Lynne Graham Books May 2026

“I protected it.” His jaw tightened. “Until he died, I never called in the debt. Now I need something from you, Lily. And I will take it.”

Lily’s spine stiffened. Dad had been a gambler, a charmer, and a liar. She’d spent her twenties cleaning up his messes. “I don’t owe you anything, Rio.”

Rio’s gaze dropped to her mouth. “Then I sell everything tomorrow. Your employees — your elderly manager, Mabel, who needs hip surgery — will be on the street. Your grandmother’s rose garden, the one you’ve kept alive since you were twelve, becomes a parking lot.” lynne graham books

Here’s a short story drafted in the style and spirit of — passionate, dramatic, with a fierce alpha hero, a vulnerable but resilient heroine, and an emotional, high-stakes romance. Title: The Cost of His Vow

“Marry me.”

He looked at her. Just looked. Then: “You still sleep on the left side of the bed.”

Then his real father had appeared. The old man had shown Lily photos of Rio’s real fiancée — a shipping heiress. “Step aside, little flower,” the tycoon had sneered. “Or he loses everything.” “I protected it

By nightfall, she was installed in his Athenian penthouse — a palace of glass and marble overlooking the Acropolis. Her room was down the hall from his. The bed was cold. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling, remembering the boy who’d once brought her wildflowers and told her she was enough.