Veil of Sacrifice
Perfection was the curse. I was born into wealth, beauty, influence, and a family empire that stretched across continents. People envied my life, not knowing it was nothing more than a gilded prison. The only thing that ever felt real was ballet, the passion my parents forbade because it brought them no power, no profit, no leverage.
My parents; greedy, ambitious, unfillable, hid their cruelty beneath luxury. And on my eighteenth birthday, they revealed the ultimate betrayal.
I was engaged to a powerful man twice. . . no, three times my age. A man feared across Europe. A man whose hands were stained with secrets the world pretended not to see.
They sold me to strengthen an alliance.
So I ran. Barefoot, shaking, heartbroken. I stole one of our visitor's chopper and fled to Sicily, thinking distance could save me. I thought I escaped the monsters who owned my life.
But I only ran into a darker one.
Because Sicily is his territory; Aldrick Moretti, the shadow king of the Italian underworld. Cold. Untouchable. Beautiful in the most devastating way. The man people whisper about as if speaking his name is a sin. A man with eyes that see through lies. . . including mine.
And the moment he found me trespassing on his land, bleeding, terrified, and wearing the remnants of a runaway bride. . .
He didn’t return me.
He didn’t free me.
He claimed me.
Not as a business deal.
Not as an alliance.
But as something far more dangerous.
He became my captor, my protector, my obsession, and the forbidden flame I should never have touched.
Because in his world, love is not tender.
It’s a weapon.
And I am the sacrifice wrapped in a veil he refuses to let go.