Blurb
For years, Jared has existed on the fringes of both Eden
society and Dallas O'Kane's Sector Four gang. He travels between these worlds,
protected by his money and power--money he earned selling his body, and power
that comes from knowing secrets. He's untouchable—until he starts a new life
gathering intelligence for the O'Kanes.
Lili Fleming walked out of Sector Five with a gun, the
bloodstained clothes on her back, and an icy determination to survive. She
finds herself in a world where people live hard and love harder, and nothing's
more terrifying than how much the O'Kanes wake her up, make her feel—especially
Jared.
Emotion is a risk he can't afford, and a complication she
doesn't need. But neither can resist the lust simmering between them, and the
sparks that could either melt the ice around both their hearts…or get them
killed. Because the only thing more dangerous than loving an O'Kane is loving a
spy.
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Teaser
Goodreads
Buy Links
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Barnes&Noble
iBookstore
Kobo
ARe
Teaser
Excerpt
“So
how long have you been spying for Dallas?”
Cruz’s casual words
startled Jared enough to throw him off balance. He almost missed blocking the
man’s next blow, and wood scraped over wood as their staffs collided.
Jared spun around and
tried to recover his composure. As tactics went, this one was murderously
lethal—throw out something shocking, as boldly as possible, then take advantage
of your opponent’s distraction to strike your killing blow.
“You’re a good
soldier,” he murmured, tightening his fingers around his weapon. The staff was
solid red oak—deadly and perfectly balanced. “I bet you’re an even better
interrogator.”
“Not really.” Cruz
planted his staff on the floor and met Jared’s gaze squarely. “My psych
evaluations were consistently disappointing. I’ve always been burdened with an
overabundance of empathy. The Base has plenty of soldiers not operating with
that particular handicap.”
“I’ll keep that in
mind.” Wiping his face with his arm did fuck-all to clear Jared’s vision,
because every inch of his bare skin was dripping with sweat. He could make it
through a solid hour of forms, no problem, but sparring with Cruz was a far
more intense workout. “What gave me away?”
“Nothing obvious.”
Cruz shrugged one big shoulder. “I doubt anyone else will notice. But I know a
lot of people inside Eden, so I hear the gossip. And I watch you.”
“Good to know.” He
made a rush, swinging one end of his staff up toward Cruz’s unprotected side.
Cruz pivoted smoothly, his block effortless, his movements lazy as he flipped
into a counterattack that pushed Jared back.
His next words were
just as casual, just as easy. “I haven’t talked to Dallas about it. I figured
if he wanted me to know, he’d have told me. Unless something was stopping him.”
“Not letting it go?
Fine.” Jared tossed his staff aside with a sigh, and it clattered to the floor.
“Ace can’t find out. That needs to be a promise.”
Cruz hesitated only a
moment before nodding. “The fewer who know, the safer you are. But I need to know. If something goes wrong,
I’m the one most likely to be able to get you out.”
“Bren’s on it.”
“Bren doesn’t have my
connections.”
“Really, now?” So,
quiet Cruz was the one with the friends in high places. “I’m impressed.”
“I can’t use them for
information, not the kind Dallas needs. But if you get in trouble…” Cruz’s
expression stayed serious. “Don’t underestimate how far I’ll go to protect
Ace’s heart.”
Not just a promise,
but a warning. “You took the words right out of my mouth. Which is why you need
to stay the fuck out of it.”
“I’m not going to
trip you up at fancy parties—or your new club. But you need to check in with us
regularly.” Cruz swept up Jared’s abandoned staff and tossed it to him. “And I
need to make sure you can kill a man with whatever’s handy.”
“Your newest project,
huh?”
“I don’t want to get
too soft living in all that O’Kane luxury.”
It wasn’t the high
living on Dallas’s compound that was bringing out all of Cruz’s latent
protective instincts—and that was exactly what this was, no matter how he tried
to spin it. No, it was all that time he’d spent curled up between Ace and
Rachel.
Caring. Once you let
go and let yourself do it, it got to be a habit.
Jared kept his mouth
shut for a few minutes, focusing instead on the careful coordination of his
breathing and his muscles and the weapon in his hands, all moving in concert.
But the words spilled forth anyway.
“It’s not so
different,” he panted. “In my bedroom, or in a bar. Half the time, all I do is
wait for them to say things they already want to say.” That much he understood
now—the compulsion born of secrecy, how silence was its own sort of prison. The
relief that came with being able to tell someone, anyone, all those things you
were supposed to keep locked up.
“People want to be
heard.” Cruz wasn’t as breathless, but he wasn’t moving so smoothly now,
either. He blocked Jared’s advance only inches from his ribs and broke away to
regain space to maneuver. “The bar’s a good idea. Eden’s elite are getting
bored and reckless.”
Bored was one of Jared’s longstanding
clients tripling her number of monthly visits. Reckless was the time she brought two friends with her, both the
wives of powerful, devout men. Of true believers.
Bored and reckless.
Separately, they made people dangerous. But together? Bored and reckless had
toppled empires.
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