A connection of eyes across a room, a quickened heartbeat, and everything changes. I was a cocktail waitress with a fondness for partying and meaningless hook-ups. He owned half of Vegas, with the reputation to match. I should have turned away. Instead, I stepped closer. Then, the lies started. Rumors spread. Stalking commenced. And someone died. It didn't stop me from falling in love. *This is book 1 in a duet. The second book, Double Down, will release on June 18th*

    𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴.𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐋LA wasn’t home… just home for now.Transplanted here to model I learned Hollywood isn’t where dreams survive the harsh reality of millions all sharing that same dream.Executive assistant is who I am now.Slave.Hollywood’s darling took a liking to me. One not easily ignored when they give you a taste of the high life. I was supposed to give up hope and give in to LA’s bad reputation but I had rules. Well, just one: read the rules before you break them.Unwilling to abandon all my morals, the filter came off my life to see the world I was one foot in was invitation only...𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐌I’m not sure I was ever really Jason.Whoever he was, was a distant memory now.Grimm is who I am now.Death.I abandoned my birth name, companionship, happiness that wasn’t shaped like Xanax all because I was expected to be the kind of elite that pulls the strings.Pull the strings but follow the rules. No distractions.No serious relationships.Keep what we do secret.Born into a rite I didn’t ask for, a society of puppeteers.An invitation I marked not attending...

    I’m a slow puncture death, a murderer, a rapist, and a number. I killed my best friend. Death doesn’t stalk me, it walks ahead of me by twenty-eight paces.I went home after I sold my soul to the devils. I thought life would begin, I was a free man, instead within days the bullets fly and my last hope dies with the slain. There is nothing left to live for in this world. I belong to the 28s, I’ll always belong to the 28s.The woman across the road judges me, she hates me, and takes every opportunity to let me know it.Yet, somehow, when grief etched our names down in the book of the dead, we dared be bold enough to find love.I’m not a good man, and I’m not pretty. I come from the Cape Flats where my life was reduced to a prison cell number. In all this ugliness I found beauty, innocence, and forgiveness. I can’t forgive myself for the crimes I’ve committed, but I’ll die trying to earn hers.In a world where nothing matters, she does.

    Have since I was sixteen and my world fell into chaos. But I found a way to endure, or rather it found me. Now I’m a prisoner of my own doing, hiding behind a false mask so no one sees the truth. Not even the man I want but can’t have—Deck. But I messed up and the lies are spilling over, out of control. Deck is unrelenting and will settle for nothing less than the truth. He demands everything from me—EVERYTHING—even if it rips me apart.DECKI kill for a living.Unyielding—It’s how I survive in my line of work. I bend people to my will…except Georgie.But that ends now.I've played her game for far too long. Now I think it's time we play mine.