"You can’t run from the past… or from a Bellanti.
I’ve always been a foolish girl.
I should have learned my lesson the first time a man betrayed me.
It hurt when Rico abandoned me. My father’s deal was agony.
Dante’s betrayal… it might kill me.
And there’s nothing I can do.
He’s not the kind of man who takes orders from his wife.
And he’ll never let me leave.
There’s nowhere I can go that he won’t find me.
My father forced me to marry him.
Dante made me love him.
It’s my turn to show them all what a Bellanti woman is..."
"I thought the past was behind me… but becoming Mrs. Bellanti put a target on my back.
My husband isn’t a gentle man.
And God knows he isn’t the sharing type.
Rico’s announcement has dropped a bomb into my marriage.
I never thought I’d see Rico again.
Never thought Dante would ever have to know.
Seeing the way he looks at me now, as though I’m just another problem to be handled?
It’s breaking my heart.
I thought I was in love once before.
I swore I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
But falling for a Bellanti was far worse than a simple mistake…"
"I was sold to him to settle a debt... but Dante Bellanti never settles.
My father was always a gambling man.
Unfortunately, he never could pick winners.
When the wolves closed in, he chose himself, like always.
He traded his freedom... for mine.
He forced me to marry.
Now Dante Bellanti owns my body.
I'm just another possession for a man who already has too much.
So I won't let him have my heart.
But you know what they say about gambling.
The house always wins.
And I'm at the mercy of the Bellantis..."
"My family has given everything to salvage the Zoric name and reputation from my father's tarnished legacy.
I only needed a moment to destroy it all.
Along with two hearts.
It was supposed to be a simple charade. I never thought Ford and I would fall in love.
But I can't take back what I've done.
He can't change the past.
And what we've done changes everything.
But only if I stop running.
Someone has to lose either way. But when the truth comes out, it might just be all of us."
"It was always going to end in heartbreak.
You can't pretend-marry the man you secretly love and escape unscathed.
Ford has never hesitated to ask for my help before, but this is the farthest he's asked me to go. Not that I ever say no to him.
Even when I know I should.
Sleeping with my husband is the best worst idea possible.
It's everything I dreamed it would be.
But everything to me is nothing to him.
And he's not the only one I've made promises to."
"I've been to a million parties with my crush, but he's never acted on it til now.
Ford Malone could have any woman in Chicago, so why fake a relationship with me?
The world knows him as the heir to a real estate fortune, but to me he'll always be my best friend, the man who saved me from my bullies as a boy.
I'm as surprised as anyone when he announces our engagement, but I'll play along.
Nothing has to change except the way we behave--the way we touch--in public.
But his private touches change everything.
Soon the crush I've hidden for so long is threatening to swallow me whole.
If I tell him how I feel, it could ruin our friendship forever.
But if I don't, it might just ruin me.
How many lies can we tell each other before our truth is buried for good?"
"My life is in ruins. Failed marriage, failed career--I'm a failure.
My husband may have had a hand in it, but I can't help missing him.
We made an agreement. I signed the contract, and so did he. Without our arrangement, everything falls apart.
So we'll keep losing ourselves in each other's bodies.
We'll keep pretending everything is fine.
But maybe I'm getting sick of pretend.
Maybe I want to find something real.
And just maybe, Luka does too."
"If only I'd never signed that contract. Or accepted the one I didn't.
My husband doesn't trust me. Not that I can blame him.
But he needs me, needs my image. I need his connections. And I have to find a way to convince him to set aside our differences.
There's one way that always works.
Even when we hate each other, our bodies betray us.
The one place we've never disagreed is in bed.
Except this is about more than just us.
And even Luka Zoric's legendary control breaks sometimes."
"Everything people think they know about the Zoric family is a sham. Even me.
I thought I was trying out to be their newest model.
Luka was auditioning wives.
I just need the career boost. He needs good PR to salvage his playboy image. It's a win-win - on paper. But since when has real life been simple?
His jealousy makes me crazy.
The control he maintains over my body is unacceptable.
I really shouldn't be so turned on by it.
But there's more to both me and my husband than meets the eye.
And it isn't long before I'm wondering - which of us has made the bigger mistake?"
"On the day I was married, I promised to love, honor, and obey my husband Stefan.
Little did I know how literally I would mean obeying.
Stefan tells me what to do, and I do it. There are questions asked, but I always submit in the end.
It would hurt less if I hadn’t started falling for him.
It was supposed to be pretend. But the secrets we now share are too real, and they’re crumbling every piece of who I thought I was.
If only Stefan was the man I thought he was.
If only I weren’t so powerless.
But there’s one thing I have that he wants.
My body.
And I’ll do anything it takes to right the wrongs I’ve discovered."
"On the day my husband and I committed to each other, I didn't wear a white dress.
We didn't exchange rings.
There was no audience or minister to witness our union.
Only the two of us.
We swore to put each other first, to take on the evils our families had perpetuated together. Side by side.
But that was before the past returned to haunt us.
Now everything has changed.
Stefan can't have both his past and my future.
I can't ask him to choose.
And neither of us can do what has to be done without the other. It's an impossible choice, but we've run out of time."
"On my eighteenth birthday my father, the senator, gives me the gift he thinks every little
girl dreams of.
The man of my dreams, and the wedding to match.
Stefan Zoric is heir to an elite worldwide modeling agency. Practically a prince.
My arrangement is simple, as far as sham marriages go.
I give him my virginity, behave as the perfect wife and he'll pay for the college degree my father found irrelevant.
But I don't want to be the perfect wife.
I want him to want me the way I want him.
I want him to confide in me.
But Stefan has secrets that he holds close, dangerous secrets.
And soon I'm wondering what kind of devil have I made a deal with?"
