Santo

Cold. A deep, bone-chilling cold. I’ve felt it since the night I clutched my pregnant fiancée to my chest and had a pair of cold, lifeless eyes stare back at me.

My family wants me to move on. To start living again. But it’s not so easy to do when your heart and soul are still six feet under.

A second chance at love isn’t in the cards for me.

A second chance at love isn’t in the cards for me. Which is why when I meet Aria Swan in a bar one night and she offers up a solution to both of our problems, I actually consider her proposal.

I mean, where’s the harm in playing house for a bit? It’s not like I’m going to fall in love with her.

A fact that will make terminating this little arrangement at the end of the year easy.

Even if her touch has this way of melting the icy coldness surrounding my heart…

Aria

Ever had the answers to all your problems just fall into your lap? Or, in my case, have you stumbling into the solution?

I have no idea what comes over me when I bump into Santo De Bellis. Call it desperation. A last-ditch effort to pull myself out of the hole my last name has created. But all I can think is how this arrangement can be mutually beneficial.

I need a husband. Because if I’m already taken, my father can’t marry me off to the highest bidder. And if that same husband happens to be a De Bellis, well, no one is going to be stupid enough to question it.

I don’t expect him to actually agree. So when he does, I jump at the chance for freedom.

What could possibly go wrong? All we have to do is stay married for a year. It can’t be that hard. Can it?

This Christmas, things are heating up for our favourite lawyers.

Can Shardonnay follow “Santa’s” rules? Or will she end up bent over his knee instead of sitting on top of it?

Nathan has a special gift for Bentley under the tree this holiday season. But when the box starts vibrating, the pair are in for an early gift exchange.

Alistair has a destination Christmas planned for Dani How do the patrons of a sex club celebrate the most giving time of year?

This is an omnibus of The Tempter Series, which includes: Following His Rules, Following His Orders, and Following His Commands. With THREE never-before-seen bonus scenes (one for each couple) included at the end.

Vin

Demons. They’re relentless little fuckers that chase you no matter where you go.

There’s only one escape I’ve ever found and it was at the end of a blunt.

Then there was her. Camilla Taylor. Cammi.

The moment I touched her, my mind went blank. The monsters were… just gone. But good things aren’t for me.

And Cammi? She’s the very essence of good. Which is why I can’t keep touching her. Because if I do, it’s only a matter of time before I drag her down with me. Into that darkness that consumes my soul.

Cammi

Every girl thinks they can tame the bad boy, right? They’re wrong. Bad boys can’t be tamed. And they really shouldn’t be. Because that’s part of their allure in the first place.

Vin De Bellis is the definition of a broken heart waiting to happen. But when he touches me, my entire body lights up. The darkness that’s usually behind his eyes vanishes and a lightness shines through.

It’s the return of that darkness that scares me. Like I said, some people can’t be saved. Especially when the nightmares are so ingrained the demons run through their veins, waiting for their chance to cause havoc.

And Vin’s demons might just be the very things that shatter my heart.

Enzo

Family. I've been raised to uphold family above all else. Which I do. Always have and always will.

My loyalty is unwavering. When you have a last name like mine, there really isn't any other option. Which is why, when I spot the hot little FBI agent trying to blend into the college life, I make it my mission to get close to her.

She thinks she's won the golden ticket. The attention of a Valentino prince. An “in” with the same people she's trying to bring down. She's not going to know what hit her once I'm done with her, though.

Despite the conflicting feelings I have for her, she's going to regret the day she ever heard the name Valentino. I will stop at nothing to protect my family. Even if that means destroying the one thing to make me feel… something.

Kayleigh

This isn't my first rodeo, so to speak. Get in, get close, get the intel, and get out. It's that simple.

Or at least, it usually is.

I don't get attached to suspects. I know who he is. I knew the minute my eyes connected with his across the auditorium.

He's a ruthless, bloodthirsty criminal. A mafia prince with a nice smile and a pretty set of dimples.

I won't let myself fall under his spell. I need to remind myself that he's a job. A target. Nothing more, nothing less. Just another good-for-nothing lowlife who deserves to rot behind bars.

And I plan to be the one to put him there, along with the rest of the organization he likes to call family.

Gabe

A lie. Presenting a false impression. To be deceptive.

That's what I am. A lie.

My family sees one version of me. The world sees another.

Neither is real.

I like it that way. Prefer it even.

And then there's her.

She sees right through the lie. Through me.

And no matter how much I try, there doesn't seem to be a damn thing I can do to hide from her.

Daisy

A liar recognises another liar.

I was labelled rebellious. The girl with behavioural issues.

Because no one bothered to dig deep enough to find the truth.

I was running. Chasing an escape that didn't come until I left school.

I have it under control now. Or at least I thought I did.

Until I meet Gabriel De Bellis. And everything I thought I buried rises to the surface.

Can two people stuck in a web of their own lies find a common truth?

Travis

Red. You could say it's my favorite color.

There's nothing like seeing the lights go red after I've scored a goal.

The red she paints her lips, f***ing hypnotizing.

That's the image I choose to focus on now.

It's a hell of a lot better than the red of the blood currently staining my shirt. Or the red of the flashing lights surrounding me.

When I wake up in a hospital bed, my first thought is those red lips and the girl who owns them.

Except she's not here.

Tilly

Rules, principles, instructions. They let you know what you should and shouldn't do. How to behave. I've always followed the path set out for me by my family. I've always stayed out of trouble and done as I'm told.

Until now. Now, I'm doing what I want. Who I want. And what I want is a man I shouldn't have.

Being with Antonio Gambino is against every rule my family's laid out for me. But I don't want to be the good girl anymore. Unless the one calling me good girl is him.

Antonio

Pure fucking innocence. Matilda Valentino is the only thing I've ever wanted but have never gone after. She's too good to be tainted by a man like me.

I've just taken over as the Don of the Gambino Crime Family. I don't have time for complications, and getting involved with that little piece of temptation isn't just a complication. It'll be the start of a goddamn war.

Then again, if history's taught us anything, isn't it that all the greatest wars have been fought over the love of a woman?

Luke

Some things are off-limits. My best friend's little sister has always been one of those things.

Years later, I can still hear his voice in my head telling me not to go there.

The fact those warnings are coming from beyond the grave doesn't help matters either.

Especially when part of me is hellbent on ignoring him.

The thing is, now that I've crossed that line, there's no going back.

Because Montana Baker is everything I've always wanted and can't have.

Montana

I'm not the same girl he remembers. It's been three years since I've seen him. Since I've become a broken shell of the person I once was.

Before my brother died and left me alone in the world… Before I turned to the wrong men for comfort… Before I lost myself…

But when Luke Jameson looks at me, it's not with pity. It's not with disgust. It's like he sees the old me.

I can't let him get mixed up in the mess that is my life, though. Which is why, despite how good it feels when he touches me, I'm already saying goodbye to the only man I've ever loved…

Marcello

Being judged isn't something foreign to me. I'm used to the whispers, the stares, the way people scatter or cross the road when they see me walking their way.

It comes with the territory when your last name is De Bellis.

But being judged by her before she gives me a chance to prove her wrong? Yeah, I'm not going to stand for that.

Zoe thinks she knows who I am, assumes I'm nothing more than a street thug with no morals or ethics.

Letting her walk out of my life isn't an option. I'll show her just how virtuous this sinner can be.

Zoe

Moving to Melbourne from New York is the fresh start I craved while having connections here from back home is a welcomed comfort.

When your self-appointed adoptive father is the Pakhan of the Bratva and his wife belongs to one of the five Italian families of New York, you end up bubble-wrapped in one big invisible layer of protectiveness.

I'm safe here. Nothing can touch me. Nothing can pop that bubble. Especially if I don't want it to.

That's why, when a six-foot-three hulk of a man takes my breath away and leaves me aching for more of what he delivered in one night, I embrace the shelter my connections afford me.

The last thing I need is to get mixed up with someone who belongs in the criminal underworld. I've experienced firsthand how that turns out for girls like me. As much as I want it to be, my last name isn't Petrov or Valentino. I don't end up with the dark prince in my own version of a fairy tale.

It doesn't matter how relentlessly Marcello persists, I will not cave. I will not give in to my bodies desires to have him just one more time…

Orlando

When you're a Valentino, shit comes easy. When you're a teenage rock icon, it comes even easier.

There's only ever been one thing in life I couldn't grasp hold of. She was there, for a brief moment in time. And then… poof. Like a little ghost, she vanished.

Until she turns back up at New York Prep, the school I rule over. And I realize I'll do everything in my power to hit the reset button, take us back to that moment in time, and change the course of our future. Which is also the last thing I want to do.