Anthony had everything. A future. A fiancé. A life mapped out with certainty. Until the day it all burned down.

Now he survives behind a careful smile, burying grief beneath strength no one questions. He tells himself he's fine. He tells himself he doesn't need more.

Then Leopold walks into his life.

Quiet. Beautiful. Guarded in a way Anthony recognizes too well.

Leo awakens something Anthony thought he'd lost, the need to protect, to feel, to risk caring again.

Leopold's life has been shaped by storms. Each one left him convinced he's too broken, too damaged, too much.

Starting over was supposed to be safer. Anthony changes that.

He offers warmth instead of judgment. Steady hands instead of chaos. A kind of love Leo has never believed he deserved.

But the past doesn't loosen its grip easily.

And when old wounds resurface, both men will have to decide whether they're brave enough to believe this isn't another story destined to fall apart.

The first book in an emotionally powerful, slow-burn romance about broken pasts and brave new beginnings.