I beg the Kingpin for help… He demands marriage in return. Desperate, I ask my boss—the kingpin whose office I clean every morning while he works—to save me from a rival mafia who want money or they’ll reveal all my secrets. My boss is intimidating. Twice my age, a silver fox in a sharp black suit. But over the last year we’ve talked, the only people in the building as the sun rises, pink over the London skyline. I’m shocked when he offers me a marriage of convenience. A whirlwind wedding, and we promise it’s just for show. No feelings. No love. A fake.

I'm wanted. On the lam, running from the law and my mistakes. The house tucked into the trees seems safe—an excellent place to hide out. Once inside, I find something unexpected. A nurse that can do more than heal my wounds. But the longer I'm awake, the more reality starts to blur, and I can't tell what's real and what's not anymore. Plagued by ill fantasies and temptation, I try to keep her safe from me. It works until the lines between us also begin to blur.

I’m a housewife, married to a man who is the definition of husband material. But sometimes, it doesn’t feel like enough. When I hold a stack of new books, I can’t wait to slip into the fantasy within them. I love living in dark, fictional worlds. Neglecting my wifely duties, I find my pleasure within the pages.

He is the night's reckoning, the shadow that haunts my dreams. This year, he wants more than just my fear. Halloween is a celebration of the bizarre, the unexpected, the dark. And I've always had a twisted enjoyment that dances with the macabre. Things turn sinister when every guy I date ends up six feet under, courtesy of an obsessed stalker. Like a ravenous beast, the murderer hides in plain sight. His identity? None other than Nyx, my brother's best friend and my secret admirer.

Ronan: This world was never meant for me—a shadowed figure wandering, fueled by carnal desires until I am destined for hell. And I embrace it wholeheartedly. But then she came into the picture after my successful hunt at a local coffee shop. She offered me a simple act of kindness, and in that moment, I was consumed by her. My obsession with Everly knows no bounds, and there is no escape. Her fate is to become one with me, bound by darkness and consumed by our twisted desires.

A masterpiece of unruly auburn curls, fiery eyes, and a spirit that can set the world ablaze. She is also the unfortunate driver I have to exploit to make my escape. I've been many things in my life—convict, murderer, psychopath. But the one thing I've never been is attached. She is supposed to be a means to an end. A less conspicuous way to travel. But amidst the chaos, we find a twisted serenity in each other's arms, making me want to keep her forever... if we can survive this.

I've spent years hidden away to protect my father from the shame of having a defective daughter. The head of the Bratva can't be associated with weakness—and to him, that's all I am. That is until a marriage alliance gives him the opportunity to finally be rid of me. As I head down the aisle towards my mysterious husband, I hope I'm moving towards love and freedom. But Matteo makes it clear he wants nothing to do with me. I wish I could return his coldness, but the dangerous Don sets my body ablaze whenever he's near.

Meeting Aaron was the biggest mistake of my life. Not the addictions or my career choice, but the man I chose to marry. He wanted men to hurt me so he could ride in on the white horse to rescue me and take me away from the person he commanded to cause me all the pain in the first place. He was no hero. No white knight. Aaron took it too far when he brought a man to our home who looked past the bruises and saw the broken woman beneath them.

The rabbit's foot sways in the car, a bad omen that I choose to ignore. Her innocent face and offer for a ride are too tempting. Little does she know that I'm a dangerous man on the run, a sociopath with a thirst for the thrill of the hunt. Selena is my rabbit, and I'm about to ensnare her in my trap. As we speed toward the border, emotions I thought I was incapable of stir within me. What will happen when we reach our destination? Will I let her go, or will I keep her by my side forever? The game has just begun, rabbit.

Jax ‘The King of Chaos’ Carter and Lily’s story begins the new era of the Beneath the Secrets series.