✿ mass release on 1st of December⁠ ✿

Alicia Fonell thought marriage would save her—but life with Travis Blackwood is nothing but bruises, betrayal, and silence. Trapped in a family built on greed and lies, she has only one goal: escape.

Then Malachi Blackwood returns. Her husband’s older brother. Dark, dangerous, and untouchable. He swore he’d never come back to Silver Lake, but secrets and revenge drag him home.

The closer Alicia gets to him, the harder it becomes to resist. Forbidden touches. Stolen glances. A temptation she knows could destroy them both.

Trigger / Content Warning 
This story contains a morally grey male lead whose choices, actions, and desires are not always healthy or “right.” Malachi is obsessive, controlling, and dangerously possessive. If you’re looking for a gentle love story, this may not be for you.

But if you crave intensity, forbidden passion, and a hero who walks the line between love and ruin—welcome.

I woke up to Rose's text in the morning. The notification lit up my phone screen at six AM, pulling me from restless sleep.


"Got everything on Mario. Check your email."


I sat up immediately, all traces of sleep gone. Grabbed my laptop from the nightstand and opened my inbox. The file was massive. Rose had been thorough. Financial records, phone logs, meeting schedules, everything.


I scrolled through it quickly, my pulse quickening with each page. Mario had been busy. Meetings with shell companies. Transfers to offshore accounts. Connections to people who shouldn't exist on paper.


But I needed more. Needed a direct link between Mario and Emily.


I picked up my phone and called Maurice. He answered on the first ring.


"I need you to search for something. Any interaction between Mario and Emily. Any time they were in the same place. Any communication. Anything at all."


Chapter 60 - Chapter sixty