"I bought you to save you from a monster. I didn't realize that in your eyes, the monster was me."
Twenty years ago, Maurice Mayer stole a "cursed" newborn from a hospital cot to keep her from a father who wanted her dead. He became her invisible shadow, a ghost who celebrated her birthdays in silence and felt her every heartbeat through an unbreakable soul-tie. He was her guardian. Her protector. Her secret god.
Now, the girl he saved is a woman he’s been forced to marry.
To the world, it’s a cold billionaire merger. To Maurice, it’s a nightmare of his own making. He’s trapped in a house with the only woman he’s ever loved, but he’s paralyzed by a vow he made when he was ten years old. He treats her like a princess, a ward, a daughter, anything to keep from admitting he wants to claim her as his own.
But Mia is done playing the innocent victim.
She’s drawn to the dark, scarred man who looks at her with a hunger that burns through his icy mask. She doesn't want his protection; she wants his touch. And she’s willing to burn down his "Guardian" walls to get it.
Maurice thinks he’s protecting her from his own darkness. But the real danger isn't his desire, it’s the secret in the back of his closet.
He didn't just find her. He kidnapped her.
And when the woman who calls him "husband" finds out the truth, his twenty-year devotion won't be a romance... it will be a crime.
