About

Celina Ivanova was born into the mafia and understands that, in her world, marriage has very little to do with love. At twenty-four, she is married to Adrian Moretti, the younger son of one of the most powerful crime families in the city. Their marriage was arranged to strengthen an alliance between their families. Adrian is charming, ambitious, and possessive, but Celina knows better than to expect romance from a man who sees their marriage as a transaction. For the first year, their arrangement is manageable. Then Adrian's older brother comes home. Damien Moretti. The firstborn son. The family's former heir. The man who disappeared six years ago and built a reputation far beyond the city. While Adrian inherited the family's public image, Damien controlled the parts of the organization nobody spoke about. His return changes everything. Damien is older, colder, and far more powerful than his brother. Men twice his size lower their voices when he enters a room. He doesn't ask for control. He simply takes it. And when he meets Celina, he barely acknowledges her. He doesn't flirt. He doesn't compliment her. He doesn't even look at her for more than a second. Celina initially assumes Damien finds her irrelevant. She doesn't know that ignoring her is deliberate. Because Damien notices her immediately. He notices the way she carries herself in a house where everyone expects her to be obedient. The intelligence behind her calm expression. The fact that she never seems intimidated by him. And, most dangerously, the fact that she is his younger brother's wife. He wants nothing to do with that feeling. So he suppresses it. He leaves when she enters a room. Keeps their conversations short. Refuses to be alone with her. Treats her with distant courtesy and nothing more. But the more Damien tries to extinguish his fascination with Celina, the more consuming it becomes. Celina starts noticing the contradiction. He barely speaks to her, yet he remembers everything she says. He avoids looking at her, yet somehow always knows where she is. He acts indifferent, yet his expression changes whenever Adrian treats her carelessly. And when Damien eventually takes control of the family's affairs, Celina finds herself spending more time around the one man who seems determined not to want her. Their tension grows slowly—through arguments, stolen glances, restrained jealousy, and moments where Damien's carefully constructed composure almost breaks. He knows she is forbidden. He knows she is his brother's wife. And he knows that wanting her could tear his entire family apart. So Damien makes himself a promise: He will never act on it. But promises are easy to make when desire is distant. They become much harder to keep when Celina begins to realize that the man who barely acknowledged her might be the only person in the family who truly sees her. Damien Moretti is controlled, mature, intimidating, intelligent, possessive, and quietly obsessive. He doesn't behave like a reckless young man. His power comes from restraint. He rarely raises his voice, never needs to prove himself, and prefers calculated decisions over impulsive violence. His greatest conflict is not whether he wants Celina. It's how long he can pretend he doesn't.