At twenty, I was my father’s prized possession, sheltered and obedient. But when he promised me to Viktor Sokolov—a man fifteen years my senior and as feared as he was respected—my life became a dark gamble. Viktor was ruthless, a cold enforcer with a history drenched in blood and betrayal. His eyes burned with unspoken torment, and his touch was both a promise of pain and pleasure. I was thrust into a marriage that bound me not just to a man but to a world where trust was scarce, and survival meant playing by brutal rules. He said I was his, that there was no escape. I fought him at every turn, but the fire between us couldn’t be denied. And when I discovered I was carrying his child, the stakes turned deadly. As secrets from Viktor’s past surfaced, so did the enemies that threatened to tear us apart. He’d claim me as his queen, but only if he could conquer the darkness that ruled him. Would his demons destroy us both, or would I find a way to tame the beast before it was too late? The Bratva doesn’t forgive, and it never forgets. In this world, only the strong survive—claimed, tested, and bound to men who bend the world to their will.

At nineteen, I was no stranger to fear. But nothing could prepare me for Ivan Romanov. He’s the devil cloaked in power, the Pakhan of the Romanov Bratva—a man who could destroy me with a glance. Taken from my world and thrust into his, I became his pawn, his leverage in a war my brother ignited. Ivan is merciless, a man carved from shadows and blood, yet the crackling tension between us is impossible to deny. He tells me I’m his captive, that I mean nothing, but the way he watches me, the way his touch lingers, speaks of a dangerous obsession neither of us can control. The deeper I’m drawn into his world, the more I see the man behind the monster—a man haunted by sins he can’t forget and a darkness he’s desperate to hide. I should hate him. I should run. But every step closer to freedom only chains me tighter to him. Love wasn’t meant to bloom in the underworld, but when secrets unravel and betrayals cut deeper than any blade, I’ll have to will I survive his world, or will it consume us both? In Ivan’s arms, I’m caught between love and destruction. And no matter which path I choose, it’s going to hurt.

I was born into a world of blood and power, a pawn in a game played by ruthless men. But nothing could have prepared me for Stepan Belov He is the Bratva’s deadliest weapon—a ghost in the dark, a man with no past, no weakness. Unyielding. Unbreakable. A predator who protects what’s his with lethal precision. And now, I belong to him. After an assassination attempt, Stepan is assigned as my bodyguard. My shield. My shadow. My torment. Cold. Merciless. Completely untouchable. Until the night I glimpse the cracks in his armor. The scars he hides. The fire in his eyes when another man dares to get too close. He tells me I’m a duty, not a temptation—that I should marry the man my father has chosen and forget about him. But then my enemies strike again. And Stepan stops pretending. Now, I’m caught between a man who wants to own me and a man who would burn the world down for me. Between the life I was raised for and the forbidden touch that could cost us both everything. In Stepan’s arms, I feel safe. But in his world, love is a weapon. And I might not survive the fallout.

I came back to bury my past. Instead, I walked straight into the arms of my worst nightmare. Malachim Vetrov. Ruthless. Calculated. The Pakhan of the Vetrov Bratva—a man whose name is a whispered threat in the underworld. The boy who once tormented me has become the most powerful man in Moscow, and now? He holds my fate in his hands. His offer is simple—stay under his roof, care for his daughter, and pretend the past between us never happened. But nothing with Mal is ever simple. His gaze is a silent warning, his presence a storm I can’t outrun. The man I hate is also the one I can’t seem to resist. But Mal isn’t the only one playing a dangerous game. His past is alive, waiting in the shadows. And the woman he once lost—the wife he buried—isn’t resting in her grave. The longer I stay, the clearer it becomes—this isn’t just about the war between us. This is about the secrets we were never meant to uncover. The betrayals waiting to consume us both. I should run. I should fight. But some wars aren’t meant to be won. And in Malachim’s world, love is just another battle waiting to be lost.