Danila

Danny is not the kind of danger that comes with a reckless driver or a bad habit. He is part of the Russian bratva, a vor v zakone who answers to Nikolai Kalasnikov, the head of Houston's most formidable criminal syndicate.

Not long ago, the narrator and Danny shared a secret kiss that left her reeling. Then he vanished with only a brief goodbye, summoned by his boss to attend to family business. Soon after, someone tried to kill her and her family.

Her father has disappeared, her stepmother is behind bars, and her younger brothers and sisters have been placed in foster care. Loan sharks and Triad gangsters are closing in, and she has never needed Danny more. When he finally returns to town, he discovers her nearly undressed, dancing on a stage for one of his enemies.

His dark, unforgiving stare settles on her and leaves her shaking, her whole body trembling with a desperate longing to be claimed by him. Yet his protection has a steep cost, and once a person has been pulled into the underworld, there is only one way out.