I’ve been in hiding for four years. On the run from the man in whose bed I once slept. I saw something I shouldn’t have seen. Took something I shouldn’t have taken. And he’s just found me. But it’s not just my safety I have to worry about. I have a little boy. His little boy. The secret baby of a Russian mobster.  

She was never supposed to walk into my club. But she did. I shouldn’t have looked twice at her. But I did. The criminal underworld is no place for a girl like her. One night with Katerina isn’t enough, but men like me can’t afford to be weak. So, I tell her to leave me behind. She does, but not before she sees something she shouldn’t. When she goes into hiding, it’s my duty to hunt her down. I have a job to do, and she needs to disappear for good. But four years later, Kat isn’t alone anymore. And the little boy right beside her looks just like me. 

He’s a notorious crime lord, a kidnapper, and an artist. Scarification is his outlet, and he just captured a new canvas. Kate refuses to surrender beneath his blade or the cruelty in his beautiful eyes. But she’s drawn to the man inside the monster. A man who makes her ache with his touch. Who owns her with his kiss. A man who worships her as deeply as he hurts her. She can run, but there’s no escape from a bond carved in scars. 

Stefan Sabbioni showed up uninvited in my bedroom on my 16th birthday. He stood in the shadows, smelling of whiskey and death and wrapped a broken, blood-crusted necklace around my neck. I thought he’d strangle me with it. That night, he left a message for my father. He said he’d be back to take something precious. I never delivered that message, though. I wonder if things would be different if I had because now, two years later, he’s back. And he’s not hiding in any shadows.

I was sold like property on the day of my father’s funeral. I’d thought his death would set me free, but I’d never truly understood what it meant to have all my freedoms stripped away. Until that day, I’d been living in a child’s fantasy. Then, my brother sells me, and I don’t have the luxury of being a child anymore. I’m taken to Vicente Rodríguez’s estate, to be kept as his plaything. When I’m old enough, he’ll claim my innocence.

We're a match made in hell, Stefan and I. He took me to exact his revenge. I went from being a pawn to my father to being a pawn to Stefan. The only difference is I have a ring the size of a boulder on my finger and a husband I don't want. And the hardest part is I thought he was different. I thought I was falling in love. I guess my father was right. I'm not a very smart girl. Stefan is a powerful man. He doesn't play nice, not if you're his enemy. But I've learned one thing about my husband.

I don't know what I was thinking when I hired someone to attack me. Maybe I was bored, or lonely, or there was a void so deep inside of me that I needed something explosive to fill it. It was supposed to be safe. A thrill. A way to break through the monotony of everyday life. It was an illusion of danger that I could walk away from as soon as it was over. Except that it wasn't.

Once upon a cold, dark night, a Russian killer stole me from an alley. I’m dangerous, but he is lethal. I escaped once. He won’t let me do it twice. The revenge is his. The betrayal is mine. But so are the lies to protect the ones I love. We’re cut from the same twisted cloth. Both merciless. Both damaged. In his embrace, I find hell and heaven, his cruelly tender touch destroying and uplifting me at once. They say a cat has nine lives, but an assassin has just one. And Yan Ivanov now owns mine.

This is the third book in Goddess Isles. There was hate once. Hate born from dangerous attraction and fate’s cruel design. There was love once. Love destined to kill us if we didn’t surrender to our war.

New York Times best seller Pepper Winters brings a new Dark Romance Series to life. This is the second book in Goddess Isles. “There was a monster once. A monster who bought me, controlled me, and took away my freedom. There was a man once. A man who dealt in myth and secrets, hiding behind his mask, making me hunger and wish to know the truth.” 

Sophia Cova lived a quiet, normal life, shadowed in sadness after the loss of her parents in a tragic airline accident. With her older brother being her only living relative and her anchor, Sophia is sure she’s destined for a brighter future. But that was before she was taken. Stolen from her mundane, orderly life, she was drugged and woke to every woman’s worst nightmare. 

I rescued Sabrina from a mafia bloodbath when she was 13. As the new head of the Philly syndicate, I sent her to the best schools to keep her as far away from the life - and me - as possible. It worked perfectly. Until she turned 18. Until she came home. Until I realized that the timid girl was gone and in her place lived a smart mouth and a body that demanded my attention. I promised myself I'd resist her, for her own good.... I lied.

I'm Vanessa Barsetti, the daughter of the infamous Crow Barsetti. My father taught me how to fight. If a man lays a hand on me, I'll put him in his grave. As a Barsetti, I'm proud, stubborn, and don't take nonsense from anybody. I walk home from a bar and take the wrong path. And witness a brutal crime. The murderer won't let me go. He's handsome, lethal, and terrifying. With tattoos on his forearms and a presence full of threat, he's a shade of evil I've never encountered. And then he tells me the most terrifying thing of all. His name is Bones.

Instead of handing me back to Lucian so Balto can get everything he wants, he keeps me. He pledges to fight for me until I'm free. But as the weeks pass, freedom isn't as appealing as it used to be. This place has become my home. This man is my home. I'm not sure if I'd ever want to leave...even if Lucian was dead.

Bones is a man I despise. He gives bad blood a whole new definition. But he's not exactly who I thought he was. Maybe men can change. But it doesn't matter how I feel about him. My father would never approve. He'd never let me love a man like him.