~The SEQUEL to 'Alex's Girl' is finally here~ It has been seven years since the events of 'Alex's Girl', where Alexis Sterling loved then lost Valerie Greco, a troubled but selfless young woman who managed to sneak her way into Alex's heart when she wasn't looking. Though Alex still misses Val every day, she has tried to move on with her life. She has become an emergency room doctor, she's moved into a beautiful new home, and she's even made some new friends. She also spends a lot of her time witnessing firsthand the ripple effect her actions seven years ago have caused her beloved city, with mob violence growing increasingly out of control and the hospitals quickly filling to capacity with more and more victims. Tensions are high as the Costa crime family are more powerful than they have ever been before, bringing the city to its very knees. And to make matters worse, Alex has unwittingly befriended the daughter of her most hated enemy, Ciro Costa, the man responsible for Val's death. The Grecos, on the other hand, have been laying low the last seven years, their illegal operations mostly cloaked in shadows... that is... until now. The Grecos are back, and they're back with a vengeance that demands blood. Their sudden comeback as a powerhouse crime family has Alex asking, how? Or perhaps the question she should be asking is, who?

"Are you... lost?" Someone asked, her tone impatient. I stopped scanning the room to find the woman behind the voice. I blinked. She had the most luminous blue eyes I had ever seen. Even in the dim glow of the bar they glowed brightly, like her pupils were some type of smooth stone at the bottom of a clear blue ocean. Within her blue there flickered tiny speckles of silver, which gave her an icy, somewhat stony appeal. But it was her slight, lopsided smile that erased any signs of wanting to be alone. No wonder this bar was so popular. "Uh, no," I said, holding up the Help Wanted sign I had snagged from the front window. The woman's cool eyes flickered between the sign and me. She didn't say anything, only looked slightly thoughtful as slender fingers raked through her long blonde hair. "What can you do?" She finally asked, definitely not expecting me to be able to do much of anything at all. She'd be right. "Anything and everything," I answered-lied-instantly, hoping I didn't look too desperate, didn't sound too eager. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't worked a day in my life. My hands were used to weekly manicures not hard labor. But desperate times call for desperate measures. The blonde appeared thoughtful again. Those magnificent eyes gave me a once over, slow and steady. You could see the cogs turning in her head as she considered it. I decided to try and sound more convincing. "I have many skills," I added. Okay, so I stole that from Xena, but I was hoping it worked as well for me as it did for her. The blonde lifted a sculpted brow and the smile was, once again, back on her lips. She seemed amused. Maybe she was a Xena fan? "Alright... I'll start you off cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping the floors, doing the dishes..." Crap.

To 18 year old Emma Slater, New York, England, is her whole life. It's where she grew up, the streets she played on, the streets she learnt to walk on, the streets she rode her first bike on. It's home. But it's also the streets where she dealt drugs. The streets where her gambling almost got her killed. The streets where she fell in love with Elise Elderflower, the beautiful art teacher she was sure had been sent from hell to tip her over the edge, sending her spiralling into a black abyss. Until one day, Elise disappears. Twenty years later, they meet again. -- ❝𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘌𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. ❞ --