I married a mafia don to keep my little brother safe from everyone who would take him away. The contract binds me to Ciaran Echols, but his terms go far beyond sharing a name. He wants my body, untouched until him, given freely on the night we become man and wife.

His office at the warehouse is where the terms get spoken aloud. It is where I learn how little the papers actually cover. I lift my chin like the defiance is real, and he steps past it every time. He tells me what he expects of a wife, and I keep finding reasons not to argue. The arrangement turns into possession the moment he decides it does. I fear what I will become once he claims what no one else has.