SIMON:

I deal in death, not desire. Then she walked into the room.

As the Scordato family's most feared enforcer, I've built my reputation on cold precision and absolute loyalty. When my boss orders me to marry the daughter of our enemy to secure peace between warring families, I expect a fragile pawn, a necessary sacrifice.

What I get is Alessia Affinito—all curves, defiance, and hidden fire. One look at her, and something primal awakens inside me. One touch, and I'm consumed with a need I've never known.

She should be nothing more than a means to an end, a symbol of the truce I'm sworn to uphold. Instead, she becomes my obsession. When threats emerge from the shadows, targeting what's mine, my lethal skills find a new purpose. I'll destroy anyone who tries to take her from me.

This marriage was supposed to be business. Cold. Calculated. Temporary. But Alessia has claimed something I never thought I possessed—my heart.

Now I face my greatest battle: protecting her from the danger that follows us while convincing her that what began as duty has become my most passionate claim.

ALESSIA:

I was raised to be the perfect mafia princess—protected, sheltered, controlled. Until I became a bargaining chip in my father's game.

I always knew my future wasn't my own. As the only daughter of Vincent Affinito, I expected to be married off for political advantage. What I never expected was to be handed over to the enemy—to the man they call "The Ghost."

Simon Kozlov. My new husband. My father's enemy's most lethal enforcer.

I should hate him. Fear him. Instead, from the moment our eyes meet, something electric passes between us. His touch ignites sensations I never knew existed, and his possessive gaze makes me feel both captured and strangely free.

When danger threatens our fragile peace, I discover a different side to my cold, dangerous husband—one that's fiercely protective, unexpectedly tender, and absolutely devoted. In his arms, I'm not just a symbol of a truce or a delicate princess to be sheltered. I'm his equal. His obsession. His.

What began as my sacrifice has become my liberation. Now, surrounded by enemies on all sides, we must fight not just for peace between our families but for a future neither of us ever dared to dream of.

Forced Proximity, Mafia Romance, Married to a stranger, Insta-Lust to Love, Mafia Hitman, Curvy Heroine, BBW, Protective Hero, Opposites Attract, Brooding Hero, Happily Ever After, Romantic Erotica, Erotic Romance, Instalove, Possessive Hero, Obsessive Hero, Over the Top Alpha Male Romance, Dark Romance themes, Arranged Marriage, First Time