Cruel Beginnings

CRUEL BEGINNINGS CRUEL WORLD BOOK ONE LILI ST. GERMAIN LYRA PARISH CONTENTS Author’s Note 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 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 What’s Next? Newsletter Copyright © 2023 Lili St. Germain & Lyra Parish www.cruelworldbooks.com Cruel Beginnings Cruel World, #1 All rights reserved. No parts of the book may be used or reproduced in any matter without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, establishments, organizations, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously to give a sense of authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Want to join our advanced review team? SIGN UP HERE To all the baddies who tend to fall in love with the villain…we’ve given you several to choose from. AUTHOR’S NOTE Cruel Beginnings is a dark romance that contains sexually explicit scenes along with mature and graphic content that is not suitable for all audiences. READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. A detailed list of content warnings can be found on our website. PROLOGUE BIRDIE THREE DAYS FROM NOW The boat lists to the side, as precarious as the small glow of hope I still have left in my heart. “You look like a child when you’re scared,” the man standing before me remarks, sliding the blood-red tie from his neck. I feel so small, sitting here on the edge of his palatial bed, an offering for an underworld king. “I am a child. I’m barely sixteen,” I whisper. It’s a lie. I’m eighteen. About to graduate high school. My whole life is ahead of me. Until this. I’m clinging CHAPTER 1 DARIUS ONE WEEK AGO “You should keep your helmet on while you fuck me,” my girlfriend breathes as I’m swinging myself off my Ducati in her father’s four-car garage. Jesus. She’s not usually this horny for it. Maybe it’s the leather jacket. Maybe she’s been reading smut again. It’s never predictable with Lindsey, but I don’t usually mind. She’s got just enough crazy to keep this island interesting… and she can suck dick like she’s trying to suck your soul out of your body. I kick the stand open with my boot, unfolding the