Shattered Honor

He thinks he's protecting her. She thinks she's escaping him. They're both wrong. Carmela I was supposed to be the good daughter—poised, protected, silent. But I’m done playing the mafia princess. So I ran. New city. New name. A gallery job and a life far from my family’s bloodstained legacy. Then Van Reyes showed up. Scarred, scowling, and sent by my brother to protect me. He’s older. A soldier turned surgeon. But I don’t need a babysitter. So I ditched him at the airport. I thought that was the end of it. Now he’s in my space. Watching me. Warning me not to push him. He likes control. I like breaking rules. He’s the grump. I’m the chaos. And I have no idea how long I can keep pretending I don’t want him to take charge. He says he’s here to keep me safe. But the way he looks at me? Like he wants to own me. Like I’m not just his responsibility… I’m his. Van She slipped away before I even got her in the car. A Rosetti brat with too much attitude and no idea what kind of danger she’s in. I owe her family. I said I’d protect her. But Carmela doesn’t want protection. She wants to test limits. And she has no idea what it’ll cost her when I stop letting her win. She calls me cold. Grumpy. Unbreakable. But she hasn’t seen what happens when I take control. And when I do, she’ll learn what happens when sunshine pushes too far—and begs to be tamed. I was sent to guard her. Now she’s mine to handle—and I don’t plan on letting go.

He thinks he's protecting her. She thinks she's escaping him. They're both wrong. Carmela I was supposed to be the good daughter—poised, protected, silent. But I’m done playing the mafia princess. So I ran. New city. New name. A gallery job and a life far from my family’s bloodstained legacy. Then Van Reyes showed up. Scarred, scowling, and sent by my brother to protect me. He’s older. A soldier turned surgeon. But I don’t need a babysitter. So I ditched him at the airport. I thought that was the end of it. Now he’s in my space. Watching me. Warning me not to push him. He likes control. I like breaking rules. He’s the grump. I’m the chaos. And I have no idea how long I can keep pretending I don’t want him to take charge. He says he’s here to keep me safe. But the way he looks at me? Like he wants to own me. Like I’m not just his responsibility… I’m his. Van She slipped away before I even got her in the car. A Rosetti brat with too much attitude and no idea what kind of danger she’s in. I owe her family. I said I’d protect her. But Carmela doesn’t want protection. She wants to test limits. And she has no idea what it’ll cost her when I stop letting her win. She calls me cold. Grumpy. Unbreakable. But she hasn’t seen what happens when I take control. And when I do, she’ll learn what happens when sunshine pushes too far—and begs to be tamed. I was sent to guard her. Now she’s mine to handle—and I don’t plan on letting go.