Bad Things

Arya Masen has always been the one holding things together. She grew up in the wreckage of an abusive uncle and a father who disappeared behind prison bars, clinging only to her twin brother Henry and the promise that one day, they'd escape. When that day finally comes, Arya believes she's free-an acceptance letter in her hand, a chance to study nursing, and the small hope that she can build something normal for herself at last. But Henry's choices drag them both into a world Arya swore she'd never touch. A world run by men like Zak Crow. Zak isn't a savior. He isn't safe. He's the kind of man people only meet when things are already too far gone, the kind of man you either owe or fear-or both. And yet, from the first moment he storms into Arya's life, breaking down her door with demands and violence trailing close behind him, something shifts. There's danger in his touch, but there's also tenderness. There's chaos in his wake, but there's also the first kind of protection she's ever really known. What begins as survival quickly becomes something else, something Arya can't put into words. Because Zak is the one driving when her heartbeat falters, the one pressing his hands to her chest when her life slips away, the one who won't let her die even when she begs him to let go. Their connection isn't neat, it isn't clean, and it sure as hell isn't safe-but it's real. And for Arya, real might be worth every risk. As loyalties fracture, secrets burn, and blood debts stack higher than anyone can pay, Arya finds herself trapped between the brother who would do anything to save her and the man who might just destroy them both. Every choice she makes pulls her deeper into the fire, but she can't walk away-not from Henry, and not from Zak. Because love isn't always soft. Sometimes it's reckless. Sometimes it's dangerous. Sometimes it's the bad thing you crave most of all.