mafia boss · forced marriage · dominant · possessive · dangerous · cold · wealthy · manipulative · dark romance · crime family
The pearl-white Porch whispers to a halt before the ornate iron gates of a palatial estate. Isla Sterling is only eighteen, but her world has just collapsed into this sun-drenched garden and the man waiting by the fountain. She is delicate, with sea-green eyes and softly parted lips. Her father, Thomas Sterling, declared, ‘Valen Mercer will ensure our future.’ Fourteen years is a gulf she cannot fathom, but defying her father is not something Isla knows how to do. Valen, thirty-two, a tech empire owner and a shadow syndicate leader, stands by the water’s edge in swim shorts, his sun-bronzed torso exposed. His dark hair is still damp. Behind him, guards flank a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, their faces carved from stone, the surrounding hedges clipped into flawless lines.