“No, it’s true,” Purson said. He sounded like a child that was trying to convince a friend that they’d seen a unicorn. “That French jewel thief sold a piece of the Blue to one of the tsars who had it set in a ring for his wife.” He tilted his head. “I’m surprised you don’t know this.”
“Tavernier wasn’t one of mine,” I admitted. I wasn’t the only fallen who held sway over mortal thieves.
“Anyway,” Purson continued with a sigh. “They hid it under the Kremlin during the first World War, and it wasn’t found until after the Revolution. It was reset as a stickpin and put into the Diamond Fund. So. Go get it. And it’s big brother.”
I burst out laughing. In my periphery I saw some nearby courtiers startle from the abrupt sound. Purson made it sound like sending a kid to a corner store for a gallon of milk.
“What’s so funny?” The great king narrowed his eyes on me. The most ridiculous looking pout/frown was on his face. He didn’t appreciate the disrespect, and I could tell his patience was growing thin. I just didn’t care. Something had occurred to me while Purson gave me the history lesson.
“You’re asking me to set my mortal thieves on a mission to break into not one, but two high security facilities,” I laughed.
“Yes,” he confirmed as if this should be obvious. “So?”
“It’s next to impossible,” I countered as I crossed my arms over my chest once more.
“But not entirely impossible.”
“No.” It was my turn to smirk. “But it’ll cost you.”
“Outrageous.” Purson’s protest echoed through his courtroom.
“Hardly,” I said. My tone of voice was a quiet balance to his. I had done it on purpose. We were in negotiations now, and I had some cards up my sleeve.
“You have been given an order by your superior—”
I interrupted him by lifting a hand. “There was nothing in that edict that states I have to work for you. I can reject your request.” I snickered. “I can reject any request.”
“But you would eventually be brought before the Morningstar to answer for it.” Purson put on his idea of a genial smile and held a spidery hand out toward me as if he asked me to take it. “Work with me, Valefar. Not only can I make it worth your while, but I can protect you from the others.”
I hummed as if I were considering this. He hadn’t exactly made an offer. Yet. “I don’t know,” I muttered. “If you’re wanting my thieves, I’m sure Paimon or Baal have an offer waiting for me—”
It was his turn to interrupt. “Name your price!” he snapped out. Everyone knew that Purson, Paimon, and Baal were constantly taking jabs at each other. Sibling rivalry.
“I want the lost piece.”
This time the pandemonium came from Purson himself instead of the courtiers. The roar he gave rattled lose a piece or two of bones from his throne, and more than a few of his sycophants ran from the room. I just stood there and repressed the urge to yawn. There was only so far over the line I was willing to step.
“I’m sure any of the others would be willing to meet my price.” This was the negotiation, and a bluff. I couldn’t be sure that the other kings were wanting me. I could offer my services, but then my position wouldn’t be as secure.
“The Blue is useless without being whole.”
I had pissed him off. That was what I wanted. His annoyance would make him careless. I needed to keep him on edge.
“No.” A let a sly smirk form on my face as I took a bold step or two closer to Purson. “It can’t ever be fixed. Not all the king’s demons and all the king’s mystics can put it together again.” He was still annoyed but was also openly intrigued. He was listening. Good. I continued quickly before I lost the upper hand. “But the two together should still do what it was created to do.” I came to a stop right at the arm of Purson’s throne where the major domo should have been, but the twit was still lurking in the shadows. “I propose an alliance, great king.”
Purson snapped a frown up to me. I just smiled in return then he turned his eyes to the courtiers that remained. They could be a problem. They could spread gossip of this discussion, sell it to the other kings. They were Purson’s problem, however. “An alliance.” It was his way of asking for more information.
“You give me the locations. Some members of your legions to act as muscle for the thieves I’ll send out. They obtain the pieces of the Blue. I’ll bring you the bigger piece and keep the Russian one for myself.” My eyes took on that golden glow our kind gave off whenever our power came to the surface. “Together, with the Blue in our hands, we could unseat anyone we want.”
I could practically see him salivate at that idea. More territory would be good for both of us. To be honest, I didn’t care about or desire to make a power grab. I just wanted a piece of the Blue. What I would do with it I had no idea. Yet. But I knew Purson would hunger to get one of his brother king’s throne.
He still held a doubt, however. “But the Morningstar…”
“Only said to retrieve what remained of the thirteen.” My assurance was a quiet hiss in Purson’s ear. “Bring them back to Hell. It says nothing about giving them to him.”
His attention turned up to me once more and I nodded once as he realized what I said was true. I had read the edict. It had been very open ended. No doubt, Lucifer had done that on purpose. If forced to, I would say he was setting things up for another one of his internal wars. The big guy must’ve been bored. Whatever the reason, this was too good to turn away, and Purson was just stupid enough for my purposes.
“Members of my legions,” he said. I nodded. I would involve my own demons, but this way I could control what information Purson got while this was in the works. “You get the Russian piece.” I nodded again. “I have my own stipulation, or you leave here with nothing.”
I could leave here and make the same offer to any of the other kings now that I knew what was going on. So, there was confidence in my voice. “What’s that?”
“You go with them to make sure of their success.” It was his turn to smirk.
“What?”
“Do it,” he warned and pointed one of those skinny fingers at me. “And you’ll have your prize and an alliance. Reject it, and I’ll make sure the other kings know of your treachery before you even get to the gatehouse.”
My bluff was called. “Fine,” I said with a scowl for my new partner. “I’ll go. Run the operation from Earth then bring back the gems.”
Purson nodded. “The Russian for you.”
“The Hope Diamond for you,” I finished.
Son of a bitch.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Stay tuned for Big Girls Need Demons, coming next!
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Savage King: A Bad Boy College Romance
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HOPE
* * *
It should have been an easy sell.
He was just another client, a wealthy target.
I offered him what I had.
He stole the rest.
Beautiful. Confident.
His Viking blood made him a conqueror.
He dominated my senses.
He planned to rule my body as well.
I didn’t have a chance at keeping my heart.
* * *
AXEL
* * *
Her name said it all.
Hope.
She came to me in my darkness.
The compass that would guide me out of the storm.
The goddess, Freyja.
She’s with me as I fight Hel, the enemy that took everything from me.
I am at war now, but the moment the dust settles I’m taking Hope as my prize.
She’s a challenge. Resistant.
Catching her will be like catching the wind.
But my people were sea wolves. We know how to tame the wind.
And I’m a patient man.
Vict
ory is my only option.
Dirty Possession: An Enemies-to-Lovers Mafia Romance
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He's the mafia's best enforcer and she's the mafia's slave, a pawn used to bring pleasure to men. When love comes into the equation, can these two damaged souls find solace in each other? Will they allow themselves to feel again?
Hana Lee has dreams, dreams of a life greater than one she was born into. From a young age, she only knew poverty and death, yet she still had an education, and a chance to get out. That is until her father took those dreams from her; he sold her to the Korean Mafia in Seoul. Hana being his payment for the debt he incurred. For six years she's been a slave, holding up the facade of the wife to the Head's son Seo-Jun. She's never felt love or pleasure from a man, only pain.
Trapped in an existence that is slowly killing her, she sees death as her only way out. A shred of hope remains inside her heart, keeping her alive, she clings to it with desperate need.
Enter, Sean O'Connor, one of the four brothers running the Irish mafia in his dying father's stead. Being a hot-head, most disregard him as immature and selfish.
He's one of the best enforcers for his clan, but things change for him when he takes Hana. Seeing her as a means to flush out the head of the Korean mafia, and let them know who runs the west end. He never expected to have feelings for her, or that he would want to save her.
Lost Without You
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The strongest love is formed between two broken souls...
At only twenty-five years old, Nolan Darcy has his entire world in sync, he’s married to the woman of his dreams with a bright future ahead of them.
Unfortunately, a chain of events rips it all away...
In 2005, one of the biggest cyclones hit the gulf coast causing many to lose their lives and forced families to deal with the aftermath. Now thirteen years later, Nolan Darcy has relocated to one of the smallest towns in Northern Louisiana, a town where loss isn’t foreign. Grieving his loss with the help of whisky and shattered memories; Nolan hits rock bottom without the drive to ever make it out.
On the other side of town, Josie Anderson is dealing with the loss of her twin brother, Joey. A youthful night filled with fun and heavy drinking claimed his life with the impact of a terrible car crash. The tragedy shook the small town of Frierson; it was a lesson that taught numerous young drivers to be more responsible.
Now, five years later, Josie is hiding behind a daring personality with a smile that the most vicious storm couldn’t wash away. She’s drowning in a dark pot of her own demons. Demons that are destined to consume her soul until her path crossed with the town’s widower, Nolan Darcy.
In the wake of an instant flame, a love of the decade is formed. A love so prestigious it can mend broken souls.
Cold-Hearted: An Enemies to Lovers Romance
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She never should have stepped out of line, because now, I see her, and like everything else in my life, I won’t be satisfied until she’s mine in every way.
* * *
Gabriella
* * *
My future had always been set.
Like a road paved by skilled builders, without bends or intersections, I walked the path my parents laid for me.
My marriage to the future of The Outfit was all that mattered.
I didn’t have a choice.
Belonging to the world’s largest criminal organization wasn’t easy but belonging to him was.
With Jacob, I’d got lucky and as a mafia princess, I couldn’t have asked for more.
Jacob was beautiful and kind and the road to him was bright with sunlight and sweet with the fragrance of flowers.
Until it wasn’t.
Until it became dark with shadows.
Until the day he broke my heart.
He was a dream that turned into a nightmare.
And now, I’d do anything to get away.
* * *
Jacob
* * *
She was a job like any other job.
Marry her.
Have an heir.
And in between all that, keep the world under my heel by any means necessary.
I’d count myself lucky if I wasn’t covered in blood on our wedding day.
As a girl, Gabrielle was as bright eyed and bushy tailed.
That was until I took off the rose-colored glasses, broke them, and revealed who I truly was.
Now, the woman is as vicious as a cobra, but when she forgets her place, like a benevolent king, I remind her.
Her resistance goads me.
Her words bite.
She never counted on me biting her back.
And I never counted on her tasting so good...
Rage became foreplay.
Sex became life.
And somehow, my job, she became an obsession.
Gabriella made me lose control.
The Fighter: Love’s Trauma, Book One
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Once you make it to the top, there is always someone waiting to knock you back down. And, as fate would have it, it's a woman he never saw coming who is able to cause Wren's walled-up heart to feel.
Wren Deloryne’s life has never been easy, coming from a broken wreckage of a childhood, he’s never had much hope for anything and knows he’s the only person he can rely on. And finding a woman to satisfy his baser needs has always been easy as pie, despite his dark past, and as far as he sees it the only thing that matters is surviving since everything he’s ever gotten came from busting his knuckles. Catapulted into street fighting since his teens, he’s knocked his way through and made it to the height of fame.
Having everything at his fingertips that he can ask for, Wren thinks his life is made. But there is something that's missing. Something he can't put his finger on. As things begin to unfold in his life, it begins to seem as if the one thing he never thought to fight for happens to be the one thing he needs.
Ambitious event planner, Alaira Saintarys, only wants to be successful at her own enterprise. Hoping to plan a fighting fundraiser, Alaira finds herself in an interesting business position, but nothing is as amusing as the enticingly mysterious Wren, who instantly steals her attention. But then, Wren’s left with amnesia after being peculiarly attacked leaving Alaira to question everything about her future and the man whose struck her to the core.
Taming a Bad Boy: The McKnight Boys
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Ireland Steinburgen is absolutely determined to never love again. Happy endings only exist in fairytales, and she’s tired of being let down over, and over, and over again. The one common denominator?
Men.
Now that she’s moved her life from her small, Southern hometown all the way to the big city of San Francisco, she’s convinced she can make it in life, blissfully happy in her singledom. Of course, she’d be an awful lot happier if she could get a handle on her temper and hold down a job.
Which is how she ends up interviewing to be the assistant to the CEO of Knight Industries.
But when Zach Knight, billionaire playboy extraordinaire, steps through his office door and straight into her rollercoaster of a life, Ireland’s faced with the biggest challenge of her lifetime: resisting the charms of a talented bedfellow, well versed in the art of unclothing beautiful women.
She’s strong, a born and bred Southern Belle. She can be the perfect assistant to Mr. Knight and keep him firmly in his place and out of her bed.
Right?
Black Water Bayou
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Having enemies were common for the Gachette witches but they have always been able to conquer during adversity.
When the demon of Gehenna rises after being locked away for a hundred years, the great sage of Black Water Bayou falls, leaving the legacy of her ancestors in the hands of her granddaughters, Merigold
and Majesty, still learning how to use their powers and juggling college, the Gachette sisters must go to war with a revengeful demon to save their people.
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Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend (Good Girls & Demons) Page 15
