They already killed him, so I know they won’t hesitate to do the same to me. With nowhere to run or hide, I buy a one-way ticket to Milan to audition for Barsetti Lingerie in the hope I can start a new life.

I owe him a debt. A big one. The payment can't be settled with money or favors. He only wants one thing. Me. Every action gets a reward. A button. Once I fill his jar with 365 buttons, he'll let me go. He'll let me walk away. But I have to earn every single one. By submitting to the darkest, cruelest, and most beautiful man I've ever known.

My father has chosen me to succeed him in the family business. But if I want the job, it comes with stipulations. And one of those stipulations is to never mix business with pleasure. AKA, don't sleep with anyone on the job. My father leads by example, and not once have I ever seen him get involved with anyone, not even his beautiful assistant. That was an easy rule to follow...until Axel.

All I have is 20 bucks in my pocket and the clothes on my back. Knuckles threatened to torture me if I ran. He's counting down the days until he'll claim me. But I'm not going to wait around. I'm running like hell to Milan. The greatest lingerie designer in the world is looking for new talent for Barsetti Lingerie. I'm not exactly model material, but maybe I can get a job doing something and get paid under the table. But when I meet the infamous Conway Barsetti, he has other plans for me. Did I just run away from one monster into the arms of another?

Meet Ophelia Hart. Lover of classic literature and unicorns. An orphan with nobody in her corner—no family, no friends. But it’s her loneliness that fuels her life’s ambition to become a social worker and help the forgotten children just like her. For a foster kid with only slightly above-average grades, it feels like a pipe dream. Except it seems that someone is looking out for Ophelia after all. When an unexpected opportunity to attend Montridge University arises, she thinks her life is finally taking a turn for the better.