A forbidden obsession that grows out of control
Valerius is 34. Nara is 18.

...........
When eighteen-year-old Nara Redwell is kidnapped by the ruthless boss of Draven Syndicate, the criminal world holds its breath. She is the only daughter of Redwell, a man feared for his wealth, power, and violent history. 

But instead of being executed like the others taken before her, Nara is placed under the personal authority of Valerius Draven, the cold and devastatingly disciplined leader of the rival empire.

Valerius does not want ransom.
He wants leverage.
And Nara becomes the pressure point that forces her father into the light.

But the more time she spends inside Valerius’ world, the more she learns a truth she was never supposed to see: her father is not the hero she grew up worshipping. His past with the Dravens is darker than she ever imagined, and the war she thought she understood is built on betrayal, blood, and secrets buried under decades of silence.

While the syndicates prepare for conflict, Redwell spirals. His fear for Nara blinds him, driving him to make the most catastrophic choice of his life, where he offers his wife as a replacement hostage, willing to trade anyone to get Nara back. His desperation marks the beginning of a violent collapse no one can stop.

And in the middle of this unraveling chaos stands Valerius, the man who was supposed to use Nara as a weapon… but instead becomes the only shield she has left.

As loyalties fracture, enemies rise, and hidden truths emerge, Nara must decide who the real monster is. The man who stole her freedom, or the father who built her world out of lies.

Her choice may destroy one empire…
And ignite another.

Nara has spent her whole life trying to survive men like her father. Men who believe a woman’s worth is measured by her obedience and her beauty. 

Valerius Draven.

The quiet monster. The only man who never raises his voice but makes entire empires kneel. And now… he is her jailer.

Held in an isolated Florida estate that feels more like a velvet cage than a home, Nara is determined to destroy the one thing men want from her, her beauty. If she can make herself undesirable, she can make herself untouchable.

But Valerius stops her.

He insists she is safe with him. He insists he will not hurt her. He insists she is merely leverage in a war she never asked to be part of.

Yet nothing about Valerius feels simple, or safe.

The more she pushes, the calmer he becomes. The more she resists, the more he studies her. And beneath all his coldness is a tension she doesn’t understand… and can’t escape.

Because Valerius didn’t take her for ransom.
He took her for a reason neither of them is ready to admit.

Nara knows one truth: Monsters don’t cage what they don’t crave.

And Valerius? He never cages anything he plans to let go.

Nara walked beside me with the kind of careless confidence that didn't belong in a compound full of men who killed for a living. 


Her steps were lighter now, less shaken, though every so often she would brush her shoulder against mine—accidentally, she'd claim. But her curiosity made her drift closer each time.


My men patrolled the edges of the courtyard. Every one of them stared too long. Not at me but at her.


Her chin tilted upward in that entitled, bratty little way I was beginning to recognize fully. An older soldier, Riker, walked past with a respectful nod.


Instead, she said sharply, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."


"Blink twice if your brain is overheating," she cut in.


I exhaled slowly. "Nara." I called with calm warning.


She gasped mockingly. "Oh, I'm sorry, was he not supposed to look at me like I'm some rare zoo animal?"


Chapter 12 - Potential Family.