Whiskey and Ashes (Bourbon and Blood, #0.5)

Jesse Hollister was born into blood. The son of Texas's most ruthless crime lord, he's spent eight years pretending to be the perfect heir while plotting to burn his father's empire to the ground. But when his father sets his sights on the Bishop ranch, and the sharp-tongued, fearless Raven Bishop, Jesse's secret war explodes into chaos. Raven's already lost everything once. Now her uncle's made a deal with the devil, and she's the bargaining chip. She knows better than to trust a Hollister, but when Jesse steps between her and his father's threats, she sees something unexpected behind the violence, mercy. Maybe even hope. Their alliance is born of desperation and danger, stolen secrets, whispered promises, and a passion that could destroy them both. When Jessie's father uncovers his betrayal, blood will spill on Texas soil, and Jesse must make an impossible choice: save the woman who's become his salvation... or finally end his father's reign. Some fires can't be tamed. Some loves are worth the ashes they leave behind. Whiskey and Ashes is a gritty, high-heat dark cowboy romance filled with danger, forbidden desire, and the kind of love that burns as hot as revenge. A Prequel Novella to Raven's Mark