Tessa Gunn walked through hell beside a man who mistook control for devotion—and it nearly broke her. Even after she escaped him, the damage didn’t disappear; it settled deep, buried beneath the kind of strength that holds everyone else together while she bleeds where no one can see.
She stands now as the quiet force behind the Northern Charter—steady hands, unshakable resolve, steel wrapped in silk—holding the pieces together while the world around her threatens to fracture.
But the past doesn’t stay buried.
And in Rhapsody Falls, danger has a long memory.
Mateo Padilla doesn’t wear a Fallen Angels – MC Madness patch, doesn’t answer to anyone, and doesn’t allow predators to circle what’s his. Owner of Velvet Crossroads, he’s carved order out of violence and discipline out of chaos, building a life that keeps his hands clean—even if his past never truly was.
He’s spent years convincing himself he wasn’t meant for anything soft.
Until Tessa.
Because she isn’t just a woman he wants—she’s the only place he’s ever known peace.
And Mateo Padilla doesn’t lose what he claims.
This isn’t lust. It’s something deeper. Something earned. Something that bleeds beneath the surface and refuses to be ignored.
Because when survival meets devotion…it doesn’t soften into something safe.
It becomes something unstoppable.
Genre: Romance
She stands now as the quiet force behind the Northern Charter—steady hands, unshakable resolve, steel wrapped in silk—holding the pieces together while the world around her threatens to fracture.
But the past doesn’t stay buried.
And in Rhapsody Falls, danger has a long memory.
Mateo Padilla doesn’t wear a Fallen Angels – MC Madness patch, doesn’t answer to anyone, and doesn’t allow predators to circle what’s his. Owner of Velvet Crossroads, he’s carved order out of violence and discipline out of chaos, building a life that keeps his hands clean—even if his past never truly was.
He’s spent years convincing himself he wasn’t meant for anything soft.
Until Tessa.
Because she isn’t just a woman he wants—she’s the only place he’s ever known peace.
And Mateo Padilla doesn’t lose what he claims.
This isn’t lust. It’s something deeper. Something earned. Something that bleeds beneath the surface and refuses to be ignored.
Because when survival meets devotion…it doesn’t soften into something safe.
It becomes something unstoppable.
Genre: Romance