Jace Marino has mastered control. By day, he’s the brilliant, untouchable criminal law professor at Brooklyn Law. By night, he’s the eldest son of New York’s most powerful crime family — a man whose word still commands the streets, even if he claims to have left that life behind.

Julian Pole never wanted law school. Sensitive and artistic, he’s far more comfortable with a sketchpad than statutes. But with a detective father and a nurse mother pushing him, quitting isn’t an option — even as his grades begin to slip.

When Jace calls on him unexpectedly in class, Julian’s stammered answer and shy, uncertain eyes spark something Jace doesn’t want to name. He should look away. Instead, he finds himself watching.

As rivals close in on Marino territory, Jace’s two worlds are on a collision course — and the quiet, blue-eyed student might be the one thing he can’t protect from the fallout.

My mum insisted on driving us to the subway station after our failed attempts to convince her we could just take the bus. It's only a thirty-minute ride, but she's worried our luggage will be too much.


Now she's saying she'll drive us all the way to Manhattan. At this point, I'm not sure who's more protective — her or us.


In case you're wondering what's going on, we're currently packing for our short trip to Manhattan. It's Friday, and the plan is to check into our hotel early, then explore the city a bit since the exhibition isn't until tomorrow.


And honestly? It's chaos basically, my life right now.


My friends slept over, which isn't unusual; they practically live here. Half of their clothes are already in my closet, so they're packing from here while my mum supervises, mostly because she doesn't trust us not to forget something important—or to avoid overpacking things we'll never use.


"What's the time?" I asked from under a mountain of clothes.


Chapter 20 - THE WEEKEND