After his family is framed for treason, young scholar Leon is sold into slavery and forced into the brutal world of gladiators. On the day of his first fight, everyone expects him to die—except for the cold and enigmatic nobleman Cassius, who wagers a fortune on Leon’s survival.
When Leon miraculously wins, Cassius places a golden collar around his neck, claiming him as his exclusive slave. Thrust into a dangerous world of power, lust, and political games, Leon becomes the target of the cruel aristocrat Maximus and the obsessive Emperor Severus himself.
But beneath Cassius’s teasing control and mysterious protection lies a deeper secret: clues that suggest Leon’s father was framed by the highest powers in Rome.
As conspiracies tighten around them, a forbidden romance begins to grow between a fallen scholar and the empire’s most untouchable man.
