18+ Content Warning! *Completed* "If you tell me information on where my brother is, you'll both be free." He looks between us, his eyes dark. "Otherwise I'm going to take Dove upstairs and I'm going to fuck her." *** One night, Dove sneaks away. Deep in an unfamiliar pack, she attends the grandest party of the year hosted by the notorious Alpha Varian. There she in indulges in a night of sin at his hand, experiencing pleasure unlike anything she has felt before. However, Dove is the daughter of her own Alpha's war advisor. An Alpha she has had a torrid affair with for months, and who is Alpha Varian's enemy. When Alpha Varian's forces invade her home pack, she is whirled back into his clutches, where she learns the price of pleasure, and the inescapable bond forming between a man who is supposed to be her enemy.

New Orleans isn't just a city-it's a pulse. A rhythm. A hunger. And nobody knows that better than Arielle Washington, a tired single mother grinding just to make rent in the Desire Projects. Love left her a long time ago, replaced with diaper bags, house keys, and survival. That is, until a new housekeeping job drops her into the home-and world-of ICE the most dangerous man in the streets. ICE doesn't do mess. Doesn't do feelings. But there's something about Ari-her fire, her silence, her scars-that draws him in. And when business gets bloody and loyalties are tested, the line between protector and predator blurs. Because in the Dirty South, nothing comes clean... not even love.

"Tell me, Gianna," he says her name like a caress and a threat combined. "Were you disappointed?" He steps closer. Invasive. Possessive. "That I wasn't fighting? That you didn't get to see the Devil play?" His hand leaves her hair to trace her jawline-that same touch from before, the one that made her breath catch. "Because I don't fight for entertainment," he breathes, thumb brushing the corner of her mouth. "I fight when something is worth fighting for. When something is worth taking." His eyes burn into hers. "And I'm trying to decide, kotyonok..." The hand on her jaw tightens just slightly. "Are you worth the war I'd start to keep you?" They say the devil doesn't come with horns. He comes with power, legacy, and a smile that promises ruin. At Halgrave University, last names are weapons and secrets are currency. This is a world built for monsters-heirs raised on violence, dominance, and control. And at the center of it all stands Nikolai Vetrova-cold, untouchable, and feared even by those born into darkness. He was never meant to notice her. She was never meant to survive him. What begins as hostility turns into obsession. What feels like hate bleeds into desire. And the closer she gets, the more she realizes-loving him isn't dangerous. Surviving him is. Because some men don't fall in love. They claim. They ruin. And once the devil touches you, he never lets go. He is the Future Pakhan of the Bratva While she is the Cosa Nostra Princess. [Book #1 in House of Halgrave Series] ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This book contains dark romance themes, explicit sexual content (smut), violence, blood, weapons, criminal activities, morally grey characters, depictions of self-harm, PTSD, trauma responses, and emotionally intense scenes. Reader discretion is strongly advised.