<p><strong style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">CARA</strong></p><p><strong style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)"><em>I said "I do" to Rocco King at gunpoint.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">My wedding was forged in darkness, and at the end of the ceremony, my hands were stained red by the blood of my dad.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">I didn't regret my decision when the police took me into custody, or when I was given a prison sentence for my patricide.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">Three years on, I step out of prison only to be placed back in the care of the man who purchased me as his virgin bride.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">His actions are confusing, his tenderness a contradiction to his hard exterior, and my desire to kill him turns into a desire of another kind.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">I quickly learn that my husband is the better of the evils when my family returns to take me back to a life of slavery, and my husband does everything he can to protect me.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">I never knew it could feel so intoxicating. So all-consuming.</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">ROCCO</strong></p><p><strong style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)"><em>I'd been tasked to buy, marry, and protect Cara Rodriguez.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">She never asked to be mine, and she never had any control over the situation.&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">And now, even though she's released from prison, she has no control over the fact that her parole terms state she must live with me.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">I'm no fool, and I know she's capable of killing me in my sleep. While annoying her is entertaining, I can see past her strong facade to the girl she was before all of this happened.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">She's all woman now, and resisting her is hard. But not giving her what she needs, what we both crave, is harder.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">When her family tries to take her away, something deep inside me snaps, and I do everything in my power to make sure those vile predators don't get their hands on her </span><em style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">again.</em></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">Cara is mine, and I'm never letting her go.</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">TRIGGER WARNING:</strong><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)"> Please note this is a prequel to the Cruz Kings MC series but can be read as a standalone. It is a dark contemporary romance that ends with a HEA.&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">For a list of potential triggers, please visit the authors websites.</span></p><p><br></p><p>https://blybaekauthor.com/</p><p>https://sarahjaneduncan.com/</p>