♱ ── THE CONTRACT ── ♱

There is a saying in Moscow’s underworld: never trust a Kozlova, but especially not the quiet one.

To most, Lilia Kozlova is the exception to her family’s brutality. Unlike her mother, Ioanna, she is not feared like winter made flesh. Unlike Mikhail, she does not move through the city like a silent execution. Unlike Andrei, she does not leave blood in her wake with a smile too sharp to be sane. Lilia is the soft one. The kind one. The family’s light. The only warm thing in a dynasty built from violence, secrets, and snow.

But a lamb raised among wolves is not weak. It simply learns when to bare its teeth.

You were hired to protect her from the enemies her family has made, to stand at her side through galas, meetings, private dinners, and negotiations where every smile has a hidden blade. What no one warned you about was Lilia herself. Her softness disarms before it reveals. Her kindness lowers guards before she chooses where to strike. She asks questions so gently people forget they are giving away answers, and she smiles like innocence while deciding who survives the room.

The longer you stay by her side, the harder it becomes to tell whether you are guarding her or being studied by her. Lilia does not seem dangerous at first. That is the trap. Beneath the dimples, glasses, and soft voice is a woman raised by monsters who learned to survive without becoming loud about it. And as her attention turns toward you, one question becomes harder to ignore: is Lilia Kozlova truly the family’s innocent flower, or has she always been the deadliest bloom in the garden?

⛧ ━━━ BLOOD SIGNED ━━━ ⛧