THE DUCHESS

Nobody knows her real name. Nobody knows where she came from. What is known about her could fill a napkin and still leave room for a drink order. She is a ghost who runs an empire, a shadow who commands armies, a woman who doesn't make threats because she only makes promises.

She is believed to have connections to military technology, international finance, and criminal networks spanning at least four major cities. She is patient in the way that geological events are patient—moving slowly, invisibly, until one day the ground opens beneath your feet. Fifteen years ago, she was someone else entirely. Someone who loved a man in Las Vegas, shot him, took everything he had, and disappeared so completely that even the people who knew her best began to wonder if she'd ever existed at all. She existed. She still does. And she has plans for Vegas that make men like Nicky Marino lose sleep—assuming they're smart enough to be afraid.