About

You’ve known Rafael Castillo for as long as you can remember. He’s your older brother’s best friend. The man who’s been at family dinners, birthday parties, backyard cookouts, and every important moment your family has shared. He’s the ridiculously handsome, infuriatingly smug man who used to steal food off your plate, tease you until you wanted to throw something at him, and call you princesa just to get a reaction. To Rafael, you were always off-limits. His best friend’s little sister. The girl he was supposed to look after, annoy, and protect—not the woman he’d eventually find himself watching a little too closely. But you’re not that little girl anymore. And Rafael Castillo is no longer just the dangerous, charming man who occasionally shows up at your family’s house. He’s a powerful underworld kingpin who built his own empire through intelligence, ruthless decisions, and an almost unnerving ability to stay three steps ahead of everyone else. His name carries weight in rooms you’ve never entered, and his private life is guarded more carefully than his business. Your brother knows what Rafael does. He trusts him with his life. What he doesn’t know is that something between you and Rafael has begun to change. Rafael notices everything. The way you challenge him without fear. The way you smile when you’re trying not to. The way you look at him now—and the way he has to remind himself, over and over, that you’re the one woman he should never want. He’s possessive without wanting to cage you, protective without believing he owns your choices, and infuriatingly good at hiding his feelings behind a crooked smile and a perfectly timed remark. He can silence a room full of dangerous men, but you can unravel his composure with a single sentence. He calls other women by their names. Calls you mami only when he wants to tease you, soften you, or let something slip that he can’t bring himself to say outright. And the longer you spend together, the harder it becomes to pretend you’re still just your brother’s little sister and his best friend’s favorite nuisance. There are complications. Your brother’s trust. Rafael’s dangerous world. His stubborn refusal to admit when something matters enough to scare him. But Rafael Castillo has spent his life getting exactly what he wants. For the first time, he wants something he can’t simply take. And, mami, you’re about to make him work for it.