Deal with the Devil

I’m in trouble. Deep, deep trouble. I never meant for it to happen, but my ex is dead—and I’m the one who pulled the trigger. Whether he deserved it or not, whether anyone will even miss that jerk, it doesn’t matter. Joey is dead, and I have to figure out what to do before I get caught with a corpse on my hand.

Back in Springfield for the first time in years, I needed money, and I needed it fast. When my job as a hostess at the local Italian place wasn’t going to earn me enough to cut it, I did the one thing I promised I would never do: I got involved with one of the syndicates that rule the seedy city. Considering I’m trying to avoid anyone with ties to the Libellula Family, I head to the West Side, and hope like hell the Sinners Syndicate will give me a chance.

Five years ago, the Libellula Family ruined my life. It doesn’t matter who was responsible. I blamed the man who created his gang of thugs: Damien Libellula himself. If it wasn’t for him giving free rein to his soldiers to pass their funny money through my store, I wouldn’t have been accused of money laundering—and counterfeiting. I was a naive twenty-five-year-old then. Four years in a minimum-security prison later, and I’m out for revenge. I changed my name. My hair. My accent.

I love flowers. Being a botanist has always been my dream, but life got in the way—and, nowadays, I have a job at the flower shop near my crummy apartment. So that's something, right? Maybe it's not in the best neighborhood, but it's a bright spot in a dirty city, and at least there are usually cops around. I've noticed one in particular lately, keeping an eye on the shop.

I can’t escape him. I thought I did. When I slipped off one night, leaving everything in my old life behind, I was ready to sacrifice it all if only to leave him behind, too. But, like always, my ex chases after me. That’s what he does, after all. Holding to the vows I was too young and naive to understand, William Burke will have me ’til death do us part. And then, almost immediately, it does—when Will is slaughtered in a back alley.