Intro. They say that love comes with time. That even in arranged marriages something similar to affection can be born. That if you close your eyes close enough, you can convince yourself that you are safe.
Katherine Salvatore tried. At twenty-four, she lives surrounded by luxury, between high walls, heavy curtains and armed surveillance. She is married to John Salvatore, a commander with a steely gaze and hands as cold as they are firm. Marriage was a decision she never made, but over the years she learned to move in the shadows of duty... and to find refuge in the eyes of her children: Liam, her four-year-old son, and little Eloise, barely a sigh in her arms.
From the outside, they look like a perfect family. From inside, Katherine begins to notice the cracks. There's something in the air. Something that does not fit. Guards who murmur. Doors that no longer open. Orders that are not explained.
And a certainty growing in his chest: It's not there for love. It's there because someone needs to have