kim carnes brooks

I thought success was what I wanted, but it only intensified my misery. Fame is a monster, and it ate me alive. I tried it all to get out of my head: sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I'm living the dream, but it only numbs the pain. Caspian came into my life like a storm, and I knew he'd leave the same way. We were two vessels made to fit. Chemistry woven in creation. There's no escape, there's no surrender. His Pretty Black forever.

Caspien Deveraux was poison. It took me years to realise that he hadn't been born like that. He'd been cultivated and nurtured by a careful hand and a bitter heart. When I first met him, he was a bud. One primed to bloom beautifully and deadly. One I should have torn out at the root.

After my honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, it only made sense to put my skills to good use as a personal bodyguard. The contracts keep me moving and traveling, and the money is good. All I've ever wanted was to make sure my mother and sister were taken care of after my father passed away. So when Anthony Costello, the notorious mob boss and my dad's ex-employer, asked me to take on a special job for his family, I couldn't say no. But not even my six-year stint as an elite Marine could have prepared me for the hellscape that is being trapped in a secluded safe house with his son.