USA TODAY Bestselling Author Holly S Roberts likes to gloss over her exciting past as a homicide detective and make you think she sits at a computer all day writing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You’ll find Holly in the mountains on a long hike or at the gym pounding barbells with the boys. She’s a health coach and nutritionist as well as being vegan and proving muscles come from hard work and plant-based foods. When the weather’s too cold for outdoor play, she sneaks into her dark cave and writes until her fingers ache. She’s also followed around by a hundred-pound Rottweiler with anxiety issues and constant need for affection. Each finished chapter gets a dog lick when Holly stays on course.   

Enter the hotter than hell world of sex, drugs, and danger. Notorious crime boss Chase Xavier Moon takes few prisoners and lives a lavish life of sin limited only by his imagination. When ex-cop Madison Kinlock enters Moon’s world, nothing will ever be the same. They knock heads constantly but everyone knows the heat is turned on high and a meltdown to end all meltdowns is coming.  


Hotter Than Hell

I don't cry. I can't. Tears never help anything. Reliving the day at the zoo was good for me. My mom was happy that day. She was a shy woman with no backbone. My father kept her easily in line by threatening me. I often wondered why she didn't kill him. I wondered the same about myself as I grew older.


Austin begins wiping down my skin and tapes on more plastic wrap when he's finished. I take comfort in his touch. For once I appreciate his silence. He eventually leads me back to the wall. He gives me to the darkness without a backwards glance. Remembering is exhausting and I sleep like the dead.


The next morning he turns on the overhead light when he brings food. After breakfast I feel refreshed for the first time in days. My heart thumps in anticipation at what the overhead light means. I crave the release the needle brings.


Chapter 230: Melina