The Fallen Enforcer: a Slow-burn Second-chance Mafia Romance of St.

He was left to die in an alley. She gave him a reason to live.Boris Kuznetsov spent twelve years as the Volkovs’ expendable enforcer, always second-best to Dante, the golden son. When an ambush leaves him bleeding out in neutral territory, he expects to die alone. Instead, he wakes up in a church basement with Vera Sokolova standing over him, the former black-market fixer who now protects the one place the mob families won’t touch.The deal she offers is simple: survive long enough to sit through four Sunday services. But as Boris heals under her watchful eye, he discovers something more dangerous than any bullet: hope. Hope that he could be more than cannon fodder. Hope that the gray-eyed woman teaching him to shoot left-handed sees something in him worth saving. Hope that maybe, just maybe, grace isn’t reserved for people who deserve it.When his chance for revenge against Dante lands in his lap, Boris faces an impossible choice: destroy the man who’s always been better than him, or protect a sixteen-year-old girl who reminds him why he stopped being a monster. One decision will cost him everything. The other might give him a future he never believed he could have.But the Volkovs don’t forgive traitors. And loving Vera means painting a target on both their backs.A gritty redemption romance about two killers learning that the hardest battle isn’t surviving violence but believing you deserve something better. Perfect for readers who love morally gray characters, slow-burn tension, and faith journeys that feel earned, never preached.Trigger Warning: Violence, death of secondary characters, references to human trafficking (off-page), and discussions of trauma.