Partners (Fire & Lies - One)
Read Partners (Fire & Lies - One) Online
Authors: Lilliana Anderson
Tags: #romantic suspense, #australian romance, #revenge story, #alpha romance, #fiesty female
Fire & Lies
– ONE
by
Lilliana Anderson
Smashwords
Edition
Copyright
2014, Lilliana Anderson
All rights reserved
Without
limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means
without the prior written permission of the author of this
book.
This book is a
work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is
purely coincidental. Any actual places, products or events
mentioned are used in a purely fictitious manner. The author
acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various
places/products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been
used without permission and is by no way sponsored by the trademark
owners.
BOOKS BY
LILLIANA
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SYNOPSIS
~Chloe~
Rules are made to be
broken…
That’s what they say but I used to
follow the rules. I used to have pride, honour, and obedience. I
was raised to believe that in the world in which I lived, money and
power ruled, and everyone made sacrifices. I knew my priorities.
Family first. The company second. And what I wanted a very distant
third.
I followed the rules, but couldn't
have known that obedience would ultimately cause betrayal. On many
fronts.
My father was framed, and I’ll do
whatever it takes to put the right man behind
bars.
My name is Chloe Donovan, and I’m
going to make things right. But to do that, I need to break the
law, and I can’t do it on my own. I need help. The problem is, the
only person capable of helping, hates me. I don’t blame him. I
promised him the world and then I ran away…
~Aiden~
I used to follow the rules. Until
Chloe Donovan. She was my boss’s daughter. I shouldn’t have touched
her. But I did. Three years ago, she came into my life, consuming
it. Consuming me. I needed her. She betrayed me, as did her father.
Lies and deception. Never again.
Chloe was the worst mistake I ever
made. She’s temptation and destruction wrapped in a beautiful
package. But, my blood doesn’t really fill my brain when I’m around
her…
Now, she’s back, declaring her
innocence and once again, ensnaring me with her magnetism, her
beauty, her allure. I should say no.
But Chloe Donovan owns me. I still
want her. Her draw may be the death of me.
ORIGINALLY,
PARTNERS was being written as a novella that was to be a part of an
anthology. It was supposed to be Chloe POV only and was to provide
the back-story of her and Aiden’s relationship before PLAYED was
released in December.
But, as I was
writing, the story grew and grew. I realised that Aiden needed a
voice in his relationship as well, and then the past needed to be
dealt with. That was so much to set up and their story very quickly
headed toward novel length.
So, I decided
to write another story for the anthology (it will link to the end
of the Fire & Lies series. So keep an eye on my Facebook page
or blog for details) and let this story grow to the size it needed
to be to adequately set the scene for Played, and finally,
Paid.
This series
has been on my mind ever since I bought an album and heard a
particular song. The moment, I heard the lyrics, I felt the pull of
a story in my mind. The seed was planted and from there, the
characters emerged and the twisted tail that you will follow within
the Fire & Lies series grew and grew until I couldn’t contain
it anymore.
I know you’re
dying to find out what that song was, but it will be something I
reveal at the very end. (I know, I’m mean. But I don’t want to
spoil anything for you).
I really hope
you enjoy reading Partners. So far, the most common reaction I’ve
had to it is –Wow!. So I really hope you feel the same way too and
decide to tell all of your friends about, what I hope will be, a
wild ride.
AS ALWAYS, there
are people to be thanked! Many sets of eyes go in
to the creation of each of my books and I am very grateful to every
person who takes time out of their lives to help me.
Thank you to
my beta readers for working so hard for me.
Marion
of Making Manuscripts, I thank
you for the initial bouncing of ideas and your detailed guidance
after the first draft.
Tammie
(I hope you’re feeling better soon!)
,
Mary, Billie, Lindsey,
Kristine,
and
Kassandra
. Thank
you all so much. I know I say this a lot, but your input reall was
invaluable to me and has made this book so much better than if I
had have done it all alone. Thank you! Thank you! I love you
all!
Thank you to my editor,
Maria
Johnson
, for trawling
through my manuscript for errors and always working me into her
schedule. I believe she was working on the road while travelling
half-way around Australia this time!
Thank you to my proofreader,
Carol
Cooper,
you do a
fantastic job and I’m so blessed that you decided to contact me and
offer your help.
Thank you to
my special ladies who are my constant support, Cj
Duggan, Frankie Rose, Jessica Roscoe/Lili Saint Germain, and Callie
Hart. You have been listening to my constant doubt and pushing me
forward throughout the whole writing process. I don’t know what I’d
do without you all in my life!
To my sprinting partners –
Simone Nicole,
Stephanie Smith, Jennifer Ryder, Aleya Michelle, Amity Cross, and
Rachel Brookes,
thank
you all for sitting up late at night and sprinting your arses off
with me while we were all hopped up on sugar and doing our best not
to get distracted as per the sprinting pledge! I really appreciate
my time with you all.
To every blogger who has an ARC or has
signed up to post my cover reveal or release day blitz – I thank
you too. You are the first step to
announcing our work to the world. Love your work
xoxox
A
lso, a big thank you to my husband for putting up with my
bitching and moaning and his unending support, his plot help, and
his encouragement.
Thank you to my street team . We are tiny.
But we make a difference.
I’d also like to thank the wonderful team at
Apple and Smashwords, who set up all of my preorders and trust me
to upload my books on time – I truly appreciate your support!
Thank you to
my kids for being so patient while I stare at a
computer screen and finish typing out a thought. I love that you
all come and sit in my office quietly, just to spend a bit of extra
time with mummy!
And of course – thank you to all of my
readers. Without you, I would be writing to the crickets.
Mwah!
xoxox
MAY,
three years ago
“
THIS IS a
very bad idea,” he murmured, their eyes locked, his mouth only
millimetres away from hers.
“
I know.”
She leaned forward, brushing her full, soft lips against his. She
couldn’t seem to help herself. It was as if a magnetic force was
pulling her toward him.
Her hands
landed on his chest and a shudder ran through his body, muffling
the protests in his mind. Gripping the back of her hair, he held
her steady, keeping her just out of reach.
“
You’re the
boss’ daughter,” he stated.
“
Pretend
I’m not,” she whispered, pressing herself against his hard
body.
Looking down
at her beautiful blue eyes, he fought with his primal urges to
maintain his control. “I don’t want to pretend with you.”
“
We’ve been
pretending this whole time.”
PRESENT,
14 days before the job
“FUCKING HELL,
man. I wish I was you,” Jared says, as he walks into my office and
drops a thin file on my oversized dark wood desk. It isn’t even
heavy enough to make much of a sound and practically floats to a
stop in front of me.
I look at it,
then at him and knit my brow. “What’s so lucky about this?”
Ignoring my
disinterest, he leans forward and splays his fingers over the top
of the file like there’s gold inside.
“
That
contains the details of the hottest fucking chick that has ever
walked through these doors, and she’s only interested in you man.
She must be here for a recovery of some sort - says she only wants
the best.”
“Is that so?”
I ask, trying to keep my face straight as my second in command
talks himself into a hard-on over some chick, who, I’m assuming, is
in the waiting area. “Have you looked into her?”
“Not yet.
She’s a walk in. I was kind of distracted trying to offer her my
individual services, if you know what I mean.”
“Knocked you
back?” I ask, but it’s more of a statement. I already know the
answer.
He tilts his
head, giving his shoulders a light bounce, his short brown hair
unmoving under his styling products. “Yeah, dude. She wasn’t
interested. Poor girl, doesn’t know what she’s missing.”
At this point,
I can’t help but laugh. At twenty-five, Jared seems to think he’s
somewhat of a lady-killer. I’ve seen him in action on more than one
occasion and he pulls in chicks very successfully. But those boyish
good looks of his don’t get him everything he wants in life.
Especially where business is concerned.
“What’s her
deal then?” I ask, opening the file and seeing nothing more than an
appointment slip with very little information on it.
“I don’t know.
Blonde hair, almost brown. Caucasian. Around thirty–that could be
it. Maybe she thinks she’s too old for me–”