On the surface, the world glitters with all things only money can buy. My thoughts should be on the danger lurking beneath the surface. The money and power come from places and dealings the world pretends don't exist. I'm here at this debutante ball as a representative of the new Sparrow underworld. The clock is ticking as alliances are formed and enemies eliminated. There isn't time to be distracted, and yet I catch a glimpse of the stunning woman across the room.

Within the underbelly of one of America’s largest cities lives a world where a man’s word is either his most valuable tool or his most respected weapon. When my father ruled that world and that city, he promised me someone who would one day make my reign complete. Since that day long ago, Araneae McCrie has been mine. She just didn’t know. My father is now gone. The city and the underbelly are now mine. The time has come for me to collect who was promised to me, to shred her life of secrets and make her who she’s always been - mine.

With danger lurking around every corner and my life turned upside down, I struggle with who to believe and who to trust. Can my heart convince my mind that what was bound long ago is where I’ll find love, safety, and security? Or are the memories simply an illusion?

To the world, I no longer exist. The life I live occurs outside the third dimension - a memory, a ghost, the boogeyman, or perhaps simply a figment of the imagination. When I’m passed on the street, there is no connection. No eye contact. I’m the one whose presence leaves a cold chill of uncertainty, quickly erased by minds who don’t want to acknowledge that men like me exist. On the dark web, I’m known as Kader, and for the right price, I will do what others can’t or won’t.

Everything changed the night our eyes met across the room. His green gaze upon me prickled my skin with uncustomary warmth while my peek beneath his cuff - of a riot of color on his wrist - sparked my insatiable curiosity. Tall and mysterious, Kader was a man whose secrets I longed to know. Little did I realize that the night we met was only the beginning - the beginning to the end of the existence I knew. What will happen as his assignment becomes our obsession?

Julia and Van found one another in a shaken snow globe. Stranded in a blizzard, they embraced being two individuals with no last names. The plan was to walk away from each other with no regrets - until that plan changed. Julia’s life was delivered a staggering blow the day she discovered her fiancé’s infidelity. The night she met a handsome stranger, one who showed her the possibility of a life filled with more than the fulfillment of expectations, she took a chance.

Years ago, a fight for supremacy took place between the two most powerful families in New Orleans. The battle was set in the metaphoric octagon, with the spotlight blazing. The city sat in paralyzed fear, awaiting word of a victor. Abraham Rames versus Isaiah Boudreau. One man would emerge victorious and rule the city of sin. Neither understood that the devil was in the details. Neither lived to see the rising sun. I’m Everett Rames, son of Abraham, and I am the devil. I took my rightful place as king of New Orleans.

Damien Sinclair is a force of nature, the beauty of a sunset over the ocean while capable of devastating hurricane-strength winds. At one time, he’d held my heart in his hands. That was until the day I walked away. I didn’t leave him because I didn’t love him. It was that loving him was too much, an all-encompassing affair. In his presence, I failed to exist.

Men like me aren’t saviors, and that isn’t my assignment. My mission is to find the daughter of one of the most powerful men in New York, in the country, and maybe the world. Find her and deliver her to her family’s rival. Cecilia Abernathy has been kidnapped. All I have to do is exchange her current hell for another. And then I can walk away and claim my reward. Has my taste of freedom made me willing to sell my soul for a kingdom?

Duncan Willis is sexy and confident, the kind of man every woman notices. You know, the one with the to-die-for body. And then there's the way his designer suits drape over his broad shoulders and big...well, we've all heard the rumors, the ones that say he's up for any challenge. Men like him don't notice women like me, and they don't date them. Until that one time that I catch him in a compromising position when I'm also in need of a last-minute date for a wedding...and then it's not a real one, simply a plus-one. It's blackmail.

Sara Adams awakes blind, unable to remember the most basic details of her life, but her darkness seems a blessing when she discovers the terrors of The Light. Stella Montgomery investigates the news from the mean streets of Detroit, where she's noticed a disturbing trend: Young women are vanishing. When her best friend disappears, Stella digs for answers - despite warnings from her police detective boyfriend - following a twisted trail that leads her through the city's most dangerous and forsaken precincts.

Lena Montgomery’s time and energy is spent making her dreams of wealth and power a reality, no matter who she leaves in her wake. She’s taken risks, climbed the ladder, and doesn’t intend to take a step back. Her hardline is involving herself with employees, and the last thing on her mind is blurring the lines with a man 12 years her junior. As danger nears, it’s not her mind that wants to break her own rule; it’s her body. What happens when the lines are blurred?

New Orleans belongs to me. You don't know my name, but I control everything you see - and all the things you don't. My reach knows no bounds, and my demands are always met. I didn't need to loan money to a failing family distillery, but it amuses me to have them in my debt. To have her in my debt. She doesn't know she caught my attention. She should've been more careful. I'm going to own her. Consume her. Maybe even keep her. It's time to collect what I'm owed.

They say a soul mate only comes along once. I believe it, too. I had my chance, but it slipped away. Each day a little more of myself dies, but I pretend I’m fine. That is until I see him - the man who makes me feel alive - Garrick Shaw. Something within me changes. It’s unavoidable and unlike anything I’ve ever known. And it scares me, terrifies me. But there’s another danger lurking around the corner. Someone is conspiring to take it all away. Who are they? What do they want? Why are they after me?

Holt Sebastian is royalty in our world. As CEO of the Sebastian News Corp, he’s the man with all the power. The man who decides if I’ll always just be a local television anchor or if I’ll be the rising star of my own show.

I’ve made my mark and proven my loyalty to a man, a city, and a way of life. That loyalty has provided me with all the spoils of success. For the longest time, that hasn’t included a woman at my side. There is only one beauty that can bring my untapped desire to life. I shouldn’t have opened the door. Cracking open the stone and striking the flint is my doing. What follows is hers. With something so intense, will this spark lead to a blazing inferno? Will we make it out of the ashes before everything I hold dear is ravaged?

Within the underbelly of one of America’s largest cities lives a world where a man’s word is either his most valuable tool or his most respected weapon. When my father ruled that world and that city, he promised me someone who would one day make my reign complete. Since that day long ago, Araneae McCrie has been mine. She just didn’t know. My father is now gone. The city and the underbelly are now mine. The time has come for me to collect who was promised to me, to shred her life of secrets and make her who she’s always been - mine.

On the surface, the world glitters with all things only money can buy. My thoughts should be on the danger lurking beneath the surface. The money and power come from places and dealings the world pretends don't exist. I'm here at this debutante ball as a representative of the new Sparrow underworld. The clock is ticking as alliances are formed and enemies eliminated. There isn't time to be distracted, and yet I catch a glimpse of the stunning woman across the room.

To the world, I no longer exist. The life I live occurs outside the third dimension - a memory, a ghost, the boogeyman, or perhaps simply a figment of the imagination. When I’m passed on the street, there is no connection. No eye contact. I’m the one whose presence leaves a cold chill of uncertainty, quickly erased by minds who don’t want to acknowledge that men like me exist. On the dark web, I’m known as Kader, and for the right price, I will do what others can’t or won’t.

Years ago, a fight for supremacy took place between the two most powerful families in New Orleans. The battle was set in the metaphoric octagon, with the spotlight blazing. The city sat in paralyzed fear, awaiting word of a victor. Abraham Rames versus Isaiah Boudreau. One man would emerge victorious and rule the city of sin. Neither understood that the devil was in the details. Neither lived to see the rising sun. I’m Everett Rames, son of Abraham, and I am the devil. I took my rightful place as king of New Orleans.