Rules have always existed when it comes to the South and the North. Hate, kill, death, violence. In no way should anyone from the North have any kind of relation with the South. It goes for all-friendship and more. We call it the Crimson Protocol. Anastasia Romanova is a spy of the North, known as Agent Scarlet. Her only goal? Take down the South-and especially Agent Black, a cunning, sarcastic, brute man. They have been enemies for God knows how long, battling to get the other killed. But things start to get serious when they finally meet up close. Can they continue to say they hate each other when they are undeniably attracted to each other? Yearn for each other? Enemies in denial. And soon, they start to break those rules.

Opal Mailo has a plan: climb the corporate ladder, perfect her appearance, and finally belong in the elite world of high finance. Fixing her teeth is next on her list. Dr. Apollo Merrill is the orthodontist she's paying to make it happen. He's a sunbeam in a white coat--kind, maddeningly unreadable, and far too observant. He notices the things no one else does, sees past her careful polish, and looks at her in a way that feels a little too personal. As Opal's teeth straighten, the rest of her life begins to unravel. The burnout is blinding. The pull towards Apollo is inconvenient. The "perfect" version of herself is starting to look like a stranger. Caught between who she's becoming and who she's always been, Opal begins to wonder if perfection is worth the cost--and if maybe she doesn't need to be flawless to be worthy of love.

Angelina D'Amato was twenty-three and pregnant when Vincenzo went to prison. Twenty-three and terrified that the life he chose would swallow their daughter he didn't know about whole before she even took her first breath. So she had to make a choice. Walk away or watch everything burn. She chose to walk away. Seven years later, 1995 NYC, she's an undercover NYPD agent with a new face and a singular focus. She's to infiltrate the Castellano crime family and take down their Consigliere. The job is dangerous. The target is deadly. And when she sits across from Vincenzo Vitale for the first time as "Marianna Marino," she realizes the worst part isn't the risk of being killed. It's that he still looks at her like she's the only person in the room. Vincenzo Vitale spent seven years building an empire on the ashes of everything he lost. Prison taught him control. Power taught him patience. Being Consigliere taught him that sentiment gets you killed. Angelina broke him, but he had moved on. He turned off his emotions and let the dark mafioso life consume his soul. There was no more room for heartbreak, and he'd learned to live in the dark until she became the light he didn't want. When the blonde woman walked into his world, something about her unravels him in ways he can't explain. She's too smart for her own good. Too familiar in moments that shouldn't feel familiar at all. He tells himself it's attraction or chemistry and nothing more. Until Vincenzo is hit with the realization that she is not some ordinary blonde, but the woman he used to love. Love doesn't always give you a choice. Sometimes it just gives you a reckoning and the knowledge that some people were never meant to be strangers, no matter how hard you tried to make them disappear.

Madelyn Chung is one of the best clinical psychology PhD students Harvard has ever seen - the most controversial, too. After discovering a data fraud conducted by Harvard's star faculty, Dr. Charlotte Shelby, her future career seems uncertain as whispers accuse her of being a burdensome whistleblower. With a potential groundbreaking research project in the line, she is appointed to work with Dr. Alex Manning, Harvard's young neuroscientist and professor who revolutionized several research in his field. A life-changing opportunity for Maddie - but she must deal with the fact that Alex was one of Charlotte's past collaborators, and his career was at stake because of the scandal. Maddie has always been careful when trudging through the endless hours of clinical shifts and research. But when she doesn't know if the longing stares from Alex every time he tries to make her life harder are an indication of hatred, or if they mean something else, she starts to feel unprepared. Because Maddie knows she is a falling star, and if she holds onto the fragile trust between her and Alex too tightly, she will only fall harder.

He needs protection, she needs someone to protect. It's a match made in heaven. Or is it? The one thing he will learn though is to never underestimate a girl with a gun.