BLURB: Ashton Maverick who is a billionaire playboy and who has never understood what love was meets Annika Pleton, who had just moved to California to begin a new life after getting out of a toxic relationship with her abusive boyfriend. Their worlds collide when Annika becomes his new secretary. Ashton is trying to have Annika in his bed, while Annika isn’t fazed by his status. Will Ashton ever understand what love is? And will Annika conquer her trauma to find love again?
View More“T—Terrace,” Annika said, stuttering. She was in disbelief. This wasn’t a dream. It was real. Terrace was on the one with her. She thought it would be like last time when he had hung up. “Hello, Annika,” Terrace's voice sounded. “I miss you.”Annika shut her eyes as she tried to believe this. Terrace had found her. But what could he want from her? She had moved away from New York to give herself some space. But that seemed like a lie now she was hearing his voice. He sounded so cold and manipulative. It made her think all she had done in the last three months had been a lie to her. Perhaps she had been running from Terrace instead. Annika chose not to believe that. This was her life now, and she could do whatever she pleased. She couldn’t let Terrace bully her into thinking otherwise. The aroma of her chicken casserole filled the room, but she had forgotten about it. Terrace had made her lose her appetite. “What do you want, Terrace?” She said trying to act tough. She was gripping
Annika swerved the car into the driveway and killed the engine. She stepped out of the car with a sigh escaping her lips. Today has been hectic. She had to sit all morning while Ashton attended a meeting, and afterward, she had gone out on a lunch break with him. And surprisingly, she had gotten herself involved in a fight that had nothing to do with her. It was safe to say that today had been eventful. She was lucky to make it back home in one piece. All she needed right now was some peace. Luckily, she was staying alone. Annika had never understood the joy of staying alone until she had moved here. Coming home to see things the way you had left them was an underrated privilege. It made her wonder why she had stayed with her mother for so long. When her mother had told her to move out to her own apartment, Annika had felt disowned. She never knew that her mother was doing her privilege. She had thought she overstayed at her residence. Now she understood everything. It was crystal clea
Lilith gazed at the window as she sat on Ashton’s chair. She looked at her phone one more time to see if she had missed any call from Ashton. There was nothing. She sighed in frustration and turned back to face the desk. She had been in his office for about two hours now, and she had asked one of the staff where he was, she was told at a meeting. There was no way a meeting would last this long. She was told that he had been gone all morning. This made her suspicious. Maybe he wasn’t going to be showing up for work today? She doubted that. If he wasn’t, then his annoying secretary would have been at her desk. But she was absent too which fueled her worry. Whatever she was planning, she didn’t like it one bit. She knew girls like her. They were all gold diggers and she was going to lure Ashton towards her. Lilith knew she couldn't let that happen. Ashton was supposed to be hers, and hers alone. She would have to slap some sense into him when he returned. She gazed at her phone again bu
Ashton stepped out of the Audi R8 and closed the door. He used his hand to shield his face from the intense sun that washed the parking lot. Annika came out through the passenger door. She was feeling numb. The drive here had been quiet and awkward, and Ashton’s strong masculine fragrance had filled the car. She had been subdued by him throughout the drive. She closed the door and walked towards him. She had chosen the venue of their lunch break which was the cafe they now stood before. Ashton was feeling kind of awkward as he stared at the cafe. He had never been to one before and had wondered why Annika had chosen one. The only thing he had taken from cafes was coffee, and he had mostly ordered them. Now here he was about to go into one. It just didn’t sit right with him. “Remind me why we are here again?” He asked Annika as he stared at the sign above the building. “You said you wanted us to have lunch together,” she replied. “And this is the perfect setting for that.”Ashton tur
“And right before you here is a chart showing a spontaneous increase in sales over the last few months,” the man said. Ashton looked at the chart and rubbed his chin. His eyes went to the other men who were in the room with him and they shook their heads impressed. Ashton didn’t know how to feel. His focus had deteriorated with each passing second. He was stuck in his chair for over an hour now, and the only thing on his mind was Annika. The man who was standing by the board was dressed in a purple suit, he looked smart and seemed to be convincing everybody in the room. Everybody except Ashton. Ashton hadn’t heard half of what he had been saying. To him, this was a total waste of time. This was his first meeting, and he was already exhausted. It made him wonder how his father lasted hours in a meeting. An hour into this one, and he was dying to get out. Ashton’s eyes went to the table. There was a pen in front of him. He picked it up and tapped it on the table as he tried to keep h
Annika tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she drove through the streets. It was getting late and she didn’t know that she would be out for this long. She had gone shopping after receiving the call from Terrace. He hadn’t said anything after that and the silence had been awkward. Annika felt it was a prank and didn’t bother to call back after the call had ended. It seemed like Terrace had called her with hesitance. He had something to say but couldn’t bring himself to say it. Annika couldn’t deny the fact that she had been scared when she heard his voice. Though he sounded softer than usual, the memories of her past relationship came flooding back like a nightmare. It had made her uneasy and she couldn’t return to the bath. So she decided to go shopping. Terrace calling her immediately after her mother did was suspicious. Something just wasn’t adding up. Annika hated the gut feeling she had. The line at the counter was long. Annika had spent almost fifteen minutes before she
Ashton swerved the car into the driveway and brought it to a halt. He was back in his father’s estate and in all honesty, he was getting tired of having to be here. The coronation party had barely been a day ago and now he was back here. Mikael had invited him over for dinner, and Ashton knew what that meant. He was hoping to talk about his company and how Ashton was fairing. There was no doubt that Mikael still didn’t fully trust him. This was the way Ashton felt though, so it was understandable when he stepped out of his black Corvette with a sigh. The door of the gorgeous mansion opened and a man dressed in a suit came to meet Ashton. Ashton was also dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt. This seemed to be a reoccurring outfit for him now, and he fancied it. Ashton recognized the man all too well. It was their butler, Peter. Peter had been around for as long as Ashton could remember. Peter, now a man in his late fifties who was bald at the center of his head, walked towa
Annika slumped on the couch as she returned home. She was exhausted from work. Today had been quite awkward at the office. Ashton had asked her out for lunch, and she had declined. She never thought that she had the guts to do that. Thinking that Ashton would fire her just for that made her embarrassed now. She was aware of the fact now that Ashton was interested in her, but the feeling wasn’t mutual. All she wanted to do was work. Was that too much to ask? Annika was certain that this wasn’t going to be the last time that was going to happen. Ashton was going to put pressure on her, and she hoped that she would be able to resist him each time. Annika knew what he wanted. She was used to his type. She had been there before, and there was no way she would fall for that again. Ever. Men like him always felt that they would get anything they wanted. She knew what they were; selfish, narcissistic, egocentric, and insensitive. Having left a toxic relationship, there was no way she was goi
Ashton opened his eyes and gazed at the ceiling. The morning sun washed into his room through the window on his left and it flooded his bed too. Ashton could feel his head spin slightly. For a moment, he forgot everything that had happened the previous. This was beginning to be a normality for him, and he detested that. He moved on the bed and realized that his body was next to another. His eyes came down immediately and met Lilith who was sleeping beside him. She was facing the other side of the bed all cuddled up like a baby. Ashton sighed and rubbed his eyes as he tried to recall what had happened last night. He could remember that they had a party and that he had talked to Annika before meeting Lilith. That was all he could remember. Ashton sat erect and the memories began flowing. He could remember going on cocaine with her. Ashton slammed his palm on his forehead with disgust. She had convinced him to get high once more. Lilith knew all his buttons as she pushed them almost eve
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