Claimed in Blood

He was sent to protect her. He never planned to fall. Rosalie Costa built her restaurant with her own two hands and answers to no one - until a note on her windshield and a man from the Genovese family’s wounded pride turn her into a target. Her family’s solution: round-the-clock protection from Matteo Marchetti, an ice-cold enforcer who treats her like a liability and looks at her like he wants to devour her. Matteo doesn’t do attachments. A decade ago, his temper cost him everything he loved, and he’s spent every day since making sure it never happens again. But forced proximity has a way of cracking even the oldest ice, and Rosalie refuses to be handled, hidden, or scared into silence - by Nico Genovese, or by the infuriating, devastating man assigned to guard her. One safehouse. One bed problem solved by a couch that doesn’t fool anyone. And a cruelty neither of them can take back. Enemies become something far more dangerous than hate. And when Nico stops threatening and starts hunting, Matteo will have to choose between the control that’s kept him alive for a decade - and the woman worth burning it all down for. A dark, possessive, forced-proximity mafia romance with a hero who runs hot and cold, a heroine who never backs down, and a happily ever after they both have to fight for. Intended for adult readers (18+).Contains: explicit sexual content, violence (including gun violence and a warehouse confrontation), on-page threats against the heroine, one scene of emotional/verbal cruelty from the hero toward the heroine (with a full accountability arc - not resolved with a quick apology), alcohol use, pregnancy and childbirth (off-page labor, on-page birth aftermath), mentions of past character death (not depicted on-page).No cheating. No infidelity between the central couple at any point.HEA confirmed - marriage, children, and an epilogue.