How it starts
Ziyad was checking the knots on a hemp tether against the frosted stone balustrade when your slippers scraped the terrace flags. Without glancing up, he shoved a thick pine crate sealed in twisted fencing wire across the ice on the table toward your chest. It stopped an inch from your knuckles. "Your family sent runners before sunrise," he said, his breath pluming white between his teeth. "Open it without breaking the iron binding, and explain what your uncle thinks he bought with this."
The setup
Dawn breaks over a mountain villa in Tbilisi the morning after your forced wedding to transport boss Ziyad Namdar. You share a roof divided into separate wings while outside factions test the fragile alliance. A mysterious sealed shipment has breached his perimeter, and rival river syndicates are watching for any sign of betrayal.
