Is seven days long enough to build a forever love? I was living a nightmare of my own making. My life had been erased. My past rewritten. My name changed. I had nothing from my previous life. I was no longer Bridget Keller. I was promised federal protection. I was promised a new life. I was promised I would be safe. As it turned out, I wasn’t and I only had one place to run—back to Theo Jackson and his painfilled brown eyes, menacing demeanor, and indescribable kindness. To the man I had no business falling in love with yet I had. I would do anything to go back and change the chain of events that sent my life spiraling. Everything except meeting Theo. I was never supposed to see Bridget again. I’d let her go—mourned the loss and spent months trying to forget her. When a new threat sends her running back to me, I won’t waste my second chance. There’s only one thing standing in my way, one obstacle to overcome, unfortunately he has a hostage and I have a choice to make.

My father was a complicated man. The world knew him as a criminal who consorted with other, worse criminals. To me, he was my savior—the man who'd rescued a scared, orphaned little girl. He'd taken me in when I had no one. Duty bound, I became the woman he wanted me to be. Powerful. Respected. Resourceful. The Mediator. The Dove. Strictly speaking I was criminal, too, only I didn’t consort, I commanded a team of assassins—though I preferred to call them mercenaries—It sounded less nefarious, less criminal, and more palatable. Two words that meant the same thing—Men who at my call would do my bidding. I lived in the grey, in the shadows. I kept the darkness at bay, acting on behalf of the good people of the world who didn’t deserve anarchy to spill out from the underbelly of society. I was on the right side of evil. Or so I thought. The mentor I trusted, a man who alongside my father taught me the skills I needed to survive, turned out to be nothing more than a greedy traitor. With no choice I continued to play their game. Only, I changed the rules. Unfortunately, that led me straight to the one person I’d done everything in my power to avoid—Zane “Viper” Lewis. I knew his secret. The one thread of the intricate web he’d flawlessly woven that could ruin everything he’d built. I was prepared to keep his secret in exchange for help. But as with all things Viper, nothing was simple. He had other plans and my life went spiraling out of control. Life-altering lies and deceit. The kind that tore your soul apart and killed your spirit. With nothing left, once again I changed the rules. I was the mediator. The fixer. The student who had learned really freaking well how to play the game. And it was damn time they all learned—with their last breaths—just who they made me into. The fatal flaw: Easton Spears. The man I never should’ve let in. But I needed to know what it felt like to be loved. Just once, I wanted to know what it was like having someone see me, the real me, not the Mediator or Dove, but Nebraska Michaels. I wanted it so desperately I gave him what he asked for—my heart. In return, he showed me a world I didn’t know existed. A world I'd have to give up everything to keep.

She’s the last woman in the world he’s allowed to fall for. And the only woman he wants. There I was minding my own business, building my real estate empire, and loving life. So the last thing I needed was a series of threatening letters as I worked on my latest fix and flip sending my loving, protective dad into over-the-top-protective dad mode from the other side of the world. I’m not worried—as an internet influencer, I get a lot of strange comments that don’t mean anything. But there's no stopping my dad from calling in a favor from an old friend—Zane Lewis. Enter Smith Everette. Now I’ve got the hottest man I’ve ever seen for a bodyguard. I don’t have time for a relationship, but a little fun never hurt anyone. Until I realized that Smith is more than a good time. I’m ready to fight like hell to make him see that we have a future together. Too bad the stubborn former SEAL has the control of well…a Navy SEAL. Easy job—easy day or so I thought. My latest assignment should’ve been hassle free. Get to the bottom of who was sending cryptic letters to the daughter of a man my boss had served with in the Navy, a man he thinks of as his brother. Zane has two rules for this job. Number one, don’t let anything happen to Aria Taylor. And number two, don’t fall in love with her. Not a problem—love and relationships are not on my radar. My guilt wouldn’t let me. I’d tried that once and failed—spectacularly. But as soon as Aria opened the door, I realized there would be nothing easy about staying away from her. Aria was as beautiful as she was talented. Five minutes later when the sexy, flirty banter started I knew I was screwed. I might not fall in love but not giving in to my attraction would take more control than I had. The unfortunate part—Aria let me know right away she not only liked what she saw but she wasn’t interested in long-term. But someone’s watching her, following her, threatening her. Following Zane’s first rule wasn’t a problem. I could and would keep her safe. However, I was dangerously close to violating rule number two. Our no-strings-attached good time had turned into something more. Aria had torn down the walls I’d spent years building leaving me raw and exposed. Powerless to the promise of a future I never thought existed. Then the threats against her take a dark turn no one expected. I’d failed again. Even if I can never have Aria, I’ll give everything I have to save her. Warning: Smith is a spicy romantic suspense with a foul-mouthed hero who has trauma-fueled commitment issues who butts up against a witty, equally foul-mouthed heroine who knows what she wants and is willing to fight to get it.