The Ruthless Heir

She was her father's best-kept secret. He is the monster who came to steal it.

For six years, Rhesa Valerius has been a ghost in the machine. Locked in a subterranean bunker, she uses her unparalleled genius to launder millions for her father's cartel. She is the invisible architect keeping a dying criminal empire afloat. She knows the numbers, she knows the risks, and she knows she will never be free.

Until the firewall shatters.

Cyprian Vaneccian is the ruthless, lethal heir to Chicago's most violent syndicate-and the Valerius family's greatest enemy. He doesn't just breach Rhesa's heavily guarded servers; he bypasses her father's armies, rips her from her cage, and forces her into a brutal arranged marriage to humiliate his rivals.

But Cyprian doesn't want a hostage. He wants a queen.

Tired of the archaic, blood-soaked streets, Cyprian is plotting a massive, hostile takeover to drag the underworld into the light of legitimate corporate billions. To do it, he needs to starve the old guard-including his own father. And he needs Rhesa's mind to execute the digital guillotine.

Trapped in a glass tower with a man who is as intoxicatingly devoted as he is dangerous, Rhesa must make a choice. She can use her hidden extraction protocols to run, or she can join the apex predator of Chicago, burn the men who caged her to the ground, and claim the empire for herself.

The old kings of Chicago are playing checkers. Cyprian and Rhesa are playing for blood.