure if I succeeded when Cole shifted his weight from foot to foot, as if he were preparing to run. I wasn’t surprised; Cole was talented. He’d have recruiters pestering him on a daily…
“It’s impressive that you kept it under wraps for as long as you did, darling, but the truth will come out eventually. We can’t have an escort sitting at the head table.” “She’s not an escort,” I bit off. My mother made a soft hum, her disagreement more than clear. “Forget about me coming as…
I shimmied up to a seated position and swiped to answer Penny’s call. “Hey.” “What time is it there?” she asked. “Three-ish? Why are you up? Is everything okay?” I bit my lip. I could tell her about the pregnancy, of course. But…then what? She was in France, and she hadn’t mentioned the trip to…
She turned around fully, expression soft. Her fingers slid over my jaw and pushed into my hair, and I groaned at the feel of her nails against my scalp. Her touch dragged my eyelids down, making my whole body feel heavy. She massaged my temple, my crown, the nape of my neck. Her hand softened…
Torn between staying with Iris and making sure he wasn’t getting talked out of anything by his wife, I chose my professional obligations. We were leaving tomorrow morning; time was running out. I found the older couple on the balcony, talking softly to each other. Roseanne glanced up when I walked out through the sliding…
“And these are what I wore to my wedding,” Roseanne said, a soft smile on her face when she showed me a pair of white satin pumps with a simple gold buckle. “They cost me twelve dollars, and I love them best of all.” I leaned back on my palms and smiled. “They’re beautiful, Roseanne.”…