Aiden O'Connor

2

Isla de las Flores was supposed to be a paradise—a breathtaking tropical refuge that doubled as the exclusive summit grounds for the world’s eight most lethal crime syndicates. To the outside world, she was "The Princess," the sole female heiress to an empire, raised alongside the sons of the global underworld. Bound by unbreakable childhood ties, their youth was a tapestry of teenage passions and dark, shared secrets.But innocence dies quickly in the shadow of the throne.As the syndicate patriarchs fall to illness and assassination, the camaraderie of youth is instantly incinerated. The boys she grew up with have claimed their respective crowns, transforming into ruthless tyrants. Now, a bloody war rages for ultimate power—and for ultimate possession of her.Fleeing to New York City, she believed she had finally escaped the suffocating grip of the island. She was wrong. The past hunts her down with terrifying speed when an elegant black box arrives at her doorstep. Inside sits an enigmatic gift from the newly crowned king of the underworld: Aiden O’Connor.Waiting on her bed, the present, is a black haute couture gown, featuring a plunging open back and a dangerously high thigh slit. There is no note. It doesn’t need one; the dress itself is an absolute command. The invitation is a simple matchbox stamped with the address of his hidden Irish empire opening tonight in Manhattan: The Blind Leprechaun. Inside, scrawled in an agonizingly familiar handwriting, is the password to enter: "Drinking with the ghost of Dublin."The game has begun, and the king has no intention of letting his queen run away.