In a world where power is inherited, loyalty is currency, and betrayal is paid for in blood, peace is the most dangerous illusion of all.
Journey Monet Highland was raised to become a queen in a world ruled by kings. As the only daughter of the Highland Syndicate, she understands sacrifice, duty, and the cost of legacy better than most. What she doesn't understand is why the man she is supposed to marry chose someone else when it mattered most.
After surviving a violent attack that nearly cost her life, Journey is left with more than physical scars. The fragile trust growing between her and Tahir Ezekiel Parish has been shattered, leaving her questioning everything about their arranged engagement. With their wedding approaching and two powerful empires depending on their union, Journey gives herself six weeks to decide whether their future is worth fighting for-or if the alliance should burn before it ever reaches the altar.
But while Journey struggles to rebuild what was broken, enemies are already moving in the shadows.
Someone has spent years building alliances powerful enough to threaten both the Highland and Parish Syndicates from within. At the center of it all stands a pregnant ex with dangerous connections, a father willing to destroy entire bloodlines to protect his ambitions, and a web of deception stretching further than anyone realizes.
Zeke Parish was born to rule. Feared by enemies and trusted by few, he has spent his life making decisions based on logic rather than emotion. Yet Journey Highland continues to become the one variable he cannot control. She challenges him, defies him, and forces him to confront truths he would rather leave buried. The closer he gets to her, the more dangerous she becomes-not because she threatens his empire, but because she threatens the walls he has spent a lifetime building around his heart.
As whispers of betrayal grow louder and hidden enemies close in, Journey and Zeke find themselves trapped between duty and desire, suspicion and trust, love and survival. Because the attack that nearly destroyed them wasn't random.
It was a warning.
Someone wants the alliance dead before it can become unstoppable.
Someone is willing to spill blood to keep old secrets buried.
And someone has already set a war in motion.
Now, with powerful families choosing sides, loyalties shifting beneath their feet, and enemies hiding behind familiar faces, Journey and Zeke must decide if their marriage will become the foundation of a new empire-or the spark that burns two syndicates to the ground.
Because in their world, love isn't the greatest risk.
Trust is.
Author's Note: This is Book Two in a dark mafia arranged-marriage romance series and ends on a cliffhanger. The Highland and Parish saga must be read in order. 
