Julian Reed is dead. I know because I read the headline—and broke my couch celebrating. Before you judge me, try spending eight years with a man who criticizes your groceries, meddles in your life, and once paid your roommates to soak your bedding so you’d have to share his bed. I thought I’d finally have some peace. Then my apartment started going dark at eleven every night. My mattress dipped beside me. And a voice I knew far too well asked whether I was really that happy he was gone. Apparently, even death can’t make Julian leave me alone. But somewhere between hiding under the covers and arguing with empty rooms, I start wondering what I actually want: for him to stop coming back—or for him to stay.

Mara Bennett only accepts the live-in nursing job because she desperately needs money for her younger brother’s cancer treatment. Her patient is Vincent DeLuca, one of Chicago’s most feared mafia bosses—a ruthless man left badly injured after an ambush and determined to drive away anyone who tries to help him. Six nurses have already quit. Mara becomes the seventh, but she refuses to be intimidated. As Vincent slowly begins to recover, Mara discovers that someone inside his own estate has been secretly keeping him weak. Worse, the danger soon reaches her brother. Trapped between betrayal, buried family secrets, and a growing attraction neither of them is willing to admit, Mara must decide how far she is willing to go to save a man who trusts no one. And Vincent must decide whether the woman who broke every rule he gave her might be the only person he can trust with his life—and his heart.

Elena Bennett loved Dante Moretti for eight years, but every time she asked about marriage, Chicago’s most powerful mafia boss gave her the same answer: he couldn’t marry her. Then an invitation arrived. Dante was marrying Victoria—Elena’s older sister. Heartbroken, Elena disappeared to Switzerland. Three weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant. For nearly three years, she raised their son, Leo, without ever telling Dante he was a father. But when her father’s death forces Elena back to Chicago, one accidental encounter at O’Hare changes everything. Leo takes one look at Dante and innocently says, “Mommy… that man looks like me.” Dante immediately realizes the truth. Now the man Elena spent years trying to forget wants answers—and a place in his son’s life. But buried inside her father’s estate is an old contract that reveals something even more devastating: Dante’s marriage to Victoria was never what Elena believed. And the real reason he refused to marry Elena may change everything she thought she knew about the man who broke her heart.

Audrey Bennett came to her best friend’s wedding as a bridesmaid. Before the night was over, she was standing beside the groom. Nathaniel Blackwell is wealthy, guarded, and convinced every relationship comes with a price. When his fiancée disappears, his family proposes a replacement. Audrey agrees on her own terms: her job, her independence, and the right to leave. Their marriage has separate bedrooms, carefully negotiated rules, and a plan to part after one year. It should be simple. Until Audrey discovers suspicious payments at work—and realizes her new husband’s family would rather question her motives than examine the money. Now her best friend is keeping secrets, her livelihood is threatened, and the man who planned their separation is finding reasons to knock on her door. But wanting Audrey is the easy part. Can Nathaniel learn to love her without deciding her life for her?

For four years, Elliot Mercer has hidden his scent beneath an enchanted ring. He has a loving family, a place at university, and one rule: never let an Alpha decide what happens to him again. Then his former tormentor corners him at a university reception. The ring breaks. Across the ballroom, Alpha heir Rowan Ashford recognizes his mate—and Elliot tells him to stay away. Rowan stops. It is the first thing about him Elliot doesn’t know how to resist. But the man who hurt Elliot has brought something more dangerous than a threat: a document bearing Elliot’s signature, supposedly granting permission to take him back. Elliot never signed it. As they challenge the claim, Elliot discovers how many people helped bury his escape. Rowan discovers what protecting him could cost his family—and how easily protection can become another kind of control. Between stolen glances, careful touches, and kisses Elliot chooses for himself, an unwanted bond becomes something neither man is ready to lose. But wanting an Alpha is one thing. Trusting him with the scars is another.