Art Gallery owner Emmeline Billings vowed to keep her parents legacy alive by helping struggling artists.

Having lived a shell of a life since their passing she finds her true self when other family members show their true colors threatening what she's built.

What she wasn't prepared for was the thief in the night.

Sebastian Stuart has lived a life in the shadows. He's watched Emmeline from those shadows grow into a beautiful woman.

Seeing her living a shell of herself, he's determined to help her. Sebastian re-enters her life when he can no longer stand by and watch.

He does the only thing he knows how to do - steals her heart.

I stood on the outside of her hotel room door, hoping that she would come after me. I was powerless to let it go any longer but I knew that I didn’t want to take advantage of her in her inebriated state. If she had come to me I would have stayed with her, I would not make the same mistake again. I waited twenty minutes before slipping into my room that happened that was next door to hers. I had gotten lucky with a woman at the desk during check-in, she didn’t ask any questions when I asked for that specific room. I prepared to say anything, even give her money in order to secure my spot close to her.

When I was in the comfort of my room, the silence was beyond deafening. I knew that my decision to leave her was the best, but now I wished that I hadn’t. I lay down on the bed rethinking my decision when I heard the soft noises that sounded like crying whimpers coming from the room next door.

“FUCK. I’m an asshole.”

Going over to the door that connected the two rooms, I opened my partition and began to work on her doorknob. Two clicks later, I was in her room. Emmeline lay curled up in the middle of the bed, she was still wearing the dress she had worn during our impromptu date. Kicking off my shoes, I climbed into bed with her wrapping my arms around her holding her tightly.
I was unsure how long we lay there together before I fell asleep. I just knew that where I was at that minute was where I belonged.


Ashlee Taylor has always loved to read. She was practically born with a book in hand. She even wrote short stories and vignettes for fun at age eleven.

As she grew up reading was put to the side but the book Fifty Shades of Grey brought back the love of the written word. Swallowing every book she could get her hands on while befriending authors. Eventually becoming a beta reader and helping authors work out critical scenes and plot progressions.

Through this process, Ashlee decided to write the stories in her head.

Art Gallery owner Emmeline Billings vowed to keep her parents legacy alive by helping struggling artists.

Having lived a shell of a life since their passing she finds her true self when other family members show their true colors threatening what she's built.

What she wasn't prepared for was the thief in the night.

Sebastian Stuart has lived a life in the shadows. He's watched Emmeline from those shadows grow into a beautiful woman.

Seeing her living a shell of herself, he's determined to help her. Sebastian re-enters her life when he can no longer stand by and watch.

He does the only thing he knows how to do - steals her heart.