Strip Me Softly.

R18+ | Billionaire | Stripper | Contract Marriage. Evelyn Evans was celebrating her 18th birthday when the call came. A plane crash. Her parents,gone in seconds, though their bodies remained breathing. Comas,hospitals,bills stacked like curses. The party ended before the cake was cut,and her life,as she knew it, shattered. Now twenty one,Evelyn no longer lives in daylight. She becomes Rose,the masked goddess of Club Dusk,where billionaires throw cash and sanity to watch her dance. She’s faceless,untouchable,a fantasy they crave but can’t own. Until Jace Montez;a brutally cold billionaire with words sharp as razors,walks in,dragged to the club by friends who hate him more than they admit. He doesn’t come for pleasure,he doesn’t stay for the show,but one man does. And that man pays a dangerous price to have Rose delivered to his hotel room...against her will. Jace found her struggling,though already drugged but she still cried for help. She was terrified,barely conscious. He took her to safety,but safety comes with a price. The next morning,she's caught in Jace's penthouse by his high society parents,the he scandal brews. The Montez family threatens to force him into marrying a cruel heiress. His solution? A fake marriage to the masked girl he just saved. One year,one contract,one rule;no falling in love. *** Excerpt “I don’t need a wife.” Jace said flatly,tossing a sleek black folder onto the table between them. Evelyn didn’t flinch. “Then why am I here?” she asked,her voice low,almost bored. He leaned back in his leather chair. The city glowed behind him through the floor to ceiling glass like the world bent for him. “Because my parents believe they saw something scandalous. And they’ll ruin both of us if I don’t give them a name.” “So give them mine?” she challenged. His eyes narrowed. “Not your fake one.” She blinked,then looked down at the contract. One year. No intimacy required,full confidentiality,divorce by next winter. “This is a joke.” she whispered. He shrugged. “You need money,I need silence. We both get what we want.” There was a cruel efficiency to him,like he was born with ice in his veins. But he didn’t know her. Didn’t know the bills stacked under her mattress. The nights she counted coins to feed her sister in her dreams. Didn’t know what it meant to dance half naked in front of men who didn’t see a girl but a product. She picked up the pen,paused. “If I sign this.”she said.“I don’t become yours,not really.” Jace met her stare.“You never will be.” And that...for some reason...hurt. --- The moment her body hit the stage,silence blanketed the room. A red mask,a slit rose gold gown that shimmered like temptation itself. Every man leaned forward,every woman clenched their jaw. But Jace didn’t blink,something in his chest cracked,something old,something stupid. Her movements were hypnotic. Every sway,every dip,every snap of her waist matched the music like she was the rhythm. And then,her head turned,she looked straight at him. No...through him. “Who is she?”People whispered behind him. Jace stared coldly at her,no one may know her identity,but he sure damn knows. Before her dance finished,he left in anger,Evelyn noticed and went after him immediately,not minding the consequences. Down back halls,past marble columns,into velvet lined corridors meant for secrets. “Wait.”Her voice shuttered. He stopped. Slowly,she walked to him,in caution. "Why are you here?"His voice was so icy. “For my freedom.”She whispered,voice wrapped in silk. He just smirked and walked away. "I came for you."She suddenly screamed. *** Evelyn isn’t playing house,and Jace doesn’t do hearts. But why's there a feeling that this fire?Why does he look at her like he’s trying to unmask her soul? And when her boss,the same man who tried to sell her refuses to let go of his biggest moneymaker,Evelyn realizes something chilling;she may be Jace’s wife on paper,but she’s still being hunted in the shadows.