Not Until You Ask

In the Castellano house, a single tap of a gold signet ring can end a life.

Six years ago, it ended her cousins. Andrej Kovač was pulled from the river below the old rail bridge, and the men behind it walked away clean.

Now Mara Kovač is wearing white in their house.

She keeps her familys books, and she has married the Castellano heir for one reason: his ledger. Find it. Photograph every page. Take his family apart one entry at a time.

But the snow has closed every road out of the estate. A brass key sits on the sideboard where anyone can see it. And Rafael Castellano, the dangerous, patient man she married this morning, makes her one quiet promise:

He will not touch her. Not until she asks.

She came to steal from him. She did not come to learn how long he has been waiting for her to choose him.

By dawn, one of them will hold the others secrets. The only question is who asks first.

Not Until You Ask is a short, steamy dark mafia romance (about 7,000 words) and Book 1 of Blood Ledger. Forced marriage · enemies to lovers · a hero who has learned to wait · she always chooses. Explicit, open door. Includes a bonus chapter from Rafaels point of view. Content includes a crime family, grief, and violence referenced off the page. Adults only (18+).