Dance with the Devil

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Genevieve

As the younger sister to Damien Libellula, I’ve been shielded from the criminal side of my brother’s life for as long as I can remember—or, at least, that’s what Dame thinks.

The truth is that I’ve been curious about the dark side of the Family for even longer… curious and fascinated.

When I meet Cross, my fascination almost becomes an obsession.

As a professional ballerina, it makes sense that I would consider our first few dates a sort of forbidden dance. On the outside, he’s everything I’m not: dark, brooding, and—most importantly—a Sinner.

That’s right. Damien’s little girl fell for a man who wears the mark of his former enemy.

But Cross is no sinner. A sensitive yet guarded artist who unwittingly sweeps me off my feet, I want to believe we have a shot to be together. There’s a truce now between the Dragonflies and the Sinners Syndicate, and with Damien settling into wedded bliss with his new bride, I think… maybe. Maybe it’s time I show him I’m not that same little girl I used to be.

And that’s when I discover just how dark and twisted the life can be…

Cross

I’ve never wanted anything more than I do my butterfly.

I don’t care what her last name is. I don’t care that, every time I imagine marking up her unblemished, beautiful skin, I’m risking a bullet between my eyes from the head Dragonfly. When I see her, I feel for the first time since I was kid who lost everything.

More than that, I’m inspired.

Until, one night, everything changes.

I do everything I can to protect her while we're trapped, but when she’s eventually forced to be as brutal as any gangster, my pretty ballerina with the wicked mouth and innocent smile breaks—and, once again, I’m left alone and empty-handed.

But that’s the difference between Carlos and Cross. Carlos accepted that fate was cruel and there wasn’t anything he could do to change that.

Cross?

He’ll burn down all of Springfield to get his Genevieve back—so long as the flames don't get their vengeance on him first.

• instalove
• insta-obsession
• murder (on-page)
• body mutilation
• captivity
• forced sex acts (by the villains)
• dubcon
• mentions of childhood sexual abuse (the hero by his stepfather)
• childhood trauma (including the hero losing his family in a fire)
•  grief
• disordered eating
• denying food
• insomnia
• discussions of abortion (amid a possible pregnancy)
• guns, drugs, and sex work.