Family is everything; I always knew my father was a cold, heartless bastard. But the moment he took Elle Castlemaine and her pathetic daughter into our home, barely a month after our mom died, he unleashed something savage inside me. I didn't care they lost their home. Didn't care their father was behind bars. Didn't care he betrayed the notorious Stidda Mafia boss, Benjamin Rossi, and now their lives were in danger.

The first year of college is supposed to be the best time of your life, right? Partying, discovering yourself, getting your heart broken… all that bullcrap. My cousin once told me I had a talent for attracting trouble. And screw me sideways, he was right. Instead of discovering myself, I discovered something much worse. I suck at college. Oh, and I am in love with my rival and former best friend’s boyfriend. I wish I could say that’s the extent of it. But drama and trouble find me everywhere I go. Not only was he my rival and enemy’s boyfriend. He was my stepbrother.

One minute I’m cleaning toilets for minimum wage. The next, I’m waking up from a drug-induced nap with a monster staring down at me. Kidnapped and seconds from death, I think I’m done for. Until masked men burst in, murder my attacker, and turn my world upside down. They call themselves Murder Squad. A secret brotherhood of broken men who only kill the worst of the worst. And one of them thinks I’m his wife.

You want my advice? Never look a gift horse in the mouth. You don’t want to see the rotten teeth. In this case, the gift is a scholarship to attend the prestigious Neveah University. The rotten teeth? Well, they came in the form of my brand new stepbrother and his little cohort of entitled, arrogant best friends. Four dangerously handsome and stupidly wealthy men who made up their minds about me long before we met. Men who are used to getting everything they want no matter what the price.

Welcome to the Lilydale Foundation Center... home of second chances. At least, that's what they tell us it is. It's basically a glorified prison and asylum for the deranged with good alibis. When the police pulled me out of my burning home, along with what was left of my Father, I was deemed broken — even if I was the reason the fire started. So, here I am at my new home. They think they can save us with their fancy facility. But what insane person decided it was a good idea to put a bunch of young, unhinged people together?

Kade Mitchell is obsessed with someone he despises. A snake in an angel’s skin, Stacey Rhodes is everything he can’t forget–the girl who shattered his heart and drove him deep into the darkness of the underworld. He watched her for years. Killed anyone who came close to her. But now, granted a brief moment of freedom from the life he’s trapped in, he’s back home and driven to claim her again, breaking every rule he’s ever made for himself. Not even his hatred can stop the pull between them. But he’ll never forgive her… will he?

I think I always knew I was going to die young. Like I had this… silent, invisible clock ticking down to my final moments plastered above my head. Maybe that’s why I was so reckless, crazy. Why I sought after adventure. Why nothing scared me… Except, there was always this… feeling I couldn’t shake that something was in the darkest parts of every corner, under every bed, closet, or room, like a ghost watching me. Waiting to take me. My own, personal reaper. But it was always only during a lightning storm that I could see the outline of my reaper. No scythe.

They rule my new town, my school, and with more money than God, there’s very little out of their reach. Four gorgeous, perfect, scary boys. There used to be five, but one of them died, leaving a fifth position that I now fill. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be part of this billionaire-boys-club. But no one cares about what I want. Sebastian Beckett is the worst of them. Their leader. He draws me in, and strips me of every defense I have. He calls me Butterfly, but it's not a pet name, it's a threat.

Never let them get you to the second location. Even if that location happens to be a lakeside mansion home to four hot-as-sin men. After years of living in survival mode, I'm finally hitting rewind on the story of my life. There's nothing standing in the way of my bright future at Lake Chapel University. Or so I thought.

Three masked men. One night. One room. One goal. Falling in love is out of the question. Watching my mother die for love only made me want it that much less. When things become too serious with my boyfriend in college, I know it’s time to step back. The only problem is, he doesn’t feel the same. His brand of love is possessive. Fierce. Terrifying. And he’s not afraid to enlist my best friend and my former stepbrother to help him get me back. The plan?

Murderer. Unhinged. Remorseless. Insane. I’ve been called it all while rotting away in a maximum security psych ward, imprisoned for my crimes. When I’m given a chance to escape this hell, it’s an offer I can’t refuse. I’m transferred to Blackwood Institute, purgatory for the dangerous and disturbed. The deal is simple. Complete the three-year experimental program and you’re free to leave. I have no such intentions. People like me; we’re born to die. There’s no life for me out there. I’ll do whatever it takes to end my pitiful existence.

My moral compass is broken. That’s why I need rules. They keep me from killing people I shouldn’t. They keep me from crossing certain lines. I’m possessive. Obsessive. Deviant. And I like to fight. That’s what I see in Tristan when I spot him working in the swanky nightclub. His cool detachment is a mask. He’s angry, he’s lost, and he’s totally new to what he’s feeling. I want to feel that anger.

I know what love is. After witnessing its devastation, I’ve shied away from it, Until Atlas. I never thought I’d ignore the red flags and wave a white one. Surrendering to Atlas in the most delectable way, I didn’t realize he’d been playing me all along Until I found myself at his mercy. They say love can heal all wounds, But what about the scars left behind?

I caught the attention of a monster. I didn’t ask for it. Didn’t even see it coming. But the moment I do, it’s too late. Killian Carson is a predator wrapped in sophisticated charm. He’s cold-blooded, manipulative, and savage. The worst part is that no one sees his devil side. I do. And that will cost me everything. I run, but the thing about monsters? They always chase.

"Do you want some Goldfish crackers, Bliss?" Those were the last words my brother said to me before he was shot execution style. A childhood code only he and I knew, and one that had a single, clear meaning behind it.