A Kiss Signed in Blood

A dynasty built on power. A treaty sealed in blood. And a past neither of them ever buried.

Rosalie Moretti was raised to inherit an empire - one where power is inherited, loyalty is bought, and love is fatal. The night she is meant to sign an alliance in her father's name, another fragile peace stitched together after years of rivalry. But when the ballroom doors open, the last person she expected steps into the light.

The heir of her families oldest enemy.
The boy who once kissed her like the world wasn't burning around them.
The man who now stands on the opposite side of a war they didn't choose.
Nikolai Valenti.

His gaze finds her across the room, steady and unreadable, carrying every memory they were forced to forget. He shouldn't be there. He shouldn't looking at her like that. But he does-like the treaty means nothing compared to the truth between them.

And when he bows, taking her hand as if they we're alone in the room, his voice is a quiet challenge meant only for her:

"Tell me, princess... will you sign this alliance with ink... or with blood?"

Her pulse answers before she can.