Beneath Your Skin [H.S]

"I know exactly what you like."

I swallowed, my throat dry despite the whiskey. "And what does that have to do with your secret?"

His lips curved, the faintest hint of a smirk. "Because I think you want someone who can push back."

The heat in my stomach curled tighter, and I hated that too. Hated that he was reading me too easily, hated that I couldn't tell if he was just playing or if he really understood. "That's not much of a secret," I said smoothly, keeping my voice even. "Anyone could guess that."

"Maybe," Harry mused, his fingers toying with the rim of his glass. "But I don't think just anyone could keep up with you."

I narrowed my eyes, my body betraying me with the way it leaned just slightly closer. "And you think you can?"

He didn't answer right away. He just held my gaze, letting the anticipation stretch, letting the weight of it settle between us. Then, finally, his smirk deepened.

"I guess that depends," he murmured, his voice dropping to something dark. "Are you gonna let me find out?"

//

August Paisley was born into bloodshed. As the daughter of Brooklyn's most ruthless mafia leader, she's spent her life sharpening her edges, knowing that love is a liability and trust is a death sentence. With enemies circling and war on the horizon, she has no time for distractions-especially not the kind that comes in the form of sharp-tongued, brooding, Harry Styles.

Harry is everything she should hate. The son of her family's greatest enemy. A man raised on the promise of destruction. Their worlds are built on blood feuds and old grudges, and there's no future where the two of them walk away unscathed. But when their paths collide, what starts as a battle of wit and fire turns into something else-something intoxicating, something inevitable. Falling for him is a mistake that cost her everything. Her life. But in a war where nothing is certain, letting him go might be the most dangerous thing of all.