10 years. One doorstep. Two childhood lovers meet again.

A bodyguard, a girl with a smart mouth, and lots of tension.

After getting attacked one summer night, 19-year-old Elle Russo doesn't want to be weak anymore. Deciding to get a self-defense teacher sounded easy until it ends up being the guy she hates most from her childhood. Elle is known for her sweetness, but he brings out her venom. Nico Cross is very quiet and to himself. The only time he speaks is to make sarcastic remarks or tell people to shut up. With a gaze that makes you shiver, most people choose to not speak a word to him. Hating each other and seeing each other everyday isn't a good mix. They push each others' buttons and hate nobody in the world more than they hate each other. But as time goes on, they both soon realize, Sometimes you hate something to keep yourself from loving it. ---------- "Why would I be scared of you?" I asked. "What are you gonna do, kill me?" He leaned forward, and I could feel his breathing against my skin. I whispered, "I think you want to kiss me."

(Can be read as a standalone.) I was a hopeless romantic from a young age but when I watched my father strike a deal with his friend in the most desperate of times, all my dreams came shattering down. My fate was sealed with just a few words. My future wife decided. For the next eighteen years, while our parents waited for her to grow up, I spent my time strategising to break off the deal and cursing her for being a thorn in my dreams. But you can't just refuse a mafia princess especially when the deal has already been done and dusted. Feisty, talkative, pizza lover, spoiled. A complete opposite of me. I had a clear line of reasons as to why I despised her then why did I end up losing my heart to her?

(Can be read as a standalone.) With my past erased, all I have left are fragments-fleeting flashes of memory that never give me the full picture. One goal drives me: uncover how my family was slaughtered. Find the murderer. Find the one who tried to kill me and failed. Viella Clavin is the thread that ties me back to the truth. She knows something, even if she doesn't realize it yet. And until I recover what was stolen from me, she stays mine, whether as my unwilling ally...or my captive.

Tortured. Broken. Mute. That's all Lyana was when I tore her from the clutches of a brutal trafficking ring. To her, I was a saviour-the only one she could cling to, the only one she trusted to keep her safe. And when she refused to return to the family who had abandoned her, fate left us with only one choice: marriage. But the truth is, I was never a saviour. My hands are stained, my soul far from clean. Yet if my wife insists on seeing me as her protector...then I will be. For her. And only her.

• Elysian Leonidas • I was assigned to do a task. Sheild her from all the monsters lurking outside. It was a simple task. And I knew I would succeed but the moment she gazed at me with those warmth-filled eyes, the warmth I didn't deserve, I knew I was fucked up. • Farren Elizabeth Calathan • He was dark and scary, he was just here to protect me, nothing less, nothing more. He guarded me against all the harm and watched over me but I think my heart needed more guarding against his burning soul. After all, I was a moth and he was a flame and I couldn't help being attracted to him, only to burn in the end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "There's a difference. If this continues, I will have to replace you." My blood boiled and I growled. "You take her away from me and I will forget we even share the same blood." His eyes narrowed further. "Are you forgetting your purpose here? She's your client, Elysian, nothing else." "She is my fucking wife! Don't call her my client ever again."