Blood Jewels

Every victory leaves a trail. Isadora Valente learned this the hard way: by discovering that the man she finally managed to stop months ago was merely a pawn-and that the hand moving that pawn remained free, somewhere in the world, watching. This time, the invitation comes wrapped in elegance. Paris, a centuries-old jewelry house, and an authentication issue that any discreet professional could resolve in a few days. But Isadora has learned to recognize the precise shape of a well-dressed trap, and she knows-even before accepting-that she is walking straight into one. What she doesn't know is that, on the other side of that invitation, there is a man just as wary as she is, guarding his own secrets with equal ferocity-and that the two of them, without realizing it, are about to discover they are chasing the exact same shadow, for painfully similar reasons. *Joias de Sangue* does not require you to have read what came before, but it rewards those who have. It is the story of a woman learning that surviving her own quest for revenge is merely the first step-the second, far more difficult one, is discovering whether there is still anyone left inside her capable of loving without first being suspicious. The most beautiful stones, jewelers say, are also the ones that best conceal their own cracks.