Victoria Green's life takes a turn for the worse when her elderly foster mother dies and she is sent to an orphanage where things are not as benevolent as they seem. After the loss of her first love and the betrayal of her trust and innocence by the orphanage's powerful administrator, Father Matthews, Victoria is determined to take control of her life. Sent away to a convent, she plans and carries out a daring escape. Tony "Little Carlos" Codosa's life of luxury is turned upside down when his father, a powerful drug lord, is murdered. Already a hit man in training, being groomed to take over the family business, Tony fights to avenge his father and keep his mother, Tammy, and his crew safe in the bloody war between crime families that follows. How Victoria's and Tony's lives intersect as each fights to overcome the odds in a harsh, violent world is the subject of this gritty, intense first novel. William H. Draine lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Cheryl and their two children. He enjoys writing, swimming, boxing, and racing both cars and bikes. He was inspired to write The Hidden Secret of Victoria's Past when a friend who loved the stories he told her advised him to write them down. This, his first novel, is the result.