Painted in White

He bought a bride. He brought home a weapon.

Bianca Bellandi was raised to be beautiful, silent, and useful.

Then her father sells her to the Volkov Bratva.

On the day of the worst blizzard in decades, Bianca is forced into an arranged marriage with Roman Volkov, the ruthless Pakhan known as the Iron Tsar. The contract settles a blood-debt between rival families, but Bianca knows better than to believe she is only a bride.

Her father gave her a secret locket.

Her mind was trained to read patterns, map exits, and find the hidden weakness in any fortress.

And Roman Volkov's estate is nothing but secrets.

Roman does not want a wife. He wants the shipping routes, the voting rights, and the strategic asset delivered to him in white silk. He locks Bianca inside his fortress of stone, glass, cameras, and steel, determined to uncover whatever trap her father planted in his house.

But Bianca is not the fragile pawn he expected.

She watches. She learns. She survives.

And the longer Roman studies his captive bride, the more impossible she becomes to control.

When an external siege tears through the estate and Bianca's father's lethal design begins to unfold, Roman and Bianca are forced to stop fighting each other long enough to survive the war inside the walls. Trust could destroy them. Desire could make them weak. But the woman Roman meant to break may be the only one who can save his empire.

Bianca was sold to a monster.

Now she must decide if she will remain her father's weapon, become Roman's prisoner, or claim her place as queen of the darkness that tried to own her.

Painted in White is a dark mafia romance featuring an arranged marriage, Bratva boss, age gap, innocent heroine, forced proximity, possessive antihero, high heat, betrayal, surveillance, family secrets, and a dangerous marriage that becomes impossible to escape. This is Book One in the Volkov Empire trilogy.