milksandwhiches
Night City has a way of swallowing people whole.
Valerie never planned on sticking around. An ex-Nomad who left the Bakkers behind, she's spent the last year carving out a name for herself the only way she knows how-behind the wheel of a stolen Quadra, in underground street races, bare-knuckle boxing rings, and the city's deadliest mercenary contracts. Fast, stubborn, and fiercely independent, she's survived by trusting no one but herself.
Detective River Ward lives by a different code. As one of the few honest cops left in the NCPD, he's spent years chasing criminals through a city that rewards corruption and buries good people. Their first meeting should have been their last-a stranded racer on the side of the highway and the detective who offered her a ride. Since then, they've found themselves on opposite sides of the law more than once, each encounter ending with sharper words and greater distance between them.
But when an influential political couple hires Valerie to investigate the suspicious death of Night City's former mayor, she's forced into an uneasy partnership with the very detective she's been trying to avoid.
The deeper they dig, the more dangerous the conspiracy becomes. Every lead uncovers another lie. Every answer paints a larger target on their backs. As powerful enemies close in, Valerie and River must decide whether they can trust each other long enough to uncover the truth-or if the city will tear them apart before either of them has the chance.
In Night City, loyalty is expensive, trust is dangerous, and falling in love might be the deadliest risk of all.