Novels by Maya Howard

It was very quiet in the estate. Across the room sat Aunty Elora, Lord Harrison—Kairo's aunt. She was thought dead, and also a victim of the same fire that the DeLanceys had set to destroy the Dunes.Besides her stood the Mayor of the town who was flanked by two guards carrying a heavy briefcase and a grim look.Lord Delancey clutched the opened file with trembling hands, his eyes scanning the damning documents over and over again as if denial could rewrite ink. Donald stood stiff beside him, lips white with fury. Lady DeLancey had collapsed into a nearby chair, murmuring in disbelief. Celesta and Colette huddled at a corner beside Uncle Hadrian.It was true. The heir they had humiliated, mocked, and tried to erase had walked among them all along.Kairo the humble houseboy, was Lord Harrison Dunes, the last of a lineage they’d tried to burn out of history.He was also the one who stole, from the family library, the will and legal documents.Elora’s gaze swept across the stunned fam

It was a cold morning in the DeLancey's Family Estate room. Celesta sat curled at the edge of a high-backed chair, her silk sleeves clinging to her arms damp with tears. Her face was pale and streaked with sorrow. The betrayal gnawed at her heart and streams of tears came running down her cheeks in succession."How could he do this to me?” she asked but to no one in particular. “I gave him everything."“Don’t speak his name again,” Lady Colette snapped, cuddling her sister who was quaking through tears and heartbreak. “That billion-dollar fool, if he is even worthy of the title, was never fit to stand beside you, let alone wed you.”"I've always known that girl Evelyn to be a lover-snatcher. No girl who writes for a newspaper column can ever amount to any good." Lady Celesta spits amidst sobs.Lady DeLancey sat stiffly by the mirror, Her voice cold and cutting. “And to think that we just signed off our wealth for his control. How did we not know that he is a male whore?”Uncle Hadr

Inside Lord Harrison's suite, the air was velvet-thick with night. It was the night Evelyn had chosen to seduce Lord Harrison. So, as she stepped out of the shower, she slipped into a silky, black-fitting dress that outlined the curves and contours of her feminine shape. The deodorant she applied was a little too much, so she had to wait for its effects to subside. She will seduce her prey, not choke him.“My Lord,” she said as she walked firmly into the suite. Across the table by the fireplace, Lord Harrison sat with a glass of champagne, and a cigarette dangled effortlessly between his lips.Lord Harrison surprisingly raised an eyebrow. “Miss Evelyn, I am not shocked at how you love paying your guest a surprise visit. To what do we owe this occasion?"Evelyn, the seductress, stopped just in front of him and smiled, her dentition sparkled white in the dim glow of the night. “I just felt maybe you'll need company.”Lord Harrison was amused. She was not dressed this way just to keep

Inside Lord Harrison's estate, Kairo hurriedly changed from his royalty into a stained aproned shirt. His meeting with Lady Celesta had revealed much more secrets than he had expected. His mission now was to find the documents inside DeLancey's estate.So he hurriedly changed into his houseboy costume and hurried out unto the faint light of the large walkway. And as he looked down on his feet, he was wearing the shoes of Lord Harrison. In his hurry, he had forgotten to pull it. Making to rush back and make remedy, a tender voice chimed in from the corridor. It was Evelyn, who leaned against the marble walls with arms crossed and eyes narrowed like a cat who knew the mouse had secrets.“Well, well,” she said, one brow arched. “Isn’t it interesting that the houseboy’s wearing Lord Harrison’s slippers and strolling around with it like he owns the place?”Kairo, in his modest linen shirt and tailored trousers, glanced down at the gold-embroidered shoes on his feet and what he felt was

After the meeting with the DeLanceys, Lord Harrison hit the path to his suite, cutting through gardens and walkways. He was halted on his path by Lady Celesta, her sister trailing behind, all giggles."What makes my lord scamper about the garden in such haste?" She offered her hands.It was soft, feminine, and cold, the wet type of cold. He kissed it in courtesy. "I had matters that required urgency, my lady.""I guess my father's cockiness doesn't bother you in any way?...he could be a lot, sometimes.""Not at all," He responded wryly. "I am more intrigued by the gracefulness of Lady Delancey. Her graciousness breathes through your youth, I can see."Lady Celesta blushed. Lady Colette excused herself from the duo and walked into the darkness. Of course, she had better things to do than stare at two lovebirds exchanging affection. Celesta led the lord to a stone bench nearby, her posture soft, eyes lowered. When she looked up and saw him, she offered a small timid uncertain smile.

Kairo sneaked into the private quarters of Lord Harrison's private quarters. He pulled his plain, sweat-stained shirt and apron of a houseboy; and now in place of rags, he wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit with dark velvet lapels and golden cufflinks.He was amazed at the speed with which he switched from a peasant to an elite in under five minutes; and more surprised at how the dumb household couldn't spot any similarities in the two characters.Lord Harrison's meeting with Lady Celesta will have to wait; for right now he has a family business to brush with Lord Delancey himself. So as he opened the door that led to Delancey's estate, he found his host, cigar in hand, pacing beside the fireplace with the rest of his clan seated around him like loyal security guards working overtime. Lady Delancey sat poised, fingers laced in her lap, a practiced smile on her face. Besides the table sat Donald, the arrogant spoilt bastard of a son, swaggering in overconfidence, sipping brandy