BOUND BY DEBT. CLAIMED BY POWER. TRANSFORMED BY DESIRE. Elena Volkov was raised in luxury-but never in freedom. As the daughter of a failing Bratva boss, she has always known her life was not entirely her own. She just never expected to be traded like currency. Alexei Mikhailov is the heir to the most powerful Russian crime family in New York. Cold, ruthless, and disciplined, he rules through fear and strategy. Marriage is nothing more than a transaction-a necessary move to absorb a rival family's territory and erase their debts. Their union is arranged. Their hatred is immediate. Forced into a marriage neither of them wants, Elena and Alexei become unwilling partners in a brutal underworld where loyalty is enforced with blood and trust is a fatal weakness. She refuses to submit. He refuses to soften. Every encounter is a battle of wills, every shared moment charged with resentment, defiance, and dangerous attraction. But when rival factions strike and threats close in from all sides, survival demands proximity-and proximity ignites something neither of them can control. As betrayals surface and enemies move in the shadows, Elena must decide whether she will remain a pawn in men's wars-or claim power on her own terms. And Alexei must confront the one truth he has spent his life denying: that love may be the most dangerous liability of all. Set in the dark heart of the modern Russian mafia, Bound to the Bratva is a dark mafia romance filled with enemies-to-lovers tension, forced marriage, explicit passion, and high-stakes crime. Perfect for readers who crave morally complex characters, possessive romance, and love stories forged in violence, power, and choice. This is not a story about submission.It is a story about becoming.