luvelaney
Every ten years, President Freck enacts a tradition the public barely understands-and few dare question. Two mentors are assigned to each state, tasked with selecting one woman to be offered to the Mafia bosses who quietly control America's shadows.
In the newly declared 41st state, Elenora Johnson lives a quiet life with her sister, Mary, and their mother, Noel-until her name appears on a massive digital screen, chosen at random in front of the entire state. Selected by the cold and calculating mentor Lucy, Elenora's fate is sealed in a single moment.
She is flown to Washington, stripped of choice and thrust into a world of power, wealth, and danger, where she must stand before the most feared Mafia bosses in the country and prove her worth. Among them is Lorenzo De Santis-a ruthless Italian boss known for his lethal intelligence, quiet authority, and unforgiving control.
The moment Lorenzo claims her, Elenora's life is no longer her own.
Caught between fear and survival, obedience and defiance, Elenora must navigate a deadly game where loyalty is currency, submission is demanded, and love-if it exists at all-may be the most dangerous risk of all.