As an enforcer for the Pagano Brothers, Tony Cioccolanti's life is steeped in violence. For the most part, he feels no burden on his soul for the blood he spills or the pain he inflicts. He is a soldier, and blood and pain are the wages of war.
Yet one terrible mistake haunts him, in his dreams and in his waking hours.
Billy Jones has moved to Quiet Cove, the place of her happiest memories, to start a business and fulfill a dream. Having summered in the Cove through most of her childhood, she understands about the Pagano Brothers and their control of the town. Their interest in her nightclub doesn't surprise her—nor does the "protection" payment they demand. The glowering goombah who visits her club regularly, however—he surprises her plenty.
She was not prepared for the attraction between them.
As Tony and Billy draw closer, Tony's violent life, and the Pagano Brothers' brutal world, explodes on the streets of the Cove.
War has come, and its wages are due.
