Charles Tswagg Tuschinski

Cruz Hartley proposed to me eight times. Eight times, something went wrong. His friends called me a bad luck charm. Said ever since Cruz got with me, nothing went right. Called me a speed bump in his life. To make sure the ninth proposal went off without a hitch, I showed up early. Checked every detail myself. That's when I walked in on him backing his secretary into a corner. "Five million dollars. My mother's check. You took it, walked out, and never looked back. Did you really think I'd wait forever?" He paused. His voice dropped lower. "You keep sabotaging every proposal. You honestly think I'll play this game with you forever?" Someone whistled. "Oh, come on, Cruz. Eight times. You really expect us to believe you're not messing with her?" "What's the plan today?" "If this one tanks too, Lux is gonna cry for God knows how long. Doesn't that bother you?" Cruz laughed. No embarrassment. Just casual. "Of course it bothers me." "But she's sw......

Cruz Hartley proposed to me eight times. Eight times, something went wrong. His friends called me a bad luck charm. Said ever since Cruz got with me, nothing went right. Called me a speed bump in his life. To make sure the ninth proposal went off without a hitch, I showed up early. Checked every detail myself. That's when I walked in on him backing his secretary into a corner. "Five million dollars. My mother's check. You took it, walked out, and never looked back. Did you really think I'd wait forever?" He paused. His voice dropped lower. "You keep sabotaging every proposal. You honestly think I'll play this game with you forever?" Someone whistled. "Oh, come on, Cruz. Eight times. You really expect us to believe you're not messing with her?" "What's the plan today?" "If this one tanks too, Lux is gonna cry for God knows how long. Doesn't that bother you?" Cruz laughed. No embarrassment. Just casual. "Of course it bothers me." "But she's sw......

Cruz Hartley proposed to me eight times. Eight times, something went wrong. His friends called me a bad luck charm. Said ever since Cruz got with me, nothing went right. Called me a speed bump in his life. To make sure the ninth proposal went off without a hitch, I showed up early. Checked every detail myself. That's when I walked in on him backing his secretary into a corner. "Five million dollars. My mother's check. You took it, walked out, and never looked back. Did you really think I'd wait forever?" He paused. His voice dropped lower. "You keep sabotaging every proposal. You honestly think I'll play this game with you forever?" Someone whistled. "Oh, come on, Cruz. Eight times. You really expect us to believe you're not messing with her?" "What's the plan today?" "If this one tanks too, Lux is gonna cry for God knows how long. Doesn't that bother you?" Cruz laughed. No embarrassment. Just casual. "Of course it bothers me." "But she's sw......

The day before I was supposed to become Mrs. Magnolia Prescott, I vanished. The flight to London punched through the clouds. I snapped my SIM card in half and dropped the pieces into the trash bag the flight attendant held out. Six years. I never thought I'd come back. My parents' graves needed to be moved to a quieter private estate—the last unexecuted clause in their will. I told myself I'd handle it and leave. No lingering. No detours. I didn't plan on slamming straight into Brooks Covington III at the funeral home entrance. He seized my wrist. Grip brutal. Like he wanted to crush bone. Those blue eyes that used to make my heart race were bloodshot now, bruised hollows beneath them. He'd lost weight. His jawline was sharp enough to cut. The effortless confidence he used to wear was gone. In its place: the smell of whiskey and something teetering on the edge of collapse. "Why?" His voice scraped like sandpaper across glass. "Why did you run?" I loo......

My younger brother, Liam, was a contractor for a private security firm. He was on a field op near the Arizona border, and as the company’s logistics supervisor, I was there too. But Bruno, my husband, had secretly brought his secretary, Chloe, along. He said he wanted her to see what a real mission looked like. Before we moved out, Liam did a standard gear check. Chloe rushed over and handed him a bulletproof vest. When the firefight erupted, the sound of a bullet punching through armor was deafening. The man who never should have been hit went down. I sliced open his tac-vest and found no ballistic plates inside. Just a piece of foam, like it had been cut from a surfboard. Blood poured from his chest. By the time we got him to the forward medical station, the golden hour had closed. Outside the O.R., Bruno held Chloe, her makeup a mess of tear tracks, and murmured comforts in her ear. He glanced at me, his voice flat. “Don’t get worked up, Fallon. He d......

Cruz Hartley proposed to me eight times. Eight times, something went wrong. His friends called me a bad luck charm. Said ever since Cruz got with me, nothing went right. Called me a speed bump in his life. To make sure the ninth proposal went off without a hitch, I showed up early. Checked every detail myself. That's when I walked in on him backing his secretary into a corner. "Five million dollars. My mother's check. You took it, walked out, and never looked back. Did you really think I'd wait forever?" He paused. His voice dropped lower. "You keep sabotaging every proposal. You honestly think I'll play this game with you forever?" Someone whistled. "Oh, come on, Cruz. Eight times. You really expect us to believe you're not messing with her?" "What's the plan today?" "If this one tanks too, Lux is gonna cry for God knows how long. Doesn't that bother you?" Cruz laughed. No embarrassment. Just casual. "Of course it bothers me." "But she's sw......

Cruz Hartley proposed to me eight times. Eight times, something went wrong. His friends called me a bad luck charm. Said ever since Cruz got with me, nothing went right. Called me a speed bump in his life. To make sure the ninth proposal went off without a hitch, I showed up early. Checked every detail myself. That's when I walked in on him backing his secretary into a corner. "Five million dollars. My mother's check. You took it, walked out, and never looked back. Did you really think I'd wait forever?" He paused. His voice dropped lower. "You keep sabotaging every proposal. You honestly think I'll play this game with you forever?" Someone whistled. "Oh, come on, Cruz. Eight times. You really expect us to believe you're not messing with her?" "What's the plan today?" "If this one tanks too, Lux is gonna cry for God knows how long. Doesn't that bother you?" Cruz laughed. No embarrassment. Just casual. "Of course it bothers me." "But she's sw......

The day before I was supposed to become Mrs. Magnolia Prescott, I vanished. The flight to London punched through the clouds. I snapped my SIM card in half and dropped the pieces into the trash bag the flight attendant held out. Six years. I never thought I'd come back. My parents' graves needed to be moved to a quieter private estate—the last unexecuted clause in their will. I told myself I'd handle it and leave. No lingering. No detours. I didn't plan on slamming straight into Brooks Covington III at the funeral home entrance. He seized my wrist. Grip brutal. Like he wanted to crush bone. Those blue eyes that used to make my heart race were bloodshot now, bruised hollows beneath them. He'd lost weight. His jawline was sharp enough to cut. The effortless confidence he used to wear was gone. In its place: the smell of whiskey and something teetering on the edge of collapse. "Why?" His voice scraped like sandpaper across glass. "Why did you run?" I loo......