by Julia Mills
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 20, 2016!
“Well, la dee da, lookie here, Miss Fancy Pants. You have an invitation to the gala celebrating the Katsaros Industries and Roma Tech merger.” Cyn’s admin and long-time friend, Adele, sing-songed as she fanned herself with what looked to be an expensive off-white linen envelope while doing her best model walk into Cynthia’s office.
“I have no idea why I would be invited to that. I’m just sales consultant for a drug company. I don’t know diddly about tech. And besides, I don’t have anything to wear.”
“Well, you better get your butt in gear. Dust off that credit card, baby, cause you’ve got the golden ticket.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What golden ticket?”
“Girl, get your head out of the books and catch up on your pop culture. There is more to life than the newest anti-inflammatory or anti-depressant. You have a VIP ticket to the big show. It says you’ll be sitting at one of the tables next to the head guy, his new wife, and the other big wigs. You have to go so I can live vicariously through you.”
Cyn shook her head. How in the hell had she ever gotten on the guest list for something so prestigious? These people were the movers and shakers, kings of industry. Hell, most of them were from other countries, highly educated, rich from birth, and way out of her league.
Grabbing the invitation from Adele, Cyn saw the signature that had obviously been signed with the sender’s own hand at the bottom of the beautifully embossed correspondence and had to sit down before she fell down from shock. Running the pad of her thumb over the signature, a chill ran down her spine and an image formed in her mind.
It had only taken one time, just a chance encounter at Starbucks two years ago in Dallas, and Cyn had been hooked. The spark of recognition between them when they’d touched had been electric. Sort of like déjà vu but stronger, and maybe a little different. It didn’t make sense but it was oh so real. Long after they’d parted ways, Cyn couldn’t shake the feeling that their meeting wasn’t completely coincidental. Not that he’d planned it or anything stalkerish, but that they were ‘supposed’ to meet, like it was a destiny kind of thing.
He was tall, had light brown hair that she knew would be wavy if he didn’t tame it with products, and hazel eyes that mesmerized as the smooth golden in the center spread to an almost green before turning brown at the edge. To say Roman Marinos was good-looking was like saying South Fork was a farm. He was amazing and had an accent so exotic it curled her toes. She hadn’t even told Adele about their chance encounter and Cyn told her friend everything.
Lost in thought, Cyn jumped when the intercom on her office phone buzzed. “Sexy man voice on line two,” Adele chirped.
“I have told you a million times not to give the people on the phone nicknames.”
Cyn cut off Adele’s rebuttal by answering the phone. “Cynthia St. James, how can I help you?”
“You can accept my invitation to the KI/Roma Tech gala.”
Her mind went blank. Her palms began to sweat. Her heart beat like a bass drum. Cyn thought she might pass out. Recognition like no other filled her mind. Dumb luck had walked up and smacked her in the back of the head again. How could it be possible? How could the man who’d she dreamed about every night for two years be on the phone? Wasn’t it enough that she thought about him every spare minute of the day? Now, he was on her phone?
He owed her nothing, just as she owed him nothing. He’d replaced her favorite London Fog trench coat after spilling coffee on it and even bought the dark brown leather gloves she’d been eyeing for weeks, almost as if he read her mind. She’d tried repeatedly to return them only to have him refuse.
“Well…it’s just that…” Taking a deep breath to stop further embarrassment, Cyn began again. “I have a previous engagement and to be honest Mr. Marinos, I’m in pharmaceuticals not tech. I think there’s been some mistake.”
For several seconds, Cyn could only hear him breathing on the other end of the phone. She was just about to apologize for seeming ungrateful when the rumble of his deep voice floated from the phone. If possible, his accent seemed thicker and his voice more intense. “My invitation has little to do with the gala and everything to do with you, Cynthia St. James.”
Unsure what Marinos meant and with no idea how to answer, Cyn fell back on the one tried and true excuse she always used when she wanted to get out of something. “I appreciate your invitation. I am truly humbled but as I said, I have a previous engagement.”
Chuckling like she’d said something funny, Marinos’ only reply was, “No you don’t. Pick you up at eight.”
He disconnected the call while Cyn was still dumbfounded by his response. It took several minutes before she returned the receiver to its cradle. Shaking her head, she just stared out her window at the cars on the freeway.
I have no clue what just happened but I’m sure I’d be safer directing traffic out there on the highway than spending a night with Roman Marinos.
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VIKTOR: Heart of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book1
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“Enjoy your stay in London, Ms. Romalesky. Thank you for flying American Airlines.”
Enjoy? Yeah, right.
“I will and thank you, Natalie,” Kat smiled and answered the perky flight attendant as sweetly as she could as she exited the plane. It was the best she could do considering the Diet Pepsi and poorly baked fish she’d consumed during her eight-hour sleepless flight from the states were threatening to make an unwanted reappearance.
In less than eighteen hours she would meet the single most powerful businessman in the world—the elusive Viktor Katsaros. Not only her future but that of her father’s company depended on the multi-million dollar deal she was hoping to broker between Roma Technologies and Katsaros Industries. In the last two years, Kat had taken the nearly bankrupt company she’d inherited after her parent’s death and turned it into a thriving business that just the day before she’d left home had been added to the Forbes’ Most Innovative Companies list. If she had any hopes of getting their new product in the hands of consumers outside the U.S., she had to convince Katsaros to be her partner.
The man she was hinging all her hopes of success on was not known for his willingness to partner with people. The little bit Kat had been able to dig up about him on the internet and in articles gave her a clear picture of a corporate raider. He took what he wanted at the lowest price, kept it if it was something that interested him, but in most cases, broke the companies into pieces and sold them off to the highest bidder. It was easy to see how he’d become so rich and so infamous.
But none of that mattered. Kat had a stable company that was operating in the black and she had the tech to back up a partnership. All the patents and copyrights belonged to her personally, not Roma Tech, so even if Katsaros tried to take her business, he would never get the moneymaker. That was the beauty of still being an independent owner. Viktor Katsaros may be a viper in business but Kat had dealt with vipers before.
She’d been working on the proposal for almost three months, basically from the moment she’d met Roman Marinos, KI’s Vice President of Operations, and if all the stories on the internet were true, Mr. Katsaros’ right-hand man. Kat had to believe it had been destiny that they’d literally bumped into one another at the bar while attending Fortune Magazine’s Man of the Year awards banquet.
She’d been there with the hopes of meeting Viktor Katsaros and pitching her idea of their partnership to the man himself. After her many emails to KI’s development department had gone unanswered, Kat was betting on a long shot. By all accounts, Katsaros hadn’t been seen in public for nearly twenty years, but she’d taken the chance that winning the same award for the tenth year in a row would bring the recluse into the light. The outcome she wanted hadn’t happened, but thankfully, the luck that had seen her through some of the roughest times in her life was still on her side and she’d met Marinos.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Kat had followed Marinos to the table farthest from all the commotion, pulling data out of her overworked brain as fast as she could. Once seated, he’d asked a few preliminary questions about Roma Tech that she was positive he could’ve had answered by any business website anywhere. It was Business 101 – never ask a question you don’t know the answer to. If possible, it made her respect him even more.
Fifteen minutes into the hour-long presentation she’d practiced at least a hundred times in the mirror, Marinos lifted his index finger and offhandedly said, “Excuse me for just a moment.”
Kat prepared for what she was sure was going to be the most elegant and practiced brush off she’d ever gotten. From everything she’d seen of this man so far, he was nothing if not the consummate professional. But to her surprise, he’d taken his cell phone from his jacket pocket, made a few quick key strokes, and placed the device between them on the table.
Marinos smiled as the phone rang but gave no explanation. On the fourth ring, Kat opened her mouth to speak but quickly swallowed her words as the voice on the other end answered, “Katsaros.”
The man’s voice was deep and warm but with a raw power that seemed to resonate within her. He had an exotic accent; one she couldn’t place but knew without a doubt was not British, despite reports that he’d lived in London for most of his life.
You just can’t trust what you read on the internet.
“Roman, here. Glad to see you’re still awake, old boy.”
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Phoebe: A ‘Not-Quite’ Phoenix Love Story
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I don’t think there’s a woman alive that didn’t spend at least some of her childhood dreaming of being a princess. Lord knows, Disney has done a good job at giving us every make, model, and description imaginable. They fueled the imaginations of the little girls that wanted to be the damsel in distress waiting for her prince charming, the ones that wanted to hang with a bunch of little short men and sing in the woods and then even those of us that wanted to kick ass and take names. To overcome whatever fate threw our way with flair and witty one liners and come out on the other side to cheering followers, a kingdom saved and the hot prince by our side.
Yeah, you guessed it. I was the latter, and still all these years later, the girl inside of me screams to be set free and take over the world. She wants to wear the crown, be the hero, and tell the rest of the world to kiss her fanny.
I guess I’ve gotten ahead of myself, which is pretty much par for the course. My name is Phoebe. I’m presently sitting in a dungeon. (Yes, they still exist. No, I had no clue.) Waiting for my half-sister, (Didn’t know one of those existed either.) to decide if I’m to be beheaded, hung, or shot at dawn.
To say our long overdue family reunion was something that Jax, a retired Marine and my best friend, would call a FUBAR, is an understatement. It all started when my best bud and I were on our way to Frank’s Place, a sports bar with the best wings in a five-hundred-mile radius, to celebrate me finally passing the BAR exam. I say finally, not because I’ve taken it more than once, but because it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do and now that I was officially a lawyer, I could justify the six-figure student loan debt staring me in the face.
Thankfully, I had graduated in the top one percent of my class and landed a job with the top firm in the state. Unfortunately, if Helena, my bitch of a half-sister, has her way, it’s not going to matter. But I digress…
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About Julia
Hey Y’all! I’m Julia Mills the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Dragon Guard Series. I absolutely admit to being a sarcastic, southern woman who would rather spend all day laughing than a minute crying. Living with my two most amazing daughters and a menagerie of animals, keeps me busy but I love telling a good story. Now, that I’ve decided to write the stories running through my brain, I have to admit live has gotten to be even more fun!
My beliefs are simple. A good book along with shoes, makeup, and purses will never let a girl down and no hero ever written could compare to my real life hero, my dad! I’m a sucker for a happy ending and alpha men make me swoon.
I’m still working on my story but I promise it will contain as much love and laughter as I can pack in there! Now, go out there and create your own story!!! Dare to Dream! Have the Strength to Try EVERYTHING! Never Look Back!
I ABSOLUTELY adore stalkers so look me up on Facebook and sign up for her newsletter at JuliaMillsAuthor.com. Send me a message!
Thank you for reading my stories!!!
XOXO Julia