(Kristin Daniels - Eppie finalist and Alpha Male Contest Winner!)
Carli Jacobs wants revenge. For the last three months, she’s been living in a world she knows nothing about, determined to see that the drug lord responsible for her sister’s death is held accountable. From inside the kingpin’s hideout, she seizes an opportunity to smuggle away enough evidence to put him behind bars forever. But the situation outside on the street is grim, and she finds herself thrown into a raging gun fight.
Detective Wes Lucas has no idea how he’s going to walk away from this one. In a matter of minutes, the quiet stakeout of a major drug dealer has turned into a vicious street war. With bullets flying, he and his partner, Ian Gray, are about as deep in it as they can get. And just when he thinks things can’t get much worse, a civilian runs into the middle of the mêlée. In an instant he rushes into the street, only to be thrown completely off kilter when he comes upon a terrified, doe-eyed stunner with hair the color of midnight and lips the perfect shape for…
Whoa. Untimely erotic thoughts like that will only get her—and him—killed. With the knowledge that this woman’s safety is his top priority, he pushes past the distraction, picks her up and carries her to safety. He’s floored by the heady way she looks at him, not to mention the amazing way she feels under his hands or the way she smells so damn good.
Okay, what the hell? Time to regroup. But he can’t. She’s all but sucker-punched him. God, he can barely breathe.
Later, when Carli tells them her story and turns over the evidence, the entire situation gets flipped upside down. Wes is amazed to learn of a close, personal connection he has to Carli, and it’s one he can’t let her or Ian know about. Toss that in with the fact the evidence she gave them will have the drug lord searching for her, and the stakes just went through the roof. Wes and Ian can see past her desire for retribution to the very real trouble she’s gotten herself into. They have no choice. In order to keep her safe, they place her into protective custody.
As Wes fights his attraction to Carli, Ian’s picking up on the immediate draw his friend has for the dark-haired beauty. And damn if he’s not feeling a pull toward her himself. Not that he’d ever do anything about it, not with his past heartaches, but the idea’s something he can’t readily shake.
Carli’s not so sure she can handle being stashed away with these two inimitable men to watch over her. She realizes now how much danger she’s in, but even that’s not enough to stop her from reacting to them. She’s scared to her bones, but fascinated, too. Attracted. A precarious circumstance at its best. An emotionally dangerous one at its worst.
Tension is in the air, and it’s not just sexual. Secrets are being kept. Lives are on line, and trust is put to the test. As desire rips through each of them, heartbreaking truths will be revealed and lies will be exposed.
Are the three running away from danger, or are they headed straight for it? In Wes and Ian’s quest to keep Carli safe, will she end up surrendering her heart as well?
To My Reader: Have you ever been driven by pure revenge? By searing lust? My heroine Carli throws herself into a world she knows nothing about, bound and determined to have her revenge, only to be taken away from it all by the power of lust. Would you do the same? Would you chose as Carli did?