The Secrets We Keep

The Secrets We Keep

· Ongoing · 46.5k Words

1.1k
Hot
1.1k
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

The Secrets We Keep

Tati has spent three years running from a past she thought was buried forever. At twenty-six, she’s built a new life in a new city, carefully hiding the mistakes that nearly destroyed her. But when an anonymous message arrives containing a photo from her past and a chilling promise to reveal the truth, everything she’s worked for begins to unravel.

As fear closes in, Tati meets Kai Carter—a confident, perceptive stranger who refuses to look away when her carefully crafted facade starts to crack. Drawn together by secrets, danger, and an undeniable connection, they uncover a web of fraud, betrayal, and a suspicious death tied to the powerful men Tati once trusted.

With a mysterious meeting looming and old enemies resurfacing, Tati and Kai must uncover what really happened three years ago before the past claims them both. As buried evidence resurfaces and long-hidden truths emerge, Tati is forced to confront not only the darkness she escaped but also the possibility of trusting someone again.

A suspenseful romance filled with mystery, danger, and emotional healing, The Secrets We Keep explores the cost of survival, the weight of guilt, and the courage it takes to stop running from the truth.

Chapter 1

Everyone thought Tati had it easy.

Pretty girls with soft eyes and sharp lips always looked like they had life figured out. Like beauty was some kind of currency that paid for happiness, stability, peace of mind. But beauty had never paid Tati's bills. It never fixed the ache in her chest at 2 a.m. when sleep wouldn't come and the walls felt too close. And it definitely never stopped people from leaving.

At twenty-six, Tati had mastered the art of looking okay while quietly falling apart.

She sat in the corner of Brew & Bean, her usual coffee shop on the edge of the city's arts district, nursing a latte that had gone lukewarm an hour ago. The afternoon light filtered through the industrial windows, casting long shadows across the reclaimed wood tables. Around her, the comfortable hum of conversation and the hiss of the espresso machine created a cocoon of normalcy she desperately needed.

Her laptop sat open, cursor blinking at an unfinished email. Work. Always work. The marketing proposal was due tomorrow, but she couldn't focus. Bills, avoided messages from her mother, the persistent feeling that one wrong move meant everything unraveling.

Tati reached up to adjust the delicate gold necklace at her throat—a nervous habit she'd never quite broken. She'd dressed carefully this morning, as she always did. Cream-colored sweater, fitted jeans, ankle boots. The armor of a woman trying to look like she had it all together.

The armor of a woman who had something to prove. Or maybe something to hide.

She was surviving more than living, and she knew it. Working, pretending, carrying secrets heavier than anyone knew. Smiling at coworkers who thought they knew her. Laughing at jokes that weren't funny. Building a life that looked stable from the outside while the foundation cracked beneath her feet.

Her phone buzzed on the table.

Tati glanced at it absently, expecting another work email or maybe one of her friends asking about weekend plans. Instead, an unknown number glowed on the screen. A text message from someone not in her contacts.

Her finger hovered over the notification for a moment before she opened it.

The words hit her like a physical blow.

I know what happened three years ago. Meet me Friday if you want the truth.

The coffee shop sounds faded to white noise. Her vision tunneled. Below the message, an image was loading—slowly, agonizingly, the way photos did when the connection was weak. Tati watched the pixels resolve themselves into something recognizable, something impossible.

It was her.

Younger. Different hair. Different city. Different life.

The kind of photo she was certain had been deleted forever. The kind that could ruin lives.

Her stomach dropped so fast she thought she might be sick. The phone trembled in her hand, her fingers suddenly numb and clumsy. She couldn't breathe properly—each inhale felt shallow, insufficient, like her lungs had forgotten how to work.

No. No, no, no.

This wasn't possible. She'd been so careful. Changed her number. Moved cities. Cut ties with everyone who knew that version of her. Built a new life where the mistakes of her past didn't exist, where Tati at twenty-three was just a ghost she'd left behind.

But ghosts didn't stay buried, apparently.

They came back. They found you. They sent messages with proof that your carefully constructed present was built on lies.

The phone slipped from her hand onto the table with a soft thud that sounded too loud in her ears. Tati pressed her palms flat against the wood, trying to ground herself, trying to think through the panic clawing up her throat.

Who sent this? What did they want? How did they find her?

And more terrifying—what else did they know?

"Tell me I'm overreacting," she muttered to herself, running a hand through her hair and immediately regretting it when she felt how badly her fingers were shaking.

When she looked up, she finally noticed him.

A man stood a few feet away, watching her with an expression that was equal parts concern and curiosity. Tall, athletic, with sharp features and dark eyes that seemed to catch everything. He wore dark jeans and a black henley, carrying himself with the kind of understated confidence that came from knowing exactly who you were.

And he was looking directly at her.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Tati felt exposed, like he'd witnessed something private, something she hadn't meant to share. She forced herself to breathe normally, to arrange her face into something that resembled composure.

She picked up her phone and locked the screen before he could see the message, then looked back at him and forced a small smile that felt like it might crack her face.

"Sorry. Rough day."

The words came out steadier than she felt, which was something. She studied him carefully, trying to read his intention. Most people would have looked away by now, gone back to their own business. But this man held her gaze with a calm intensity that made her pulse quicken.

"I'm Tati," she offered, because the silence was stretching too long and she needed to fill it with something normal, something that didn't involve mysterious messages and buried secrets.

He moved closer, and Tati noticed the way he carried himself—purposeful, controlled, like someone who thought three steps ahead. When he spoke, his voice was low and measured, the kind of voice that made you listen.

"Kai Carter." He paused, his dark eyes never leaving hers. "And based on how you just dropped that phone, I'd say 'rough day' is an understatement. You look like you've seen a ghost."

Tati's jaw tightened for just a second before she forced herself to relax. She wasn't expecting someone to actually notice—most people were too caught up in their own worlds to pay attention to the small cracks in someone else's armor. But Kai had noticed. Worse, he'd called her on it.

"That obvious, huh?" She let out a breath that was half laugh, half sigh, and leaned back in her chair. Her fingers drummed against the table once, twice, before she caught herself doing it and stopped. Nervous tells. She had too many of them. "I guess I need to work on my poker face."

She studied Kai more carefully, taking in the confidence in his posture, the way his eyes caught details most people missed. Something about him felt both comforting and unsettling—like he was the type of person who saw too much. Who wouldn't let you hide.

"Carter," she repeated. "Solid. Sounds like someone who has their life together." There was a hint of teasing in her voice, but underneath it, genuine curiosity. "What brings you here? Right now. When I'm clearly on the edge of a breakdown?"

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

In Bed With My Ex's Brother-in-Law

In Bed With My Ex's Brother-in-Law

25.3k Views · Completed · Ady Daniels
He left her on the streets. His brother-in-law picked her up… and made her his wife.
On the day her ex, Mark, married the wealthy socialite Bella, Elena was thrown out with nothing but the clothes on her back—humiliated, broken, and utterly alone.
Until Eric Thompson appeared.
Bella’s older brother. Mark’s powerful brother-in-law. And the most feared Alpha in the city.
He offered her a hand when no one else would. Then, he offered her a deal:
A marriage in name only. A shield against her past. A chance to rebuild.
Elena accepted, expecting a cold arrangement between strangers. But behind closed doors, Eric’s carefully guarded control unraveled—and so did hers. Their chemistry was explosive, their nights intense, and the lines between business and pleasure blurred beyond recognition.
He was the one man she could never have… and the only one she couldn’t resist.
But when Mark realizes what he truly lost, and Bella discovers the secret behind her brother’s bride, Elena must decide:
Is this just a contract?
Or is this the love she was always meant to fight for?
Lightborn: The Demon’s Bond

Lightborn: The Demon’s Bond

5k Views · Completed · ngocvynguyen985
Valerie accidentally forms a bond with Maxwell, a light demon, and begins seeing the dangerous supernatural world hidden around her. As the two constantly bicker yet protect each other, Valerie gradually discovers her own light-based powers and confronts many dark forces, including a serial kidnapper, the dark demon Zane, and other malevolent entities. Maxwell, haunted by the death of his former lover Juliana, repeatedly tries to distance himself from Valerie to keep her safe, causing both of them pain. Yet every time Valerie is in danger, Maxwell returns to save her, and their feelings grow deeper. The climax comes when they face Mason, a fire demon who hunts human–demon couples; Valerie risks her life in battle while Maxwell nearly collapses from exhaustion. In the end, Mason is destroyed, the threats fade away, and Valerie and Maxwell can finally stay together in peace.
To protect what’s mine

To protect what’s mine

521.7k Views · Completed · Winter Rowe
Amalie is more special than she ever thought possible. Why would the twenty-two-year-old think any different after she has been told she’s nothing for her whole life by her family? Adoptive mother of a three-year-old, Ama has been locked up by her family for the past seven years. But everything changes when her old friends, the Alpha twins, Markus and Calyx, take over the Moonstone pack. Finding out that the twins are her mates, she is a white wolf, and has a connection to the Moon Goddess, is just icing on the cake of her life is a huge mess. Ama just wants a normal life with her mates and protecting her pup, but life rarely gives us what we want. She is thrust into world that she no longer remembers and has forgotten her. Amalie is charged with protecting those closest to her. But she has her own past to overcome as she heals and attempts to move forward. Will she come out alive or lose herself along the way? After all, someone has to be pulling the strings, why not pull her along for the ride?
The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

48.5k Views · Ongoing · Riley Above Story
As a wolfless orphan, Joanne had been abused by Alpha Anthony ever since she was a child. She devoted her entire life to surviving in his pack—until one day, she returned home to find an injured vampire lying in her house, his whole existence luring her in. Taking the risk of bringing him in, Joanne never expected Alpha Anthony to discover it the very next day and finally seize the chance to kill her. Just as Joanne was about to be executed, the vampire she had saved arrived, with his army. And Joanne realized that he was the Prince Alexander, heir to the vampire throne…..
The Alpha's Stripper Mate

The Alpha's Stripper Mate

53k Views · Completed · Havilworth
"Come here."
"What?" It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. I did not wait for him to answer me, I walked toward him.
"Dance on my lap."
My head screamed at me to turn around and run. But my whole body responded to his command.
"Yes, Alpha," I pulled my dress over my body, it dropped over my head and fell to the ground behind me. I was left in nothing but my matching bra and thong. My hands covered my chest on reflex.
"Let me see."
My hands dropped to my sides.
I lowered myself into his lap, facing him. His eyes peered into mine, and I could feel his hot breath fan my face. His dick responded to all my moves, hardening against my now-moist vagina. I swallowed hard, allowing my lips to part in a ragged breath. His hands trailed up to my waist.
"No touching."


At the tender age of eleven, JoJo Wyatt was forced to grow up far sooner than she should have. Born to a cruel father and a weak mother, she quickly realized she had to become the breadwinner for herself and her sister. Nothing else mattered to her, not even the hottest men. In fact, she despised them. After one horrific night, she swore never to have any contact with the male species again. That was, until she started working for him as his stripper.
Meanwhile, Alpha Lake Rush, thirty, was the most feared Alpha in the country. Burdened by his own share of life's struggles, he had learned only to be cruel and reckless, rejecting not one but two mates. But what happens when he discovers yet another mate, and she turns out to be his stripper?
The Hunter and The Hunted

The Hunter and The Hunted

5.1k Views · Ongoing · Sashalouise Prior
My skin heats with each thrust of his fingers, and each forceful lap of his tongue, and i cannot stop the moans of pleasure tearing through my slackened jaw. My hand is wrapped in his hair, giving the impression that I have control, but I don’t. I control nothing, and I like it.
Mihai’s hand slowly slides up my stomach, his fingers wrapping around my neck as he cuts of my ability to breathe, black spots clouding my vision, and yet, I am not afraid. I want more. I want everything that he can give to me.
He slowly inserts a third finger, the intense fullness that I feel teetering me over the edge of a cliff I cannot even see, and then he sucks and pulls at my clit. Sparks erupt throughout my body, the orgasm shaking my soul, and destroying what was left of my resistance.


She was the Daughter of a Hunter, he was one of the creatures that her family had sworn to destroy, what could possibly go wrong?
When their worlds collide, who will be left standing, will it be the hunter or the hunted, and which is which?
Alpha Of Glass And Gold

Alpha Of Glass And Gold

1.5k Views · Ongoing · ruby martyr
He left Aurora Anderson with a ring that meant nothing and a promise that broke everything.
Four years later, Levi Kingston, the ruthless Alpha who traded his pack for power and built an empire in glass and gold, returns with a proposition that reopens every wound she buried.
A ninety-day marriage contract.
His terms: protect her twins from the enemies his rise created.
Her condition: never fall for him again.
She’s human, or at least that’s what she tells the world. He’s the heir to the city’s hidden packs, a man forged in dominance and secrets. Between them lies a history of rejection, desire, and a bond that refused to die even when they did.
In a world where loyalty is currency and love is leverage, Aurora must decide whether to guard her heart or the truth that could bring Levi Kingston’s entire empire to its knees. proposition that reopens every wound she buried.
Alpha, Billionaire, Strong FL, Fated Mates, Rejected Mates, Secret babies, Twins, A Marriage of Convenience,
Timeless Us

Timeless Us

2.2k Views · Ongoing · Jennifer Cooper
A strange traffic jam hurls Chloe twenty-three years into the future.
The world she knew is gone.
Her husband, Nathan, is no longer the young man she left behind—he’s successful, respected, and living with a new family.
But when the woman who disappeared twenty-three years ago suddenly returns…
can love survive the years that were lost?
Tempted By The Enemy

Tempted By The Enemy

3.9k Views · Completed · rituparna darolia
Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy.
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
Vengeance of the Forsaken Luna

Vengeance of the Forsaken Luna

11.3k Views · Completed · Sherry
"How thoughtful."
"Bella." Ethan's tone shifted, taking on that warning edge I knew too well. "Faye is vulnerable right now. She's terrified you'll resent her, that this will divide the pack. The last thing she wants is for this baby to come between us."
"Then you shouldn't have done it." I met his eyes squarely, letting him see the ice in mine. "Go back to your son."
"For fuck's sake." He dragged a hand through his hair. "How many times—it was artificial insemination. They used my sperm, yes, but Faye and I never—"
Bella let out a cold snort. Such brazen lies. Her mate had an affair with his brother's partner, and his entire family helped force her out with nothing, all to make way for the mistress to take her rightful position. Poor fool—he thought she was just an unwanted adopted daughter, easy to dismiss and control. He never knew the computer genius he'd been searching for was his own Luna.
Since he'd tainted himself, Bella was done. She rejected him and reclaimed what was hers, rising to the top with help from Victor, who'd been secretly in love with her for years.
When Ethan tried winning her back: "You don't want our child growing up fatherless."
Bella smiled mockingly. "The child's father isn't you."
The Unwritten Princess

The Unwritten Princess

2k Views · Ongoing · Manda Grey
I was born the year the Rift opened. They said I would close it. They were wrong about so many things.

My name is Mia, and everything I touch is dying.

The flowers beneath my mother's window turned black overnight. The herbs I gathered at dawn rotted in my hands. When the court wizard finally told me the truth—that someone cursed me, that my presence would kill everyone I love—I realized the prophecy everyone believed was never meant to save the kingdom. It was meant to destroy me.

So I ran. Not to fulfill some destiny, but to survive it.

Now I'm traveling with a hunter who lost his companions to the same curse I carry, chasing fragments of a prophecy the Fae sing differently. An elf took a baby from the palace the night I was born. And somewhere between the lies I've been told and the truth I'm hunting, I'm starting to suspect: What if I'm not the princess from the prophecy at all?
The Heir of Flame and Fang

The Heir of Flame and Fang

4.7k Views · Completed · Sophie Smith
Elara, the daughter of Nikolas and Saphira, has been sheltered and protected throughout her life from dangers that came for her, but she doesn’t see it that way. Elara remembers feeling isolated and controlled, and now that she has turned 20 and is expected to begin training to succeed her parents, she feels more controlled than ever. Things worsen when she is told she will be taking a mate through the Matchmaker, who will be the face of the pack while she helps in the background. Feeling like she has no other choice, Elara decides to run away, where she meets Kaelan, the Alpha Werewolf from the forgotten pack. A bond begins to form, but Elara has not been truthful about who she is, and now she faces a difficult choice. Should she reveal her true identity and risk everything, or return home and figure out what happened to the parents she grew up hearing about?

Please note: this story contains strong language and mature scenes.

This is the second book in the series, but it can be read as a stand alone.
The first book is The Matchmaker.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy.