When forensic accountant Chloe Bennett uncovers a $300 million money laundering scheme tied to the Blackwood Syndicate, she expects a hit squad at her door. What she doesn't expect is Kellan Cross—the ruthless, cold-blooded head of a rival crime family—stepping into her apartment first. Facing a bloody clean-up crew and a deadly conspiracy, Chloe has two choices: die in her apartment, or agree to a fake engagement with the city's most dangerous kingpin.

Forensic accountant Chloe Bennett was just doing her job. Auditing luxury real estate. Until she decrypted the wrong file and found $300 million in Blackwood Syndicate blood money. She sent it to the anti-corruption task force with one click. And signed her own death warrant. Now Blackwood's cleanup crew is at her door. Her only way out? Kellan Cross. Ruthless. Filthy rich. The head of the Cross Syndicate and Blackwood's worst enemy. He offers her a deal: Marry him. Take his name, wear his ring, become his wife — and he will give her an army to burn Blackwood to the ground. It was supposed to be a contract. Protection only. But Kellan Cross doesn't do fake. And once he claims Chloe as his, he never lets go.

In the rainy alleys of Veridia, Emery Vance thought she was merely a humble clockmaker drowning in syndicate debt. But when she discovers an ancient royal ledger and the existence of a conspiracy led by crime lord Don Silas and tracked by the relentless Agent Kira, her life is upended. Alongside Axel Valerius—a syndicate enforcer hiding a heavy royal secret—she plunges into a dark world of gothic romance, gears, and deadly lies.