Conor's my lifeline. He doesn't know it. I need him to find me. I need him to chase me. I need him to love me. If I haven't already destroyed what we might have had, he's crazy enough to take me on. My Fecker. Mine.

The second our eyes meet, I feel it. The ticking clock. It's only a matter of time before we come together. Before the heat that arcs between us turns into a conflagration. But he's a mobster. An O’Donnelly. His notoriety is legendary. I'm a journalist. I expose men like him, which is how I built my reputation.

Everyone thought my wife was dead, but I never stopped searching for her. When I finally found her, the timid young woman I forced to marry me was all gone. In her place was a fiercely independent woman who hated my guts. I might have deserved it. But did it stop me from dragging her, her secret child and her best friend back to New York City with me?

I'm nothing like my father. My brothers don't realize I'm a thousand times worse. Grief fuels my every action. Vengeance burns through my veins, dictating every decision I make. I'll shatter allegiances to please him. I'm nothing like my father. You don't realize that I'm a thousand times worse. I have Savannah at my side—a ruthless partner capable of raining hellfire upon her enemies—until she realizes I lied to her.... My house of cards is tumbling down, and I've underestimated my queen.

Secrets—you know my family is founded on them. Lies—my marriage hinges on one. I kept the past buried like a coward. Now, I feel the constraints of my choices like they’re a chokehold. I know that it’s time to tell my wife the truth. It’s time to deal with the consequences of my actions. Aoife deserves to be my judge, jury, and executioner. If she burns down the house with me in it, well, that’s on me and my filthy secrets….