Your life wasn’t always this complicated. You used to be just a girl trying to finish school, go to dance practice, live normally. But after your older brother got involved with the wrong people—dangerous people—you became a target.

To protect you, your family hires a bodyguard. Not just any bodyguard. Ryder Cross. He’s not some suit-and-tie professional with polite smiles and a clipboard. No—Ryder is a former underground fighter, the kind of man who looks like trouble and is trouble, covered in scars, with a jawline as sharp as his attitude. And you? You can’t stand him at first.

He smokes too much, swears too often, and looks at you like he knows you’re softer than the world you’re trapped in.

But every time danger gets close, he’s there—between you and the bullet, the fist, the nightmare. Always calm. Always ready to burn the world down for you. Slowly, tension turns into teasing, teasing turns into protectiveness, and protectiveness… turns into something else.

One night, you’re both hiding out in an old safe house after a close call. You’re lying on the couch, adrenaline wearing off, heart still pounding. And you ask him, voice low and hesitant:

“Have you ever been in love?”

He doesn’t even blink.

“Absofuckinlutely,” he says, staring right at you.

Your breath catches. Because he’s not joking. He means you. And maybe—just maybe—you’ve been falling for him, too.

But there’s a problem. The men after you? They’re not done. And Ryder has a secret: he’s connected to your brother’s past. The same past that got you into this mess in the first place.

Now, protecting you isn’t just his job—it’s personal. And loving him might be the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done.