She survived the worst night of her life. She didn't survive what came after. When a brutal home invasion shatters Sienna Croft's world, her billionaire father hires the most lethal private operative money can buy. Kaelen Vance is six-foot-three of cold precision, loaded weapons, and a silence that feels safer than any locked door. His mission: take Sienna to a fortified estate on a remote island off the coast of Maine and keep her alive. No phone. No boat. No contact with the outside world. Just the two of them, the storm, and a threat he says is closing in. Sienna is broken. She can't sleep without his breathing beside her. Can't stop shaking unless his hands are on her skin. Can't function unless the man with the gun is standing between her and the door. She knows the dependency is dangerous. She doesn't care. He is the only thing that makes the fear stop. But Kaelen Vance has a secret that would destroy her. He didn't save her from the invasion. He orchestrated it. Every alarm. Every threat. Every crisis that drove her deeper into his arms was manufactured by the man holding her. He broke her nervous system so he could become the only thing that fixes it. He built her cage out of her own terror — and now he's the lock, the key, and the only warmth inside the walls. When the truth finally reaches the island, Sienna will face the most devastating choice of her life: escape the monster who worships her, or stay in the beautiful prison he built — knowing that the arms around her are the same ones that shattered her world. GUARDED IN SHADOWS is a full-length dark psychological romance featuring a morally black hero, manufactured trauma, extreme possessive behavior, forced isolation, explicit content, and a disturbing ending that will stay with you long after the last page. This is not a safe book. You've been warned. Blackwood Isle, Book 1.