I married a monster to save my sister. Now he won't let me go.
I have forty-eight hours to find $750,000, or my sixteen-year-old sister becomes collateral damage for our father's gambling debts.
I'm a pediatric nurse with $340 in my bank account and zero options—until a man in a tailored suit finds me at midnight and makes an offer that sounds completely insane:
Marry his employer. Ask no questions. Obey without hesitation.
In exchange? Every debt erased. My family protected. Forever.
I sign the contract without reading it. I don't meet my husband until our wedding day.
Killian Archer is the most beautiful—and terrifying—man I've ever seen. Ice-blue eyes that miss nothing. A presence that makes grown men step back. And everyone in this city either worships him or fears him.
The ceremony takes eleven minutes. He slides a platinum ring onto my finger like a shackle and says three words that change everything:
"You're mine now."
I expect a wedding night. Instead, he shows me to a separate bedroom and gives me rules: Don't leave without security. Don't ask about his business. Don't test him.
He keeps his distance—cold, controlled, untouchable. But I see the cracks. The way his hands clench when I walk past. The way he watches me like I'm something he wants to devour. The way he stands outside my bedroom door at 3am like he's fighting a war with himself.
He says our marriage is just business.
Everything about him screams obsession.
Then I discover the truth: Killian didn't just pay my father's debts. He created them. Bought out the loan sharks. Orchestrated my desperation. Trapped me so completely that I had no choice but to come to him.
Because six months ago, Killian Archer saw me in a coffee shop and decided I was his.
He doesn't do love. Doesn't do relationships. Doesn't let anyone close.
But he'll manipulate me, bind me, cage me—make me want to stay even if it destroys us both.
When I confront him, he doesn't apologize. Doesn't even pretend to feel guilty.
"I take what I want, Isla. And I've wanted you since the moment I saw you."
I should run. I try to run.
But Killian's enemies are circling, and the most dangerous man in the city is somehow the safest place I've ever been.
Then his rival kidnaps me to get revenge—and I watch Killian become something worse than a monster to get me back.
I should be horrified by the violence. The darkness. The blood on his hands.
Instead, I realize I'm falling in love with this beautiful, broken, obsessive man who would burn the entire world down before letting me be hurt.
Our contract says eighteen months.
But Killian Archer doesn't know how to let go.
And I'm starting to think I don't want him to.

"It's Christmas Eve! We have SO MUCH to do! Cookies! Decorating! Presents! Everything!"


Isla groaned. Pulled a pillow over her head. "It's six in the morning, baby. Can the everything wait until seven?"


"No! Christmas doesn't wait! We have to start NOW!"


Killian laughed. Actually laughed. "She's right. Christmas doesn't wait. Come on, mama. Time to celebrate."


But she got up anyway. Because Sera's excitement was contagious. Because after yesterday's trauma and therapy and planning for their potential deaths—they needed this. Needed normalcy. Needed joy. Needed—needed to celebrate being alive.


The apartment was already decorated. Tree up since early December. Lights everywhere. Stockings hung. But Sera had plans. More decorations. More cookies. More—more everything.


"Dada, you help me make cookies. Mama, you wrap presents. Then we switch!"


"You're very bossy this morning, princess."


Chapter 79 - CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE: CELEBRATION