Julian, a 23-year-old American student, arrived in Sicily seeking a fresh start and a degree in art history. Petite and ethereal, he is a creature of light—until a late-night wrong turn in the ancient alleys of Palermo lands him in the iron grip of a monster.
Dante Vitale is that monster. At 28, he is the ruthless Capo of the Sicilian Underworld, a man whose 6'4" frame casts a shadow longer than the secrets he keeps. Cold, calculating, and scarred by a past darker than the ink on his skin, Dante has no room for mercy—and even less for a beautiful stranger who saw something he shouldn't have.
In the mafia, witnesses are usually silenced. But when Dante looks into Julian's defiant blue eyes, he doesn't see a threat—he sees a prize. Now trapped in a gilded cage within Dante's clifftop villa, Julian must navigate a world of brutal violence and forbidden desire.
He came to Sicily to study the past. Now, he's fighting to survive the man who owns his future.