When duty and destiny collide, the truth can rewrite everything. Serafina Paddio has built a quiet, curated life among masterpieces in Washington, DC’s National Gallery. Tasked with organizing the first-ever international exhibit of Amazonian art and culture, she’s prepared for diplomacy, logistics, and press—not for the striking presence of the visiting crown princess or the revelations about her own family’s tangled past. Princess Alexandra Demetrios of the House of Leon has just completed grueling military training and arrives in the US under a long-standing treaty to lead a deep-cover intelligence program. Her mission is clear. Her feelings, however, become anything but when she meets Serafina. Their connection is instant but complicated by Serafina’s guarded nature, her father’s deep-rooted prejudices, and secrets that threaten to undo everything they’ve ever known about who they are and where they come from. As love sparks and loyalties shift, will they cling to the roles they were born into, or fight for the life and the love they want. Ali Vali is the author of the long-running Cain Casey Devil series and the Genesis Clan Forces series, as well as numerous standalone romances including two Lambda Literary Award finalists, Calling the Dead and Love Match . Ali also has a novella in the collection Girls with Guns . Originally from Cuba, Ali has retained much of her family’s traditions and language and uses them frequently in her stories. Having her father read her stories and poetry before bed every night as a child infused her with a love of reading, which she carries till today.Ali currently lives outside New Orleans, Louisiana, and she has discovered that living in Louisiana provides plenty of material to draw from in creating her novels and short stories.