Lucas
He let her go once
Five years ago, I walked away from the best thing that ever happened to me. Now she’s standing in my office again.
Valerie Ray was supposed to be a temporary forensic accountant brought in to investigate a new acquisition for Fantasies, Inc. not the woman I’ve spent years regretting. Working beside her every day is equal parts temptation and torture, especially when I realize one terrifying truth. I never stopped loving her.
As danger closes in and Valerie’s world begins to unravel, I refuse to stand on the sidelines again. I failed her once. I won’t do it again, even if protecting her means risking my heart all over again.
Valerie
Some risks can’t be calculated
Lucas destroyed me once and no amount of chemistry can erase the heartbreak of being abandoned for another woman. I’m here to do a job, keep my distance, and survive sharing an office with the man my body still responds to far too easily.
When Lucas says walking away from me was his biggest mistake, I want to believe him. My heart, still not healed, wants to trust him. But only time will heal our wounds.
Time we don’t have because the deeper I fall into this investigation and my family’s betrayal, the more I realize Lucas may be the only safe place I have left.
Assessing the Risks is an emotional second chance workplace romance featuring forced proximity, protective alpha hero energy, family betrayal, found family, medium steam, and a hero determined to prove some risks are worth taking twice.
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MILES
Falling for her was never in the employee handbook.
As the head of HR at Fantasies, Inc., I know exactly how this looks. Bad. Very bad.
Because the smart thing would be staying far away from Amelia Carter—the gorgeous woman who runs the coffee stand downstairs, with those guarded eyes and a quiet strength that make me want romance in ways I’ve spent years avoiding.
When Amelia walks into my office with a complaint about suggestive comments from one of our employees, investigating this means I’ll be spending more time with her in trying to figure out what employee is harassing her.
The more I see the real Amelia, the more impossible it becomes to pretend I don’t want her. This is brand new territory for me. I do not fall for women, and I know I’ve broken hearts before. But Amelia? She could destroy mine.
AMELIA
Some workplace benefits are unconventional.
I learned the hard way not to trust charming men. Especially men like Miles Donovan. Confident. Smooth-talking. Gorgeous enough to make bad decisions seem reasonable.
Everyone at Fantasies, Inc. knows Miles is a player, which means he’s the last man I should be fantasizing about.
But when I report inappropriate comments from one of the employees, Miles takes me seriously. He’s the only one who makes me feel safe instead of embarrassed. The only one who looks at me like I’m something worth protecting.
The closer we get, the harder it becomes to remember all the reasons I should stay away from him. Trusting him might be the most dangerous perk of all.
Workplace Romance, He Falls First, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn
JOSH
Off limits never looked so tempting.
Lisa Monroe has always been off limits. Too sweet and professional for two men like Dean and I. Then she walks into Operations and asks us to fulfill a fantasy. Suddenly, every filthy thought I’ve had about her becomes very possible.
What starts as one fantasy turns into something none of us can control. Because Lisa isn’t shy underneath that perfect smile. She’s addictive. And the more time Dean and I spend making her beg, teasing her until she forgets everything except us, the harder it becomes to let her go.
There’s just one problem. Lisa didn’t come to us for pleasure. She came to investigate a complaint.
And finding out she lied from the beginning might be the only thing strong enough to destroy the three of us before we even have a chance to become real.
DEAN
Some women are impossible to let go.
Josh and I have always shared everything. Trust. Loyalty. Secrets. But Lisa? She was the one thing we both knew we shouldn’t touch. Until she offers herself up for a fantasy weekend neither of us plans to ever forget.
One look at Lisa tied up in our game, flushed and breathless while she gives us permission to take control, and I know we’re screwed. Because this stops feeling like a job almost immediately. Somewhere between the flirting, the temptation, and the way she melts when Josh and I work together, Lisa becomes ours in every way that matters.
Then the truth comes out. The sweet woman we’ve been falling for was never just a client. She was investigating us. Now I have to decide what hurts worse—her lie… or the possibility of losing her.
LISA
Good girls shouldn’t ask for fantasies like this.
Going undercover at Fantasies, Inc. sounded easy. Investigate a complaint. Test boundaries. Write a report.
What wasn’t part of the plan? Josh and Dean. The two gorgeous best friends who run Operations know exactly how to turn my hidden fantasies into reality, and after one reckless weekend of fake abductions, wicked promises, and dangerously blurred lines, I don’t know how to walk away from either of them.
The worst part? For the first time in my life, I don’t want to. But fantasies are built on trust, and I shattered theirs before this even began.
Now the two men I’m falling for have to decide if what happened between us was real enough to survive the truth.
Why choose, fake kidnapping, seductive weekend, friends to lovers, MMF
He kidnapped me to save me.
I disappeared ten years ago and never looked back.
New name. New city. New life.
Then Dominic Cartelli found me.
Now the dark, possessive ex-mafia heir has kidnapped me, and locked me inside his Seattle penthouse. One thing is painfully clear: he’s never letting me go again.
Every heated glance, furious argument, and forbidden touch reminds me exactly why walking away from him shattered me.
Now my past is no longer buried.
Dominic says he can keep me safe, but there’s a catch. I have to belong to him because no one touches what is his.
Ariella
Did his family kill mine?
Working incognito for Leo Cartelli means enduring his impossible demands, ruthless control, and the dangerous attraction I can never act on. Not until I know the truth behind my parents’ murder.
Then my abusive ex finds me. Now Leo is in my apartment, determined to keep me safe whether I want his protection or not. He wants to claim all of me but if he finds out the truth about my past, it could destroy us both. Falling for him would be reckless so I run, only to end up kidnapped.
Leo
No one steals what belongs to me.
My beautiful, stubborn assistant has a talent for disobeying, arguing, and making me think about all the ways I want to bend her over my desk.
After she’s attacked outside my family club, the gloves come off. She is mine to protect and she can fight me all she wants but I will keep her safe. She has secrets and I intend to discover each one.
When Ariella is taken I do what I was born to do. Plan and hunt. I will burn down the world to find her, and God help anyone standing between me and the woman I intend to keep.
Boss/employee, forced proximity, he falls first, touch her and die, slow burn, found family
Kayla
I ran to the only man I trusted…and asked him to marry me.
My father has promised me to a sadistic mafia heir, Tasso, who told me exactly how he would break me. With no choice but to run, I remember the man who once stepped between me and danger. Enzo Bernardi. I run to him with my crazy idea. Marry me to keep me safe.
Instead of sending me home he takes me to Vegas and we marry. Now I’m living under Enzo’s roof and protected by his name. This marriage is temporary. A shield from the family hunting me down. But every possessive touch, dark promise, and look that says I’m his alone makes me forget this was never meant to be real.
But when Tasso comes for me, will Enzo burn the world down for me?
Enzo
She asked for my protection.
Kayla Rossi came to me terrified, desperate, and far too innocent for the world she was born into. Marrying her was supposed to be temporary—just my name, my protection, my roof over her head.
Every night my fake wife sleeps safe in the next room. Then things change. One passionate kiss turns into more and makes one thing brutally clear. I didn’t marry her to give her back.
When Tasso comes for what he thinks belongs to him, he’ll learn the hard way. Kayla is mine.
Marriage of convenience, he falls first, forced proximity, slow burn, touch her and die, slow burn
Allie
He’s danger wrapped in a smile.
I’ve been running for eight years, long enough to know freedom doesn’t come easy. My brother used me as a pawn in his mafia dealings, and I barely escaped with my life. Since then, I’ve lived by one rule: never get involved.
But then I land a bartending job at Club Flame—and Stefano Carbone shatters every wall I’ve built. He’s too powerful and magnetic. He sees through me like no one else ever has.
I tried to keep my distance. But somewhere between stolen glances and heated nights, Club Flame became more than a job. It became home.
Now my past has found me. My brother demands I return. If I’m not careful, the people I’ve grown to love—Stefano included—will pay the price for the secrets I’ve kept.
Stefano
I’ve never followed the rules.
I’ve spent years building walls behind a smile no one questions. Women have used me, tried to get to my money, my power, my family. I don’t trust easily. I don’t fall. Then Allie walks into my club like a fire I never saw coming.
She’s fierce, guarded, and full of secrets and I can’t stay away. I told myself it was just an attraction. A passing thing. But when the shadows from her past follow her into my world, I realize I’d burn everything down to keep her safe.
Because somewhere along the way… she stopped being just my bartender.
She became mine.
Boss/employee, forced proximity, found family, he falls first, protective hero
Dante
I don’t lose control.
Not in my kitchen, my restaurant, or with anyone. Until Winter. She is sunshine and fire, sass and steel, and she makes our workplace brighter. She may work for me, but if someone puts their hands on her, I lose it. I can’t go back to pretending I don’t want her.
She would be mine if it weren’t for my family’s past dragging me down. That alone puts Winter in danger.
I won’t allow anything to happen to her. I’ll burn the whole world down before I let anyone touch her again.
Winter
This job was supposed to be safe.
This was a simple job. Run the front of house, smile, take care of issues and get paid.
Simple. Easy. Until I fall for my arrogant, brooding, ridiculously hot owner. I melt every time he calls my name. It’s not like that kiss in the walk-in freezer means a commitment of any sort. It was just a kiss.
Dante doesn’t know where I come from, how hard I’ve fought to build this life. We both have secrets, it turns out, and the closer we get, the more I risk losing everything.
When danger catches up with me, I have to trust someone and there’s only one man I want in my corner.
Even if loving him might break me.
Boss/employee, grumpy/sunshine, touch her and die, protective hero, found family, slow burn
Raven
Second chances are dangerous.
I ran from Lucca Lombardi years ago, a selfish decision that shattered both of us. Now an obsessed stalker has turned my life into a nightmare, and the only man dangerous enough to keep me alive is the one I swore I’d never face again.
Lucca agrees to protect me but it will be his rules and his protection. I have no say.
I accept his terms, but the closer the danger gets, the more explosive the tension between us becomes. I realize that I’m falling for Lucca all over again and I can’t afford that, because this time Lucca will destroy me.
Lucca
Love is a liability.
The last time he trusted a woman, Raven disappeared without a word and carved a hole into my heart. Love is a weakness.
Now she’s shown up at my door terrified and trembling. I should send her away and let someone else deal with her stalker.
But I can’t. So I do the only thing I can. I lock her under my protection and dare anyone to try and hurt her.
I won’t allow her to run this time, not until I get the truth out of her. It doesn’t help that I remember how good she looks in my house and in my bed. But the closer the danger gets, the more I realize Raven is still the one woman capable of ruining me.
Second chance romance, forced proximity, bodyguard, touch her and die, stalker, protective alpha
