"Will it kill you to back the fuck up?" I snapped. "Yes, princess," he whispered sweetly against my ear, voice full of that sick affection. "It would. I would drop dead right here if I couldn't be next to you." "My lucky day," I muttered sarcastically.

When 𝐊𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, 22, drops out of college after her father is sentenced to prison for a crime he swears he didn't commit, her life collapses fast...eviction notices, unpaid tuition, a mother barely holding it together. Then 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐧 appears. Late 40s. Private wealth. No digital footprint. He offers her a monthly allowance for companionship only. No sex. No exclusivity clause. No explanations. What unsettles Kailani isn't the money. It's how little she needs to explain herself because he already knows.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥......