Some love stories are a slow burn. Others are quick to ignite, scorching, and branding your very soul before you’ve taken that first breath. You’re never given a chance to run from it. That’s how I’d describe what happened to us. Everything around me blurred, and all that existed were his lips, his touch. The chase and the heat between us became addictive.

Sometimes you meet someone - maybe meet isn't the right word. You don't even have say hello for this to happen. You simply pass by them, and everything in your world changes forever. Chills flow all the way from the crook in your neck where you imagine he'd kiss you, all the way down, with only a single glance. I know you know what I'm referring to. The moment when something inside of you ignites to life, recognizing their other half that's been gone for far too long. It burns hot, destroying any hope that it's only a coincidence, and that life will go back to what it was.

At first, his words were harsh and his touch cold. I knew he was a dangerous man and he could destroy me if only he wanted to. That’s not what he wanted though. It’s not what he needed. It’s not what I desired either. It’s so easy to get lost in the touch of a man who’s powerful and unattainable. A man who wants for nothing...except me. Soft touches and stolen glances made my blood heat and my heart beat in a way I never knew it could. Yes, it’s easy to fall into a haze of lust and desire. But there’s a reason his reputation is one of a heartless man.

I ran from him, even though my heart knew better. Love was one thing, but survival another. I should have known he'd come for me. Men like him always get what they want. The temptation in his eyes, the heat of his touch...it's all still there, but his gaze is harsher now and his grasp unrelenting. He's not the boy I fell in love with, although pieces of what we once had are still there. I can feel it. I know what he wants from me, and I know it comes with a steep price. I'll pay it though, if for no other reason than to touch him again.

He enters the car accompanied by a chill from the evening wind and the car rocks gently, until he’s seated behind me and the door is shut. His scent fills my lungs first and as it does, I remember that I’ve been told that smell is the sense that holds the most memory. Maybe I read it somewhere, but I’ve never known something to be truer than that fact is now. 

We were never meant to be together. He’s a bartender with noncommittal tendencies. I’m looking for…the opposite. Commitment. Period. But drinks and a bet led to something it shouldn’t have: a fake relationship. Worse, a first date, a first kiss…and then more. He’s addictive and I can’t bring myself to accept the reality. That it’s all a lie and I’m fooling myself by thinking he could want more. That I could change him. 

From USA Today best-selling author W Winters comes a emotionally-gripping, romantic suspense audiobook. I didn’t need anyone to tell me; I knew he was forbidden with a single glance. He was a boy I should’ve been afraid of, and definitely a boy I should’ve never wanted. No matter how much neither of those statements were true. From the first time I saw him, Sebastian had a hard stare that pinned me in place. And years later, it hasn’t softened. We lived on the same street and went to the same school, but he was a year ahead. Even so close, he was untouchable.  

It started with a kiss. A single kiss that shook me to my core. A kiss to silence me, and a kiss to numb the pain. I took his hand and in turn, he took me away. I thought when we ran away, we’d never have to look back. I was wrong. I think Sebastian knew, and so did I, that he’d be pulled back into this life one day. There was no way we could have gotten our happily-ever-after. Scars don’t ever fully go away, and this sinful place is etched into our flesh.

I own this town. The deals, the cash flow, the corruption - I decide it all. Blood and violence taints everything I claim. She was a constant through it all, and she never knew how badly I needed her. Just a touch would singe and soothe. Just a look would tempt and torment. She was too good for this world. I was too much of a bastard to push her away. She became my escape and my addiction.

Dominic Valetti is only interested in two things: getting paid and getting laid. He's a bookie for the Valetti crime family, and he knows his shit. Dom's busy doing business, no time to dabble in social niceties. The women that chase after him wanting more than a dirty, hard f--k are only gonna get their hearts broken. That is, until Becca stumbles into his office to pay off her ex's debt. A hot brunette who's just as guarded as he is and has a body made for sin...and for him.

Jud Lawson found me stranded in the rain. Broken down on the side of the road in a deserted neighborhood with my piece-of-crap car. I wasn’t looking for a hero, and definitely not one who looks like him. An obscenely hot mountain of a man who screams danger. But I have little choice other than climbing onto the back of his bike.

My husband. My tormentor. The most notorious man in the city offers me a job. Act as his dead wife. Adrian Volkov isn’t the type of person who takes no for an answer. He commands with an iron fist and all his orders are met. When he approaches me with the offer, I have two options. Go to prison or put myself under his wrath. I choose to have a roof over my head. What’s so hard about acting, right? Wrong. The moment I step into his wife’s shoes, everything spirals out of control. My only way of survival is through Adrian. Or is it?

The Sebastians own this city. Hell, they own the whole world. All I want is one little piece of it, a corner that I can call my own. So when my boss runs away to “find herself”, I seize the opportunity and dive head first into the Sebastian’s glamorous universe. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted - fast paced and high stakes - and, even though I don’t fit in, I’m excellent at faking it. Until I come face-to-face with the man in charge, Scott Sebastian, the arrogant playboy heir with the mind of a devil and the body of a god and a mouth I can’t stop thinking about.

He was the talented bad boy everyone wanted. I was the irrelevant geek everyone hated. He was the sun...drawing all of us in. I was a black hole...taking up space. He was destined to be a star. I was destined to remain an insignificant no one. Until he made me believe I was special...and then he destroyed me. I never thought I'd see Phoenix Walker again after he broke my heart, but fate had other plans. One tour. Eight weeks. Forty shows. Countless opportunities to make him pay. The world thought he was a god...but I know the truth.

Being in the Guild is our life…or death. Not everyone is created equal, and not everyone is truly cut out for the work we do. It’s not pretty, it’s not glamorous, and it’s sure as shit not moral or good. The weight of the sins we carry can become too much for some, and they crack. When they do, they become a threat. No one quits the Guild. Not really. Either they cut a deal to make themselves useful in another capacity, or they get eliminated. But who, you might ask, can kill a killer? Who scares the boogeyman into running and hiding? Men like me.