Guarded By His Darkness
(2026)(The second book in the Dragomir Dynasty series)
A novel by Cora J Riley
Maya Singh's life was perfectly ordinary—until she wasn't.
One mafia wedding. One wrong place, wrong time moment. Now she's got a target on her back and the world's most irritating bodyguard glued to her side.
Leon Volkov doesn't do feelings. He does protection details, tactical operations, and maintaining a resting expression that could curdle milk. When he's assigned to guard Maya—the infuriatingly cheerful woman who once asked him if smiling was 'against his religion'—he expects a simple job. Keep her alive. Keep his distance. Keep his control.
Except Maya Singh is impossible to ignore.
She talks constantly. She rearranges his furniture. She brings color and chaos into his meticulously ordered life. And somehow, impossibly, she's making him want things he swore he'd never have again: a home, a future, someone to protect not out of duty, but out of desperate, terrifying need.
As the threats escalate and safehouses become their new reality, the line between protection and possession starts to blur. Late-night conversations turn into heated glances. Professional distance becomes impossible when they're sharing a bed 'for security purposes.' And Leon—stoic, controlled, emotionally unavailable Leon—starts falling for the one person he absolutely cannot have.
Because Leon has a past he can't outrun. A failure that haunts every decision. The last person he was assigned to protect died on his watch, and he's sworn it will never happen again.
But Maya isn't interested in his guilt or his walls. She sees the man beneath the armor. The one who makes her coffee exactly how she likes it. Who memorizes her routines. Who looks at her like she's simultaneously his greatest weakness and his reason for breathing.
When the final confrontation forces them to choose between safety and each other, Leon will have to decide: keep his distance and keep her alive, or risk everything for the one person who makes him want to live again.
A grumpy bodyguard. A sunshine heroine. Forced proximity that ignites into an obsession neither can deny.
Perfect for fans of protective heroes, laugh-out-loud banter, and dark mafia romance with a happily ever after.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
One mafia wedding. One wrong place, wrong time moment. Now she's got a target on her back and the world's most irritating bodyguard glued to her side.
Leon Volkov doesn't do feelings. He does protection details, tactical operations, and maintaining a resting expression that could curdle milk. When he's assigned to guard Maya—the infuriatingly cheerful woman who once asked him if smiling was 'against his religion'—he expects a simple job. Keep her alive. Keep his distance. Keep his control.
Except Maya Singh is impossible to ignore.
She talks constantly. She rearranges his furniture. She brings color and chaos into his meticulously ordered life. And somehow, impossibly, she's making him want things he swore he'd never have again: a home, a future, someone to protect not out of duty, but out of desperate, terrifying need.
As the threats escalate and safehouses become their new reality, the line between protection and possession starts to blur. Late-night conversations turn into heated glances. Professional distance becomes impossible when they're sharing a bed 'for security purposes.' And Leon—stoic, controlled, emotionally unavailable Leon—starts falling for the one person he absolutely cannot have.
Because Leon has a past he can't outrun. A failure that haunts every decision. The last person he was assigned to protect died on his watch, and he's sworn it will never happen again.
But Maya isn't interested in his guilt or his walls. She sees the man beneath the armor. The one who makes her coffee exactly how she likes it. Who memorizes her routines. Who looks at her like she's simultaneously his greatest weakness and his reason for breathing.
When the final confrontation forces them to choose between safety and each other, Leon will have to decide: keep his distance and keep her alive, or risk everything for the one person who makes him want to live again.
A grumpy bodyguard. A sunshine heroine. Forced proximity that ignites into an obsession neither can deny.
Perfect for fans of protective heroes, laugh-out-loud banter, and dark mafia romance with a happily ever after.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Used availability for Cora J Riley's Guarded By His Darkness