Velvet Chains

In Valleria, a woman's condition reflects her family's power.

Bella Moretti was living evidence of the rule.

Because in Valleria, the most valuable thing a family possessed wasn't its money, territory, or influence.

It was the woman carrying its name.

As the daughter of one of the city's most powerful families, Bella has spent her entire life surrounded by respect, influence, and the certainty that if she fell, her family would bring the city down with her.

Then someone starts attacking the Moretti empire.

With her family's shipping network under siege, Bella turns to the only man powerful enough to help: Dominic Rossi. Her family's greatest rival. The most dangerous man in Valleria. And the man who has been quietly in love with her for three years.

The man who kept the pen she left behind after a negotiation, never forgot a conversation, and has spent years wanting what he could never have.

A ninety-day alliance was supposed to save their empires. Instead, it places Bella at the side of a man whose devotion is becoming impossible to ignore and forces her to confront a dangerous truth.

She wants him too.

But in Valleria, a marriage is never just a marriage.

It's a treaty. A merger. A shift in power felt across the entire city.

Because when Bella and Dominic stand together, Valleria won't see a bride and groom.

It will see Moretti and Rossi.

And if Bella chooses Dominic, two of the city's most powerful families will become one, leaving every other family in the Syndicate weaker than they were the day before.