Bruised and abused, and victim to a loveless household, I shimmered with new life the moment he found me drowning my sorrows in a lake beneath the stars. A chance encounter. An unspoken connection. I was smitten. He was curious. But, as everyone knew, fate could be decidedly cruel. He called me Halley, like the comet. I called him Reed. And my best friend? Well… she called him Dad.

There’s something uglier that has been haunting me for years upon years. So ugly that I have never seen its face. I never had to. I’d hear his whispers through my internal screams, feel his shadow brush against my nightmares. He was my monster that tormented me. And maybe lived under your bed.... When I started Midnight Mayhem, his presence faded. His whispers were silenced. His shadow dissolving without a trace. I wondered why that was.

Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

In the dark underbelly of the mob, Tristan Caine has been an anomaly. As the only non-blooded member in the high circle of the Tenebrae Outfit, he is an enigma to all. His skills are unparalleled, his morality is questionable, and his motives are unknown. He is lethal and he knows it. As does Morana Vitalio, the genius extraordinaire daughter of the rival family. What Caine does with weapons, Morana does with computers. When a twenty-year-old mystery resurfaces, Morana infiltrates Caine's house, intent on killing him, unaware of a tie that binds them together.

Three years ago, Jacob Price walked away. After a whirlwind steamy affair, my father's best friend broke my heart. He told me things were too complicated. Messy. Wrong. That we could never be together. I knew he loved me, but the fear of ruining our family was too great. With too much at stake, he sacrificed our hearts and ended it. Now, he's back, and he still wants me. He still loves me. But now, I'm engaged to another man.