Whispers on the Palatine - Carrie Ray

Book 2: Whispers on the Palatine the focus shifts to Livia's younger brother, Cassian, who has spent his life as the charming, carefree face of the family to mask his role as their primary intelligence gatherer. While the city celebrates the union from the first book, a series of anonymous, scandalous messages begin appearing on the walls of the Forum, specifically targeting the private indiscretions of the Senate's most powerful players. Cassian is tasked by the Augusta to find the source of these leaks before they destroy the family's newly repaired reputation, leading him to Elara, a brilliant but disgraced daughter of a fallen noble house who is living in the shadows of the Subura. Elara is using her knowledge of the elite's secrets to fund a way out of the city, and Cassian soon realizes that she holds proof of a financial conspiracy involving the Augusta's oldest allies. As Cassian and Elara engage in a dangerous game of information trading, their mutual distrust turns into a volatile attraction that threatens to expose both of their double lives. The story centers on the cost of truth in a society built on curated lies, culminating in a high-stakes confrontation during the Festival of Vesta where Cassian must choose between protecting his family's legacy or saving the woman who has unmasked the rot at its core.