On the night that I came face to face with death, I was rescued by the most gorgeous man I'd ever laid eyes on. A cunning bratva boss I had no business getting mixed up with. A dangerous man whose kisses tasted like wild summer days and a thousand bad decisions. Staying with him was simply not an option, and falling for him would ruin me forever. So, I allowed our chance encounter to end after just one passionate night under the stars. I should've known it would never be that simple, that two people from such different worlds would leave an impact that the universe would never forget.

Working as Ruslan Oryolov’s personal assistant is the job from hell. After a long day spent tending to the billionaire’s every whim, I need some stress relief. So when I get home that night, that’s exactly what I do. Problem is, my thoughts are still stuck on the bosshole, who’s ruining my life. That’s fine—because of all Ruslan’s many sins, being gorgeous might be the most dangerous.

I’m not looking for a hero, and definitely not a fake relationship with my new boss, nightclub owner Dante Fury—over six feet of dark, hot, and dangerous. But he isn’t taking no for an answer. The plan was to run, live under the radar, survive. My life’s been destroyed by some very bad people and everything I know is gone—career, friends, family. I thought I could hide as a bartender at New Orleans’ hottest new club, Ember.

You know the story where the hero comes in and saves the day, rescuing the heroine right in the nick of time? This isn't that story. Instead of a knight in shining armor, he's a sexy, tatted-up Bratva boss with a reputation for being brutal and fierce. Vasily finds me after I've already been brought to my lowest—broken by cruel men until I barely recognize myself. He doesn't offer me salvation. He offers me protection and revenge. And I gladly take it. Because I don't need a knight in shining armor. I need a villain who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty.

I hate Dante Moretti. He is cold, calculating, and vicious. It’s no secret that he wiped out his former fiancée and her entire family on the eve of their wedding. He’s the kind of evil that makes even devils cry. But that’s not why I hate him.

Kieran Murphy is an Irish mob boss and one of the most powerful men in Boston. When he walks me home, people step aside out of respect for him. He could have any woman he wants. So why does he have eyes only for me? Is it how he has to lift my chin with his fingers to keep my eyes level with his when he scolds me and how I cover my bottom instinctively when he tells me that I've earned a spanking? Or is it how I quiver at the thought of everything I'm too ashamed to beg him to do to me? Maybe it's all of those, but I'm pretty sure there's something else too.

Savva is a filthy bratva beast, as cruel as he is charming and as brutal as he is gorgeous. When I took over my late father's biker bar, I also took over the payments he was making to Savva, the leader of a powerful mafia family operating on the edge of Las Vegas. But Savva couldn't be satisfied with money alone. He wanted more. He spilled into my life like a dark, inescapable shadow, stealing my dignity and drowning me in his sin. But his twisted promises and dark desires aren't enough to convince me to fall for him. Neither are his whiskey kisses and his iron abs.

Mia Lorenzo wasn’t exactly my top choice for a wife. She is 14 years younger, a hopeless romantic, and in line to become the head of the family that just orchestrated my father’s murder. Too bad my father's dying wish was for me to marry Luca Lorenzo's daughter. I will unite the two families for my father’s sake, even if it’s just to find proof that they killed him. The only problem is my brand-new wife. That auburn hair, those bright blue eyes, and the way my gut twists whenever I see another man go near her.

One wardrobe malfunction. Two people who don’t belong together. Three awful words: “Be my wife."

We're known for our savagery. We run New York City. We control every inch of it, and anyone that gets in our way is executed. I protect the people from con artists and thugs like the cartel. But I'm not a good guy. I loathe thinking of myself as a vigilante. And did I mention that my little sister tried to put me behind bars? When a young woman's car breaks down in the rain, I'm feeling overly generous. I recognize her, she's a nurse from Steele Concierge Medical, at least that's what she wants me to believe.

To be fair, I didn’t know he was my boss when I slept with him. I thought he was just the kind stranger offering me a place to stay. But one night in Misha Orlov’s hotel room got me way more than I bargained for.

Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

I met him, the man of my dreams. On the worst day of my life. Catching my boyfriend out was bad. Coming out of the club in a daze, I stumbled upon a situation which was worse. Much worse. And it would have been deadly, too. If he wasn’t there to save me. My unsuspecting hero. He was rugged, wild, and powerful. The way he looked at me set me on fire.

I thought it was just a hookup on an airplane. Let’s be cute and call it a “one-flight-stand.” Or we could be more accurate and call it what it really was: the day that ruined my life.

They thought she was unsuitable as a bride because she was mute. I thought that made her perfect. Silent. Invisible. I could pretend she didn’t even exist.