I should be terrified of the bratva Ice King I’m forced to marry. So why does his control feel like the first freedom I’ve ever known?
I’ve spent twenty-six years as my father’s captive genius—two PhDs and zero choices, a asset he’d auction to the highest bidder. Then a bombing forces a blood marriage between our bratva families.
And Ivan Volkov volunteers to be my husband. The strategist they call heartless tells me I’m not his prisoner.
He notices when I chew my sleeves to self-soothe and recognizes what I’ve been hiding my entire life—that I need a Daddy’s firm hand. My father will kill me if I don’t consummate this marriage.
But Ivan refuses to touch me until I’m ready. Until I choose him. And when he grounds me through my panic with a pulse-point rhythm . . .
when he promises consequences for broken rules and rewards for being good . . . And God help me, I need him.
Because when my father invokes ancient law to drag me back to hell, Ivan proves that bad men can be heroes, too.
