"I want to look into your beautiful brown eyes, and see that sweet bewilderment as I stand above you." Bewildered, it was the perfect word to describe how I felt when Mason kept trying to talk to me. At 26, I was unemployed again and lower than I’d ever been. I met him online while I was asking strangers for casual sex. I was hardly the type of person I would expect someone like him to be interested in. He was so tightly laced, in control of every aspect of his life. Me? I was a mess who embarrassed myself in front of him more than anyone else I knew. Abrupt, rude, and downright infatuated with him didn’t strike me as highly marketable qualities. When he didn’t run from me like everyone else I was sure there had to be something wrong. I didn’t realize how right I was. "The thought of you in knots is incredibly appealing. I’d be happy to tie you in some or bend you in them, whichever you prefer" That’s how he left me, tied in knots, and unable to find which way was up. I didn’t even know his real name. That alone should have been enough to put me off, but there was something inevitable about him. It should have scared me when he revealed the truth about his past, and who his family was, but I was in too deep. He worked his way into my blood, and I was forever changed. He wanted to be a better man and he worked hard to be a better man. I needed to stand beside him, and drag us both into the light. The lure of his utter perfection blinded me, and I didn’t notice there was far worse danger waiting around the corner. \This book contains content that is not appropriate for readers under the age of 18\

Mason I watched the love of my life die in front of my eyes, and in that unparalleled moment of pain and rage, I made a terrible mistake. But I was wrong . She wasn’t dead, and the consequences of those actions did not disappear. The man I owed my debt to, my own father, didn’t care that he cleaned up my mess. He didn’t even want recompense for me abandoning the empire he built and intended to hand to me. He wanted a war. There was more at play than an old vendetta and new wounds. Our city was built on a foundation of lies and pain, and I needed to stop it. I needed to protect the woman I loved, but what would those efforts cost me? Claire The man I loved grew darker by the day. Each night he didn't come home to me, he sank deeper into his old world. The lies easily flowed from those dimly lit and bloodsoaked places. Why didn’t he trust me to bear his burdens alongside him? Hadn't I proved I loved him despite the secrets and half truths. His fear, and his need to protect me made sense. He almost lost me in the shooting, but I lost myself. The guilt, pain, and fear, all drove me to decisions I would come to regret. Would my quest for justice bring me the peace I so desperately craved? Despite how complicated our lives became, I would never regret choosing Mason.

Claire Everything we’d been through was enough to send me running, but Mason refused to give up on us. He told me what would happen if he won this war. I understood the position he would take and the things he would be required to do. I accepted it, loving him enough not to care about that burden. But was I prepared for what would happen if he lost? There was an entire future I never dared to consider, one he had warned me about from the beginning. His past coming back to haunt me. Would I escape with my life this time? Mason I spent a lot of time fighting the darker parts of myself, rifling through different sanitized versions to find one I could tolerate. Nothing ever fit until I found Claire, and then everything fell apart. In the face of all that tragedy, I found the life I wanted. All I had to do was take this city for myself so the woman I loved could be safe. I didn’t know it had already been taken. With all of my efforts pointed in the wrong direction, could I defeat an enemy I didn’t know I had? \This is book 3 in a series, you must read books 1&2 to understand this book. This is the conclusion for Claire and Mason and is intended for adult readers!\