His Ruined Queen

When Sloane Blackwood's father and seven uncles died in a single violent day, Cole Matthews paid with his legs to put her on the throne. For seven years he sat in a wheelchair while Sloane chased miracle cures, until a sweet-faced girl named Lana arrived with a thousand private photographs and a confession of sin.

Sloane sends the photos to a black-market auction house. Cole comes to beg her to call it off — and she watches him walk, flawless and unlimping. He kneels, pleads, and takes her slap for Lana's sake, a plea the man who once endured shattered legs never gave for himself. When Lana is unveiled as the auction's main prize, Cole's violence returns, and Sloane sees again the cold malice from the darkest night of her life.

As Cole carries Lana out, Sloane lets them go and asks Arthur to call Kian Donovan with her acceptance.