Three years ago, Hazel Vance made a choice that changed everything. One night of passion with a mysterious stranger at a masquerade ball left her with more than just memories—it left her with a son whose rare violet-blue eyes are a constant reminder of the father she'll never find.

Now a struggling single mother, Hazel desperately needs the executive assistant position at Sterling Group. The salary could finally give her two-year-old Leo the life he deserves. But her new boss, CEO Liam Sterling, is nothing like she expected.

Demanding, brilliant, and devastatingly handsome, Liam has a reputation for being impossible to work for. Most assistants don't last a week. When Hazel refuses to be intimidated by his cold demeanor and sharp tongue, something shifts between them. The attraction is immediate and electric, crackling through every professional interaction.

But it's his eyes that stop her cold. The same striking violet-blue shade that stares back at her every morning when she looks at her son.

As the tension between them builds and the lines between professional and personal begin to blur, Hazel finds herself caught between her desperate need for this job and her growing attraction to the one man who could destroy everything she's worked for.

She doesn't know that Liam has been searching for the mysterious woman from the masquerade ball ever since that night changed him forever. And he has no idea that the composed, fiery assistant who challenges him at every turn is the same woman who haunts his dreams.

When the truth finally comes to light, will it bring them together or tear apart the fragile new life Hazel has built for herself and her son?

My relationship with Maya would be absolute bliss if not for the specter of Sasha hovering over our happiness. Every day brought fresh anxiety about Sasha suddenly appearing in Maya's life. Though I knew Maya loved me deeply, I couldn't predict how she would react to learning I had a wife—a wife I was technically still married to.


This week's conversations with both my lawyer and the detective had been frustrating—still days away from any concrete results. My nerves were frayed, my patience thinning. The feeling of being trapped intensified when my office door swung open without warning.


"What are you doing here?" I demanded, not bothering to hide my anger.


"It's Friday, Damon." Sasha's lips curved into that familiar condescending smile as she inspected my chair before sitting down. "I came to see if you've discarded your little plaything yet." Her fingers trailed across the armrest as if checking for dust. "What a dreary little hole this police station is."


Chapter 457 - S3 Chapter 53 - Silent Protective Warfare