s, and that choking scent of regret that alwa

ace Sera warned her br

ddicted to the thril

g him with a sick knot in her gut. Her fingers curled tighter around the fraying seams of her thrift-store jacket, nails bi

arp like teeth snapping shut. Laughter.

ses. His once-crisp shirt was stained with something dark and dried at the collar. Blood, probably

urred, leaning in, his jaw

looked like he hadn't eaten in two days and had the twit

ping forward. Her boots echoed off th

even glance in

f course

as dying, not when the loan sharks came knocking, and not when Sera begged

hree jobs to k

it all in a

ai

dice with a cocky flick of his wrist. The moment they landed, the air in t

need to see

lread

d l

wouldn't let him walk

Jaxon didn't look

flashy watches. No ove

seat and leaned one elbow o

n laughing too loud suddenly forgot how to breathe. The dice were stil

re watc

dozen silver rings caught the glow of the streetlight-each carved with ancient-looking symbols Sera didn't recogniz

scar. Thin and pale. Surgi

light hit his features fully-

e Mo

he name. E

st mafia. He was the one the other families feared. The one with a rumored kill count higher than most wars.

lty. King

es were true, mor

ps?" he asked, still trying to pretend

was a thing he'd murdered long ago and only

his voice low and smooth, like aged whiskey

cocky again. "You l

te didn

d softly, "you give me s

was a

word deal to hang in

d. "Like wha

again. A fr

a blank line of parchment

remember dec

ook over. Insti

shing through a sea of sneering men and cigar smoke. The stench of cheap whiske

st. She elbowed the drunk bastard hard enough to ma

to stop her

h step louder than the last until she re

fr

oll had alr

rld had go

ent lik

troom just before

le before an executi

eren't just wide; they were hollow. His lips parted slightly, like h

ust failed him. T

of it all hit her che

d l

ai

another Tuesday. No pity. No scolding. Just business. Around the table, the

e scoffed from the shadows. "No

, colder-cut through

ept hi

ently. She opened her mou

them. Not to the threa

king at the c

looking

e Mo

a word since the last ro

th that calm, unreadable expression-

Jaxon

. As if he wasn'

a folded, creased slip of paper, and set it

pulse s

p forward. "Jax. Wha

ans

cked. "Jaxon-

at her. Would

hoarse whisper, "I offer this. A binding

e breathless, frozen

haos e

laughter. Even the de

nked onc

on't you dare," she

on kept

tain pen that Dante had slid across the table without a

, eyes blazing. "Pu

e whispered, b

YOU F**KI

was t

met

his name-slop

did the un

ng breath, he wrote h

hina

stopped. Ju

nd her. The crowd. Th

ing but her heartbeat.

er leg

crates aside. Rage tore through her, hot and sha

h, cowardly

ree. She kicked, elbowed, twisted. Someone hissed as her heel smashed into

y didn'

weighed nothing-like

ght lik

dn't

th

mov

ver needed to rush. He adjusted the cuffs of his black suit. Straightened

because she'd given up-but

a s

right in fr

eath

ould see the faint red

the danger on him-spice, power, an

ed her like a puzzle he a

he s

slow, cruel curve of the li

said softly, his voice

going to b