BOOK 1 in the Drowning/Bully Standalone Series. WARNING: This book contains intense bullying, explicit scenes, triggering language, violence, and psychological content. I told Caden to cancel his stupid party. He told me, with that infuriating smirk, "Why? Planning to be my snack tonight?" Caden has made my life hell for four years, ever since our parents got married. He's gorgeous, arrogant, and the kind of boy Stanford girls trip over themselves for. Me? I'm the only one who sees right through him. He's a blatant bully, the devil who turned me into a surreptitious one. And now we're stuck sharing the same off-campus apartment for our entire freshman year. Living together means new rules, no boundaries... and a tension I never expected. The closer we get, the harder it becomes to remember why we ever hated each other in the first place- and nothing threatens our pride more than that. *** Step into an adventure of passion, forgiveness, and second chances. This is Caden and Madison's story.

BOOK 1 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆𝐒, 𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐇𝐎𝐋, 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒, 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ♚ "𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭ish 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴." ♚ "Enough!" I yelled but before I could breathe in I was pinned to the wall. I gasped. Staring into his dark blue eyes made every bone of my body weak. He smirked, knowing exactly what he did. "You got too comfortable with me, doll but I didn't show you what Ace can really do." He mumbled. He broke the eye contact we were having and leaned closer to my neck. My heart beat was racing his and each breath he took sent electricity all over my body. I bit my tongue, scared of what my brain could make me say. "And I don't think you want to know," he whispered so close to my ear sending shivers down my spine. I took a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts. He moved back to stare into my eyes, wanting to see his effect on me but I didn't give it to him. I smirked, pushed my chin down and looked up at him. "You're all talk, Ace," I whispered, not even blinking. I saw the gulp that rose in his throat, growing my smirk. "Even when I am under your grip, you're still under my control." ♚ ♚ TROPES ♚ Dark Romance Mafia Romance Forced proximity Enemies to lovers Love triangle Living together ♚ 14.08.23: 2 Dangerous 12.03.24: 2 lovetriangle 26.11.24: 1 action-romance ♚