I had spent my life trapped in a gilded cage, surrounded by villains.

The cruel man I was forced to marry saw me as a lesson to be taught, stripping away every piece of my spirit until all that remained was my shadow. He left me in darkness, alone, except for the one flicker of light in my miserable existence: my adoptive daughter.

Then they took her away from me too.

It didn’t kill me, but something deep inside me died that day.

Or so I thought.

Giovanni Agosti kidnapped me to “save” me, or so he claimed.

But I was done being a pawn in anyone’s game. I would show this captor, with his smoldering gaze and dangerous allure, that no one touched Liana Volkov without consequences.

Not even the man I found myself wanting.