A Secret Escape by Arya Walton

Lila

For the first time in years, my life isn’t a complete disaster. I have a job I love, an apartment of my own, and friends who show up. There’s just one thing missing.

Marcus Andersson. The impossibly brilliant, devastatingly handsome Creative Director who turns my brain to mush with a single glance.

Smart, successful and nearly twenty years older than me, Marcus is everything I know I can’t have.

I never thought I’d have the courage to cross that line – until one drunk kiss at a work event changes everything.

Marcus

I’ve spent two years telling myself all the reasons I should keep my distance from her. Too young. Too innocent. My colleague. But I’ve led the nation’s most successful marketing campaigns with less conviction than I feel for Lila.

So when she kisses me – wild, untamed and unexpected – all my carefully constructed excuses crumble.

Our first date should have been perfect.

Instead, a car speeds away, leaving a man dead.

And when Lila becomes a target, I know one truth with burning clarity:

I will destroy anyone who tries to harm her.

No matter the cost.