My name is Matthew Donahue, and control is the only thing I've ever trusted.
I built an empire on it.
A billion-dollar hotel dynasty.
A political career.
A marriage that was never about love.
Control keeps people alive.
Control keeps monsters buried.
Then Elizabeth Reyes walks back through my gates.
The housekeeper's daughter.
The girl I watched grow into the only woman I've ever wanted.
The one person I spent nine years convincing myself I could live without.
She arrives bruised, broken, and running from a man who thought he owned her.
He was wrong.
Now every promise I've made, every secret I've protected, and every line I've sworn I'd never cross is unraveling.
They'll call me ruthless.
They'll call me obsessive.
They'll call me a monster.
They're right.
Because if the world insists on standing between Elizabeth and me, it won't survive the collision.