I was never a woman who believed in promises. They always felt like wishes, soft things people made when they didn't know how else to hold on. Judas Mercer made them anyway. And somehow, he kept every single one. He waited for me when the world didn't. Built a life while I was still learning how to belong to one. Loved me in a way that I could finally trust. What I didn't realize was how much of our life already existed beyond me. How some bonds didn't begin with us but were already settled and familiar. She was a presence that had always been there. The woman from our past and our present woven into the spaces I thought were ours alone, standing there with us all along. Because Judas kept his promises. He just kept his secrets too. ~S~S~R~A~Y~N~E 🦋Perceived cheating 🦋Possessive MMC 🦋Dark romance themes 🦋high spice content

The man I married broke me. Not because he didn't love me- but because he couldn't stay when grief moved in. Three pregnancies. Three losses. One marriage that shattered under the weight of everything we couldn't fix. And somewhere in the silence, in the distance I didn't know how to cross, he made a choice that broke what little I had left. If only I had known how fragile love could be. This is a story about loss that doesn't heal cleanly. About love tested in the quiet. About betrayal that doesn't come from hate-but from weakness. Sometimes heartbreak doesn't arrive all at once. Sometimes it happens slowly, while you're still trying to hold everything together.

One lesson I learned very early in life was to be cheerful, to be agreeable, to do as I was told and ask for nothing, and to never ever complain. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and maybe they'll love you. I grew into an adult who took care of others and never expected that those I loved would take care of me in return. I gave and never asked, never expected, never demanded. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and you'll find someone that will love you. And then one day, a Dragon walked into my workplace and turned my world upside down with a single wink. Having grown up watching his father treat his men like they were disposable, just meat bags to be fed into the grinder, Dragon was determined to be different when he became president of the Dragon's Inferno MC. He cares about his people. He takes care of them. He was upfront with me, taking care of his MC and those he considered to be his would always be his priority. And I agreed to that, I joined him in that mission, throwing myself into becoming the perfect old lady of the prez. Smile Maddie. Act happy Maddie. Take care of them and maybe they'll love you. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't complain and maybe he'll love you. I told myself I was independent. I was strong. And I didn't need my Dragon to take care of me. And I almost believed it. Almost. But now I'm watching him with her. I'm watching him comfort her. I'm watching him listen to her, support her, reassure her. I'm watching him take time from his day to check in with her. I'm watching him worry about her. I'm watching them become closer right in front of my eyes. I'm seeing every thoughtful gesture he does for her. And me? I'm not happy. I'm not smiling. I'm done being agreeable. Fuck not causing trouble. I'm about to set my Dragon's world on fire. And then I'm walking away. She can have him. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing myself.

*PREVIEW ONLY* Available on Kindle and Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCPX775Y PAUL I cheated on my fiancée. Sophie and I were building our future. In love, happy, peaceful. Then she found a lump in her breast, and I made the worst choice: I numbed my fear by sleeping with someone else. My worst mistake and my biggest regret. Now I see Sophie around town with him. She's radiant and laughing with people who actually show up. I'm trying to learn how to be a man who does. If she lets me, I'll spend the rest of my life proving I can choose her when it's hardest. If she lets me... SOPHIE I thought the promise was in sickness and in health. But he buried his fear in someone else. On the same night, I walked into a bookstore and met the gentle giant owner, who invited me to his book club full of misfits. I'm laughing again, I'm smiling more than I ever have, and I'm healing my heart. My bookstore owner keeps showing up like it's as easy as breathing. I don't know what the future holds; I don't know if I'll win this battle against cancer, but I do know I'm done wasting time on people who love only when it's easy. CALLUM She came into Rivers & Rhodes Bookstore and asked for books with happy endings only. I gave her a recommendation, an invitation, and an offer of friendship. Now, this beautiful, brave woman is completely under my skin. I'm not here to win a competition against him. I'm here because choosing someone, second by second, is the only way I understand love.

Julia Marcelli thought she'd won the dream. A husband who adored her, a family who lit up her world, and a home on the Miami coast that felt untouchable. But perfection has a way of splintering. Ethan Marcelli is a man who carries secrets as easily as he carries a case file, and when temptation slips into his world, Julia begins to sense cracks in their marriage she can't explain away. Love. Betrayal. Obsession. Control. In a life built on power and secrets, forever always comes with a price. (ETA The Silent Hour is now an omnibus edition, both books in a duet combined into one. This accounts for the higher chapter count. The story contains intense dark and graphic romance themes, crime-world elements, and later explicit steam. Please review the trigger warnings.)