She needed a shield to save her empire. She didn't expect him to be the weapon she needed.
Vivian Cloud doesn't do vulnerability. As the CEO of Cloud Legacy, she rules with ice-cold precision and a closed heart. But when a staged car crash nearly kills her, she wakes up to a nightmare: her stepfather and fiancé are using her "recovery" to stage a corporate coup. Isolated, injured, and cornered by a board that smells blood, Vivian needs a move that will stop them dead in their tracks.
Julian Thorne is just a security contractor. Or so he says.
He's the silent shadow at her door, the man who pulls her from the wreckage, and the only person in the room who isn't trying to steal her company. He offers her a solution as ruthless as it is desperate: A marriage contract.
A husband blocks her ex-fiancé's legal claims. A husband secures her voting shares. A husband makes her look stable.
The terms are strict:
- No emotion.
- No intimacy.
- Strictly business.
But Julian is breaking his own rules. He's hiding a secret identity that could shatter their fragile alliance, and he's looking at Vivian with a hunger that has nothing to do with contracts. As the corporate sabotage turns into lethal assassination attempts, the line between "client" and "wife" dissolves.
With her enemies closing in, Vivian must make the most dangerous choice of her life: keep her iron-clad control and die alone, or trust the man who might be the only one strong enough to stand beside her.
Perfect for fans of Succession who wanted more romance, and readers of high-stakes "Bodyguard" romances who crave a competent heroine.
Tropes you'll love in this book:
- 🖤 Contract Marriage (Fake relationship becomes real)
- 🛡️ Bodyguard / Protector Romance ("Touch her and die" energy)
- 💼 Competence Porn (Smart CEO heroine x Lethal hero)
- 🤫 Secret Billionaire (Hidden identity)
- 📉 Corporate Thriller (High-stakes boardroom wars)
- 🔥 Slow Burn & Closed Door (High emotional tension, fade-to-black intimacy)
