Can you tell we love mafia books. We open this book with youngish Dante and his brother Lorenzo. Lorenzo is refusing to marry who his dad, Sal, is ordering him to, so he writes him off and pushes everything on to Dante. After some time has passed rumors start swirling because Dante doesn't in fact get married because he killed his bride and her entire family the day before the wedding.
Kat is living a normal boring life. Used to be a nurse, no longer is, doesn't leave her house much, her parents are dead, and her brother Leo is a garbage human, leaving Kat to pick up the pieces of the messes he creates all while he steals her savings and any money to her name.
Kat comes home from work one day and there are 2 men in her house, Max and Dante. Essentially Leo owes Dante money and instead of killing Kat to make a point, he kidnaps her in hopes that Leo will come back to town and pay what he owes. Max is Dante's 2nd in command and is not shy to announce he thinks this plan is terrible.
Kat is aware of who Dante is and is terrified that he is going to use her as his toy. He can tell how much that thought terrifies her and he makes it very clear that, that will not be happening and he is going to use her for her nursing skills. For us, Dante may be an asshole, but he is already starting to have redeeming qualities.
Kat helps where she is needed, there is serious sexual tension, and one day it snaps. The sex between them is explosive. She has some trauma to work through and he is more then happy to help her out with that. Feelings start brewing pretty quickly. He does make it very clear that regardless of what they are doing, if she runs, he will kill her or hand her over to his men, and he is not playing around.
She of course runs, shit happens, trust is broken, everything is just a mess. A sister shows up, Leo is found, the father is trash, all of the things.....because what would a good plot line be without it.