Unbind (Alchemy, 6), Elodie Hart

Adam Wright may be a self-made billionaire, but he's also a beast.

Most children grow up hating a storybook villain. Based on the injuries that man inflicted on my brother, I grew up hating a real one.

When he sort-of kidnaps me and drags me back to his fairytale mansion, it feels like yet another cliché antihero stunt.

Here's the thing, though.

Most villains don't weep real tears when they see you having a diabetic episode.

They don't abandon their billion-pound empire so they can roll up their sleeves and pull your company back from the brink of bankruptcy.

They don't put you first, care for you, at every single opportunity, dammit.

Not in the storybooks I've read, anyway.

My body succumbs first. It doesn't stand a chance. It's game over from the moment I wake to find him sleeping next to me, the Empire State Building tenting his pants.

I despise myself. I shouldn't want him. Not when I know the despicable acts he's capable of.

But when my heart starts to succumb, that's when I know I'm really in trouble.

Because what if the villain I've loved to hate all these years is really my hero?

And if indeed he is, how on earth will I persuade my brother of that?

---------

If I didn't know too well what kind of a man Adam Wright was, or the despicable crimes he was capable of, then I would be swooning right now.

Swooning, I tell you. Hard.

Most children grow up hating a storybook villain. But based on the injuries that man inflicted on my brother, I grew up hating a real-life villain.

When he kind-of kidnaps me and drags me back to his fairytale mansion, he couldn't be more cliché antihero if he tried.

Here's the thing, though.

Most villains don't weep real tears when they see you having a diabetic episode.

They don't abandon their billion-pound empire so they can roll up their sleeves and pull your company back from the brink of bankruptcy.

They don't put you first, care for you, at every single opportunity, dammit.

Not in the storybooks I've read, anyway.

My body succumbs first. It doesn't stand a chance, really. Not when the memory of waking to find him sleeping next to me, the Empire State Building tenting his pants, is branded onto my brain (and other parts).

I despise myself. I shouldn't want him. Not given what I know about his past. I don't know what's wrong with me, even if he assures me that I'm perfect.

But when my heart starts to succumb, that's when I know I'm really in trouble.

Because what if the villain I've loved to hate all these years is really my hero?

And if indeed he is, how on earth will I persuade my brother of that?

Unbind is a standalone enemies-to-lovers, age gap, billionaire romance.