Denise

Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student. But she is best known for her mother, a best-selling author whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fanbase. When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking: Was that really an accident?

When her sister doesn’t show up on her wedding day, Raven has no choice but to take her place — but marriage to Ares Windsor is nothing short of torture. The elusive billionaire media mogul is the man she’s always loved… yet he’s only ever had eyes for her sister.

Never did I think it would lead me straight into the arms of a serial killer. When the magazine I worked for sent me to write a piece on The Elysian, and the recluse architect who created it, I didn’t know what to expect. It certainly wasn’t him. He was supposed to be cold and cruel, but to me, he was Intoxicating. Magnetic. And impossible to quit. The deeper I fell, the harder it became to ignore a voice inside my head telling me that death followed Cain. I wanted to be wrong. Maybe it was all in my head. But I needed to find the answers. Nothing prepared me for what I found….

When an abusive ex corners me in a nightclub, I cling to the first man I see for protection. Little do I know he’s a mafia Don, fresh out of prison and eager for a one-night stand. One night extends into two, then three. I’m beginning to suspect I can’t leave. But every time I raise questions, he answers with offers impossible to resist. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if I’m just paranoid or a pawn in a much larger game.

According to the FBI, I was considered a serial murderer after three kills. What do they call me after fifty-two? They call me the Silencer. One final bullet would have been all it took to stop me from taking another soul, and I would have been doing Meridian City a service by pulling that trigger. An angel crying for help stopped me, and that night, I took three lives for her. Then three turned into eight. Then eight turned into twenty. Twenty turned into twenty-one. Twenty-one turned into twenty-three.

I took my loved ones and ran. What other choice did I have? But somewhere out there, some monster has the baby I’ve come to love as my own. Timofey comes after me. He finds us—because duh, of course he does.

I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day. Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak. We met on the verge of ending our lives. Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond. We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended. Same time. One roof. Two restless souls. We kept our promise for three years.

My daughter was kidnapped. My sanctuary violated. My best friend murdered. My empire is crumbling before my very eyes. There’s no retirement plan for the boogeyman. I never cared about that before. Now that I have a family, everything is different. I can never put my daughter at risk again. I don’t want this life for her. But I can’t undo the things that I’ve done. I can’t bring back the lives I’ve taken. Everyone knows Lachlan Mount doesn’t deserve a second chance. But maybe—just maybe—a man like me can still find redemption.

There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello: He was gorgeous. He was reclusive. He was considered one of New York's most savage animals. And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement - you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave. Life was never that simple, though. By the age of 21, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings.

Of all the hospitals in New York City, he walks into mine. I know from the moment I see him that Alex Volkov is dangerous. He’s the kind of trouble from which every woman should run. The bullet his bodyguard took for him proves that. My attraction to him is not rational, not logical...but it’s too strong to resist. I tell myself it will be just one night. One night to step away from the stress of work, to give into temptation. But before I know it, he’s pulling me deeper into his world of excess and violence, invading not only my life but my heart.