I only needed a place to hide. I didn’t expect the town’s grumpiest Green Beret to decide I was his.

Perry
I came to Wolf Valley to disappear.

So, the last thing I wanted was attention, especially not from the towering, scarred, permanently scowling man who lives in the cabin at the edge of town.

Luca Kane.
He barely speaks, barely smiles, and somehow always knows when something’s wrong.

When my tire blows on a deserted road, he’s there.

When a stranger asks too many questions, he’s suddenly at my side.

When my past comes creeping too close, he steps in without hesitation.

He fixes things I never asked him to, protects me like it’s instinct, and looks at me like he already knows all my secrets.

And that terrifies me, because I didn’t come here to fall in love, and I definitely didn’t come here to belong to a man like him.

Luca
I left the military to be alone.

No more noise, chaos, or attachments.

Then Perry walks into town with haunted eyes that she tries to hide behind a smile.

The second I look at her, something inside me locks into place.

She says she’s fine, but I know that’s a lie.

She jumps at shadows, sleeps with the lights on, and flinches like she expects the world to hurt her again.

Not on my watch.
Whatever she’s running from will have to come through me.

And that won’t end well for them because I didn’t survive war just to lose the woman who owns my heart.

And she is mine.
Whether she’s ready to admit it or not.