Ten Minutes of Mercy: Before He Claimed Me

When event coordinator Olivia Carter walks into New York's most exclusive gala, she isn't looking for love-she's looking for a place to hide. Her devastatingly handsome ex-boyfriend is there with his perfect new fiancée, and Olivia is one second away from a total public breakdown.

In a moment of pure, hot-blooded desperation, she grabs the nearest stranger and begs him: Please, just for ten minutes, pretend to be my boyfriend.

She thought she'd picked a random guy off the street. She was wrong.

The man who pulls her into a possessive embrace is Alexander Hunt-the billionaire mogul who basically owns Manhattan. Now, the pretend relationship that was supposed to save her dignity is turning into something very real, very fast. But can a girl from Queens survive a world where her new boyfriend is worth eleven billion dollars, or is she just the latest plaything for the king of New York?.

I need you to pretend to be mine. Just for ten minutes.

One year ago, Marcus Whitmore broke my heart and replaced me with a better version. Tonight, at the glitziest gala in Manhattan, he's parading her in front of everyone, and I'm drowning in the humiliation.

I should have walked away. Instead, I made the most reckless decision of my life.

I grabbed a stranger at the curb and begged him to play the role of my adoring boyfriend. I didn't see the custom-tailored suit or the multi-million dollar watch. I just saw a pair of storm-cloud eyes and a jawline that could cut glass.

I thought he was just a kind stranger helping a girl in need. I didn't know he was Alexander Hunt.

He isn't just a man; he's an empire. He's the most powerful, intensely private billionaire in the country, and he never dates anyone for more than three months.

But when he pulls me onto the dance floor and whispers that he's not pretending anymore, the line between fake and real vanishes. He wants to trade his boardrooms for my Brooklyn apartment. He wants me to call him James.

I'm just a girl from Queens who uses coupons and takes the subway. He has eleven billion reasons why we should never work. But for ten minutes of mercy, he claimed me-and now, he might never let me go.

Ten Minutes of Mercy is a steamy, billionaire, fake-dating romance with a Cinderella twist. Perfect for fans of high-society drama, possessive heroes, and he falls first tropes.