The Ghost Bullet

The Ghost Bullet

Augustina Hardstone

45.8k Words / Ongoing
273
Hot
273
Views

Introduction

She was born into a cage of blood and lies.
Selena Rossi knows two things: her mafia don father’s empire is built on corpses, and her mother’s killer walks free.

He’s the ghost in her nightmares.
Rook. Her father’s deadliest shadow. A name whispered in fear. An assassin without a face… until he’s forced into her light as her 24/7 bodyguard.

Mutual hatred is their shield.
Trapped together as bullets fly, Selena sees the flicker of pain behind his ice-cold eyes. He sees the crack in her armor. When chaos erupts, a savage, stolen kiss ignites a fire neither can control.

Then she uncovers the truth.
Security footage. A masked killer removing his disguise.
Rook’s face.
Pulling the trigger.

Her world shatters. Trust bleeds out. She vanishes into the night, leaving only betrayal behind.

Three years. Three lifetimes.
Selena is a ghost now too. But her father’s empire is crumbling. Enemies close in. A senator is dead. The FBI’s net tightens.

He walks back into her war.
Rook. Broken. Haunted. He carries a digital bomb – evidence that could save her family… or bury them.

“Your mother’s death wasn’t my mission. It was my damnation.”
But the shadows hold darker truths. The real puppetmaster pulls the strings.

As bullets tear through a warehouse of ghosts, loyalties shatter.
Her father faces a traitor’s gun.
Rook takes a bullet meant for her.
A recording holds the key to salvation… and damnation.

He thrusts the evidence into her hands.
“Save them… or let it burn.”

Sirens wail. Blood pools. One choice remains.
But the deadliest secret isn’t who pulled the trigger.
It’s why the gun was loaded.

Justice has a price. Is love the bullet… or the shield?
Read More

Share the book to

facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

About Author

Augustina Hardstone

Chapter 1

Selena's POV

The computer screen exploded with error messages.

"No, no, no!" Selena slammed her fist on the desk. Three hours of work, gone. The police database had kicked her out again.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to get back in. Sweat dripped down her face. She had been so close to finding something about Mom's case. So close to the truth.

The apartment felt like a prison. Bulletproof windows. Steel doors. Guards everywhere. Dad called it protection. Selena called it a cage.

She rubbed her tired eyes and tried a different password. Her mother's birthday. Her mother's favorite song. Her mother's—

BANG!

Something crashed in the kitchen. Selena froze. The guards were supposed to be outside. No one should be in here with her.

She grabbed the gun from her desk drawer. Her hands shook as she checked if it was loaded. Dad had taught her to shoot when she turned sixteen. "Never trust anyone to protect you," he had said. "Not even family."

Footsteps moved across the marble floor. Slow. Careful. Like a hunter stalking prey.

Selena's heart pounded so loud she was sure the intruder could hear it. She crept toward the kitchen, gun raised. The lights were off. Shadows danced everywhere.

"Hello, princess."

The voice came from behind her. Cold. Calm. Like death itself was speaking.

Selena spun around, finger on the trigger. A man stood by her computer. Tall. Dark hair. Eyes like winter ice. He wasn't pointing a gun at her. He didn't need to. Everything about him screamed danger.

"Who are you?" Her voice cracked. She hated how scared she sounded.

"Someone who knows what you're looking for." He nodded at her computer screen. "Information about your mother's murder."

Selena's blood turned to ice. "How do you—"

"Know about your little hacking hobby?" The man smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "I know lots of things, Selena Rossi. Like how you break into police files every night. How you've been searching for three years. How you're getting close to something that could get you killed."

"My father will—"

"Your father sent me."

The words hit her like a punch to the stomach. Dad knew about her searching? Had he been watching her all this time?

"I don't believe you."

The stranger pulled out his phone and dialed. "Tell her yourself."

Selena heard her father's voice through the speaker. Rough. Tired. "Selena, baby, listen to me. There are people coming for our family. Bad people. This man is going to keep you safe."

"Dad, I don't need—"

"You do need this. They know you've been digging into the past. They know you found something." Her father's voice got quiet. Scared. She had never heard him sound scared before. "Pack a bag. You're leaving. Now."

The call ended. Selena stared at the phone, then at the stranger.

"Pack a bag?" She laughed, but it sounded crazy even to her. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know your name."

"Names don't matter in my line of work."

"What's your line of work?"

His smile got colder. "I solve problems. Permanently."

Selena's stomach dropped. This man was a killer. Dad had sent a killer to protect her. Or maybe to silence her forever.

"The files on your computer," the man said, walking closer. "What did you find?"

"Nothing." The lie came out too fast.

"Try again."

Selena backed toward the window. "I said nothing."

He moved like a cat. Silent. Deadly. Before she could blink, he was right in front of her. His hand covered hers on the gun. Not fighting for it. Just holding it steady.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he said softly. "But others are. And they'll be here soon."

"What others?"

"The same people who killed your mother."

The world stopped spinning. Selena couldn't breathe. "You're lying."

"Am I?" He let go of her hand and walked back to the computer. "You found a name in those police files, didn't you? Someone who was supposed to be investigating the murder but wasn't."

How did he know? Selena had only found that information tonight. Detective Marcus Webb. He had been assigned to Mom's case but never filed a single report. Like he was being paid to stay quiet.

"Detective Webb," the stranger continued, reading her face. "He's dead. Killed two hours ago. Shot in his car outside a diner."

Selena's legs felt weak. She sat down hard in her chair. "That's impossible."

"Three bullets to the chest. Very professional. The same style that killed your mother."

Tears burned her eyes. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because whoever killed Webb knows he talked to someone recently. They're cleaning up loose ends." He looked right at her. "You're a loose end, Selena."

Sirens wailed in the distance. Getting closer.

The man tensed. He pulled out a gun that looked like it could stop a truck. "They're early."

"Who's early?"

"The people coming to kill you." He grabbed her arm. "We need to go. Now."

Selena jerked away. "I'm not going anywhere with you! I don't even know if you're telling the truth!"

The sirens got louder. Then stopped. Right outside her building.

The man's phone buzzed. He looked at it and cursed under his breath. "Your guards are down. All of them."

Fear crashed over her like a wave. Those guards had families. Kids. And now they were dead because of her.

"This is your fault," she whispered.

"No. This is your father's fault for letting you dig where you shouldn't have dug." He grabbed her laptop and shoved it in a bag. "But I'm not letting you die for his mistakes."

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. Men's voices. Angry. Getting closer to her door.

The stranger moved to the window and looked down. "Twelve floors. Too high to jump. They've got the elevators blocked." He turned to her, and for the first time, she saw something that might have been worry in his cold eyes. "There's only one way out."

"What way?"

He pulled a small device from his pocket. It looked like a garage door opener. "The hard way."

"What does that do?"

The footsteps stopped right outside her door. Someone was picking the lock.

The stranger looked at her with those winter eyes. "Hold on to something."

"Wait, what are you—"

He pressed the button.

The world exploded.

The apartment shook like an earthquake. The lights went out. Emergency alarms screamed everywhere. In the darkness, she felt the stranger's hand grab hers.

"Trust me," he said. "Or die here."

The door burst open. Men with guns poured in, flashlights cutting through the smoke and darkness.

"Go, go, go!" someone yelled.

Selena couldn't see anything. Couldn't breathe. The stranger pulled her forward, and she stumbled after him because she had no choice.

They ran through the smoke toward... nothing. Just the blown-out window and a twelve-story drop to the street below.

"You're crazy!" she screamed.

"Probably."

And then he jumped.

Still holding her hand.

They fell into the darkness together as bullets whistled over their heads and sirens wailed like the end of the world.

Selena screamed all the way down, wondering if the man holding her hand was saving her life...

Or ending it.

Comments

No comments yet.

You Might Like 😍

The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

Completed · Riley Above Story
On the day Evelyn thought Liam would propose, he shocked her by getting down on one knee—for her stepsister, Samantha. As if that betrayal wasn’t enough, Evelyn learned the cruel truth: her parents had already decided to sell one daughter’s future to a dangerous man: the infamous War God Alpha Alexander, who was rumored to be scarred and crippled after a recent accident. And the bride could’t be their precious daughter Samantha. However, when the "ugly and crippled" Alpha revealed his true self—an impossibly handsome billionaire with no trace of injury—Samantha had a change of heart. She was ready to dump Liam and take Evelyn's place as the family daughter who should marry Alexander.
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Accidentally Yours

Accidentally Yours

Ongoing · Merffy Kizzmet
“Who the hell are you and why are you tied to my bed?”

Lola Marlowe’s morning-after is a disaster. She’s got a killer hangover, zero memory of Burning Man, and a half-naked, sculpted stranger tied to her bed with her own lavender silk ropes. To make matters infinitely worse, the furious (and frustratingly handsome) “accidental hostage” is Enzo Marchesi, Vegas’s most notorious mafia Don.

For Enzo, this is the ultimate security breach. But the fiery, unpredictable tattoo artist is the most intriguing thing to happen to him in years. To stop his crew from “neutralizing” the threat, he makes an impulsive claim: she’s his fiancée.

Thrust into a world of high-stakes lies and feral attraction, they must navigate rival families and their own explosive chemistry.

One wrong move sparked it. Now neither of them wants out.
1.2m Views
The Prison Project

The Prison Project

Ongoing · Bethany Donaghy
The government's newest experiment in criminal rehabilitation - sending thousands of young women to live alongside some of the most dangerous men held behind bars...

Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?

Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.

Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.

Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...

At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…

Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?

Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?

What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…

A temperamental romance novel.
Crowned by Fate

Crowned by Fate

Completed · Tina S
“You think I’d share my mate? Just stand by and watch while you fuck another woman and have her kids?”
“She’d just be a Breeder, you would be the Luna. Once she’s pregnant, I wouldn’t touch her again.” my mate Leon’s jaw tightened.
I laughed, a bitter, broken sound.
“You’re unbelievable. I’d rather accept your rejection than live like that.”


As a girl without a wolf, I left my mate and my pack behind.
Among humans, I survived by becoming a master of the temporary: drifting job to job… until I became the best bartender in a dusty Texas town.
That’s where Alpha Adrian found me.
No one could resist the charming Adrian, and I joined his mysterious pack hidden deep in the desert.
The Alpha King Tournament, held once every four years, had begun. Over fifty packs from across North America were competing.
The werewolf world was on the verge of a revolution. That’s when I saw Leon again...
Torn between two Alphas, I had no idea that what awaited us wasn’t just a competition—but a series of brutal, unforgiving trials.
Author Note:New book out now! The River Knows Her Name
Mystery, secrets, suspense—your next page-turner is here.
Goddess Of The Underworld.

Goddess Of The Underworld.

Ongoing · sheridan.hartin
Left at a pack border with a name and a stubborn heartbeat, Envy grows into the sharpest kind of survivor, an orphaned warrior who knows how to hold a line and keep moving. Love isn’t in the plan…until four alpha wolves with playboy reputations and inconveniently soft hands decide the girl who won’t bow is the only queen they’ll ever take. Their mate. The one they have waited for. Xavier, Haiden, Levi, and Noah are gorgeous, lethal, and anything but perfect and Envy isn’t either. She’s changing. First into hell hound, Layah at her heels and fire in her veins. Then into what the realm has been waiting for, a Goddess of the Underworld, dragging her mates down to hell with her. Then finally into lycan princess, stronger, faster, the moon finally answering back, giving her exactly what she needs to protect her family.

When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armor, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of a border pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to stay; of cake, iron, and daylight negotiations. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
674.9k Views
Mated by Contract to the Alpha

Mated by Contract to the Alpha

Completed · CalebWhite
My perfect life shattered in a single heartbeat.
William—my devastatingly handsome, wealthy werewolf fiancé destined to become Delta—was supposed to be mine forever. After five years together, I was ready to walk down the aisle and claim my happily ever after.
Instead, I found him with her. And their son.
Betrayed, jobless, and drowning in my father's medical bills, I hit rock bottom harder than I ever imagined possible. Just when I thought I'd lost everything, salvation came in the form of the most dangerous man I'd ever encountered.
Damien Sterling—future Alpha of the Silver Moon Shadow Pack and ruthless CEO of Sterling Group—slid a contract across his desk with predatory grace.
“Sign this, little doe, and I'll give you everything your heart desires. Wealth. Power. Revenge. But understand this—the moment you put pen to paper, you become mine. Body, soul, and everything in between.”
I should have run. Instead, I signed my name and sealed my fate.
Now I belong to the Alpha. And he's about to show me just how wild love can be.
The Biker's Fate

The Biker's Fate

Completed · Piper Davenport
"You are absolutely my fucking woman, Dani. Got me?"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
My Marked Luna

My Marked Luna

Completed · Sunshine Princess
"Will you continue to disobey me?" he asks, his gaze cool and hard.
"Yes,"
He exhales, raises his hand, and brings it down to slap my naked as again... harder than before. I gasp at the impact. It hurts, but it is so hot, and sexy.
"Will you do it again?"
"No,"
"No, what?"
"No, Sir,"
"Best girl," he brings his lips to kiss my behind while he caresses it softly.
"Now, I'm going to fck you," He sits me on his lap in a straddling position. We lock gazes. His long fingers find their way to my entrance and insert them.
"You're soaking for me, baby," he is pleased. He moves his fingers in and out, making me moan in pleasure.
"Hmm," But suddenly, they are gone. I cry as he leaves my body aching for him. He switches our position within a second, so I'm under him. My breath is shallow, and my senses are incoherent as I anticipate his hardness in me. The feeling is fantastic.
"Please," I beg. I want him. I need it so badly.
"So, how would you like to come, baby?" he whispers.
Oh, goddess!


Apphia's life is harsh, from being mistreated by her pack members to her mate rejecting her brutally. She is on her own. Battered on a harsh night, she meets her second chance mate, the powerful, dangerous Lycan Alpha, and boy, is she in for the ride of her life. However, everything gets complicated as she discovers she is no ordinary wolf. Tormented by the threat to her life, Apphia has no choice but to face her fears. Will Apphia be able to defeat the iniquity after her life and finally be happy with her mate? Follow for more.
Warning: Mature Content
752.7k Views
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

Ongoing · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
483.6k Views
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

Ongoing · Becky j
"Mate is here!"
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
774.5k Views
Fangs, Fate & Other Bad Decisions

Fangs, Fate & Other Bad Decisions

Ongoing · Elizma Du Toit
Some bad decisions come back to bite you. Literally.

After finding out her boyfriend cheated, the last thing she expected was to stumble across a wounded man in an alley. And definitely not one with fangs. But thanks to a mix of cocktails, shame, and her questionable life choices, she takes him home. Turns out, he’s not just any vampire—he’s a king. And according to him, she’s his fated mate.

Now, she’s stuck with an overprotective, brooding bloodsucker who keeps rescuing her, a growing list of enemies who want her dead, and an undeniable attraction that’s making it very hard to remember why falling for a vampire is a terrible idea.

Because if she’s not careful, she won’t just lose her heart—she’ll lose her humanity.
Take you Fall into Fantasy.

Download AnyStories App to discover more Fantasy Stories.