I can't keep the smile off my face as I take my seat on the plane. I slide my bag under the seat and lean back. I close my eyes and let a blissful smile grace my face. He said I wouldn't be able to run. As if. I'm vaguely aware of someone taking the seat next to mine, but I pay no attention to said person. "So where we headed?" I choke on my own spit as my eyes fly open and whirl around to face the owner of the familiar voice. His eyes are hidden behind those damn sunglasses and a rather smug smile graces his face. I continue choking and he does nothing other than flip through a magazine. That smug smile never leaving his face. "You still haven't answered the question." "To hell." I finally manage to choke out. "Awesome," He flips a page in the magazine, "It's about time I returned home. You know, bodies to burn, lost souls to torture, I've missed it. It'll be fun." *** Nicolette Moore. A name law enforcement agencies across the world know. Though no one's ever seen the face of the world's greatest thief and hacker, everyone knows who she is by name. Nicky. She's an absolute genius. Once upon a time she wasn't the best person in the world. When her family was struggling she made some bad choices to help them through it, but when she tried to get out she got pulled in deeper. Ryder Stevenson. He's the son of the director of the FBI, and an FBI Agent himself. He's the one who brings in Nicky to get her protection from the people chasing after her. He's also the one, who gets assigned to protect her. Neither one of them like each other, and they can't go five minutes without getting in a full blown argument. She's constantly ditching him only for him to show up later and prove to her he's not that easy to get rid of. They're stuck with each other whether they like it or not. But he doesn't know who she really is. What will he do when he finds out? An FBI Agent protecting THE Hacker. The one the FBI have been after for years...this just screams chaos.

When Everly Reed collides with the cynical and devilishly handsome Mason Valdez, she knows trouble is ahead, but she never could have guessed how much she would be drawn to the storm. ***** Nineteen-year-old Ever Reed likes when things make sense. Which is probably why she excels at math, enough to secure her a spot at an Ivy League school out of state. Sheltered by her mother and older brother Asher for most of her life, Ever hasn't experienced much of the world, but she knows New York will be an adventure. Enter Mason Valdez: cynical, arrogant, and undeniably attractive-exactly what Ever doesn't need. But as their paths keep crossing, Ever finds herself intrigued by Mason, and eager to know the boy behind the bitter mask. As secrets, scars, and painful pasts rise to the surface, Ever knows one thing for sure: they can only make it through if they face their storms together. [[word count: 150,000 - 200,000]] Cover designed by Frances Louise De Ramos Spinoff to The Hoodie Girl Book One of the A Thousand Storms series [[The Fiction Awards 2018 Best Overall Story and Best Romance Winner]] Content/trigger warning: This story mentions sexual assault and childhood abuse