Vow of the Monster: A Dark Mafia Romance with Forced Proximity, Forbidden Desire, and a Protective Antihero (The Valez Empire Book 1)

Isabela Marín knows better than to wander into restricted rooms.

As the daughter of Miami’s criminal elite, she has spent her life surrounded by polished threats, strategic marriages, and men who mistake control for protection. But one wrong turn at a saint’s day gala changes everything. Behind a half-open door, Isabela witnesses Santiago Valez—the ruthless man everyone calls the monster—execute a traitor in cold blood.

Then gunfire tears through the club.

Santiago was raised to be his family’s weapon: controlled, feared, and impossible to touch. When a rival ambush turns Isabela from accidental witness into valuable target, he claims responsibility for her life. Now she is trapped under his protection, forced into his fortified penthouse, his violent world, and his relentless attention.

She should hate him. She should fear him. She does.

But Santiago’s darkness has rules. He moves women and children out of danger first. He punishes betrayal without mercy. And when enemies close in around Isabela, his protection becomes something far more dangerous than a locked door.
Desire was never part of the arrangement.

In a world where loyalty is bought, family is a weapon, and love can be used as leverage, Isabela must decide whether Santiago Valez is her captor, her protector… or the forbidden vow she was never supposed to want.

Vow of the Monster is a dark mafia romance featuring forced proximity, a protective morally gray antihero, forbidden desire, family betrayal, and touch-her-and-die devotion.