The Cost of Loving Mark

MAYA I was just a preschool teacher trying to live a quiet life. Taking care of a five-year-old boy with cold grey eyes was supposed to be simple. I didn't know he was the key that unlocked my worst nightmare. His father, Travis, dragged me into his gothic fortress shrouded in fog. He calls it protection. I call it captivity. But when his blood-stained hands held onto mine amidst the gunfire, I realized the monster didn't just want my body. He wanted to consume my soul. TRAVIS I searched for her for fifteen years. The girl who pulled me from the rubble and vanished into thin air. Now that she walked right back into my life, I won't make the same mistake twice. I built stone walls, locked every door, and made her my private prisoner. She thinks she can run. She thinks she can resist this madness. My enemies want my empire, but I’m ready to burn the whole world down just to keep her where she belongs. With me. "He built a cage of blood and iron. And I fell in love with my captor." Content Warnings (CW): Toxic Relationship, Captivity / Kidnapping, High Possessive Male Lead, Mafia Violence.