Consumed

He once used her secret to control her. Now he may destroy everything to protect her. Elise Carrow fought her way from blackmailed employee to Chief Strategy Officer of Langford Holdings. She has equity, authority, and a place beside the ruthless billionaire who once held her future in his hands. But the higher she rises, the more dangerous the fall becomes. A disgraced insider has launched a calculated media war, twisting Elise's past, her promotion, and her relationship with Reid Langford into proof of corruption. To the press, she is his mistress. To the board, she is a liability. To the man determined to ruin them, she is the easiest way to bring Reid's empire to its knees. Reid has spent his life mastering control. When Elise becomes the target, every instinct tells him to shield her behind his wealth, silence the threat, and take the consequences himself. Elise refuses to be protected into powerlessness again. With only eighteen days until their career-defining acquisition closes, they must survive public scrutiny, a hostile board, and the dangerous lie binding them together. Every attempt Reid makes to save her risks undermining the authority she fought to claim. Every move Elise makes to prove her independence threatens the fragile trust they built from the wreckage of blackmail. They are no longer captor and captive. They are partners, lovers, and accomplices. And if the truth comes out, they could lose the company, their freedom, and the relationship neither of them knows how to survive without.