検索キーワード： 著者 "Kylie Kent" すべてのカテゴリー

Lailani Out of all the jobs I’ve had over the years, this has to be the most mundane. It requires me to be someone completely different. A meek, quiet girl working to put herself through college. I really do deserve an Oscar. It’s easy money, though. And honestly, it almost feels like a vacation compared to the assignments I’m used to taking on. I’ve even managed to score myself a quick fling with a hot-as-sin bad boy. The problem is, he’s fallen for the act and has no idea who I really am.

Everything was perfect until it wasn’t. Nobody warns you that it can all be taken away in the blink of an eye. Now my life revolves around working two part-time jobs to make ends meet while taking care of my daughter alone. Ensuring she doesn’t drown in my grief. When Graycee asks to play hockey, I scrape and save enough to sign her up for the local youth league. The smile on her face as she steps out onto the ice makes every sacrifice worth it.

A lie. Presenting a false impression. To be deceptive. That’s what I am. A lie. My family sees one version of me. The world sees another. Neither is real. I like it that way. Prefer it even. And then there’s her. She sees right through the lie. Through me. And no matter how much I try, there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing I can do to hide from her.

Being judged isn’t something foreign to me. I’m used to the whispers, the stares, the way people scatter or cross the road when they see me walking their way. It comes with the territory when your last name is De Bellis. But being judged by her before she gives me a chance to prove her wrong? Yeah, I’m not going to stand for that. Zoe thinks she knows who I am, assumes I’m nothing more than a street thug with no morals or ethics. Letting her walk out of my life isn’t an option. I’ll show her just how virtuous this sinner can be.

Blood. Pain. Tears. Despair. Hate. All words I associate with those around me. But it’s true what they say. You can’t choose your family. And mine? Well, I don’t think anyone would choose them. I’m the daughter of a notorious Don. A daughter who is nothing more than a piece of meat to be used as a bargaining chip. Which is exactly what my father has done. I can either go along with his plan to marry me off to a stranger. Or I can refuse and pay for it with my life. Love. I always thought that one was made up. A fairy tale that had no place in the real world.

A second chance at love isn’t in the cards for me. A second chance at love isn’t in the cards for me. Which is why when I meet Aria Swan in a bar one night and she offers up a solution to both of our problems, I actually consider her proposal. I mean, where’s the harm in playing house for a bit? It’s not like I’m going to fall in love with her. A fact that will make terminating this little arrangement at the end of the year easy. Even if her touch has this way of melting the icy coldness surrounding my heart....

I never thought I would be seeking shelter here of all places. I’m out of options though. I needed a place to hide out. Somewhere I could get my bearings and develop a plan to get myself out of the mess I’ve landed in. It was a fail-proof plan. Then he found me. I’ve escaped one monster, only to be captured by another. He’s determined to break me, to uncover the secrets I’m hiding. But this is one secret I can’t let him discover. Can I escape him before he ruins everything? Before he ruins me?

Most men I date are scared away as soon as they meet my family. Travis isn’t most men. He’s stared down the barrel of my father’s gun without flinching. He should have run, though. If he had, he wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed right now. I never wanted to believe my family would be capable of doing this. But that little voice in the back of my head likes to remind me of who I am. Who I’ll always be. Liliana Valentino, daughter of Theo Valentino, the current Don of the Valentino Crime Family.