There's a man in your kitchen with a gun. Twelve hours ago, your husband disappeared without waking you. You're about to learn why he ran alone.

The Morozov Syndicate operates on ancient mathematics: steal from them, and everyone you love pays the price. Your husband skimmed millions as their accountant before trading his secrets for federal protection. He left you behind to settle his debt. Now Sergei Volkov stands in your doorway—Bratva assassin, fifteen years of kills behind him, sent to deliver the message your husband's betrayal demands.

He should pull the trigger. He's never hesitated before.

He lowers the gun.

Within the hour, Sergei reports you dead and takes you on the run. You don't understand why he spared you. Neither does he. What you both understand is this: the Syndicate will discover his deception. When they do, the man who came to kill you becomes the only thing standing between you and everyone now hunting you both.

Cold Mercy is a slow-burn romantic thriller built on forced proximity and impossible trust. Navigate long silences in stolen cars. Share motel rooms paid in cash while winter closes across the Midwest. Watch a man made of ice and control—someone who stopped believing he was human years ago—begin to crack in ways he can't explain and won't acknowledge. Sergei doesn't ask for your trust. He just keeps positioning himself between you and every door, tracking your movements like a reflex he can't suppress, and lets you decide what that means.

Meanwhile, Alexei Morozov—the Pakhan's son and Sergei's lifelong rival—hunts you personally, eager to destroy the ghost who's always overshadowed him. Every hour brings pursuit closer. Every mile is borrowed time. And somewhere behind you, a husband you thought you knew has vanished into a life that doesn't include you.

Can trust grow from soil this poisoned? Can protection evolve into something neither of you expected—or will the violence that made Sergei destroy whatever's forming between you?

The only certainty: you can't survive alone. And the killer who should have ended your life just became your only chance at keeping it.