La Lune Noire has a pulse. It rules apart from its owners. Backroom deals and electro swing. Extravagant parties and bootlegger tunnels. The walls have secrets. The doors have codes. Ashes and lies. White oak and screams. Champagne and delusions. Hope is the gateway to hell.

Ryker:

The house always wins. Unless it’s concerning Mercy Phillips. My brothers and I own La Lune Noire, a resort and casino that caters to the criminal underworld. To them, we’re kings. To her, I’m the friend she left behind. Some say absence makes the heart grow fonder. For me, it bred obsession. Three years searching. One offer she can’t refuse. Countless rolls of possibilities. Cognac. Contracts. Coming home. And someone lurking in the shadows, playing us all. But the house will win again. She’s always been mine.

Mercy:

That’s not even my name anymore. Much less who I am.

Other than my precious baby boy, only shards remain of that girl. Scars from a monster. Until Ryker Noire—my best friend and a reminder of the worst night of my life—breezes into town with a tempting proposition. Three years running. One haunting phone call. Countless reasons to stay away. But the choice isn’t mine. What a Noire wants, a Noire gets. No matter the battle, hope is the last thing to die.