New York Times and best-selling author Alexa Riley returns with Stay Close, the first novella in a brand-new series spinning off from the best-selling For Her books.

A former Russian mafia soldier is hired to protect a friend's young daughter, but he knows he'll do more than keep her safe - he'll make her his. Forever.

If she were to simply whisper my name, I would be at her feet, begging to touch what I shouldn't, taste what doesn't belong to me, run my hands along the sweet innocence she taunts me with.

Penelope Justice is 18, old enough to graduate high school but - according to her parents - not old enough to live without 24/7 security. Practice has made her an expert at ditching her bodyguards. One look at Ivan and she never wants to run again.

I've been hired to protect her.

I can't help but think that perhaps someone should have protected her from me.

Ivan steals the breath right out of her lungs, something no boy has ever done. Then again, he's far from a boy. This man, this man who looks like he could kill someone with the flick of a wrist, is everything. He is her future.

I can't let her go, and I won't give her up. I've done bad things in my life, and I don't deserve her. But I can't do the honorable thing.

I've never been noble, and I'm not starting now.

This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you're looking for with an HEA/HFN. It's a promise!