She faints in a grocery store—but the mafia boss who catches her notices hidden bruises and uncovers a truth that changes everything

Months passed.

Nikolai began moving the more dangerous parts of his empire into legitimate business — not because the law frightened him, but because one night after surgery he had looked at Allara and said, “I almost died before I learned how to live.”

He bought her a building on Newbury Street, beside the library, and helped her open Ren & Veyer continue reading …