My name is Hadley Parker, and today I take control of my life. Today I start school at Pacific Prep. This is my new lease on life, and I won't be wasting it. I need this, now, more than ever. I need the education, the promise of a future that I wouldn't get anywhere else. These rich kids don't like me, though. When Hawk Davenport decides he doesn't want me here, his friends back him. Along with Hawk, Westley Warren, Cam Rutherford, and Mason Hayes rule this school...and nobody dares go against them. They don't know the real me.

Emilia Harrison. The girl I attended Pacific Prep with. My sister's best friend. The greatest sex I've ever had. I never expected to see her again after graduation, so when she showed up in my kitchen in the middle of the night, I didn't know what to think. Apparently, there's some psycho after her, and she needs my help. My family owns a private security firm, but I can't protect her from Wilder. He's still heartbroken over her and livid at her return. He doesn't care about the reason why she's here; he only wants her gone.

After surviving foster care and a high school that breeds gang members and drug dealers, I've finally found my path to freedom: emancipation and a full ride scholarship at the ultra-exclusive Hannaford Prep. All I have to do is survive. After attracting the wrong sort of attention from the richest boy in the country, pissing off the hottest guy in school, and being humiliated in front of my favorite rock idol, I am now the target of the most popular, and cruelest, group in the freshman class.

Moving to a new town to start college, where I can try to be normal. Or at least pretend I am. I’m willing to fake it, because I’m tired of trying to get better. Tired of spilling my guts to doctors and therapists to understand why I’ve heard voices since I was a child.

In Saint Gabriel City, there are the Four Families, and there are those who are owned by them. The Spencers, the Hargraves, the Ferreros, and the Knights rule the City together with their exorbitant wealth and iron fists that no one dare challenge.