Novels by Emma

The weight of the dead man was immense. My arms burned and my chest heaved as Alejandro and I dragged the heavy, plastic-wrapped bundle through the narrow back exit of the club. Every time the body shifted, a soft, wet sound came from inside the plastic, making my stomach turn over and over. Tears blurred my eyes, and my breath came in short, ragged gasps. I was sobbing quietly, the terror completely taking over my mind."Stop crying, damn it!" Alejandro hissed, his voice a sharp, angry whisper in the dark alley. He was sweating heavily, his hands slick against the plastic as we lifted the bundle toward the open trunk of his car. "If you don't calm down, the guards at the gate will hear you. Push!"With one final, desperate shove, we rammed the body into the deep trunk. It went in with a heavy, sickening thud that echoed in the quiet night. Alejandro slammed the trunk lid shut immediately, the metallic click sounding like a cell door locking. He turned to me, his eyes furious. "Get in

The silence in the crimson room was louder than any bass thumping on the main floor. I stood over the body, my hands covered in dark, warm blood, my entire body shaking so hard my knees almost gave out. The fat man lay perfectly still on the velvet rug, his wide, empty eyes staring at the ceiling. A dark pool was growing around his head, staining the fabric."No," I whispered, my voice a broken gasp. "No, please, no."Panic hit me like a physical wave. I couldn't go to prison. The thought rushed through my mind, clear and terrifying. If the police found me here, everything was over. My dreams of going to New York, my law school applications, my entire future would be totally destroyed. All the suffering I had endured under the Alarcón roof, all the late-night shifts at this wretched club, all the degradation of selling my body for cheap cash—it would all be for nothing. My mother would be left alone in that house, trapped in poverty forever. I could not risk it. I had to fix this.I s

The world tilted sideways as his hand connected with my face. The force of the slap sent me reeling, my head spinning as I crashed onto the velvet rug. My ears were ringing, and for a heartbeat, I couldn't even breathe. I was in utter shock, my vision blurred by a flash of white-hot pain. I had endured many things in this club, but no one had ever dared to strike me like this.As I pushed myself up from the floor, my hair falling wildly over my eyes, the man moved toward me with a guttural, animalistic grunt. He was towering over me, his naked body looking like a grotesque shadow in the dim red light. He reached down, his hands clawing at the thin mesh of my outfit, his fingers digging into my skin with terrifying intent. He wanted to rip it off. He wanted to take everything.Something inside me finally shattered. It wasn't fear anymore; it was a cold, sharp, dangerous rage. As his hand gripped my shoulder to shove me toward the heavy velvet chair in the corner, I didn't scream. I did

Mateo leaned back in his leather chair, his jaw tightening as Victoria's confident laughter filled his ear. "I am busy with the company transition right now, Victoria," he said, his voice flat. "I really do not have the time to host you properly.""Oh, don't worry about that, darling," Victoria purred back, completely ignoring his cold tone. "I already knew you would say that, so I went straight to the top. I want to meet your dad anyway. My father already got in contact with the Patron this afternoon."Mateo sat up straight, his eyes narrowing. "What did you do?""Your father said yes, of course," she replied smoothly. "He insists that I spend a few days at the Alarcón mansion. No hotel in Madrid fits my caliber anyway, and you know how our fathers are. They love their alliances."Before Mateo and Victoria had broken up, their families had been actively planning a massive corporate marriage to merge their two empires. Mateo was currently trying to win a massive favor from his father

The cheap phone buzzed in my apron pocket just as I finished stacking the clean plates. I hurried out to the quiet alley behind the kitchen before answering."Luna, you need to get down here right now," Alejandro’s voice came through the line, loud and impatient. "The weekend crowd is already lining up at the door, and the VIP lounge is booked solid.""I cannot come tonight, Alejandro," I whispered, my eyes darting toward the mansion windows. My cheek still throbbed slightly, and the sheer terror from the night before was still fresh in my veins. "I am tired. Find someone else for the shifts.""Are you crazy?" Alejandro snapped. "You have clients specifically demanding the silver mask. If you skip tonight, you lose your slot, and I won't hold your bonus money. You have a goal, remember? Get your ass down to Club Máscara."The line went dead. I gripped the phone, my jaw tightening. He was right. I had a goal. I needed to focus on my future, on my escape to New York, and on saving every

My boots clicked softly against the kitchen floor as I rushed through the swinging doors, my hands still shaking around the edges of Diego’s ruined plate. The egg yolks were running across the porcelain, a messy yellow streak that looked exactly how my life felt right now. My face was hot with shame, and my teeth dug into my lower lip to stop the tears from falling.Why did Diego hate me so much? I had not done anything to him, yet he looked at me like I was a piece of dirt stuck to his expensive leather shoes. A cold, hard knot of pure dislike grew in my stomach. He was a bully, a loud, angry monster who used his wealth to crush anyone beneath him.I leaned against the metal counter, my chest rising and falling fast as I tried to calm my breathing. My thoughts immediately drifted away from Diego’s shouting and snapped straight back to Mateo.He is my boss, I reminded myself fiercely, my heart doing a wild flip. He is the lord of this house. But my mind didn't care about his status. I