Cross Purposes

She can spot a fake painting from a mile away. He’s the one man she can’t figure out.An art historian with a razor-sharp mind, a brooding Interpol detective who trusts no one, and a stolen Van Gogh that plunges them into a world of dazzling lies and deadly secrets. Cross Purposes is the first in a new, whip-smart romantic mystery series with a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.Dr. Hannah Cross is on a quiet research sabbatical in Amsterdam when her perfectly ordered world is shattered. A brazen daylight art heist at the Rijksmuseum puts her in the path of a masterpiece... and the most infuriating, compelling man she’s ever met.Detective Inspector Marco Santelli is a man carved from the back alleys of Naples, a cop who believes in procedure, not academic theories. He thinks Hannah is a reckless civilian, a liability in his high-stakes investigation. She thinks he’s a rigid, inflexible bureaucrat who wouldn’t know a masterpiece from a motel print.Forced to work together, they are a study in contrasts: her brilliant, scholarly deductions versus his gritty, street-wise instincts. From tense stakeouts in cramped cars to glittering gallery dinners where the champagne flows as freely as the lies, their professional clashes ignite a sizzling, undeniable chemistry they both try to fight.But as they chase the ghost of a stolen Van Gogh, they uncover a conspiracy far more dangerous than a simple theft. The recovered painting is a perfect forgery, the first clue in a web of international intrigue that stretches from Russian oligarchs to the highest echelions of the art world. Now, they’re not just hunting thieves; they’re being hunted by a shadowy mastermind who has been manipulating the art market for decades-a predator who views Hannah’s expertise not as an asset, but as a threat to be eliminated.Trapped in a lethal cat-and-mouse game where every masterpiece hides a secret and every ally could be an enemy, Hannah and Marco must learn to trust each other before their crossed purposes get them killed.