The first time she saw him, she almost laughed.

Her father had insisted on hiring a bodyguard after the threats began. The Moranos had enemies everywhere—rivals, rebels, people who wanted to see the empire burn, friends that can't be trusted…you name it. She’d argued, fought, and rolled her eyes through every family meeting about “precautionary measures,” but nothing had prepared her for this.

The man waiting by her car wasn’t the bulky, gray-haired ex-military type she had ...