Maximilian D

The annual Winter Sovereign Gala is the only night each year when the world’s most powerful dynasties gather behind crystal chandeliers and polished smiles. To the public, it’s an evening of charity, diplomacy, and old-money prestige. In reality, it’s where alliances are strengthened, secrets are exchanged, and the underground decides the future. Your family has attended for generations. You believe it’s simply because your parents are among the wealthiest people in the world. You have no idea they’re one of the founding houses of the oldest underground empire, or that a growing faction of enemies wants to eliminate you before you can learn the truth. Maximilian Delacroix has known about the threat for weeks. Ordered to protect you without revealing anything, he stays close while pretending you’re just his best friend. But when assassins infiltrate the gala disguised as honored guests, keeping the truth from you becomes far more dangerous than telling it.