β
I wanted to be the one who eased the pain for him, to give him what he wanted. The sad reality of the story was I would never be that girl. And he would never be that man.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
He was sin, a man wild with lust, and I loved that I was the reason for it.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
I was sixteen.
He was thirty-two.
There were many laws we would break if we took another step.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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We will both be our ruin if we do not stop while we are ahead.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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I watched his control waver, and secretly for a selfish moment, I hoped it snapped.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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We were a revolving door of temptation and persuasion.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Deep down, I think I was trying to find ways to justify his actions.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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The way we understood love started with pain. Our love story wasn't an easy one, so our ending wouldn't be either.
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Lucia Franco (Dismount (Off Balance, #5))
β
His fingers sat low on my waist, and if I moved my hips just an inch more they would hit the throbbing spot begging for release.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
A kiss was unspoken words tangled with raw feeling.
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Lucia Franco (Dismount (Off Balance, #5))
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I looked at Konstantin and realized two things: I was about to get my ass handed to me and he didn't use many contractions.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
That look right there is what's got my dick hard. Your body responding to my touch. You feel good and I feel good, sweetheart. It's that simple,
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Our story isn't done, but the book is being forced closed.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Anyone can make a baby, Alyssa, but it takes a real man to be a father.
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β
Lucia Franco (Hold On to Me)
β
Adrianna." His tone disagreed with himself and his body contradicted his words.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Submissive women are strong women, they just want someone who's stronger than them.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
I have been yours since the day you walked into World Cup, malysh. The moment I saw you, I knew that was it and that I would have you one day.
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Lucia Franco (Twist (Off Balance, #4))
β
That's what you are, though. You're a fucking whore who I just happened to fall in love with.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
He's all about preserving time and I'm curious to know why.
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β
Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the cock again.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
We are a teamβI exhale, you inhale. We fight together. We work together. It is an amazing feeling when you find someone who shares the same passion as you. The possibilities are endless. I am the beast beneath your beauty, pushing you. From here on out, we do it together. You come to me for anything and I will do everything in my power to make it happen.
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β
Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
Which room is yours? The last thing I want is to fuck you on my daughter's bed.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
James?" "Hmm?" My jaw trembles. "Make love to me?" "Sweetheart, I've been making love to you all along.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
James was right. Letting go of my control and transferring it to him is empowering.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
James Riviera is the definition of sex.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
I read years ago that a horseshoe is supposed to protect from evil and negative energy, if you believe in that sort of thing.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
There was no one else, Livy. No one else got what you got. Those were our moments, and ours alone.
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
β
Life is a collection of moments,
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Reading is good for the soul and helps you escape reality for a little while.
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Lucia Franco (Dismount (Off Balance, #5))
β
We are a teamβI exhale, you inhale.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
Money can buy a lot of things, but it can't buy moments, and those are priceless.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
YA takoy ublyudkare'. Proklyatyy, yesli ya proklyat, yesli ne budu.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
When you change within yourself, the world around you will follow suit.
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Lucia Franco (Dismount (Off Balance, #5))
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You are so beautiful it hurts. You hold yourself together even during the toughest times. You are a force to be reckoned with, something no one will see coming
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
If you don't leave now, I'm going to make you mine forever. It's what you want. It's what I fuckin' want, and we both know it. Last chance, sweetheart.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
We met by a cruel chance of fate. Becoming your lover was part of the job, but falling for you⦠I had no control. I didn't stand a chance.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
What he says is exactly what I fear, because I feel the same.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Let go," he orders again, his voice low and in control. "Fly with me.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
I want to say something slick, like "for five million you can do whatever you want," but I don't. Truth is, even without the money, I would let him touch me like this.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Life is a collection of moments," he reads. His voice washes over me and I lean in. "When I'm six feet under, my story will still be here because memories don't die. They'll live on.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
We're gonna get too attached," I yell at his back before he leaves the room. My voice cracks a little, but that doesn't stop him from walking away. "Too fuckin' late for that, sweetheart.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
The only thing I want is for someone to want me the way I want them. To want all of me, not just a few parts of me. I want to connect emotionally and mentally and just have fun with someone. Life's too fucking short.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Only you, Ria," he groaned, "only you. I cannot live without you or this feeling you bring me. I want to be in you every day, all day, for the rest of my life. I want to wake up next to you, make you only mine, and do this every fucking day. This is heaven. You are my everything.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
The day could be shit, the absolute fuckin' worst kind of hell, but when you're with that person who just gets you, who makes you feel good just by smiling at them, who knows what you like, and likes it too, none of that shit matters anymore, because when you're lost inside them, everything fixes itself.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Sex is how you connect with another person. It's where you see their vulnerabilities and insecurities, where you want to make them forget everything but remind them you're there for them. When you're both into each other and understand each other's minds, it's a deeper connection. It's how the intimacy grows.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
Then get lost inside me and I'll take care of us. I need you to, because I'm already lost to you. I'm fucked, Aubrey. I don't know what I'm going to do, because I already know when our time is up I'm not going to be able to watch you walk away. I'm just not. I don't know what our future holds, but I do know I want you in it.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
β
We are a teamβbut the truth is, when you exhale, I inhale. Not the other way around. I might be the beast beneath your beauty pushing you to succeed, but you are the anchor that holds me steady in a churning ocean threatening to drown me. It is how it has been for me since day one, and it will continue to be that way. Always remember that.
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Lucia Franco (Twist (Off Balance #4))
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I am a man, Ria, not some little boy who cannot last more than a minute. Remember that. I fuck all night long, not three minutes.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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Go back to sleep, I've got you," he said, and laid a kiss to the back of my head.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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You created this lie. We were never a team. You exhaled false promises and I inhaled your bullshit. You ran the show and I danced to your tune, trapped in this elite bubble of lies you created.
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Lucia Franco (Release (Off Balance #3))
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Understand something, Adrianna." A soft whimper escaped my lips. "I will come for you.
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Lucia Franco (Dismount (Off Balance, #5))
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No, Kova was busy planning a future, while I was struggling to hold on to what was left of mine.
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Lucia Franco (Twist (Off Balance #4))
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And you have me. You will always have me." Kova pressed a hard kiss to my lips. "Let me live with you.
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Lucia Franco (Twist (Off Balance #4))
β
I would live like every day was my last day. I wanted to live. And I wanted to do that with Kova.
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Lucia Franco (Twist (Off Balance #4))
β
In another time, another world, that ring would be on your finger and you would not be fighting me. I would be making love to you all day, every day. I would not be with her.
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Lucia Franco (Release (Off Balance #3))
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You have not made my life harderβif anything, you have made it brighter. Pozhaluysta, do not doubt that for one minute.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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Only you, Ria. Why do you think I cannot get enough? I have never felt like this with anyone else, and I do not know was it even is. All I know is that I am hooked on all of you. Hooked on your body, hooked on your smile, hooked on your personality, hooked on your ambition, hooked on you. I can only hope you feel the same way.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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Don't stress about the small shit. It won't mean anything in the end. Focus on what's important, the big picture. Your love of gymnastics. Just do you and you'll be okay.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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This craving I have for you is not fucking normal. You're all I can think aboutβyouβre what I want, what I need, like I need air to breathe. I've never had this before, and my gut is telling me to chase it. Iβm not giving up on thisβ¦ you.
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Lucia Franco (Hush Hush)
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I told you, Aubrey, you're my world. You make me feel young and what it's like to be happy again. You're my light, what I look forward to every day I wake up. There isn't a thing I wouldn't do for you.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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What I feel for you scares the shit out of me. Every move I make, everything I think about, it involves you in some way.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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We're going to feel every bit, so we never forget who we belong to.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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To be loved so profoundly and manage to still give it in return is a feeling one would never understand unless they lived it fully. This is what life is all about and the meaning behind why we're here. I
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
β
I was going to tell you I want Valentina tonight." Excitement sparkles in my eyes, but he shakes his head. "But I don't. I just want you. Always and forever, justβ¦you, Aubrey.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
β
Finding a partner who accepts their flaws and sins and lets them loose is what causes the emotion to bloom. In the end we're all after the same thingβwe want someone to want us the way we are.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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I knew myself and how I would react. He was a temptation I couldn't resist. I was a desire he craved. We were the worst and best kind of combination.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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Gymnastics was all about having the courage to hang on but the strength to let go. I wish I knew how to apply that to my personal life.
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Lucia Franco (Release (Off Balance #3))
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Everyone needs a hero, but you have to save yourself first before you can save everyone else.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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Val can wait until this weekend," he says, and my brow creases in confusion. "We're going to Tahiti for a week. I already have it set up and cleared your schedule with your assistant, and I made sure the cats are well taken care of." My eyes widen in surprise, my heart rushing fast from excitement. Before I can respond, James says one more thing that makes me a goner for him all night. "Right now, give me my Aubrey and let me make music with her body.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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I want us to have a place to call our own, where we can continue creating more moments. I want everything with you, Aubrey. A marriage, a home. I'm in this for life, sweetheart, and I'm ready to take the next step with you.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
β
Emotionally, sexually, physically connecting to another person, these are the three basic needs a person with a beating heart seeks every day. You can't have one and not the other.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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When I say I love you more, it's because I can't imagine you can feel more than what I already do.
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Lucia Franco (Say Yes (Hush Hush Duet #2))
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My mother always put my happiness before hers. She lived a lonely life so I could live a full one. She never married, never fell in love, never went out with girlfriends, never went on holiday,
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Lucia Franco (Release (Off Balance #3))
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Weβre living in a generation where lying is the new truth, loyalty is a tattoo and love is just a quote. - Unknown
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
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There was no one else, Livy. No one got what you got.
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
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Stay with me. What we have is good.
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
β
I fought hard for you in the beginning, but if I can't have all of you, then I don't want any of you. This is a two-way street...
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
β
Music and Livy were a powerful concoction. Always had been in memory, but in the flesh it was exceedingly stimulating. It was a high he craved often, and coincidentally heβd just had his first dose. Luke was only getting started as it slowly crept its way through, invigorating the blood in his veins and transforming his deep thoughts into music once again.
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
β
Fine. Leave. If thatβs what you want, then go. I hope you find what youβre looking for, but know this β I wonβt be waiting for you when you come back, βcause baby, youβll be back. This place is in your bones. Mark my words.
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
β
Don't think,β he demanded. βJust feel. Just feel the music and let it run through you. Feel it up in here,β Luke drawled as he placed the back of his knuckles to the side of her face and began a tantalizing downward spiral. βAnd let it flow slowly through you here,β he finished grazing over her heart.
His voice was a steady deep hum of intense desire as he ran the back of his hand down her neck and over her chest, then around the curve of her breast exceedingly slow. His thumb swept out and grazed the fullness of her breast, lingering while he stared into her eyes and then moved down to her waist. Oliviaβs body alighted with hunger as she struggled not to tremble from his touch. It wasnβt right, yet she couldnβt control her bodyβs reaction. She shouldnβt be craving his touch, yet she burned for it badly.
βLet it take you away and live in the moment with me,β he tugged her closer to him, tightening his arms around her.
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Lucia Franco (You'll Think of Me)
β
I was seventeen. He was thirty-two.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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Guys always want what they can't have.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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No pressure, no diamond. The greater the pressure, the higher the reward.' I want to be that diamond,
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
Anything is possible if you have got enough nerve.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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There was something comforting I found in him I couldn't explain. An aura of peace, soothing, and I fed off it.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
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My name is Adrianna Rossi. I'm sixteen, and a competitive gymnast.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Fear was a bitch, and in this sport, it could cripple you. Literally. Fear challenged courage. It challenged the mind. Once we found courage, it meant never looking back. It persevered and defied. It gave strength to conquer the obstacles that rendered one weak. Successful people fought for what they wanted, what they desired in life no matter what they were up against. Willpower was key, and maybe if I turned my fear into desire, it would override my anxiety. It was the only way to escape the emotion.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
You are so beautiful it hurts. You hold yourself together even during the toughest times. You are a force to be reckoned with, something no one will see coming.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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Your only limit is yourself.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
In that moment, I truly felt the weight of our actions. Looking at him physically hurt me. Any normal person would've ran in the other direction, morally disgusted by his behavior. Probably even tell someone of authority. But I didnβt, and I wouldn't. Especially since I didn't think it was disgusting. After all, my dad was twenty-three years older than my mom. Age was just a number to me.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
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This was way more than just sex between us and he knew it. It was a chemical reaction that couldn't be stopped.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
he was clearly over twenty-five.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
You are gorgeous when you come for me.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Note to self: His default personality is dick. Got it.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Being in the grips of a man compared to a teenage boy is something altogether different. It was an awakening.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
I'm usually pretty good with blocking things out so I don't allow myself to hurt, but this is different. I told myself I wouldn't let it bother me, but the truth is I feel everything, Ave. Every word, every action, every touch. I feel like I was sliced and diced into pieces without a single care. I'm so close to breaking down and I don't want to.
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Lucia Franco (Execution (Off Balance, #2))
β
Gymnastics wasn't just a job for him, it was his lifeline. His salvation.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Your tenacity in the gym, the persistence to not give up no matter how much I wear you down, you are strong, Adrianna. You are a fighter, and that turns me on.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
Kova did this to me. He made my body want him in ways I never thought possible.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))
β
my heart was his in that moment. He consumed me, heart and soul.
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Lucia Franco (Balance (Off Balance, #1))