Smoke between ties

In New York, power is inherited.
Love is not.

Before Viviane Nix Mayfield was born, her life was already promised to the underworld.

A contract signed in blood between two powerful families bound the Nix name to the Delluci empire. But the bride was never meant to be her.

It was supposed to be Victoria.

Viviane is the unwanted daughter - the quiet storm beneath a perfect family image. A painter with ink on her hands and secrets in her lungs. She swears in Egyptian when she's angry. She smokes when she can't breathe. She loves animals more than people. And she has no idea that a monster from her childhood remembers her.

Elias Delluci never forgot the girl at the party.

She was seven.
He was nine.
One conversation.
One look.
One promise he never said out loud.

Now he's a mafia king. Ruthless. Unhinged. Feared.
And when the time comes to collect on the marriage contract meant for her sister-

He chooses Viviane instead.

She doesn't remember him.

But he remembers everything.

What begins as a forced union becomes a war of pride, tension, and buried desire. In a mansion filled with secrets and men who would kill on command, Viviane refuses to bow.

She challenges him in front of his soldiers.
He teaches her how to shoot.
They share smoke under city lights.
And when she pushes too far-
He kisses her to shut her up.

But enemies to lovers is never simple.

Because contracts can bind two people together...

But they can't force a heart to survive it...