When Everything Burns

Some flames don't die.
They come back hungrier.

The night Aurora Bellini disappeared, everything burned.
The Vitti family was left bleeding - betrayed by the girl they sheltered, fractured by a love that never should have existed. Trust turned to ash. Loyalty became a liability. And for Angelo Vitti, survival came at a cost far worse than death.

He should hate her.
And he does.

But hatred doesn't erase the memory of her smile.
Or the way she softened his world without trying.
Or the quiet, devastating hope that the girl he loved wasn't a lie - just a casualty.

Angelo buries it. Locks it away. Pretends he's finished.
War demands focus, not ghosts.
Yet even as blood spills and alliances rot from the inside out, her name still burns beneath his ribs - a weakness he despises and cannot fully extinguish.

Back in Russia, Alexandria Serra-Barinov steps into the life that shaped her.
A world of violence, loyalty, and fire - where power is claimed, not given, and love does not ask you to be smaller. She stands among those who know her darkness and do not flinch. Those who see her clearly.

And she does not break.

Whatever softness that once existed is buried deep beneath resolve and rage. Alexandria does not hesitate. She does not look back. She has more to burn. More to ruin. And she will finish what she started.

As blood spills across borders and old alliances rot from within, everyone is forced to choose what they're willing to lose.
Their power.
Their family.
Their heart.

Because betrayal is never the end of a story. It is the moment everything else begins to bleed.
Because betrayal never comes alone.
It brings war.
It brings ruin.
And it always demands payment.

Betrayal doesn't end a story.
It rewrites it.

And in a world built on fire and blood, no one escapes unscathed.

And some flames aren't meant to be extinguished - they're meant to burn the world down.

"When Everything Burns" is the second book in the "Burned" Series, and cannot be read as a standalone.