Being attracted to her isn't wrong…but acting on it would be. As the patriarch of the powerful and wealthy Cavalieri family, my choices come with consequences for everyone around me. The roots of my ancestral, billionaire-dollar winery stretch deep into the rich Italian soil, as does our legacy of ruthlessness and scandal. It isn't the fact she is half my age that makes her off-limits. Nothing is off-limits for me. A wounded bird caught in a trap not of her own making, she poses no risk to me. My obsessive desire to possess her is the real problem—for both of us.

Had she crashed into any other man's car, she could have walked away—but she hit mine. Upon seeing the bruises on her wrist, I struggled to contain my rage. Despite her objections, I refused to allow her to leave. Whoever hurt this innocent beauty would pay dearly. As a Russian Mafia crime boss who owns Chicago's most elite gambling club, I have very creative and painful methods of exacting revenge.

When I finally get a life-saving kidney transplant, I think the worst is behind me. Boy, am I wrong. I start feeling eyes on me wherever I go. I'm being watched. Stalked. Hunted. It's downright scary. Then, the hunter steps out of the shadows, and my life implodes. I'm taken by Renzo Torrisi, a dangerous and unforgiving man.

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.

My older sister ran away from home to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage with the mafia family blamed for her mother's death. Now, that burden has fallen to me. Eighteen and sheltered, my life has only ever revolved around the familiar comfort of the tennis court. I've always been shielded from the brutal realities of my father's world, protected from his enemies. Enemies like Lochlan Dunne, who my father now wants as an ally.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t escape him. No one can keep me safe. Every year on my birthday, he brings me a gift, each one having a detrimental effect on my life with unimaginable consequences. With every gift he offers, he claims another one of my firsts. Before I know it, he’s taken control of my existence, turning me into a nervous wreck, because when I turn 18, I know what first he’ll come for next.

At the office, Samantha is mouthy AF and hellbent on testing my patience. So you can imagine my surprise when my new personal assistant walked into my club with a very specific fantasy. When the man Samantha's paired with doesn't stick to the rules, I step in to take his place. Wearing a mask protects my identity, and soon, the little wildcat from the office is telling me all her darkest secrets and fantasies.

Rule number one of Wall Street: don’t fall in love with your billionaire boss. I hate my boss. The Wall Street tycoon is a jerk. A world-class alpha-hole. Devastatingly handsome but terribly flawed. He goes through assistants like I go through vanilla lattes, and I need this job. But I went to school with bullies like him, so I’m not afraid. I hate my attraction to him. How sparks fly when we spar. The way he barks orders and dresses me down. I hate how I fantasize about him during and after work hours.

Eleven years ago, I met him. A year later, I was betrothed to him. Now he’s come to claim me, slaughtering anyone standing in his way. My husband-to-be is a monster from a family as ruthless and powerful as mine, a man who deals in violence and destruction...a man terrifyingly like my father. For more than a decade, he’s stalked me, shadowing my life. I fear him. I hate him. Worst of all, I want him. My name is Alina Molotova, and Alexei Leonov is a fate I can’t escape.

She is my fair lady—my Eliza Doolittle if you like. A blank canvas on which I will create a masterpiece. Somebody to fool the most discerning eye. But I am no gentleman. I am the man she fears the most. The devil waiting behind the mountain range. I will teach her how to be my perfect woman, and she will thank me for it. I am the master of the game. She doesn't even realize we are playing one. She signed a contract inked in tears and sealed with blood. Now she is mine, and there is nothing she can do about that because hidden in the small print—she gifted me her soul.