Delicate Ballon.

ASHER

I wasn't looking for love.

I was looking for power.

A wife is not romance in my world. She's leverage. Blood ties. Contracts sealed with rings instead of ink. When Carson begged for protection and money, offering his daughters like bargaining chips, I expected to be bored.

Elisa.

Eighteen. Italian. Five-foot-five of something breakable.

And I wanted her.

Not because she was the most beautiful - though she was. Not because she would make the best alliance - though she would.

I wanted her because she looked at me like I was something terrifying... and still didn't run.

I have built an empire with blood. Men fear me. Enemies whisper my name. I take what I want.

And I wanted her.

She is everything I am not - light where I am darkness, gentle where I am ruthless. I thought she would bend. I thought she would obey.

I did not expect to fall.

But the mafia monster is learning something dangerous-

Even monsters can love.

⸻

ELISA

Papa said this was an honor.

He said I should smile. Be grateful. Be obedient.

And then there was him.

Asher Ivanov.

Six-foot-four. Broad shoulders. Dark hair with blonde streaks. Brown eyes that looked like they'd seen too much. And dimples that didn't match the rest of him at all.

I was the youngest. The quietest. The one who still believed marriage meant something soft and safe.

But when he chose me, there was no softness in his voice.

He didn't ask.

He took.

I was afraid of him. Of the way he moves like he owns every room. Of the way men step aside when he walks. Of the darkness that clings to him like a shadow.

And yet...

When he looks at me, sometimes there's something else there. Something almost careful. Almost gentle.

He is cold. I am warm.

He is a storm. I am a flower.

But storms don't always destroy flowers.

Sometimes... they protect them.

And somewhere between fear and fate, I started falling in love with the monster who chose me.