The Guarded Heart

​Rule number one: Never look at your brother's best friend.

Rule number two: Especially not when your brother is Zione.

​For years, Liliana has lived by these rules, burying her consuming, hopeless crush on Riguel. As the university's star basketball captain and a brilliant fourth-year Business Management student, Riguel is a walking temptation. He's also entirely off-limits. Zione's life mission is to shield Liliana from the world, and Riguel is his brother-in-arms. Liliana knows that crossing that line means risking a family war, so she contentedly watches Riguel from the safety of the crowded campus bleachers.

​Then, the ultimate curveball hits.

​Zione is accepted into a prestigious doctorate program abroad. Refusing to leave Liliana unprotected in the city for six months, he orchestrates an ironclad security plan. He turns to the only man he trusts with his life, demanding Riguel move into their apartment to act as her ultimate guardian.

​Riguel accepts out of fierce loyalty to his best friend, despite juggling grueling morning practices, corporate exams, and scout pressure. But before Zione boards his flight, he delivers a chilling, final ultimatum: "Keep her safe from everything and everyone. If a single guy gets close to her, you answer to me."

​Now, Liliana is trapped under the same roof as the guy of her dreams. Six months of forced proximity. Six months of shared morning coffees, late-night study sessions, and accidental touches. As the boundaries between "guardian" and "something more" begin to dangerously blur, Riguel faces his hardest challenge yet: protecting Liliana from the rest of the world, while fighting the terrifying urge to claim her for himself.

​He promised to protect her. He never promised he wouldn't fall