Mr. Dark & Stormy

Kat:

There was a time when I could see beauty inside a block of marble.

Now all I see is empty stone.

Somewhere between losing my mother and losing myself, sculpting stopped feeling like a dream and started feeling like another reminder of everything I can't fix. Then the one place I've spent my entire life trying to protect is suddenly on the verge of slipping through my fingers, and I'm offered a single impossible solution.

Marry a stranger.

Dominick Keraunos is everything I should avoid-guarded, impossible to read, and determined to keep the entire world at a distance. He makes it painfully clear that he doesn't want a wife, a future, or anyone close enough to matter.

That should make saying yes easier.

After all, I'm not looking for love.

I'm just trying to save what's left of mine.

How bad could it be?

**********

Dominick:

I've spent years proving I'm the right man to inherit everything my father built.

Apparently, years of sacrifice aren't enough.

Instead, I'm handed an ultimatum that ties my future to a woman I've never met.

If I can't escape the arrangement, then I'll make sure she does.

It should be simple. Push her away before she gets close. Give her every reason to walk out the door before she has the chance to become another person I'll eventually lose.

Then Katherine Hale says yes.

She wasn't supposed to stay.

She definitely wasn't supposed to make me question the walls I've spent my entire life building.

It doesn't matter.

People leave.

They always do.

I'm certain I can convince her to leave me first.