EliseStark26
Claire Donovan has spent years hiding the bruises beneath her scrubs, the lies on her lips as polished as the wedding band on her finger. By day she's a quiet, competent nurse in a state prison; by night she's the battered wife of a man the town calls a hero. No one sees the truth-until Ethan Cross.
Newly transferred and notorious for his dangerous past, Ethan is the last man Claire should trust. Yet he's the only one who notices the tremor in her hands, the shadows blooming on her skin, the secrets she buries. And he makes her an unthinkable offer: freedom, at a cost written in blood.
As Claire's husband's violence escalates and Ethan's plan takes shape, she's forced to choose between two cages-one built of fear, the other of desire and danger. In a world where trust is a weapon and love can kill, the line between savior and monster begins to blur.
A taut, intoxicating thriller about survival, obsession, and the dangerous bargains we make for freedom.