When 20 year old Valerie Fernandez's father is killed in uncertain circumstances, she's left with nothing but the urge to avenge her father, and his empire. With the aid of her childhood best friend and second in command Santiago Marrero, she's soon able to find answers. But at what cost? 22 year old Santiago Marrero has yearned for his best friend all his life. Being her second in command and right hand? Not. Helping. So when her father dies in unforseen circumstances, he knows he has to stick by her. And it's not just for the empire. It's deeper. It's desire.

{𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘒 𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘓𝘌𝘚𝘚 𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘓𝘖𝘎𝘠} Ria Romano knew hurt like the back of her hand. She was dealt her fair share of bad cards, more than anyone so young should have to face. A cynical girl riddled with the remnants of her past, a shattered sort of soul. She concealed like it was second nature; her instinct being to suppress. She'd offer you a cigarette with a shrug while you were crying because she never was too great with affection. She didn't smile so often but when she did and it was directed at you, you'd never feel such satisfaction. I was told Aria preferred to be alone, isolated; clouding her mind with inhales of her cigarette and drowning it in alcohol. Until she was dealt her good card, out of the pack of bad. They had a love beautiful enough to last a lifetime, the type directors desire to capture and authors aspire to write. Two souls, shattered by the cruelty of the world time and time again with flames that rekindled each others. They were each other's oxygen. They breathed life back into each other, those two insomniacs. <3

For Valerie Reed, escape wasn't a dream, it was a necessity. Her family was a tangled mess she desperately needed to break free from, and college was her lifeline. A boyfriend? That was just asking for trouble, a distraction she couldn't afford. But then Isaac Paterson showed up, and suddenly, Valerie's carefully constructed walls started to crumble. Isaac Paterson had mastered the art of detachment. He floated through life, never putting down roots, never letting anyone get too close. Oakwood High was just another backdrop in his transient existence. But Valerie Reed was impossible to ignore. She was small, fierce, and determined, and something about her sparked a flicker of something he thought he'd lost long ago.

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