Sofia De Luca and Santo Romano are supposed to get along. After all, they're neighbours, and their parents are best friends. But from the moment they meet, sparks fly-just not the romantic kind. Constant bickering, playful pranks, and endless teasing define their every interaction... until the lines between rivalry and attraction start to blur. Especially, since they were the two most popular kids in high school. As they navigate stolen moments, fiery arguments, and undeniable chemistry, Sofia and Santo realize that maybe being enemies isn't so bad-especially when the benefits are far too tempting to resist. But can love survive when friendship, family, and a lifetime of habits stand in the way?

❝ "Please... please, please," I whine into his mouth, broken and needy. He smirks against my lips, savouring my desperation. "Please what, pretty girl? Hm? Talk to me- I know you can." ❞ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ At Novae Vale, secrets aren't kept. They're traded. After a year lost to grief, Scarlett Cheslyn-Arden steps through the iron gates of the world's most elite academy and straight into the shadows of the Order, a society where favours have teeth and debts are written in blood. Win the Trials and you earn a single promise powerful enough to crown a king or ruin a family. She's ice-poised, untouchable, determined to survive on her own terms. He's heat-Xavier Caelum, her brother's best friend, her fiancé to be, a walking sin with lazy smiles and razor edges. They're paired for the Trials, bound by rules that make desire dangerous and silence compulsory. Underground fights thrum beneath the pool house. Poker nights hum with champagne and lies. There are masks, messages, and the kind of parties where music vibrates through your bones. In the dark between competitions, their banter turns sharp, their glances turn heavy, and touch becomes a promise neither of them should make. To win the Blood Credit, Scarlett must play the Order's game-clever, ruthless, unafraid. To keep her heart, she should stay away from Xavier. But when power tastes like his mouth and safety looks a lot like his hands on her waist, restraint starts to feel like a losing strategy. A sensual, slow-burn elite dark romance about found family, forbidden desire, and the cost of choosing your own fate-where every secret has a price, and every kiss is a risk.