The DeAngelis brothers. Men tremble at the sound of their names while women run, their lives flashing before their eyes. They’re the monsters under your bed, the boogeymen in your closet. Every living soul fears them. They’re relentless, and they’re coming to play. They’re the sons of the most notorious mafia boss, the leader of the DeAngelis Family, and they’ve just set their twisted sights on me.

Everything changed the night my dad died. The night I met Saint, Galen, Caz, and Theo. Those manipulative a-holes set out to ruin me after our hot night together, but they didn’t realize you can’t destroy something that’s already broken. And it only works if the victim cares. Which I don’t. Because I’ve been in hell for years, and nothing penetrates the steel walls I’ve erected. Until the Sainthood decides I belong to them and cracks appear in my veneer. Their cruel games, harsh words, and rough touch awakens something inside me, and now, I’m in trouble.

In Fairview Heights, there’s one rule everyone knows. Don’t cross the Black Rose gang. Not if you want to live. My father broke that rule. Now he owes the notorious Black Roses a favor, and to make sure he pays up, they’re taking me as collateral. Until Dad completes whatever job they gave him, three gang members will be my keepers. Sloan, Rory, and Levi. The boss’ son. The man with a secret. The flame from my past. They’re all dominant, cocky, and hot as hell, and I know from personal experience that one of them is a damn good lay.

“Madison Kate Danvers was murdered tonight.” Those words changed my life, and not for the better. They were wrong, of course. I wasn’t dead. But I was set up. After being charged with a string of offences - and made an example of by my political-minded father - I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind. Hate. Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid-out future. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.

Two years ago, a split-second decision changed everything. I risked my life for a man I didn’t even know and nearly died for it. I’ve tried to forget him. To forget that whole night. But he hasn’t forgotten me.

My arranged marriage should have forged an alliance between my fiancé's gang and my father's. It turns out my fiancé had other plans. Like slaughtering my entire family the night before the wedding. I make it out alive, left with nothing but a thirst for vengeance. To crush the prick who betrayed me, I have to turn to the biggest pricks of them all. Hot, cocky, and dangerous, Wylder Noble and his men rule Paradise Bend. If I pass their brutal tests to prove I deserve their help, my ex doesn't stand a chance.

I wasn’t supposed to be at Olympus that night. And I definitely wasn’t supposed to witness a murder - or be caught by the killers. Hades, Apollo, and Ares run the mysterious masked fight club, and they wield more power in this town than I could dream of holding. They destroy my life with one decree: Kora Sinclair doesn’t exist. Sterling Falls was my chance to start over, but one night derails everything. My scholarship, my job - gone. I could run home, but giving up my dreams isn’t an option. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Yeah, I’m the one they talk about. The headmaster’s prized possession, locked away in the bell tower of Notredame Parochial College. To most of the students, I was just a myth. An urban legend. The girl who rings the bells up in the tower, the one who talks to gargoyles.

"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.

Some people wear their heart on their sleeve. I wear vengeance like a suit of armor. I’ve got a list with six names on it. Six people who wronged me, who hurt me, who took everything from me. Six people who turned me into the monster I am now. And I’ve crossed off every name but one.

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.

Bred in a world of gang wars, violence, and secrets, they rule the bloody town of Thorn Valley and all the people in it...too bad for me, I’ve never been good at kissing ass or keeping quiet. Even if their savage spirits awaken something inside of me I thought was long dead, I can’t break. I won’t. They think they scare me, that I’ll run and hide, but the joke’s on them. The Crows aren’t the first monsters I’ve faced, and they won’t be the last. There are worse evils out there waiting to take their stab at Ava Jade Mason. I say, let them try.

Suddenly thrown into a world representing bloodlines I know nothing about, forcing a past I refuse to remember into the present, my world is turned upside down. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t want to go to college; it doesn’t matter that I don’t want to be here. I’ll follow the rules or risk my life. The organization that runs the criminal underworld is no joke.

Featherstone thought they broke me in The Pyramid, but it’ll take more than their half-assed attempts on my life to truly tear me down. As I uncover the secrets and lies that surround me, I'll learn who I can trust. So here I stand. With the loyalty and strength from the Aceholes, I’ll forge my own path. They’ll continue to claim me, crumbling my walls as they go, a clear f--k you to the consequences. Remembering there are good people in this messed up world is easy when Red is around. There are innocent people worth fighting for.

Five years ago, I masterminded the infamous massacre of the Tri-state Timberwolves. The streets outside the Wolves HQ ran red with the blood of the old guard, and not one of those members loyal to my father were spared mercy. Not a single one. I let the media twist and distort the story. My new recruits eagerly proved themselves in spreading false news, in covering our tracks. To the general public, the Tri-State Timberwolves were extinct. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth.