There was nothing sweet to him; he was all sultry and smoke. Jewel thief Lyri Kincaid has a date with the king of the underworld. When Lyri got a contract to steal a necklace, she figured it would be easy to seduce the mark and get him up to his apartment. She was right about the first part, at least. But then she hits a stumbling block. Commanding, deep-voiced, and roguishly handsome, Asher turns out to be more than Lyri bargained for. That makes robbing him more of a challenge. Will Lyri get out with the jewels and her dignity intact? Or will she cave in to her deepest desires and join him in bed? THE MARK is a standalone sci-fi mafia short and the prequel to the Vaughn Syndicate series.