project x miles

The kingdom of Narethia sees two baby girls born at the same moment. A high monk prophesies that one of them carries the phoenix destiny—the future mother of all under heaven. Which girl holds the phoenix fate will only be revealed after eighteen years during the marriage alliance. The King of Narethia believes the destined one must be Joselyn Osborne, so he spends vast amounts of gold and silver nurturing her while completely ignoring Lainey Osborne. Eighteen years later, with Narethia’s national strength failing, a marriage alliance becomes necessary. The King and Ashtyn Harper scheme to have Joselyn marry into the Myrraveth royal family while sending Lainey off to the barbaric wasteland. With her mother imprisoned in the palace, Lainey tearfully departs for marriage. After traveling thousands of miles to reach the Outlands, she is utterly shocked to discover that the so-called barbarian host is actually the King of Zuyenne,and the supposedly impoverished land is overflowing with gold, silver, and precious jewels...

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply. My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there. I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening. Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian: "Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?" Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied, also in Italian: "Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender." His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant. "Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man." His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence. The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch. The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled. Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept." In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.