Distance: A Dark Mafia Romance (Beneath the Mask)

He's the most dangerous man in the city—and somehow, he's decided I belong to him.

I didn't ask to be pulled into Nikolai Sorokov's world. I didn't want his protection, his obsession, or the way his cold eyes follow me like I'm something worth keeping. He's a monster wearing a tailored suit, and I know exactly what hides beneath the charm he shows everyone else. I've *seen* it. I've survived it.

The problem is, he's seen me too.

Every rule between us is a line we're both desperate to cross. He hates that I won't bow. I hate that I can't stop noticing the rare moments the mask slips—the ones that make him look almost human, almost *reachable*. We circle each other like opposing forces that were never meant to collide, and the distance between us grows thinner every time he chooses mercy when cruelty would be easier.

Nikolai says he keeps his enemies close.

I'm starting to wonder if that's all I am to him.

Dark, consuming, and viscerally tense, *Distance* is a story about two people fighting the one thing more terrifying than their history together—the possibility that everything they hate about each other is actually the truest thing they've ever felt.

Some distances are impossible to maintain. Others are the only thing keeping you alive.