ESPRESSO
- Reads 880
- Votes 280
- Parts 12
MatureOngoing1h 21m
Last published Thu, Jan 9, 2025
"Tell me to leave," he said, his voice a low, dangerous whisper that sent shivers cascading down my spine.
My breath hitched as I met his piercing gaze, my heart racing in my chest. "And if I don't?"
His lips curled into a slow, wicked smile, his eyes dark and consuming, laced with something that made my pulse quicken. He leaned closer, his voice dropping even further. "Then don't blame me for what happens next."
"You're playing a very dangerous game, Leo," I managed to say, though my voice trembled as my eyes flicked to his lips.
"Am I?" he murmured, his tone soft yet devastating. "Because from where I'm standing, you're the one pulling the strings." His smirk was ever-present, and the amusement dancing in his eyes told me he was thoroughly enjoying this-and it was dangerous for both of us.
~~~~
They were both hiding, but neither expected to be found.
Calista Carlisle, Hollywood's sweetheart, escapes to the sleepy town of Mendocino after a public breakup turns her life into tabloid fodder. She's traded red carpets for creaky coffee shop chairs, hoping to stay invisible. But nothing stays quiet for long-not when Leo Donovan, the maddeningly smug owner of the café, keeps finding ways to break through her defenses.
Leo isn't just any barista. Billionaire by birth, recluse by choice, he's traded boardrooms for espresso machines, running his late mother's café chain under the radar. He's done with the high-stakes world of fame and fortune-until Calista waltzes into his café and flips his carefully curated life upside down.
Their connection is magnetic, but the secrets they're running from might pull them apart. In a town too small for pasts as messy as theirs, one thing becomes clear: they're either each other's safe haven-or their ultimate undoing.
"They were supposed to be each other's escape-until they became each other's greatest temptation."
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Pregnant by the Mafia Boss ✓
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Trapped In Love ✓
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(COMPLETED) He's everything she hates. A rich, arrogant, cocky playboy. She should be repulsed by him, but from the first moment she met him face to face, her heart of ice ineluctably set on fire. He had one mission. Something he had struggled for his entire life. Something that he was so determined to do, he once believed there nothing that could stand in his way. He should have known better. Nothing that you long desperately enough for comes without a price. But what price do you have to pay when you start to spend a little too much time around the one you were born to despise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I don't have anything to bribe you with, only my own words. Tell me, how will you ever be free if you do not take a risk every once in a while?" "I take risks." "You may take risks that give you freedom from your life, but I have a feeling this risk is a little different on many levels, correct me if I'm wrong." I began to think, did one single day really matter? Maybe it would help, maybe it was all I needed to stop thinking about him. "Make the most of it as it will both the first and the last time you are taking me to lunch, let alone ever seeing me again."
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