Ava Reed

Aurora Crestwood has been in love with her best friend Liam for ten years. Ten years of being his shoulder to cry on, his late-night phone call, his emotional support through every breakup. Ten years of watching him chase the same toxic woman who keeps breaking his heart.

When Selena Beaumont announces her engagement to someone else, Aurora thinks she's finally free. But Liam has other plans. He wants to crash the wedding, make one last desperate play for the woman who's never truly wanted him. And he wants Aurora to help him do it.

Against her better judgment, she agrees. What she doesn't expect is to meet Kian Vance.

Liam's estranged brother is everything Liam isn't—dangerous, direct, and completely uninterested in playing games. He's also friends with the groom, which makes him the biggest threat to their sabotage plan. But when Kian looks at Aurora, he doesn't see Liam's reliable best friend. He sees a woman who's been hiding her true self for far too long.

"I'm going to steal her from you," Kian tells his brother with cold certainty.

When Kian proposes a wager—if the wedding falls apart, Aurora belongs to him—she should walk away. She should focus on helping Liam win the woman he's obsessed with. She should stick to being the good girl she's always been.

Instead, she shakes hands with the devil himself.

Now Aurora is caught between two brothers, a wedding that might not happen, and a dangerous man who sees right through her carefully constructed walls. Kian promises to show her what it means to be truly wanted, but his interest comes with a price.

As the wedding weekend spirals toward chaos, Aurora must decide: will she keep playing it safe, or will she finally embrace the fire she's been hiding?


Claimed By The Wrong Brother

The phone went dead in my hand, Liam's threat hanging in the air between us. Fear crawled up my spine as I watched Kian stare at the blank screen, his face a mask of barely contained rage.


"What did he mean?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper in the tense silence.


Kian ignored me, pulling out his own phone and making a call. "I need a tow truck at 1437 Westlake Avenue, apartment complex parking lot. Black Aston Martin. Yes, immediately."


He hung up without waiting for confirmation, then stalked toward my bedroom. I followed him, watching as he stripped off his bloodied shirt, revealing the intricate tattoos that covered his muscular back and arms.


"Kian, you can't just ignore what happened," I said, leaning against the doorframe.


His knuckles were raw and bloody, small pieces of glass embedded in the cuts. He didn't seem to notice or care. He kicked off his shoes and sat on the edge of my bed.


The Ghost Between Brothers