Blackmail and roses
Excerpt...
We were too close.
I knew we were too close, but neither of us moved.
The office was dark except for the glow of our laptops. It was past midnight. We'd been working for hours, building the case, connecting pieces, and somewhere along the way we'd ended up on the same side of the desk.
Shoulders almost touching. Close enough that I could smell his cologne
"This is a bad idea," I whispered.
"I know."
"We agreed. Fake engagement. Professional. No complications."
"I remember." His eyes dropped to my mouth, lingered there. "Doesn't change the fact that I want to kiss you."
My breath caught. "Roman..."
"Tell me you don't want it too." His voice was rough, low. "Tell me I'm reading this wrong and I'll move. I'll go back to my side of the desk and we'll pretend this never happened."
I should have said it. Should have lied.
But I was so tired of lying.
"I can't," I whispered.
"Can't what?"
"Tell you that you're wrong."
Something flashed in his eyes, dark and hungry.
He leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away.
I didn't.
Journalist Amara Reyes has spent sixteen years chasing the truth about her father's death. Heart attack, they said. Case closed. Everyone moved on except Amara.
Now someone is watching her every move, roses appear where they shouldn't, messages turn from warnings to threats, and the closer she gets to the truth about what really happened sixteen years ago, the more dangerous everything becomes.
Roman Vale is a billionaire CEO who doesn't tolerate loose ends, cold and ruthless, the kind of man who can destroy you with a single phone call.
When Amara starts digging into Vale Industries, he sees a problem that needs to be eliminated.
But Amara isn't easy to eliminate.
When blackmail forces them into a fake engagement, the line between enemies and allies disappears. She needs his resources, he needs her silence, but the deeper they dig, the more they realize their fathers' deaths sixteen years ago weren't coincidences but murders.
Two fathers, two deaths, one killer who's been hiding in plain sight for over a decade.
The threats are escalating, the stalker is getting bolder, and falling in love might be the most dangerous thing they've ever done because the person who killed their fathers is still watching, still waiting, and won't stop until both of them are dead.