Ruthless Eli Di Luca hides the torment of his past beneath a façade of iron control. No one suspects the anguish he suffers, or the reasons why he has sworn never to marry. Only blackmail could change his mind . . .

Beautiful young author Chloë Conte's first book zoomed to the top of the bestseller lists. Now, struggling to write her second mystery, she retreats to an isolated cottage in a private vineyard. But with his magnetic appeal and his fascinating tales of Bella Terra's violent past, Eli Di Luca proves an irresistible distraction, and Chloë finds herself falling in love with a man she hardly knows. Soon she discovers that Eli has been keeping secrets from her, and the truth will bring more than heartbreak . . . it will put them both in mortal danger.

When murder and peril threaten, the only way Chloë can survive is to trust the man who has betrayed her . . . and that's a price her stubborn heart may not be willing to pay.