Genre: Erotic Contemporary Romance Heat Level: 3 Word Count: 32, 500 ISBN: 978-0-3695-1495-0 Editor: Laurie White Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Bound by Iron by Maia Dylan

Heat Level 3
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The Iron Covenant, 3

Sofía Vargas escaped the man who owned her—but freedom comes at a cost.

When her powerful uncle hunts her down to reclaim what he believes is his, Sofía turns to the one man ruthless enough to protect her—Rafael De la Cruz, an elite operative of the Iron Covenant. Their solution is simple: a marriage of convenience that binds her to his world and puts her under his protection.

But nothing about Rafael is simple.

As danger closes in, lines blur between duty and desire, and Sofía must confront the past that nearly broke her. When the Covenant uncovers a traitor within their own ranks, the stakes escalate into a deadly game of deception and survival.

In a world built on power, loyalty, and blood, Sofía and Rafael will learn that some bonds aren’t forged by choice…

They’re Bound by Iron.

 

Excerpt:

A moment later, Sofía Alvarez appeared at the edge of the kitchen doorway.

She had changed out of the borrowed clothing they had given her the night before. Now she wore one of the safe house sweatshirts and a pair of loose black pants. The clothes were too big for her, the sleeves falling slightly past her wrists.

Her dark hair was pulled back into a rough knot at the base of her neck.

She looked tired.

But alert.

Her eyes moved quickly around the room, assessing exits, distances, blind spots.

Rafael noticed.

Of course he did.

“Morning,” he said calmly.

Her gaze snapped toward him.

For a second she looked surprised that he was there.

Then she recovered. “Morning,” she replied.

Her voice was steady, though a trace of sleep still lingered in it.

She stepped into the kitchen slowly, stopping near the counter but keeping a careful distance between them.

Rafael appreciated that too. Trust wasn’t something you demanded. It was something you earned. “Coffee?” he asked.

She hesitated briefly before nodding.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Rafael reached for another mug and poured from the pot without speaking. When he handed it to her, their fingers brushed lightly for a fraction of a second.

Her hand was cold.

She wrapped both hands around the mug as if absorbing the warmth from it.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Outside, a car drove past slowly, tires whispering against the pavement.

Finally, Sofía said quietly, “This place belongs to you?”

“No.”

She glanced around the kitchen again. “Your organization then.”

“Something like that.”

She studied him for a moment over the rim of the mug. “You haven’t asked me any questions yet.”

Rafael leaned back against the counter again, folding his arms loosely across his chest. “You just woke up.”

“That hasn’t stopped people from forcing the matter before,” she said dryly.

Rafael’s eyes sharpened slightly at that.

He didn’t ask which member of her family she meant.

If she wanted him to know, she would tell him.

“You can tell me when you’re ready,” he said calmly.

Her gaze lifted to his, searching. “You’re not curious?”

“Of course I am,” Rafael replied. “But curiosity isn’t the same thing as earned trust.”

She let out a slow breath. “Then you already know this isn’t going to end quietly.”

Rafael met her gaze steadily. “Most things worth fixing don’t.”

****

Sofía watched him over the rim of the mug for a long moment.

“Most things worth fixing don’t,” he said.

It was an irritating answer.

Not because it was wrong, but because it was calm.

Men who believed they had power usually spoke louder. They pushed. They demanded information as if it were already theirs. Her uncle did it with a smile that never reached his eyes. Politicians did it with polite threats dressed up as concern.

Rafael DeLuca did none of those things.

He simply stood there in the quiet kitchen like a man who had already decided the world would reveal itself eventually.

And somehow that was far more unsettling.

“You say that,” she said slowly, “like you spend a lot of time fixing things.”

One corner of his mouth moved slightly. Not quite a smile. “Occupational hazard.”

“That’s vague.”

“It’s accurate.”

Sofía huffed a quiet breath and took a sip of the coffee. It was strong enough to wake the dead. Heat spread through her hands as she held the mug closer, letting the warmth sink into her fingers.

She hadn’t realized how cold she still was.

The warehouse had been freezing.

Concrete floors. Rusted metal cages. Air that smelled like mold and fear.

Her stomach tightened at the memory. She forced herself to breathe through it.

Across the counter, Rafael watched her with the kind of patience that suggested he noticed far more than he commented on.

Of course he did.

Men like him didn’t survive by missing details.

“You rescued people from a human trafficking operation,” she said finally. “That seems like more than an occupational hazard.”

“It was the job that needed doing last night.”

“You make it sound like fixing a broken sink.”

He huffed a quick laugh. “Broken sinks are less dangerous.”

Despite herself, Sofía let out a small laugh.

It surprised both of them.

Rafael's eyebrow lifted slightly.

“That wasn’t the reaction I expected,” he said.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that coffee,” she replied. “It’s strong enough to dissolve steel.”

“It’s coffee,” he said mildly.

Sofía arched a brow. “Ah, no, it’s more like a chemical weapon.”

That earned a faint chuckle from him.

The sound was low, brief, and unexpectedly warm.

Sofía set the mug down on the counter and leaned her hip against it, studying him more openly now.

Up close, Rafael DeLuca was exactly what her instincts had registered the night before. Dangerous. Not in the loud way some men performed danger, with swagger and raised voices. His was quieter.

The kind that sat coiled beneath stillness.

He was tall enough that the kitchen seemed slightly smaller with him in it. Broad shoulders stretched the dark t-shirt he wore, and the sleeves revealed forearms marked by faint scars and the subtle definition of someone who trained regularly.

But it wasn’t his size that made him intimidating.

It was the way he watched the world.

Measured.

Careful.

Like everything around him was a problem waiting to be solved. She had spent her entire life around powerful men. Rafael was different.

“You’re evaluating me,” he said.

The words were calm, not accusatory.

She blinked once. “Am I that obvious?”

“Not to most people.”

“But to you.”

“Yes.”

Series:
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