𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭. . . . . . . . . . . Living in The Colony was all Josie knew. To the outside world it was a cult of brainwashed victims all under the spell of Kade Rogers, but to her it was home. That was up until a series of events that led up to her escape. If only fate wasn't so cruel as to lead her away from one monster and put her directly into the hands of another. Now, with a new sense of determination, Josie explores the world outside of The Colony and learns the hard way that trust is a dangerous weapon of destruction. Trying to lead a normal life starting college proves to be impossible after meeting Nico Blaine. He was everything she was suppose to stay away from. But when Josie lay's eyes on the tattooed beauty, she can't help it. What starts out as a innocent infatuation turns into a twisted tale of betrayal. .. . . . . . . . . . - Dark romance - Explicit sexual content - Mature themes - Criminal - Villain - Anti-hero #1 goodgirlxbadboy #1 darklove

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.