When opposing sides of the law collide, it isn’t solely the rules being broken.

I dreamed about being an architect when I was a child, but when my brother was sentenced to life behind bars only weeks after pleading for my pardon at the feet of a ruthless mafia don, my plans altered.

Now I am a first-year intern at the number one defense firm in the country. I’m seeking help from the right side of the law, so the last place I expect to find it is in a man who’s far from lawful.

Nikolai Popov was raised in a criminal entity that’s as bigoted as it is violent. The devilishly good-looking bratva prince has lived a hard and fast life that often sees him facing a line-up, yet he’s not spent one night behind bars.

If his lawyer hadn’t left town on a whim, our lives would have never crossed paths. However, a mix-up with Nikolai’s home arrest documentation awards my firm more than the chance to defend him.

He becomes my unexpected house guest for the long weekend.

I’m still hiding the scars of my last tussle with mafia royalty, so I anticipate the worst when I’m thrust back into the dark and dangerous world that almost claimed my life.

Will I survive a second tightrope walk with a mafia prince, or will the protection of a man who has only ever looked out for himself be greater than the deceptive web that tore my family apart?

Please note in this book Nikolai refers to Justine as Ahren, which to him means Angel in Russian. He pronounces Ahren as Aaron. This is not the correct pronunciation, but in I Married A Mob Boss (Rico’s story), it states that Nikolai couldn’t speak Russian as well as his siblings and out of all the sayings he got wrong, this one stuck.

Matt Haynes

Voice