Rise of the King

Eighteen months ago, my world went up in flames—screams, gunfire, hellfire. I should’ve died in it.

Instead, I walked out the other side. Scarred. Hardened. Unbreakable.

These days, the ID in my wallet reads John D. Hamilton. It’s the name I answer to, the name the beautiful brunette in Ginnie’s Diner knows me by.

Once, I was an undercover cop. A decorated agent. A man with a badge and a future. But that life burned to ash, leaving behind pain, darkness… and an addiction that nearly swallowed me whole.

Then came Sophia Solomon. My miracle. The light in my endless winter. She steals my breath without even trying, but she doesn’t know the truth about me—the lies, the scars, the addiction I never asked for.

Because I wasn’t born John. And I wasn’t born a cocaine addict. But here I am. Both are true.

And until I find the man who tried to kill me, neither of us will ever be safe.