Clause Eighteen

Clause Eighteen

by Cora Brooks

Heat 3 / 5Novella · 12 chapters30,875 words2h 14m read~3h 26m listen

Tessa Keane built her empire one ruthless negotiation at a time, and she has no intention of losing it to a handwritten note demanding six figures by midnight—especially not one discovered in her own coat pocket at a Beverly Hills charity gala. The note is a warning. Possibly a trap. Definitely a problem she cannot solve alone.

Enter Ellis Torres: sharp-tongued public-interest attorney, professional thorn in her side, and the man who eviscerated her last zoning variance on live television. The Arrangement Desk’s proposal is simple enough on paper—six weeks, a handful of red-carpet galas, one very convincing fake relationship—and clause eighteen guarantees a clean exit when it’s over. What the contract cannot account for is the way Ellis’s hand feels in hers under the flashbulbs, or the way their bickering sounds less like old grudges and more like foreplay with every passing week.

But beneath the staged smiles and the paparazzi gold, someone is using Tessa’s flagship eco-tower to run a dirty-money scheme—and the closer she and Ellis get to the truth, the closer they get to each other. When a leaked kiss and a second threatening envelope blow their careful arrangement wide open, Tessa must decide whether the greatest risk to everything she’s built is the lender in the shadows—or the man who has finally seen exactly who she is, and isn’t walking away.

Fake DatingMarriage Of ConvenienceOpposites AttractSmall TownSecond Chance