Dee

No one knows how new members are selected to the board of Hale Banking and Holding. But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything - the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents’ mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he’s the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it.

I’m not crazy. I’m the product of a schizophrenic mother who seemed more evil than human, and a bipolar father who didn’t love me enough to stay. But I’m not crazy. Now I’m struggling with life and question myself and my decisions every single day. Are these signs? Red flags? I won’t let myself look too close. I refuse to be crazy. Then four men swoop in just when I need them. They’re protective, supportive, and everything I never had, even though we’re unconventional. I want to be the person they need me to be. I need it. But I’m afraid...that I’m crazy.

I didn't come to her apartment planning to tie her to her bed and ravage her. A Russian arms dealer has no need for an innocent schoolteacher. I would have done what I came to do and left, but when she opened those gorgeous red lips and threatened to scream I knew she would be screaming long before I was finished with her.

It was an innocent mistake; she knocked on the wrong door. It was mine. If I were a better man, I would've just let her go. But I'm not. I'm a cruel bastard. I ruthlessly claimed her virtue for my own. It should've been enough but it wasn't. I needed more...I craved it. She became my obsession. Her sweetness and purity taunted my dark soul. The need to possess her nearly drove me mad. A Russian arms dealer had no business pursuing a naive librarian student. She didn't belong in my world. I would bring her only pain. But it was too late...she was mine and I was keeping her.

When your eyes land on a complete stranger on the train, and the world around you stops. When the stranger says hello, and your heart stops, too. When the universe answers your prayers and he's there, next day, on the train. A man so powerful—brooding with darkness and secrets. I knew there was going to be more. I wanted more. When the stranger is reading one of your favorite novels, and you're reading one of his. When you think the universe can't be any kinder, but it truly delivers the jackpot of all jackpots and two opposite worlds collide, as though it was meant to be.

Monsters don't often look like monsters on the outside. Forced to marry a man I should hate, I'm now bound to Damian. I sometimes wonder what he sees when he looks at me. Deer in headlights, I guess. What I see is clear. Darkness. Desire. Carnal want. A man with too much experience. The day he took me he told me I belong to him. On our wedding night he proved I did. And I believe him when he says he'll keep me safe because he won't let anyone touch what's his. But I can't forget what he is. Can't forget the things he's done. And no matter what, I can't let myself fall in love with him.

I never should have looked twice at her, let alone touched her. She was my stepsister. Forbidden in every way. And yet, I fell, and fell hard. But nothing worth fighting for is simple, and it’s going to turn our worlds upside down. Our love isn’t easy. It’s complicated, messy, and pushes all the boundaries. But it’s ours, and despite the pain and heartache, it might just be worth it in the end.

Callum Griffin is the heir to the Irish mafia. He’s ruthless, arrogant, and he wants to kill me. We got off on the wrong foot when I set a (very small) fire in his house. Our families believe a marriage pact is the only thing that will prevent all-out warfare. I think I might need to murder him while he sleeps. This would all be a lot easier if Callum wasn’t so damned good-looking.

It’s a ghost town, this place that haunts me, the one that made me. It’s clear to me that I’ll never outgrow Triple Falls or outlive the time I spent here. I can still feel them all, my boys of summer. Even when I'd sensed the danger, I gave in. I didn’t heed a single warning. I let my sickness and my love both rule and ruin me. I played my part, eyes wide open, tempting fate until it delivered. There was never going to be an escape. All of us are to blame for what happened. All of us are serving our own sentences.

Two years ago, a split-second decision changed everything. I risked my life for a man I didn’t even know and nearly died for it. I’ve tried to forget him. To forget that whole night. But he hasn’t forgotten me. He’s been watching. Obsessing. Craving. And when he crashes back into my life like a wrecking ball, accompanied by two dark shadows — men he calls his brothers — the life I’ve been trying to rebuild for myself shatters into a thousand sharp-edged pieces. He believes our souls are bound by blood, and he’s come back to claim what’s his.