The Heir of Al Bay

When eighteen-year-old Adriela Barclay's estranged father dies, she inherits everything he left behind-including his vast criminal empire and the power that comes with it. Determined to escape the dangerous world he built, Adriela spends four months in hiding. But eventually she realizes that running will never make her safe. If she wants to protect herself and her mother, she must return to Al Bay and claim what is hers.

The city, however, has changed in her absence.

For decades, the West and East gangs have fought for control of Al Bay, their rivalry held in check only by an ancient code enforced by Adriela's father. Now that she has inherited his empire, both gang leaders are forced to acknowledge her authority. Sage Korden, the ruthless and unpredictable leader of the West, refuses to make things easy for her. Owen Dallas, the charming and manipulative leader of the East, prefers to hide his threats behind a smile. Neither man is willing to submit to an eighteen-year-old girl-and neither seems entirely opposed to testing just how far they can push her.

As Adriela struggles to establish herself among men who expect her to fail, she discovers that ruling her father's empire requires more than money and a famous name. It requires alliances, deception, and sometimes blood. With powerful politicians and corrupt officials watching her every move, a new police captain determined to bring the gangs down, and tensions between Sage and Owen threatening to ignite another war, Adriela has little room for mistakes.

And then someone murders the former police chief in a brutal display that looks unmistakably like a gang message.

Suddenly, Adriela has another question to answer: **who is trying to turn Al Bay against itself-and what did her father know before he died?**

To survive, Adriela must become the ruler everyone expects her to be without losing the person she once was. But in a city where loyalty has a price and power is written in blood,