Ronan Sinclair was never meant to survive his inheritance.
Born into an empire of power, corruption, and blood money, he's spent his entire life drowning in the weight of his father's expectations. He is the heir, the ghost, the man who doesn't know who he is beyond the war waged for control over him.
In the ring, he fights for survival. In boardrooms, he fights for his freedom. And in the spaces between, he fights against the two men who threaten to break him in ways he's never prepared for.
Alec Hawthorne-his father's most loyal soldier. Ruthless, disciplined, and the only man Ronan has ever trusted to stand between him and the fire.
Killian Royce-the Reaper of the underground, an empire of his own making, a man with bloodied fists and a smile that cuts deeper than any knife.
Loyalties shift. Tensions ignite. Secrets unravel. As lies rise to the surface and betrayal slithers in the dark, the three of them are caught in a brutal game of control, longing, and ruin. And when a fake paternity test threatens to destroy everything Ronan thought he knew, the tangled threads of their lives tighten into a noose.
There are no heroes in this story.
No winners in a war where love is just another kind of violence.
Because in the end, they will destroy each other-
Until it kills them all.
🔥 A dark LGBTQ+ psychological thriller with a slow-burning, sharp-edged romance, tangled loyalties, and characters who love as fiercely as they destroy. 🔥
ONC 2025 Challenge!!
Using prompts:
Prompt 52. Let's play the game of colors: you paint me red because you love me, and I'll paint you black because I want you gone.
Prompt 48. A fake paternity test threatens to tear apart the family you've built, as an imposter seeks to claim your rightful place as heir.
Prompt 45. It's your big day - everything is falling into place - but why does your hot, irresistible enemy seem to think he's won?
Prompt 31. Next time, ask yourself if your integrity can withstand the truth.
Eli Ackermann has always lived a very normal and boring life despite the fact he's always stood out, different for all the wrong reasons. Jewish, mentally ill and a bit too close with his friend Peter Printz for society's comfort, he's been an outcast since Hitler came to power in the 30s.
As the years pass and the political situation in Germany worsens, Eli and Peter grow more involved in underground resistance groups to the Nazis where people like them are not outcasts anymore, but are welcomed with open arms. But war looms on the horizon and more and more of their friends are disappearing and never returning. A new struggle lies around every corner.
Warning: this book contains sensitive material and adult language and themes. I am not trying to be insensitive in any way but I acknowledge this was an undeniably tragic time and themes in this book are not to be taken lightly. If you feel I am being insensitive at any point, please let me know.
Trigger warnings for: gore, alcohol, mental illness, physical and emotional abuse, racism, anti-semitism, homophobia, discrimination, use of slurs, sexual abuse and rape, self harm, mentions of suicide, suicide ideation and direct references to suicide, death, major character death.
Cover edited by me
Highest ranking: #20 in original story