(BOOK 1 Of the QUEENS OF CHAOS SERIES) Isa Valen doesn't believe in restraint. Two weeks ago, she did champagne, a sinfully accented stranger, and a night so consuming she ran before sunrise. She doesn't remember his face. She doesn't remember his name. But her body remembers the way he made it burn. When her sister runs to New York, Isa follows without hesitation. New city. New job. New distractions. Then she meets her boss. Erik Orlov. Billionaire. Bratva Don. A devastatingly gorgeous tattooed man built from control and violence wrapped in tailored suits. The first time he looks at her, something tightens in her chest. The first time he steps close, her pulse betrays her. She doesn't recognize him. He recognizes the curve of her mouth. The sound she made when he touched her. The way she ran. The night she can't remember is the one he hasn't stopped replaying. Now she works beneath him - in his office, in his space, in his world. Every glance lasts too long. Every accidental touch feels deliberate. Every breath between them feels charged. And Erik Orlov does not chase. He claims. Enemies circle his empire. Loyalty fractures. Power shifts. But none of it unsettles him like the woman sitting across his desk, pretending she doesn't feel it too. Until two pink lines appear. Because the only thing more dangerous than their chemistry... Is the secret growing between them. And this time, he won't let her run.

She loved him loudly. He loved her quietly-only when it was convenient. Leah believed two years of love meant security, a future, a place she could finally call hers. Yet, every time it mattered, he chose someone else. A best friend. A familiar comfort. A silence that hurts more than betrayal. This is a story about emotional neglect, unspoken loyalties, and the slow realization that love without priority is a form of loss. It asks a difficult question: How long can you stay where you are never fully chosen?

**SAMPLE ONLY - READ ON KU, EBOOK, OR PAPERBACK** US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GV177BWC UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GV177BWC AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0GV177BWC CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0GV177BWC 𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭. Emerald Sawyer has always been my home. She saw something in me when everyone else saw a hockey goon who could barely read. When the world called me stupid, she called me capable. Her faith built me in ways my father's cruelty never could. Now I'm Hayden "Haymaker" Sawyer-the league's most feared enforcer. My violence goes viral. My fists pay the bills. Every hit, every fight, every autograph, every deal-I told myself I was doing it all for her. Somewhere along the way, I stopped seeing what it was costing our marriage. I let my agent handle the business so I could focus on the game. I ignored the threats and harassment. The fans who hated her simply for being mine. When Emerald tried to show me how cruel it had gotten, I told her it didn't matter. That I would always keep her safe. I was wrong. The losses piled up. The fans turned vicious. My temper snapped, and with one ugly moment, I pushed away the only person who has ever truly loved me. Then, while I was smiling for the cameras, my wife was brutally attacked by a fan wearing my jersey. Now I see everything too late. I want blood from every single person who touched her. And the deeper I dig, the clearer it becomes that none of this was random. My agent, Rick Fox, has been pulling the strings for far too long. I'll do whatever it takes to bring down the people who came for my wife, earn back the woman I love, and prove that this time, I won't fail her again. Because Emerald Sawyer is my home, my heart, my everything.