She performs for millions. He kills in shadows. Together, they’ll face a darkness that wants to own them both.

Bodyguard romance. Forced proximity. Hidden identity. Touch her and die. Morally gray hero. Dark romance with a caring dom.

Pop sensation Roxy Blake’s glittering life shatters when she discovers her backup dancer murdered in her dressing room—wearing Roxy’s signature red dress. The message is clear: she’s next. With her record label more concerned about PR than protection, and a killer who knows her every move, Roxy turns to the only people who saved someone she trusts—Wicked Sanctuary.

Micah Vale is smooth sophistication hiding lethal precision. Ex-CIA sniper turned Wicked Sanctuary’s PR specialist, he’s mastered the art of making problems disappear. Now he’ll pose as Roxy’s new manager while hunting whoever wants to collect her. He expects a spoiled diva. Instead, he finds a woman drowning in a persona that isn’t hers, performing for survival since childhood.

As bodies pile up and threats escalate, Micah breaks his cardinal rule—never get emotionally involved with a client. But Roxy isn’t just a client. She’s the only person who sees past his charming facade to the darkness beneath. When he takes her to his personal apartment instead of a safe house, the line between protector and possessor blurs dangerously.

Forced into devastating proximity, their investigation uncovers the truth:

• Her label isn’t just controlling—they’re selling their artists to the highest bidder
• The stalker isn’t acting alone—someone in her inner circle is documenting her for “delivery”
• Vincent Caruso has already accepted $15 million for Roxy’s sale to a Serbian crime lord

With the entire music industry against them and a trafficking ring closing in, Micah and Roxy must decide: play by the rules and die, or embrace the darkness together and burn it all down.

“I don’t need safe houses,” he promises, pinning her against his apartment wall. “I am your safe house.”

SHIELDED BY THE SHADOW is book 4 in the Wicked Sanctuary series but can be devoured as a complete standalone. This dark romantic suspense features a possessive alpha protector, a strong woman reclaiming her identity, sizzling dark romance with dom/sub dynamics, and a guaranteed HEA.

Tropes you’ll crave: bodyguard romance, forced proximity, hidden identity, fake relationship, stalker romance, virgin/experienced, praise kink, protective possession, celebrity romance, and morally gray characters who kill for love.