Owned by the Hitman

The narrator runs a club she inherited from her father, and the inheritance came with a debt. Her father made a deal with the Mafia, and now she owes what he owed. She is in deep, with no obvious way out.

Ivan offers her one. He says he wants to save her, but his price is steep: she will be his woman for a year, answering to his whims and desires. He promises not to hurt her unless she wants him to.

The two have history. They spent one night together before this offer, and she has not forgotten how his body felt or the effect he had on her. She also knows what he is. Ivan is a criminal, and the narrator suggests there is something darker about him still. Even so, his Russian accent and the low, dark things he says leave her restless with wanting.

This is a dark erotic romance told in the first person by the woman who must decide. It is built on a forced-proximity bargain and a power imbalance, with a hitman as the love interest. The tone is steamy and charged, and the plot turns on whether she accepts the deal. Ivan appears to have guessed her answer before she gives it.