The Cost of Desire

Power. Control. Desire has a price.

At thirty-eight, Alden has everything-wealth, influence, and a spotless reputation as the brilliant CEO who built his empire from the ground up. Adopted into privilege but shaped by a childhood marked by unspoken horrors, Alden has learned to keep his emotions locked down and his life meticulously controlled. Love was never part of the plan.

Until Scarlett comes back.

At twenty-three, Scarlett is no longer the girl he vaguely remembers. She is intelligent, captivating, and dangerously off-limits-the daughter of his investor, the child of his closest friend's ex-wife, and very much someone he should never want. But attraction doesn't care about logic, loyalty, or age gaps. And desire, once awakened, refuses to be ignored.

As Alden and Scarlett are pulled into a forbidden connection neither of them expected, the cost grows higher by the day. Every stolen moment threatens Alden's career, his ethics, and the fragile balance of the life he fought so hard to build. And when a mysterious enemy from Alden's reckless past begins watching from the shadows, what started as temptation turns into something far more dangerous.

Some desires change your life.
Others destroy it.