All He'll Ever Be Read online

  All He’ll Ever Be

  Merciless Series Collection

  W. Winters

  Contents

  Also by W Winters

  Merciless

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Heartless

  Prologue

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Breathless

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Endless

  Prologue

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  Chapter 92

  Chapter 93

  Chapter 94

  Chapter 95

  Chapter 96

  Chapter 97

  Chapter 98

  Chapter 99

  Chapter 100

  Also by W Winters

  About Willow Winters

  Copyright © 2019 by Willow Winters All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations within critical reviews and otherwise as permitted by copyright law.

  NOTE: This is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author's imagination.

  Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019, Willow Winters Publishing. All rights reserved. willowwinterswrites.com

  Commissioned art from both Haley Powers (paperbirdartshop.com ) and Wovoka Trudell (http://instagram.com/wovoka_trudell_art).

  Created with Vellum

  Also by W Winters

  Merciless World

  A Kiss to Tell

  Possessive

  Merciless

  Heartless

  Breathless

  Endless

  A Kiss To Keep

  A Single Glance

  A Single Kiss

  A Single Touch

  Hard to Love

  Merciless World Spin Off

  It’s Our Secret

  Standalone Novels:

  Broken

  Forget Me Not

  Sins and Secrets Duets:

  Imperfect (Imperfect Duet book 1)

  Unforgiven (Imperfect Duet book 2)

  Damaged (Damaged Duet book 1)

  Scarred (Damaged Duet book 2)

  Willow Winters

  Standalone Novels:

  Tell Me To Stay

  Second Chance

  Knocking Boots

  Promise Me

  Burned Promises

  Forsaken, cowritten with B. B. Hamel

  Collections

  Don’t Let Go

  Deepen The Kiss

  Valetti Crime Family Series:

  Dirty Dom

  His Hostage

  Rough Touch

  Cuffed Kiss

  Bad Boy

  Highest Bidder Series,

  cowritten with Lauren Landish:

  Bought

  Sold

  Owned

  Given

  Bad Boy Standalones,

  cowritten with Lauren Landish:

  Inked

  Tempted

  Mr. CEO

  Happy reading and best wishes,

  W Winters xx

  My grandmother used to write. Her dream was for her stories to be published one day, but unfortunately that never happened.

  Times were different back then.

  Although she’s gone, she’s always with me in my heart and even in my writing. Pieces of what I remember of my grandmother have been sewn into these stories and I hope that you’ve fallen in love with her, even if you’ve never had the pleasure to meet her. I hope she would be proud of me if she were to see me now.

  The ones we love never leave us.

  Mommom, this book is for you. I love you.

  Merciless

  Book 1

  From USA Today bestselling author Willow Winters comes a heart pounding, edge-of-your-seat gripping, romantic suspense.

  I should’ve known she would ruin me the moment I saw her.

  Women like her are made to destroy men like me.

  Given to me to start a war; I was too eager to accept.

  I didn’t know what she’d do to me.

  She sees through me in a way no one else ever has.

  Her innocence and vulnerability make me weak for her and I hate it.

  I know better than to give in to temptation. I should have known that she would change everything.

  A ruthless man doesn’t let a soul close to him.

  A cold-hearted man doesn’t risk anything for anyone.

  A powerful man with a beautiful woman at his mercy … he doesn’t fall for her.

  Preface

  Carter

  “I should have fucked you so much sooner.”

  I remember that first day, how she screamed and cried for me to let her go, back when I hated her and she hated me.

  Even with my tight grip on her throat, with my touch sending sparks through her body , she forces her head to shake, not taking her eyes off of mine.

  “No,” she whispers and my dick hardens even more, begging me to punish her for daring to defy me. But then she adds, “This is how it was supposed to be.”

  Her breathing is heavy as she closes her eyes, her body bowed on my lap. She’s completely at my mercy and her pouty lips are there for
the taking.

  All of her. Every piece of her is mine and she knows it.

  Mine.

  Chapter 1

  Carter

  War is coming.

  It’s something I’ve known for over two years.

  Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

  A tic in my jaw clenches in time with the rhythm of the clock, while the skin over my knuckles turns white as my fist squeezes tighter. Tension rises in my stiff shoulders and I have to remind myself to breathe in deeply and let the strain of it all go away.

  Tick-tock. It’s the only sound echoing off the walls of my office and with each pass of the pendulum, the anger grows.

  It’s always like this before I go to a meet. This one, in particular, sends a thrill through my blood, the adrenaline pumping harder with each passing minute.

  My gaze drifts from the grandfather clock in my office to the shelves next to it, then beneath them to the box made of mahogany and steel. It’s only three feet deep and three feet tall by six feet long. It blends into the wall of my office, surrounded by old books.

  I paid more than I should have simply to put on a display. All any of this is merely a façade. People’s perceptions are their reality. And so I paint the picture they need to see so I can use them as I see fit. The expensive books and artworks, polished furniture carved from rare wood… All of it is bullshit.

  Except for the box. The story that came with it will stay with me forever. In all the years, it’s one of the few memories I can pinpoint as a defining moment. The box never leaves me.

  The words from the man who gave it to me are still so fresh, as is the image of his pale green eyes, glossed over as he told me his story.

  About how it kept him safe when he was a child. He told me how his mother had shoved him in it to protect him.

  I swallow thickly, feeling my throat tighten and the cords in my neck strain at the recollection. He set the scene so well.

  He told me how he clung to his mother, seeing how panicked she was. But he did as he was told. He stayed quiet in the safe box and could only listen while the men murdered his mother.

  He offered to barter for his life with the box. And the story he gave me reminded me of my own mother telling me goodbye before she passed.

  Yes, his story was touching, but I put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger regardless.

  He tried to steal from me and then pay me with a box as if the money he embezzled was a debt or a loan. William was good at thieving, at telling stories, but the fucker was a dumb prick.

  I didn’t get to where I am by playing nicely and being weak. On that day, I took the box that saved him as a reminder of who I was. Who I needed to be.

  I made sure that box has been within my sight for every meeting I’ve had in this office. It’s a powerful reminder I can stare at as I make deal after deal with criminal after criminal and collect wealth and power in this godforsaken room.

  It cost me a fortune to get this office exactly how I wanted it. But if it were to burn down, I could easily afford to replace everything.

  Everything except for that box.

  “You really think they’re going through with it?” I hear my brother, Daniel, before I see him. The remembrance fades in an instant.

  It takes a second for me to be conscious of my facial expression, to relax my jaw and let go of the anger before I can raise my gaze to his.

  “With the war and the deal? You think he’ll go through with it and take her tonight?” he clarifies.

  A small huff leaves me, accompanied by a smirk as I answer, “He wants this more than anything else. He said they set her up and it’s already happening. Only hours until they’re done.”

  Daniel stalks into the room slowly, the heavy door to my office closing with a soft kick of his heel before he comes to stand across from me.

  “And you’re sure you want to be right in the middle of it?”

  I lick my lower lip and stand, stretching as I do and turning my gaze to the window in my office. I can hear Daniel walking around the desk as I lean against it and cross my arms.

  I tell him, “We won’t be in the middle of it. It’ll be the two of them, and our territory is close, but we can stay back.”

  “Bullshit. He wants you to fight with him. He’s going to start this war tonight and you know it.”

  I nod slowly, the memory of the smell of Romano’s cigars filling my lungs at the thought of him.

  “There’s still time to call it off,” Daniel says, and it makes my brow pinch and forehead crease. He can’t be that naïve.

  It’s the first time I’ve really looked at him since he’s been back. He spent years away. And every fucking day I fought for what we have. He’s gone soft. Or maybe it’s Addison who’s turned him into the man standing here now.

  “This war has to happen.” My words are final, and the tone is one not to be questioned. I may have grown this business on fear and anger, each step forward followed by the hollow sound of a body dropping behind me, but that’s not how it started. You can’t build an empire with bloodstained hands and not expect death to follow you.

  His dark eyes narrow as he moves closer to the window, his gaze flickering between me and the meticulously maintained garden several stories below us.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” His voice is low, and I barely hear it. He doesn’t look back at me and a chill flows across the back of my neck and down my arms as I take in his solemn expression.

  It takes me back to years ago. Back to when we had a choice and chose wrong.

  When whether or not we wanted to go through with any of this still meant something.

  “There are men to the left of us,” I tell him as I step forward and close the distance between us. “There are men to the right. There is no possible outcome where we don’t pick a side.”

  He nods once and slides his thumb across the stubble on his chin before looking back at me. “And the girl?” he asks, his piercing eyes reminding me that both of us fought, both of us survived, and we each had a tragic path that led us to where we are today.

  “Aria?” I dare to speak her name and the sound of my smooth voice seems to linger in the space between us. I don’t wait for him to acknowledge me—or her, rather.

  “She has no choice.” My voice tightens as I say the words.

  Clearing my throat, I brace my palms against the window, feeling the frigid fall beneath my hands and lean forward to see Addison beneath us. “What do you think they would have done to Addison if they’d succeeded in taking her?”

  His jaw clenches, but he doesn’t answer my question. Instead he replies, “We don’t know who tried to take her from me.”

  I shrug as if it’s semantics and not at all relevant. “Still. Women aren’t meant to be touched, but they went for Addison first.”

  “That doesn’t make it right,” Daniel says with indignation in his tone.

  “Isn’t it better she come to us?” My head tilts as I pose the question and this time he takes a moment to respond.

  “She’s not one of us. Not like Addison, and you know what Romano expects you to do with her.”

  “Yes, the daughter of the enemy…” My heart beats hard in my chest, and the steady rhythm reminds me of the ticking of the clock. “I know exactly what he wants me to do with her.”

  Chapter 2

  Aria

  There are a few things you should know about me.

  I like to wake up with a hot cup of coffee every morning. Preferably with enough creamer and sugar to drown out the taste of the bitter caffeine addiction.

  I love red wine at night. I can’t have white; it gives me a headache and a hangover that will leave me miserable when I wake up.

  Well, those aren’t things that really matter. They’re the superficial details you give people when you don’t want to tell them the truth.

  What do you really need to know?

  My name is Aria Talvery and I’m the daughter of the most violent crime family in Fallbroo
k.