Marry him or die." It's the kind of choice that doesn't feel like a choice at all. When Isolde Kade wakes up in a foreign country with a ring on her finger and a man she doesn't recognize standing over her, she knows two things: she has no memory of the past seven days, and the man she's married to is dangerous. Luka Valerius is a name spoken in whispers, a shadow in the underworld, a man who owns half the world and rules the rest from the palm of his hand. The rumors say he kills without hesitation. That he burns cities to the ground when he's bored. That his touch is a death sentence. And yet, he holds her like he's afraid she'll disappear. As Isolde fights to uncover the truth-about her marriage, about Luka, about the dark secrets tethering her to a past she can't remember-she realizes too late that there are worse things than being married to a monster. Because sometimes, the real villain is the one pulling the strings from the shadows.
Chapter 1 THE STRANGER WITH MY NAME
I wake up with a headache so sharp I could carve my name into the walls with it.
The room is unfamiliar. White silk sheets. A fireplace crackling in the corner. A chandelier big enough to crush me if it falls. It smells expensive in here-like leather and whiskey, like power.
Like danger.
I sit up too fast, and the nausea sways me like a pendulum. My wrist feels heavier than usual. That's when I see it.
A ring.
Platinum. A diamond the size of my sins. It sits on my finger like a noose.
My heart slams against my ribs as I hear a voice-low, smooth, edged in steel.
"You're awake."
I turn too quickly. He's standing at the foot of the bed, watching me with an expression I can't read. He's tall, built like a war crime, and dressed in black like he's attending a funeral. Maybe mine.
His eyes are dark, fathomless.
I don't know his name, but something in my gut tells me I should.
"Who are you?" My voice is hoarse. Raw. Used.
His lips twitch, almost like a smile. Almost.
"You don't remember?"
There's something terrifying about the way he says it, like he already knows the answer.
I shake my head, and his jaw tightens. His hands slide into the pockets of his suit, too calm, too composed. A storm contained in a man's body.
"Luka Valerius."
The name slithers into my bones like a threat.
My stomach drops. Luka Valerius. I've heard that name before. In whispers. In warnings. In headlines written in blood.
"You're lying," I breathe. "This is a mistake. I don't-I wouldn't-"
He steps closer. The floor shudders beneath him.
"You did." His voice is quiet, dangerous. "You married me, Isolde."
A cold hand wraps around my throat.
I don't know what's worse-the fact that I don't remember, or the fact that somehow, deep in the marrow of my bones, I believe him.