Hollow Hearts by Willie E. Tousant

A runaway heiress. A mafia heir. One burned cottage. Eden Falls wants her dead.

Asha Mercer came back to Eden Falls under a borrowed name—because the truth would get her buried.

Then her rented cottage goes up in flames.

The man who finds her isn't a hero.

Jet Ashbourne is the heir to the town's ruling empire—cold-eyed, relentless, and far too perceptive to believe her lies. He takes her into his world, into his territory, into the one place she should never be.

Because Jet isn't offering safety.

He's making a claim.

Eden Falls remembers the Mercer scandal. It remembers the Ashbournes' power. And the moment Jet chooses her, the people who profit from silence start moving—fast.

Asha came home for answers. Jet came home to protect what's his and destroy anyone who threatens it.

But the closer they get, the more dangerous the truth becomes—because in Eden Falls, love isn't salvation.

It's war.

Tropes:

•Hidden identity / runaway heiress
•Mafia heir / crime dynasty power
•Forced proximity
•Captor-to-protector energy
•Touch-her-and-die protection
•Revenge-driven heroine
•Dark romantic suspense

Start the trilogy here.

Continue the Eden Falls world with Book 2: The Fractured Vows and Book 3: Buried Sin.

Dark romance / romantic suspense intended for mature readers. Interconnected standalones (each book follows a different couple). HEA.