Empire of Hate has been my favourite of all the Empire books. Daniel and Nicole had known each other since their childhood. Daniel became best friends with Nicole's stepsister and Nicole wasn't nice to Daniel or her stepsister. After her mother went to prison, Nicole felt she had to leave London for the States. Daniel also left London to practice law. Nicole finds herself in need of a job, and unbeknownst to her, Daniel hires her as a legal secretary at the firm he works at. His plan, to torment her until she quits, doesn't go quite as he wanted, as he doesn't realize just how much Nicole needs the job. As he spends more time with her, their attraction is strong, and they start to realize the things that happened years ago may not have been as it seemed. 

The tension between Nicole and Daniel is thick, and they have such a visceral reaction to each other. I loved how strong-willed Nicole was, never refusing to give up, even when the job seemed insurmountable. I will admit that I hated Nicole previously, but seeing things from her point of view, helped it make more sense. It didn't make what she did right, but I understood it a lot more. I loved how Nicole called Daniel on his crap and when he was being mean and unreasonable. 

Daniel and Nicole had some strong hate vibes going on, but at the same time, he was protective. He wouldn't allow anyone to treat her poorly and went to bat for her. 

In the end, this book is about two people who don't think they are worthy of the other's love and only capable of hurting the other. They needed to figure out that they were going to work together and do anything to get that way.