The Throne Belongs to Her. But She Belongs to Him. Francesca Marino never wanted the crown. But when her father’s sudden death leaves the ruthless Marino empire up for grabs, she refuses to be used as a political pawn. Stepping into the role of mafia queen, Francesca trading her heels for a gun, determined to run the family business on her own terms. She can handle the rivals, corrupt politicians, the cutthroat capos, and the whispers of a rat in her house. What she can’t handle is the constant, suffocating proximity of her primary shield. Lorenzo Diaz is lethal, fiercely loyal, and entirely forbidden. As the underboss’s best friend, his only assignment is to stand in the shadows and keep the new queen alive. But a brutal advanced training gauntlet kept him away from her side when she needed him most, and now that he’s back, the professional boundaries he built are shredding to pieces. He’s tired of playing the stoic protector. He wants more. He needs more. When a deadly internal betrayal springs a violent ambush in the city’s industrial district, Francesca and Lorenzo are thrown into a bloody war for survival. With enemies closing in from the outside and a deadly viper hiding right inside the estate walls, crossing the line between boss and bodyguard becomes a dangerous game where one wrong move means a bullet. In a world where loyalty is paid in blood, trusting the wrong person means a bullet. To save her crown, Francesca will have to rely on her deadliest shield—even if unleashing the man behind the bodyguard threatens to tear her empire apart.