PROLOGUE
Brax O'Malley
Afather is supposed to be a compass, but I grew up learning how to navigate without one. There were only a handful of times he wasn't in prison. When he would get out, he spent his time inebriated with my mother, high on whatever they could get their hands on.
By the time I was eight, I had learned how to be a master of the streets, relying only on myself and taking calculated risks.
Then everything changed. One day, a mint-condition, black 1985 Camaro IROC-Z sports car pulled up to the curb. A bald man, built like a brick house, oozed authority like I'd never seen. From several storefronts away, I could hear the chill in his Irish accent.
A new challenge emerged when I was fifteen. My gut screamed to stay back, but my ego wouldn't let me. I made the error of pickpocketing him, and soon found myself shoved in his car, my wrists zip-tied, and racing through Chicago.
Finn O'Malley turned out to be more than my captor. He became the father figure I'd never had. And joining the O'Malley clan was the first luxury I ever wanted in my life. He showed me what family meant, why loyalty was important, and how hard work wasn't enough.
Then he took it a step further. Before I even was initiated into the clan, he vouched for me and told me I was an O'Malley so I might as well legally change my name.
Brenna insisted I get a private teacher, even though I never sat a day in school. She made me learn to read and write, practice proper hygiene, and taught me how to cook and do laundry.
Finn took me to the O'Malley gym, showed me how to put on muscle, and put me in the ring. He patiently taught me how to work on cars and fix things around the house. And he shielded me from the family business until I begged so much that he finally caved.
His biggest lesson revolved around his number one rule. You had to be smarter than those around you at all times. The minute you didn't use your brain was the moment your enemy would use it to circle and pounce.
Over the years, I lived by those rules. Life was better than I ever dreamed. But then I broke the rule. I didn't use my head, and now, I'm inside a twisted secret world. My best friend Sean and his sister Fiona are there as well. And while the cult tries to convince you it's your choice to join, it's not. When life or death is the only option, survival wins.
Every step inside the Underworld has consequences. And just like my initiation, I've been roped into marrying Valentina. She wants a seat at the table, and her only chance is to marry me.
So I'll play along. For the time being, I'll have fun with my little Minx. But once I take my seat, I'll figure out how to destroy the Underworld. I'll save Sean and Fiona.
Everyone else can be dammed, including Valentina.
1
Valentina Abruzzo
Voices roar, fusing into a single sound bouncing off the concrete floor and straight up my spine. Thick air is trapped between my lungs and buzzing ribs. A high, relentless whistle pulses between my eardrums, pressing behind my eyes and stealing the space where thoughts should be.
Thirteen men no longer breathe. Sean O'Malley barely stands. He's fighting for air, bloody and swollen beyond recognition.
I turn to leave when three long beeps cause the hairs on my arms to rise, along with panic and curiosity. I grab my cell phone out of my purse.
Security: Code Red.
My lungs scream for fresh air as the atmosphere turns more stifling. I peer over the crowd and watch the security team of four drag a tall, broad-shouldered man into the ring. He attempts to fight them, and for a moment, I think he might overpower them, until a knife gets placed next to his throat. The back of his body goes taut.
John breaks the deafening silence. His Irish accent booms, "You were told not to bring anyone here."
"I didn't bring him," Sean claims.
"Then how did he get here?"
Sean stays silent.
"You weren't careful," John accuses.
Sean stands taller.
John takes a pocket knife out of his jeans and opens it. He holds it in front of Sean's face. "You do the honors."
"The honors of what?" Sean questions, his expression hardening.
