State of Affairs ⚖︎ "You missed a talking point on page four, Governor," I said, sliding the briefing file across his heavy mahogany desk. Tennyson didn't look at the file. His dark eyes stayed locked on my mouth, completely devoid of the golden-man charm he'd just fed to a crowd of thousands. "Lock the door, Milan," he murmured, his voice low and exhausted. "You have a press briefing in ten minutes, sir. And your wife is waiting in the lobby." He stepped around the desk, invading my space until the scent of cedar and expensive bourbon swallowed me whole. His hand brushed my waist, his thumb pressing possessively against my hip. "I don't care," he breathed, his facade finally shattering. "Lock the damn door." 🏛️ To the world, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬 is untouchable. He is the state's golden man, a devoted husband, and a man with a spotless reputation. Everyone worships the ground he walks on. Everyone except his executive assistant, 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐚. Milan has a strict two-year plan: survive the Governor's temper, secure her recommendation letter, and catch a one-way flight to Washington, D.C. Her job description: hand him his black coffee, fix his crooked ties, and treat the most powerful man in the state like a normal human being. But her immunity is exactly what breaks him. Behind the heavy oak doors of his office, Tennyson sheds his perfect mask. He is cynical, ruthless, and spiraling into a dark, desperate obsession with the only woman who doesn't want anything from him. He becomes addicted to her warmth and slowly to her. As late nights at the office blur into a secret arrangement, Milan thinks she has the situation under control. But she doesn't know that Tennyson's public life is a PR lie. She doesn't know that the Governor has absolutely no intention of letting her go. 'Cause what the Governor needs, the Governor gets.

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥. Forced into a Bratva marriage to settle a blood debt, Alina is delivered to the Reznikov estate like an offering - silent, soft-spoken, and smart enough to know that survival means obedience. Aleksei Reznikov is the coldest man she's ever met. He doesn't raise his voice. He doesn't touch her. He barely looks at her. But beneath his stillness lies a storm. He rules with silence, kills with precision, and makes promises in Russian that chill her to the bone. He tells her not to run. That she belongs to him now. That if she disobeys, he won't raise a hand - he'll break her with nothing but words. But as walls crumble and secrets unravel, the most dangerous thing of all isn't the violence outside their gates. It's the quiet pull between a girl who was never supposed to matter... And the man who swore he wouldn't feel. A slow-burn, dark arranged marriage romance. He's a Bratva heir. She's his obligation. So why is he starting to look at her like she's everything? 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 ༺༒︎༻ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 ✓ 𝟔𝟒 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬