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Vampires are real. Powerful, organized, and nearly untouchable, they move through society under the governance of the Cardinalis Order—an ancient system built to protect their kind and punish those who defy its laws.
Michael Chamberlain is one of them. A successful entrepreneur with a carefully buried past, he returns to The Hamptons to take over his father’s elite nightclub—and to secure a contracted blood source. Cold, controlled, and emotionally detached, Michael has long accepted the rules of his world. That is, until he meets Paislee Sullivan.
A determined college student working to fund her future, Paislee doesn’t know the truth about the Order—or that her presence at the nightclub is more dangerous than she realizes. When her path collides with Michael’s, she’s pulled into the shadows of a world built on power, secrecy, and blood.
As their attraction deepens, Paislee must navigate a society where consent is contractual, love is forbidden, and ignorance offers the only safety. But some connections can’t be denied—and breaking the rules could mean losing everything.
The Cardinal Code is a seductive and high-stakes romance set in a world where the elite don’t just run society—they feed on it.
Excerpt
She needed to stay calm. Not provoke him.
She nodded slowly and softened her expression.
For a moment, he didn’t speak. Frustration and something deeper crossed his face. Regret, maybe?
It was insane. All of it. Her chest ached with the effort to stay calm, to placate him. But something in his voice had changed. Something in his eyes burned. Every instinct she had told her she wasn'tsafe with Michael—despite the fact he'd saved her. She needed to leave. To run. Survive.
Silence ticked by until he sighed and turned away. He was opening the fridge—for what, she didn’t care.
She ran.
Panic tore through her lungs. She couldn't stay there, couldn't think about whether he'd chase her. She bolted for the door, slipping slightly on the polished floor, holding her breath as adrenaline surged through her.
But she didn’t make it far.
Michael moved faster, and his hand caught her wrist just as she reached for the handle. He spun her around and pressed her back against the wall, his eyes blazing with anger—and something else.
“How far did you think you’d get?” he growled, his voice low and biting.
Paislee squirmed against his grip, but it was like trying to move a steel beam. Her heart slammed against her ribs as his eyes bored into hers, dark and unreadable. “You’re crazy, Michael!”
“I’ve been patient, Paislee—”
“Let me go, you fu—”
“More patient than I’ve been with anyone. But you’re testing my reasonable nature,” he said, his tone dangerously soft.
She snapped. “Claiming you’re a vampire and wanting to drink my blood doesn’t sound reasonable! You sound insane!”
His jaw tightened, and he closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, as if gathering his restraint. “I didn’t want it to be like this,” he murmured.
Before she could move, he hoisted her over his shoulder. Ignoring her cries of protest, he carried her up the wide, curved staircase with infuriating ease.
He kicked open the door at the end of the hallway and stepped into a massive bedroom. The room was just as sleek and cold as the rest of the house.
She kicked and pounded at him. But when none of it mattered, she twisted and dug her teeth into the solid muscle of his back.
He didn't so much as stumble or flinch. He dropped her onto the bed—not hard but not gently, either.
"Don't do that again," he warned, voice flat with quiet menace. His expression darkened. "I bite way harder than you."
She scrambled to her knees, her eyes darting between him and the door.
“This is insane,” she said, her voice shaking. “Do you even hear yourself?”
Michael’s expression looked pained as he ran a hand through his hair. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me," he said at last, his tone grim. "That’s why I need to show you.”
He inched closer.
“Michael, please,” she whispered. “Just let me go.”
He stopped, merely a breath away. “I can’t,” he said, his voice breaking slightly. Before she could react, he tilted her head gently, and his lips brushed against her neck. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
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