Legacy of Heathens

From the moment my twin sister set her eyes on Matteo, she decided he was the one. We were just kids, but that didn’t matter to her. In her heart, she believed they were destined to be together. So when their arranged engagement was announced, no one was surprised. At least, that’s what I thought. But lately, something had felt off. Wherever I went, Matteo was there. Lurking in the dark, concealed in the shadows, always watching.

I was the dutiful daughter. Or at least that was what it looked like from the outside. Deep inside, I was suffocating. I longed for something I didn’t know how or where to find. But I kept my façade firmly in place while I searched for answers. Until one New Orleans night changed it all. Nikola Nikolaev—the heir to the Crescent City’s ruthless criminal empire—caught me in a club that was off-limits. And just like that, my carefully constructed world began to crumble. We never saw it coming.