BOOK THREE OF THE BLACK SERIES *this book CANNOT be read as a stand-alone* -- "Get the hell off of me, Lucian," I snapped angrily, smacking the palm of my hands on his muscular back as he carried me out of the club. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" It wasn't until he carried me upstairs and into a VIP room that he set me on my feet. I wobbled from the combination of my heels and the alcohol finally reaching my brain. It didn't stop me from glaring at him, but he just stared back, his eyes blank. As always. He's never been a talker, unlike me. What the hell was he even doing here? "You can't just walk on the dance floor and throw me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes," I snapped, trying to get passed him. "I'm not a kid anymore, Lucian, okay? I'm not yours to protect - I never have been!" Hearing those words must have triggered him because he snapped. Lucian roughly grabbed me by the waist and pushed me against the cold wall, his body pressed right against mine. My eyes widened in shock and I met his blazing glare, feeling his hand creep up to my hair and twist it in his knuckles. I tried to force the lump down my throat but felt the confidence leave my body. "I can do damn well as I please when I see my woman dancing with a man who would want nothing more than to take her back to his place," he growled out, tilting my head up by my hair. Our lips were almost touching. I suddenly can't breathe. "You're mine, Mia," he spoke, this time his words low and raspy. "You always have been - never fucking forget that."

❝ 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 ❞ He knew how wrong it was. Even though he knew it and repeated it every day in his mind, he couldn't stop. He wanted her to look at him and only him. He felt like a teenager who had a silly crush on his teacher. A forbidden love he could never possess. Only this time the feelings were nothing like a silly teenage crush. It wasn't an inane crush, no, the feelings were way too much for him to handle. Something he had never felt before, with his heart beating at an animalistic speed. He always wanted to see her smile and it broke his heart whenever she cried. Theo didn't notice when he had lowered his lips to her and was about to kiss her senseless until he felt soft hands on his shoulders, pushing him away. "Theo stop. It isn't right." Inez whispered as she turned her head towards the side and blushed furiously. • • • In a world full of lies and deceptions, 19-year-old Inez Benedict lost the only 2 people she trusted the most. Her parents. Now left with their whole fortune and a prodigious business empire which she cannot take over until she is 21, she must tackle enemies and choose friends wisely just to survive. Theodore (Theo) Cunningham, known as "The King" of the business world, famous for his brooding personality and his multibillion-dollar business empire, must take care of his late stepbrother's daughter whom he hasn't met since she was just a toddler. He finds it difficult to remain just her guardian when troublesome feelings start to take root. Will he be able to resist the brown-haired and much younger beauty or would he give in to his forbidden desires? ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ !MATURE CONTENT!