Craving Control

CRAVING CONTROL BELLA FAUST CONTENTS Bonus content & free serial Reading order About the book Content warning Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Sneak peek ~ Tempting Fate Prologue - Tempting Fate One ~ Tempting Fate Two ~ Tempting Fate About the Author CRAVING CONTROL A Black Shamrocks MC: Australia novel Copyright © 2023 DyMi Publishing All rights reserved. Parts of this story were previously published in 2017 and 2022 under the titles “Craving Control” by Kylie Hillman and “Fear & Fidelity” by Bella Faust. The stories have been consolidated into this new version and republished in 2023. Please see the author’s website antiheroromance.com for further information about the original versions of this story. Edited by Ellie from My Brother’s Editor Proofed by Rosa from My Brother’s Editor Cover design and formatting by Bella Faust While every effort is made to ensure this story is properly edited, proofed, and formatted, mistakes can still slip through. If you notice anything wrong with this book, the author would be beyond grateful if you alert her via this google form so she can fix the error ASAP. * * * No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book is licenced for your personal enjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the author’s work. BONUS CONTENT & FREE SERIAL Sign up to Bella Faust’s VIP Devils reader update to receive bonus content, the occasional free book, pre-order/release date information, access to her sales, and weekly episodes of her free VIP Devils-exclusive serial. To the monster that resides in all of us. Some like to play in the light. They enjoy the pretence. Other monsters crave control. At any expense. READING ORDER BLACK SHAMROCKS MC (AUSTRALIA) Prequel Craving Control Duplicity trilogy Tempting Fate Making Choices Seizing Control ABOUT THE BOOK Please note that this addition to the series is not a traditional romance novel. It is a brutal, one-sided, “love” story—the tale of one man's battle against his obsessive tendencies and one woman’s fight to survive him. “I would fight of course... better to destroy everything than surrender her.” ~Vladimir Nabokov~ OBSESSED. He hunted her. DESPERATE. He blackmailed her. RUTHLESS. He refused to back down. Alexander Kingsley is fixated on two things. Revenge and Lilianna Mayberry. Only she’s not quite as enamoured with him and his need to control her. When he discovers that Anna isn’t as meek and innocent as he first suspected, his pursuit turns into a fight to the death. After all, in a world where the Maddison clan and the Black Shamrocks MC are natural-born enemies, there was always only two possible ways for this to end… Kill or be killed. This 90,000-word novel is a prequel to Bella Faust's Black Shamrocks MC (Australia) series. It sets the scene for the extended series, although it can be skipped all together, should the reader be triggered by graphic depictions of violence against women told from the perpetrator's POV. CONTENT WARNING This novel is a prequel to Bella Faust’s Black Shamrocks MC: Australia series. It is best read before Tempting Fate (Duplicity Trilogy #1) as it offers the reader a better understanding of the events that occur in the series. However, this story can be skipped altogether should the reader be triggered by graphic depictions of violence against women told from the perpetrator’s POV. The author asks that you note this addition to the series is not a traditional romance story. It is a brutal, one-sided, “love” story—the tale of one man’s battle against his obsessive tendencies and one woman’s fight to survive him. A detailed list of potential triggers is available at antiheroromance.com/trigger-warnings/ Please be aware that this story is set in Australia and is written in UK English. “I would fight of course... better to destroy everything than surrender her.” ~Vladimir Nabokov~ PROLOGUE Being forced to sit at the most publicly visible table outside the best restaurant in Inadale while my mother natters on about the nose job one of her frenemies—I use that word with a complete absence of irony since this is the only kind of friend my mother has—recently procured for her sixteen-year-old daughter and my father texts away on his phone is a strange and unusual form of punishment. Unfortunately, it’s also a type of torture I’m well-equipped to survive. In truth, it’s only mildly irritating, by this point. Because the torment comes with a time limit. One my father sensibly negotiated years ago when he could see that I was about to rebel. “Have you spoken to Victoria lately?” It takes me a moment to realise that my mother’s inquiry is directed at me. Her one-eighty from a botched nose job to one of the girl’s older sisters shouldn’t surprise me considering she’s been pushing me in Victoria’s direction for months. I drag my eyes away from the semi-busy main street of the mid-sized country town I call home to ask, “Which one is Victoria again?” My mother titters like my direct question is the funniest thing she’s heard today. “The middle daughter. The—” “The one with the lazy eye,” Dad offers in a flat tone. “And the overbite.” Shrugging, I peer down at the half-eaten and very over-priced lunch. “Not sure why you keep flogging that dead horse, but I’m not interested in Victoria—” I hold a finger up to silence my mother when she tries