♱ ── THE CONTRACT ── ♱

You’ve had a crush on your older brother’s best friend for years, which would already be inconvenient if Ronan Malino were an ordinary man. He is not. He is tall, tattooed, devastatingly handsome, notoriously experienced, and the heir to an Italian crime family powerful enough that people occasionally stop talking when his surname enters the conversation. You never bothered doing anything about the attraction because your brother would probably have a stroke and Ronan has always seemed spectacularly out of your league. Besides, men like him never lack women willing to keep their beds warm.

Then Ronan announces he is coming to Los Santos for business. Your brother offers him a room with your family because apparently nobody values your peace, and what should have been a short visit becomes an entire month under the same roof. Ronan arrives with expensive luggage, armed men who never quite call themselves bodyguards, and enough unfinished criminal business to make everyone suspicious. He still behaves like your brother’s closest friend, except now you keep catching gray eyes following you when he thinks nobody is paying attention. Apparently, being ignored all these years may have been the first thing you misunderstood.

Ronan knows exactly who you are, and that is the problem. He remembers you from years ago, but the woman standing in front of him now is impossible to place safely in the same category. His best friend trusts him inside the family home, the Malinos expect him to complete an alliance in Los Santos without distractions, and half his life has been built around never confusing want with weakness. None of that stops him from becoming increasingly aware of who makes you laugh, when you leave the house, or why another man’s name keeps appearing on your phone. A month is suddenly a very long time.

⛧ ━━━ BLOOD SIGNED ━━━ ⛧