They already killed him, so I know they won’t hesitate to do the same to me. With nowhere to run or hide, I buy a one-way ticket to Milan to audition for Barsetti Lingerie in the hope I can start a new life.

I tell Crow everything I know about the hit on his son. It’s a brief conversation, and I don’t waste my time trying to convince him of the facts. Whether he believes me or not, I couldn’t care less. I fulfilled my obligation to Vanessa. But once I realize Crow and Cane are outnumbered and they’re all going to die in this hit, I have to get involved. I have to risk my life because I know how devastated my baby will be if she loses the men she loves most.

I was fifteen when the Death King came for us. With a mighty black dragon and the ability to command the dead, he raised an army of our fallen soldiers to fight for him—and conquered us in the night. My father, King Laurier of Scorpion Valley, couldn’t stop him. I tried to flee but came face to face with the man in black armor, the man who looked more like a god than a human. Instead of killing me, he chose to show me mercy… but it didn’t feel like mercy. Not when the next ten years of my life are spent as a slave in the Arid Sands, digging for Black Diamonds from sunrise to sunset.

My father has chosen me to succeed him in the family business. But if I want the job, it comes with stipulations. And one of those stipulations is to never mix business with pleasure. AKA, don't sleep with anyone on the job. My father leads by example, and not once have I ever seen him get involved with anyone, not even his beautiful assistant. That was an easy rule to follow...until Axel.

I owe him a debt. A big one. The payment can't be settled with money or favors. He only wants one thing. Me. Every action gets a reward. A button. Once I fill his jar with 365 buttons, he'll let me go. He'll let me walk away. But I have to earn every single one. By submitting to the darkest, cruelest, and most beautiful man I've ever known.