I'm Harlow Evans. Shortly after my parents were murdered, I moved in with my Grandma. It meant switching schools, losing friends, and moving away from the only home I knew. All I wanted was to finish the school year hassle free. Switching seats on that first day altered my life. After surviving the loss of my parents I never thought anything could break me, but then he came into my life.

Some girls grow up in castles with fortresses to protect them from monsters. Other girls grow up in castles with fortresses to protect the monsters. I am both of these girls.

Monsters don't hide in dark alleys. They lurk in plain sight, clawing into your soul with cordial smiles. They wear Armani, they drive Cadillacs, they attend fundraising balls... And they rule the city with a merciless fist. The Familia is a mystery to most, and sitting on its throne is Kage Malvagio. Vile. Sadistic. Painstakingly beautiful. Some say: Ask for forgiveness, never permission. Kage asks for neither—especially when he gets his hands on me. I should hate him. I should run at the first chance I get. But how could the devil be so bad when he looks at me like that?

When I was 16, a gypsy fortune-teller told me my future held darkness and death. She was right. But what she didn’t tell me was I’d lose all my memories and that I wouldn’t recognize the devil when he came to steal my life. Lucca Dyshekov - the Bratva assassin they call Merciless - rose from hell and turned my world upside down. On our wedding day, he taught me real monsters aren’t the ones who hide in the dark. They’re the ones who stare you in the face and steal your soul.

When I was little, I was obsessed with fairytales. My dad told me the stories of the stars and white knights who rescue princesses. I’d wear a silver plastic crown and stare at the sky, waiting for the day my knight in shining armor would come. Then my dad died, my crown broke, and my mom shipped my sister and me off to boarding school. And then I met them. My knights. Only they’re nothing like the fairytales I grew up on. They’re wrapped in sin and shrouded in darkness. Bossy, protective, alphaholes. And heirs to the Italian mafia.

My fiancé is screaming at me in public. I'm used to it. My role here is to look pretty on his arm and to play nice so he doesn't hurt my sick daughter. What I'm not used to is the man who comes to my rescue. Adrik Tasarov is a tall glass of gorgeous. He's got a jawline that could cut glass and eyes that could melt steel. Best of all: my fiancé is absolutely terrified of him. So when Adrik asks me to dance, I say yes. When he asks me to do a little more than that, I say it again. Then comes the make-or-break moment. Adrik offers me a fake marriage to get me out of my real one.

Xavier Parker gets what he wants. Richer than God. Hotter than fire. Colder than ice. Father of my child. And he has no idea. As London's top restauranteur, he has the golden touch but rules his world with an iron fist. Now he's back in New York with two objectives: Open the newest hotspot in the city, and win back my heart five years after he broke it. I'd run in the opposite direction, but it's been so long...And Xavier knows my recipe. Passion. Pleasure. Just the right kind of pain.

Amelia Edwards, the daughter of mogul Lex Edwards, is beginning her adult life. Away from home, she’s studying law at Yale and has the freedom of doing whatever she pleases without her controlling father watching her every move. Family always comes first in the Edwards household. So, when her aunt insists Amelia visit her son, Will Romano, she does so out of obligation. The last time she saw him was years ago. But how terrible could it be? They had spent countless summers together, and her parents often referred to him as a son.

Arrogant bosshole with some dirty secrets. Sounds tempting, right? Wrong. Kirill Zaitsev is anything but tempting. Sure, he's tall and broad and muscular in all the right places. And sure, he's richer than several small countries. And yes, fine, his eyes do make me feel loopy, and he does smell like mint and musk, and there's also the way his jaw clenches when he… Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. Bosshole. Dirty secrets. Anyway, all those things sound fine and dandy. For a little while, I thought so, too. Then I learned who Kirill really is—a killer, a tycoon, a mafia don.

I only came to Blackwell Falls to find my missing sister. First on my list of suspects: the notorious Kings of Aventine. Now I'm forced to live with the three men I can't afford to trust. Rock tries to fool me with a soft touch, kind blue eyes, and the nurturing I secretly crave. Brooding, dark-eyed Oscar takes pictures of me when I'm not looking and tempts me with his piercings, inked skin, and honeyed words.