King of Praise

I put a permanent end to my husband’s unrelenting abuse. It was him or me. I chose me. Now I’m choosing to go on the run—with his father.

Micah Hunt is everything his son wasn’t—protective without being controlling, powerful without being cruel. At fifty-four, he towers over me with quiet strength, his gray-streaked beard and dark eyes hiding secrets as dangerous as my own.

I’d done the unthinkable. The unforgivable. But Micah didn’t turn me in for snuffing out his only child’s life. Instead, he cleaned up the evidence and whisked me away to his remote cabin to protect me. Now we’re...

I put a permanent end to my husband’s unrelenting abuse. It was him or me. I chose me. Now I’m choosing to go on the run—with his father.

Micah Hunt is everything his son wasn’t—protective without being controlling, powerful without being cruel. At fifty-four, he towers over me with quiet strength, his gray-streaked beard and dark eyes hiding secrets as dangerous as my own.

I’d done the unthinkable. The unforgivable. But Micah didn’t turn me in for snuffing out his only child’s life. Instead, he cleaned up the evidence and whisked me away to his remote cabin to protect me. Now we’re forced together in close quarters, and the attraction between us is becoming impossible to ignore. Every touch, every glance, every praise from his lips sets my body on fire with forbidden desire. But loving Micah comes with a price. He’s not just my deceased husband’s father—he’s also a dangerous man whose enemies lurk in the shadows. As threats close in and my past threatens to expose us both, our taboo romance could cost us everything. I know I should walk away. The age gap between us, our complicated history, the violence that surrounds him—it’s all wrong. But in Micah’s arms, I feel safe for the first time in years. He swears to protect me at any cost, and the possessive glint in his eyes tells me he means it. The morally gray enforcer might walk a dangerous line, but his love for me burns pure and true. Now we’re both marked by his enemies, and time is running out. Can our forbidden love survive the dangerous consequences of our choices? Or will the dark world Micah inhabits eventually tear us apart?

Author’s Note: This is Micah and Naomi’s story. An age gap, ex-husband’s dad, tormented hero, touch her and perish, survivor of domestic violence, forced proximity, only one bed, forbidden, taboo, emotional, angst-filled, dark mafia romance between a morally gray, possessive, mafia enforcer whose enemies are out for blood, and the woman he’s sworn to protect. Trigger warnings can be found at the beginning of the book, before the start of chapter one. Please read before proceeding.

NOTE: While each book in the Club Velvet Petal series is written as a standalone love story with a HEA, the mafia plotline does not conclude and continues to build throughout the series. There are no cliffhangers but this series is best enjoyed if read starting from book one. Not doing so could confuse readers on the mafia plotline and characters.