A Crown of Black Thorns

In the sun-drenched, jagged coastal terrain of a town built on old blood and dirty money, power doesn't wear gold. It wears a crown of black thorns.
​Nikolai Volkov is the undisputed king of the syndicate-ruthless, untouchable, and utterly devoid of mercy. He rules through fear, mapping out his empire with cold calculation. To him, people are pieces on a chessboard, and emotions are liabilities that get men killed. He has never met a variable he couldn't control.
​Until her.
​Elena Vance was never supposed to be part of the game. Sheltered, soft, and entirely civilian, she becomes the ultimate leverage when her family's debts default to the Volkov empire. Brought to Nikolai's fortress as a living collateral, she is thrust into a world of velvet luxury and violent shadows.
​Nikolai expects a fragile bird that will break under his stare. Instead, he finds a quiet, fierce resilience that begins to fracture his icy resolve. Elena expects a monster-and he is-but as the vultures circle his throne, she realizes the monster's possessive embrace might be the only safe place left. In a world where love is a weakness, their obsession will either secure his empire or burn it to the ground.