Running away from home at 17 wasn’t easy. Let’s face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I’m doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people’s way, off people’s minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I’m none of those things. I’m intrigued—and I’m wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him. Nero The first time I took a man’s life, I knew there’d be no going back, no normal existence in the cards for me. Instead of walking away, I climbed a mountain of bodies and created my own destiny by forming The Alliance. And I was fine with that, content enough to carry on. Until I stepped through those open doors, and into her life. I should’ve walked away. Should’ve gone right back out the door I came through. But I didn’t. And now her life is in danger. That’s the thing about being a bad man. I’ll happily paint the streets red to protect what’s mine. And Payton is mine. Whether she knows it or not.