THE ARRANGEMENT
By S.D. Lettie
New Adult/Romantic Suspense
You know that guy you fell for at sixteen—the one who vanished without explanation, leaving behind enough damage to last years? Now imagine being forced into an engagement with him because your parents decided you’re more useful as leverage than as a daughter.
And the part he forgot to mention? He’s heir to a Bratva empire with blood on its hands.
That’s Emilia’s life. Her future is not her own, and her fiancĂ©, Nikolai Volkov, is a man whose silence is more dangerous than his words. Their past is a wound. Their engagement is a threat. And what grows between them is something neither of them should let happen.
The Arrangement is a dark, slow-burn story of buried truths, political corruption, and a connection that pulls two damaged people toward a collision neither may survive unscathed.
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The Arrangement is available at Amazon.
Emilia
The ballroom is unbearably warm.
It always is.
The kind of heat that clings—not the physical kind, but the weight of eyes, of old money,
of legacy lacquered in gold leaf and protocol. Chandeliers sparkle like they’re judging you.
Every woman here smells like power wrapped in jasmine and Chanel. Every man looks
like he’s trying to win something: attention, funding, forgiveness. Who knows.
And somewhere in this overpriced museum of ambition, I’m supposed to smile.
My mother’s hand lands softly at the small of my back as we reach the top of the
staircase. “Chin up,” she says, voice low, clipped, trained for event spaces and unflattering
acoustics. “Posture.”
“I am standing up straight.”
“You’re slouching in the eyes.”
I don’t respond. We both know this is the best it’s going to get.
The cameras flash below us—soft, timed bursts. The press is cordoned off behind a
velvet rope like trained zoo animals, lenses focused on whoever walks down these stairs
next. Not me. Not really. I’m just part of the background tonight. A Langford daughter:
well-dressed, well-bred, and the best part, silent … for now.
But even from up here, I see them catch my face.
That flicker of recognition. That tiny beat of, Oh, right—her.
I straighten my spine, tilt my chin a half-inch higher. Not for them. Not for the
photographs. For me.
My mother adjusts the neckline of my gown with quick work of her fingers. “Remember
what we discussed about the Cortland delegation—”
“I’m not speaking to Senator Cortland’s son again,” I murmur.
“He asked about you. That’s enough.”
“He also told three people I look like a ‘marketable virgin’.”
Her hand stills. Her eyes don’t flinch. “Then use it.”
I turn my head just enough to meet her gaze. Her expression is void of any emotion. It’s
eerie, unyielding in a way that makes her seem less like a mother and more like a
conditioned robot.
“You do realize that’s not normal, right?”
She sighs, like she’s tired of my antics. Like years of emotionally beating this into me
should have worked, but it didn’t. “Normal is for people with fewer responsibilities.”
I bite back the sigh. She’s already stepped forward, gliding down the staircase like
royalty. Her hair is lacquered into submission by gallons of hairspray no doubt. Her gown
is dove gray and stunning. And behind her, just to the left, are two secret service agents
who follow every step we take like a shadow with credentials.
Today, Lettie writes slow-burn romances—stories about characters who are imperfectly perfect, the hard moments that shape them, and the plot twists that leave readers reeling. Outside her writing life, she’s a wife and mom of two, roles that influence both her time and perspective. She’s also a dedicated soccer fan, the kind who will plan her day around a match and openly admit she’ll yell at the TV when things get heated.
Through all of it, her goal as an author is simple: she wants her characters to stay with readers long after the book ends.
Her latest book is the new adult romantic suspense, The Arrangement (Bancroft University Chronicles Book 1).
Visit her website at www.sdlettieauthor.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, BookBub and Goodreads.