UNDERCOVER VOWS WITH THE SECRET DON

Chapter 3 THE THREAT AND THE BOOKIE VESPERA

Word Count: 1111 | Released on: 23/08/2026

dark, drone parts tangled like spaghetti, and enough mismatched furniture to make a thrift store weep. Sh

ng a permanent marker like it could ward off debt or ghosts. She was scrawli

brooding model looks, he didn't belong here at all not with all her glowing tech cluttering up the space. "No bringing your sketchy, debt-collecting friends over. Rule number two: We have bound

om her coffee table, weighing it in his mitts. "Eighty

l marriage paperwork's done. Signed at the all-night courthouse kiosk. The system processed it I'

said. He had this smooth, quiet irony in

r, someone started pounding on the front do

le of tech manuals slid of

nd. "Oh god. They found me. They're here. They

ts. The vibe changed fast one second harmless night watchman, the next, k

solute, heavy. Vesper nodded, stepp

tensedbut only for a second-before he just looked ann

ix-foot-five, built like a bank vault, with a vicious scar slashing from eyebrow to

e Syndicate's

ing. "The intelligence team confirmed your new address. I brought your p

ff the bow. Behind his back, out of Vesper's sight, he m

tted Vesper crouched behind a bookshelf, gripping

n, Boss?" Nikolai rumbled, hand drifti

ic. He took the espresso machine from Nikolai, balancing it like it weighed nothing. "Vesp

? The guy you owe money to? I knew it! Look at him, Lysander! He's got a th

nder and Vesper like his brain couldn't process what he was se

der my protection now-I'm his official financial sponsor! Yeah, he owes your organization a lot, but we just signed a legal contr

d at her, the

racking up, shoulders shaking with laughter.

n thousand dollars is an acceptable primary payment, ma'am. The...Thorne Loan

a little. "Now go, before I hack your bil

tually flinched at that. He shot Lysander a desperate loo

urned to Lysander, eyes wide with pride. "See? Saved your kn

he espresso machine on the kitchen counter, grinning with someth

a truck. She staggered toward her bedroom. "I'm crashing f

Vesper," Lysa

nder's gentle act melted away. No security-guard w

er phone, dialing a secure line.

an extraction unit. Looks like the Vance family hired them they

g the glass. He glanced back at Vesper's door, a

oftly, his voice the kind of whisper that makes men run. "Deploy

amily, Don Thorn

they even breathe in her direction burn their

Chapter End

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“He's a killer with ice in his veins. She's a tech genius who brings chaos wherever she goes. Their marriage? It started as a complete sham but the danger they're in is suddenly very real. Vespera Vance is a billionaire tech heiress, but when her family tries to marry her off to a ninety year-old tycoon, she does what anyone desperate would: she fakes who she is, disappears in baggy sweaters, and takes the most anonymous job she can find a graveyard-shift nobody. Everything goes smooth until one night, she ends up in the basement and spots the new night security guard calmly taking down two armed attackers, all while munching on a turkey sandwich. Lysander Thorne is no guard. He's the legendary Don of the Thorne Syndicate, lying low in his own company to hunt a traitor. He's used to people freezing in fear. What he isn't used to is Vespera: a whirlwind in crooked glasses who barges into his sting operation, flails a plastic broom, trips over her shoes, and knocks herself out right against his chest. Vespera needs a new, clean legal identity to keep her greedy family from touching her fortune. She makes Lysander (who she believes is a broke rent-a-cop drowning in debt) an offer: marry her for six months, she'll clear what he "owes," and he'll never buy a deli sandwich again. Lysander, oddly entertained and in need of a solid civilian disguise, agrees and signs on. Now Vespera's out here leaving receipts for eighty-dollar honey like a sugar mom in their shoebox apartment. Lysander, meanwhile, is secretly sending his massive, terrifying underboss to deliver luxury espresso machines under the excuse of being a local bookie. But things get ugly. Her family finds her, and this time, they're not sending lawyers they're sending elite mercenaries ready to drag her home by force. The silly game's over, and Lysander drops the act. Vespera is about to learn her bumbling roommate doesn't just keep the night shift safe. He rules the shadows and letting his wild, unpredictable wife go isn't on the table. Not now, not ever.”