Excerpt!
“Didn’t think I’d see you here again.” “Neither did I,” I said.
God help me.
His eyes, blazing green, cut right through me. Pure rage, and something way worse that made my pulse jump.
Time had sculpted him into something raw and devastatingly destructive. His sun-kissed skin, richer and warmer than I remembered. Dark waves of hair, tousled and unruly. And those lips… The same lips that used to whisper my name like a prayer.
I hated him. But the ache between my legs didn’t give a damn.
Reese started pacing slowly, hands in pockets, a cigarette dangling from his lips. I couldn’t look at him, so I stared at everything else—the garden, the bench, the dirt, even the stars.
“You’re smoking again?”
“I’m smoking.”
I could almost taste that night before the engagement party. The back seat of his Mustang, the scent of salt air mixing with the leather, the hum of his engine as his arm pulled me closer. My fingers traced circles on his bare chest.
“It’s stopping me from wringing your fucking neck.”
My heart skipped a beat, but there was no way in hell I was going to show any weakness. Instead, my eyes locked on his, and for a moment, I forgot everything else—everything we’d been through. All I saw was the man who had wrecked me, the man who had damn near destroyed me, the man who made me betray my family for his love, the man whose love I then betrayed for my family.
And still, I wanted him. Bad.
I wanted to drag him back to that fire we burned in before, back to the madness, the raw need. Rip him open with my mouth and tongue until we both bled from the inside out. I wanted to make him feel what he did to me—the way he burned me, the way he left me to rot.
And I had no fucking idea what to do with all of that.
“You haven’t changed.” I kept my face devoid of any emotion.
His lips twisted in a faint, almost mocking smile, as though he knew exactly what I was trying to do.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been good at that,” he muttered. Then, after a long moment, he added, “But you? You’ve changed.”
“I know this isn’t the…ideal circumstance to meet again.” I straightened. “I didn’t come back to play games.”
“You fucked me over, and now, after six years, you just show up?” His voice shook, raw with something dark and dangerous. “You turned on me. We were supposed to leave together. Ran out on our plan like I was nothing—”
“It was our plan, Reese. You were in on it too.”
Laurene King had it all: beauty, wealth, and a sexy secret affair with Reese Ashbourne— the brooding heir of her family’s sworn enemy.
But one reckless night shattered everything.
Tragedy struck. Laurene disappeared. And Reese was left with betrayal, unanswered questions, and scars he’ll never forget.
Now, Laurene is back, forced to return to the life she fled, but her homecoming comes with a cruel twist. Their families, teetering on the edge of ruin, have resurrected an old deal to save themselves: an Ashbourne and a King must marry—or lose everything.
Only this time, Reese is the groom. Not his brother.
Haunted by the past, Reese craves revenge as much as he still craves her. Trapped in a forced proximity neither can escape, their chemistry ignites—and so do their secrets.
But someone knows the truth about that night. The lies that tore them apart are unraveling, and the shadowy danger lurking in their luxurious world could destroy them both.
With their second chance at love and their families’ legacies hanging by a thread, Laurene and Reese must choose: bury the past or watch everything crumble to ashes.
The clock is ticking, and some truths are better left buried…
Author bio:
Tinia (TUH-NIA) Montford is a Pisces who’s a sap for romance, especially when there’s (tons of) kissing. Loves eighties sitcoms and will consume anything with chocolate. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in English and Graphic Design. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Fiction.
You can find Tinia at www.tiniamontford.com or on social media: @tiniawritesbooks
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