Новинки Слоан Кеннеди

Lucky Vor zwei Jahren blamierte ich mich mit einer Liebeserklärung an einen älteren Mann, der meine Gefühle eindeutig nicht teilte. Aber das ist in Ordnung. Eines Tages wird Zach zurückkommen. In der Zwischenzeit habe ich mir ein Leben im Norden Montanas aufgebaut, wo ich meinen College-Abschluss mache und nebenbei auf eine Zertifizierung als Rettungssanitäter für hochriskante alpine Such- und Rettungseinsätze hinarbeite. Und vielleicht habe ich diesen Teil mit dem Risiko vor meinen beiden Vätern geheim gehalten. Denn was sie nicht wissen, kann ihnen schließlich nicht wehtun ... Alles läuft genau nach Plan, bis meine Väter Zach losschicken, um nach mir zu sehen, während ich mich mit einem Ex herumschlagen muss, der nicht weiß, was das Wort "Nein" bedeutet. Schlimm genug, dass Zach mich immer noch für ein Kind hält; jetzt denkt er auch noch, ich sei unfähig, auf mich selbst aufzupassen. Ich muss ihn loswerden, bevor er herausfindet, dass ich in den Sommerferien nicht nach Wyoming fahre, wie alle denken. Ich werde im Glacier National Park lernen, wie man sich aus Hubschraubern abseilt ... Zach Vor zwei Jahren begehrte ich jemanden, den ich nicht haben konnte, also stürzte ich mich wieder in meinen Job als Army Ranger und endete in mehrfacher Hinsicht als gezeichnet. Als die Armee mein jämmerliches Ich wieder in die reale Welt entlässt, ist es Zeit für einen Neuanfang. Ich nehme einen Sommerjob als Ausbilder für hochriskante Such- und Rettungseinsätze an. Auf dem Weg dorthin muss ich nur einen Blick auf den kleinen Lucky Reed werfen und mich vergewissern, dass es ihm gut geht. Das tut es aber nicht. Jemand hat es auf ihn abgesehen, und ich will verdammt sein, wenn ich zulasse, dass er verletzt wird, wenn ich in seiner Nähe bin. Mein Plan ist es, ihn in Sicherheit zu bringen, bis er zu seinem Sommerjob in den Süden fährt, um für Touristen den Wanderführer zu spielen. Sobald er weg ist, kann ich mich auf den Weg nach Glacier machen. Dort wird meine größte Herausforderung darin liegen, auf eine Handvoll alpiner Such- und Rettungskräfte aufzupassen, die lernen wollen, wie man sich hoch über den Rocky Mountains aus Hubschraubern abseilt. Alles ist gut. Bis es das eben nicht mehr ist. Die Gefahr folgt uns nach Glacier. Und als ich endlich anfange, in Lucky mehr zu sehen als den unbeholfenen Teenager, der er einmal war, frage ich mich, ob es nicht schon zu spät ist, ihn davon zu überzeugen, dass dieser gezeichnete Soldat ihn endlich nicht mehr als kleinen Jungen sieht.

Oz: Der internationalen Modelszene zu entkommen, um meine eigene Modekollektion zu entwerfen, ist der erste Schritt, um der Welt zu zeigen, dass ich mehr zu bieten habe als nur ein hübsches Gesicht. Aber in der Sekunde, in der ich die Hilfe eines sexy Fremden in Anspruch nehmen muss, fühle ich mich genau wie die hohle Nuss, für die einige Leute mich halten. Und das Schlimmste ist, dass dieser Fremde offenbar denkt, dass ich es nicht mal wert sei, seine Zeit zu beanspruchen. Trotzdem fühle ich mich angezogen von ihm. Jake: Nach drei Jahren, in denen ich permanent zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort war, habe ich endlich einen sicheren Platz in Haven, Colorado gefunden. Mit Freunden, einem Job, einer Hütte im Wald … Ich habe alles, was ich brauche für ein einfaches Leben, ohne dass ich zuviel Aufmerksamkeit auf mich lenke. Bis ich meinen neuen Nachbarn kennenlerne. Dieser wunderschöne Mann bringt Farbe in mein Leben, von der ich nicht mal wusste, dass ich sie vermisse. Aber ich habe gelernt, dass es keine Option mehr für mich ist, mich zu verlieben. Eigentlich wäre es jetzt an der Zeit, wieder die Flucht zu ergreifen …

Surrounded by a group of devoted four-footed and two-winged family members, Zak and Killian have built what should have been a dream life in their countryside farmhouse. But a cruel twist of fate and the re-emergence of old demons has frayed the edges of the men’s seven-year relationship until just one wrong move could end up severing their bond for good.

Seemingly content to walk on eggshells around one another, things come to a head when ER nurse Zak brings his work home with him… literally.

After being forced to leave their posh Southern California lives, homeless stepbrothers Liam and Noah are slowly losing themselves to the streets they can’t seem to escape. When twenty-one-year-old Liam is beaten up while protecting his younger “brother,” the pair find themselves being welcomed into a home where being a stray is considered a good thing. But Liam and nineteen-year-old Noah have learned the hard way that nothing is given for free and there’s no such thing as the kindness of strangers. Survival means only counting on and trusting in each other.

Will Zak and Killian’s offer of a no-strings-attached place to heal end up being more than any of the four men bargained for? Especially when feelings between Liam and Noah begin to crawl to the surface and the truth of what Zak and Killian’s relationship has turned into becomes harder to deny?

And what happens when lines begin to blur and needs start to change? Will Zak, Killian, Liam, and Noah end up going their separate ways?

Or will they learn that love doesn’t always come in twos?

*This is a novel about a foursome relationship, not just a story of two separate couples in physical relationships with one another. Thus, there is no “cheating” in this story. This is a standalone novel.

Trigger Warning: The trigger warnings in this book may be considered "spoilerish" so they can be found by using the "Look Inside" feature or by downloading the sample and going to the section entitled "Trigger Warning."

"Er hat versprochen, mich nie zu verlassen. Aber als ich ihn am meisten brauchte, hat er genau das getan ..." Von den Bestseller Autoren Sloane Kennedy & Lucy Lennox kommt eine aufregende neue Serie darüber, wie eine Wendung des Schicksals alles verändern kann ... Wildnisführer Xander Reed hat 15 Jahre lang versucht, die Nacht zu vergessen, in der er sich in seiner dunkelsten Stunde an seinen besten Freund wandte, nur um herauszufinden, dass er sich getäuscht hatte. Zweitausend Kilometer und fünfzehn Jahre im ruhigen Hinterland der Rocky Mountains hätten ausreichen müssen, um die Erinnerung an Bennett Crawford für immer zu verdrängen, doch tiefe Verletzungen heilen schlecht. Als Bennett plötzlich wieder in sein Leben tritt, reißen die Narben, von denen er glaubte, sie seien lange geheilt wieder auf. Und es fällt ihm schwer zu glauben, dass alles, was Bennett will, eine zweite Chance ist.

Oz: Escaping the international modeling scene to design my own fashion collection is the first step to shucking my bobble-headed supermodel reputation and proving to the world I’m more than just a pretty face. But the minute I have to accept roadside help from the sexy man next door, I feel like the airhead people think I am. And what’s worse, the man clearly doesn’t think I’m worth the time of day. But despite trying to ignore my attraction to the mysterious doctor, I can’t help but be drawn to him. With every moment spent together, I begin to realize he’s hiding more than just some details of his past. He has one foot out the…

I've been drowning for a long time. I never thought I'd find someone who knows what that's like...
Self-proclaimed playboy, Aiden Vale, has it all - good looks, successful career, plenty of cash in the bank and an endless supply of men who know the score... that one night is just that. So the last thing he wants, or needs, is to forge a connection that might mean revealing more of himself than he's ready to. But when fate intervenes, putting Aiden in the path of someone who threatens to knock down his carefully constructed walls, he's quick to realize the young man he's become infatuated with is hiding a painful secret.

I finally have a shot at freedom. I'll never let anyone take that from me ever again...
Ash Valentine is just looking for a way out, and the last thing he wants or needs is another man controlling every aspect of his life. Desperate for the cash that will help him flee his abusive boyfriend, Ash accepts what is supposed to be a temporary job at a local coffee shop. But nothing prepares him for the gorgeous and enigmatic Aiden Vale, and the small acts of kindness the charming coffee shop regular bestows on him or the new friends he begins to make along the way.
Terrified of once again becoming too reliant on someone else to take care of him, Ash refuses Aiden's repeated offers of help in any form. But when it becomes clear that there's something more behind Aiden's need to save him, Ash begins to wonder if he's found someone who needs saving just as badly.

I know he wants to save me, but what if he's the one who needs saving...
As their tentative friendship turns into something more, long buried secrets begin to surface. When Aiden's need to protect Ash clashes with the younger man's desire for independence, memories of the one he couldn't save begin to tear at the fragile cords of Aiden's soul, and he's forced to face a truth he's been hiding from for a long time.
Threatened with losing what they've only just found, will Aiden and Ash find a way to accept their pasts or will they let the pain drag them below the surface for good?

No cliffhangers and can be read as a stand-alone.

*** TRIGGER WARNING - includes on-page scenes of domestic abuse, including rape and intense violence. ***

He promised to never leave me. But when I needed him the most, that was exactly what he did…

From Bestselling Authors Sloane Kennedy & Lucy Lennox comes an exciting new series about how a twist of fate can change everything...

King
My brothers think I have a lot of secrets. They have no idea…
My job is to rescue kids who’ve been stolen from their families. I’m good at it and it helps me forget my own ugly childhood, but I’m a grown man now and the family of my heart is all I need.
Except that I haven’t seen them in two years. I walked out of their lives without an explanation. I walked away from him without even saying goodbye. I know how much I hurt him. I know how badly I broke his trust. But even though we’re not related by blood, our family thinks of me as his uncle.
Yet there’s no part of me that thinks of young Giovanni Covello that way. Problem is, I shouldn’t be thinking about him at all, especially since my thoughts have become less and less innocent since Gio turned eighteen. He’s closing in on twenty now and there’s no escaping him anymore because he’s in New York, the place I rest my head. I don’t trust myself around him, yet I can’t stay away, not after learning about the painful nightmares and frightening memories he’s experiencing about his own abduction and imprisonment as a child.
He’s the son of one of my best friends and he’s had a crush on me for years. But I have to leave him alone. I just have to.
Not because I don’t want Gio, but because he shouldn’t want me. I can’t give him what he wants, what we both want.
Not now. Not ever.

Gio
Things didn’t make sense until he came along. Four years ago, he saved me from myself. Now he’s trying to do it again. But I don’t need saving. I need more than that. So much more…
I don’t remember much about the life I lived as a child after I was stolen from my family, but my doctor says I will. Apparently, the wall in my head will come crashing down one day and all the ugly memories of what had been done to me will come rushing back to me.
I haven’t told anyone, but it’s already happening. I just need to get through the computer course I’m taking in New York City so I can prove to myself that I can live an independent life before returning home to Seattle.
My plan is a pretty good one, but I forgot to include one important variable.
King.
He’s supposedly my uncle but I’ve never seen King that way and there’s not even one drop of shared blood between us.
Two years ago, he was my protector and my friend. And then he was just… gone.
He’s back now and wants back into my life, but not to resume our friendship or to act on the attraction he’s finally admitted to having toward me. No, he just wants to keep me safe.
But that’s a good thing, right?
What could go wrong with having the guy I can’t stop thinking about living with me under my own roof?
Answer: Everything.

***This book has trigger warnings. As they could cause spoilers, you can find them at the beginning of the book on the page called Trigger Warnings. You can use the Look In feature of the ebook to read the Trigger Warning before deciding on your purchase.***

Con

I have everything I’ve ever wanted… so why do I still feel like the kid who came from nothing?

Please help him …
Three little words that have haunted me for years.
Three little words that I know I’ll take to my grave.

It was supposed to be just another fight. Another few minutes of using my fists and my so-called natural “gift” for fighting to raise the cash I needed to save my little brother’s life.

But it wasn’t just another fight.

Yes, I had walked away with the prize money and yes, I had saved my brother, but I’d also destroyed not one, but two lives. I’d left my opponent broken on the ground with his eight-year-old brother begging the onlookers around him for help.

Begging me for help.

But I’d walked away…

Fifteen years later and that little boy is now a bitter, broken young man standing over his brother’s grave; the grave I might as well have put him in. I want nothing more than to help Micah Fox escape the hell his life has become, the life I condemned him to, but he wants nothing to do with me.

But I can’t walk away this time.

I won’t.

Micah

I’m so close to escaping my ugly little world that I can practically taste it. No way in hell am I letting the man who put me there try to play hero now.

That night was supposed to change my life.
It did.
Just not in any way I could have ever conceived of.

Fifteen years ago, the man known only as Zeus to his fans left my brother a broken man who wanted nothing to do with the world around him. I couldn’t save my brother, but I sure as hell can make sure my niece and nephew have a future… the one their father should have had.

Zeus or Con or whatever the hell his name is wants to help me now? Not happening. He might know how to turn on the charm and play to his legions of adoring fans, but he and I both know what kind of monster lurks inside him.

Okay, so what if strange things happen in my belly when he touches me? What if I feel a little stronger when he wraps his arms around me and promises me that everything will be okay?

It’s not real.

It can’t be.

Because hate is all I have right now. If I let Con take that from me…

Like I said… it can’t be real.

I won’t let it be.

LEX
Even if I wasn’t losing my sight, I never would have seen him coming…
I’ve known my fate for years, but I wasn’t willing to accept it. But as the light in my eyes dims a little more each day, I have no choice but to adapt.

Or not.

The secluded cabin in the north woods of Maine is supposed to be an escape… a place where I can figure out how to move forward with my life… to find out if I even can.

But then he shows up and suddenly I’m facing a new fight…

GIDEON
He wants to be left alone? Fine by me. But I’m not going to watch him just give up…
Wanting to be left alone, that’s something the guy and I have in common. But that’s about it. As far as I’m concerned, he’s just another rich city boy playing at living off the grid for a while. He’s got no idea what it really means to be alone.

My job is to take care of the cabin he’s staying in and that’s it. It doesn’t matter that I can’t stop thinking about why he looks so damn broken or wondering why he stirs something inside of me I thought long dead.

But try as I might, I can’t stay away from him, just like I can’t watch him give up on himself. He may be losing his sight, but I won’t let him lose himself.

I won’t let him become like me…


***Although this book is part of a series, it can be read as a stand-alone***

Luca
I left him behind because I had no choice…
That’s what I keep telling myself, but it doesn’t make it any easier to sleep at night… or to drown out the words he kept repeating over and over the day we’d met: I just want to go home.
That was eight long years ago and I’d only known him as Billy, a terrified fourteen-year-old I’d had to leave behind to save someone else.

But his name wasn’t Billy and he’s no longer a frightened kid lost in a world where he was nothing more than a possession. His name is Remy, and while I didn’t recognize him upon meeting him again, he sure as hell remembers me.

It would be easier just to turn my back on him a second time, especially since that’s exactly what he wants, but there’s no way I can let the tormented young man go. At least not without trying to make things right first. The problem is, even if I can make up for leaving Remy behind so long ago, I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk away from him twice.

I don’t know what that means, but I do know that it scares the hell out of me.

Because needing in my world comes at a heavy price… one that not even I can afford to pay.

Remy
He gave me hope when I’d had none left, but he forgot about me just like all the others…
I fight. That’s what I do. It’s who I am.

But when Luca Covello walked into the dark, dirty room my captors were keeping me in so long ago, I’d already decided to do the one thing I hadn’t in the three years since I’d been taken from my home and family.

Give up.

Then he’d been there, like a bright light in a sea of darkness, and I’d had something new to fight for, to stay alive for… the day Luca came back to get me like he’d promised.

Except he never came.

And now, eight years later, he’s decided he wants to play the hero and save me. Well, I don’t need saving.

Not anymore… not ever.

Along with two years of sobriety under my belt, I’ve got a good job, a decent apartment, and I’ve managed to put my past where it belongs… in the past. No one, not even the gorgeous, mysterious businessman, is going to mess things up for me. If he’s come seeking forgiveness, I’m fresh out.

And if he’s come seeking something else… well, let’s just say that when I’m done with him, there’s no way he’ll forget me this time around.

Trigger Warning: For those who would like to see the trigger warnings associated with this book, please either download the sample or use the "look inside" feature and go to Trigger Warning page for more information

I wanted him from the moment I laid eyes on him and from that point on, the question wasn’t if I’d have him but when…

Thirty-five-year-old Matias de la Vega is good at one thing and one thing only. Though he doesn’t officially carry the title of killer when it comes to his role in an underground vigilante group, he’s got no problem getting his hands dirty if it means getting justice for those who can’t get it on their own.

Such is the case when single dad Sam Wittier is confronted by a stalker bent on murder. While neutralizing the threat is all in a day’s work for Matias, what comes after is anything but. Although Matias isn’t particularly surprised by his attraction to the older Sam, his inability to walk away from the still-grieving widower is a complication.

An unexpected and dangerous complication…

Nothing about the mysterious Matias makes sense to me. The emotionally distant soldier says what he means and takes what he wants. And for whatever reason, what he wants is me. That should have me running for the hills. It should, but it doesn’t…
For forty-eight-year-old Sam Wittier, life is as good as it’s been since he lost the man of his dreams more than two decades earlier. After handing the reins of his successful business over to his older son, Sam is happy to settle into the quiet, simple life of being a full-time single dad to his newly adopted little boy.

Unfortunately, life didn’t get the message. After nearly losing everything to a deranged stalker, Sam finds himself face to face with a man who is anything but quiet and simple. There’s no reason he should want the unpredictable, take-no-prisoners Matias in his life or his bed, but just like life, his body isn’t getting the message.

One night with Sam is all I need to get him out of my head for good. One night will be enough to end my obsession with him. It has to be…
While Sam and Matias share a white-hot chemistry that neither has ever known before, that’s about all they have in common. But as one passionate encounter leads to another and the line between obsession and need begins to blur, will Matias and Sam find that maybe they aren’t so different after all? And what will that mean for the ghosts of the past that have haunted each man for so long?

The ghosts that are willing to be buried as well as the ones that aren’t...

Landscape architect Devon Rhodes doesn’t know what to think when he overhears a heated conversation in his new next-door neighbor’s back yard, but when he decides to intervene, he definitely isn’t expecting the encounter to change his life forever.

Forced to retire from his career as a professional ballet dancer far too soon, Sebastian DeVille has moved to the quiet suburbs of San Francisco to figure things out and maybe get away from his poor decisions for a while.

Well, one poor decision.

His very married ex.

An ugly argument with the man leads to an unlikely meeting with his sexy new neighbor and an unexpected Valentine’s date that neither Sebastian nor Devon will ever forget. But can one night of pretend romance really lead to a lifetime of love?

Everything was supposed to go back to normal when I was rescued. It hasn’t. And I’m starting to think it never will because I don’t even know what normal is anymore…
It’s been two years since Aleks Silva was rescued by his older brother from the dark underworld of sex trafficking and every day since then has been a battle. Leaving the house, interacting with people, even doing something as boring as deciding what clothes to wear or what to eat for breakfast are tasks that most people take for granted. But for Aleks, they’re torture. Because freedom and choice are things that once came at a steep price and survival meant submitting to the whims of those who only saw him as a possession and plaything.

Until there was one man who saw him as something more…


I knew from the moment I saw him that I was going to get him out. But I also knew once I did, I’d need to let him go…
He’s known as Vaughn and nothing more. His job is to make sure secrets don’t get out and the possessions he’s been tasked with guarding never escape and tell their story. After eight years in a world where innocent kids are used to feed the darkest of depravities, Vaughn has seen things that would break even the strongest man. But he’s played it smart and built up a wall between himself and the darkness that threatens to consume him.

It wasn’t until he met a young man who had to be a thousand times stronger to survive the life he was forced into as a child that the first crack appeared in his carefully constructed wall.

Vaughn’s only job was to make sure young Aleks Silva remained the ugly little secret of one of the most powerful men in Chicago. It was one job he was more than happy to fail at, and when he eliminated the threat against Aleks and set him free, he was sure their paths would never cross again.

But fate has other plans…

Vaughn is the only man from my other life who never had a starring role in my nightmares… but he’s been in every one of my dreams. And I don’t know why…
When Aleks is suddenly abducted after leaving work one quiet spring evening, he’s certain he’ll never see his brother and family again. But terror quickly turns to relief when a familiar face once again comes to his rescue, along with all the feelings he’s always had but never quite understood around the dangerous, older Vaughn. Certain that Vaughn will make everything okay again like he did once before, Aleks knows he doesn’t even need to ask Vaughn to take him home. But when he does anyway, nothing he’s ever experienced prepares him for Vaughn’s answer… or the brutal betrayal that comes along with it.

I’m sorry, Aleks, I can’t do that...

I failed Caleb once because I was a coward. And he ended up paying the price. Never again…
Ten years of war and the loss of nearly his entire family have left thirty-four-year-old former sniper, Jace Christenson, with nothing to come home to. And he prefers it that way. Life consists of his work in an underground vigilante group, the near-constant search for the last remaining link to who he used to be, and a string of meaningless sexual encounters that serve only one purpose… to make it easier to not feel anything anymore.

But when Jace gets the call that the young man he saved two years earlier has gone missing, he’s forced to deal with the truth he’s been trying to deny from the moment he laid eyes on Caleb Cortano.

That the young man is so very much more than just the exception to all his rules...

You know how if something shatters when it breaks, there’s no way to find all the pieces to put it back like it once was? Maybe sometimes it’s better not to even try…
Nineteen-year-old Caleb Cortano has been barely hanging onto his sanity in the two years since the truth about his father’s depravities came to light. A victim of the man’s crimes himself, Caleb has only managed to find any semblance of peace when he’s in the presence of the man who saved him once before.

But when he finally comes to accept that Jace Christenson wants nothing to do with someone who’s shattered beyond repair, Caleb finds another way to seek solace from the pain inside.

As the fear of being reunited with the father he both fears and misses becomes more and more likely, desperation has Caleb doing something foolish that brings him face to face with the only man he’s ever wanted… but who doesn’t want him back.

Caleb stays with me until we get some answers… just me…
When Caleb’s life is threatened, Jace refuses to walk away a second time. Even if protecting Caleb means he’s risking his own heart, Jace isn’t going anywhere. At least not until he can put some of the missing pieces of Caleb’s life back together.

But will Caleb be able to do the same for the equally broken Jace?

Will two shattered men be able to find all the missing pieces to be who they were truly meant to, or is Caleb right? Some things just aren’t worth trying to fix…

I finally had the chance at a perfect life when I met the man I was supposed to be with. But he’s gone and chances like that don’t come along twice in one lifetime. Right?
Former president Everett Shaw had his whole life laid out for him from the time he was a child and he lived out every expectation to complete and utter perfection… until he met the one man who changed everything. With plans to leave public life behind after finishing his term in office, Everett was looking forward to a quiet life with the man of his dreams at his side. But one brutal act of violence stole that bright future away, leaving Everett struggling just to get through each day.

A decade later finds Everett nearing the age of sixty and living a shell of a life. Haunted by his loss, he finds solace in his roses and evenings sitting in front of the television. But when his estranged son is horribly injured while saving the life of another, Everett leaves everything behind in the hopes of mending the broken relationship and helping his son heal in more ways than one.

My job is to protect and there are rules that have to be followed. Even if there weren’t, I wouldn’t risk letting anyone close… not again.
Special Agent Jonathan Nash’s job is to keep the former president safe, not be his friend. Even if something about the lonely older man draws him in, he’s not about to risk what’s left of his career for anything. And it’s not like a guy like Everett Shaw would really see him anyway. Nor would he want him to, considering the ugly past Nash left behind to pursue his dream. No, he’s better off following protocol and doing his job. Let someone else deal with the broken man. It’s not his problem… it can’t be.

I learned a long time ago to live life on my terms and that sometimes you have to take that leap of faith to get what you want. But wanting two men at the same time? That’s new, even for me.
At forty-five years old, former Navy SEAL Gage Fortier has experienced success and loss in equal measure, and while his life has taken a direction he never planned, he wouldn’t have it any other way. When Reese, the young man he’s partnered with in the underground vigilante group they both work for, is injured on the job, he sees an opportunity to build on the friendship with the bitter former soldier while giving him a place to recover. But when he discovers that the young man is actually the estranged son of a former U.S. president, Gage realizes he has the chance to give both father and son so much more. There’s only one problem with his plan… how to ignore his growing attraction for the devishly handsome Everett Shaw.

And Everett’s perpetual shadow, Agent Nash.

Three men on very separate courses. Until something unexpected happens and three become one…

Protecting him was just to supposed to be another job. Until it wasn’t.

Two years after surviving a brutal attack from members of his own unit, former Special Forces soldier Cruz de la Vega has found new purpose working for an underground vigilante group that offers justice when the law can’t. When he’s assigned to figure out who attacked a local gay rights activist, Cruz expects it to be just another job.

But when it comes to protecting Elliot Wittier, he soon learns that the last thing he wants is for the intriguing young man to be just another job.

At twenty-five years old, Elliot Wittier is well on his way to having the perfect life. As the head of a hugely successful investment firm and the founder of a prominent foundation, he should be on top of the world.

But looks can be deceiving and Elliot knows how to play the game. With the fear of failing the two most important people in his life always at the forefront of his mind, Elliot keeps an iron-grip on the control that has served him so well in the past. But when a violent attack leaves him vulnerable, Elliot’s carefully constructed world starts to fracture. As he struggles to keep the threat under wraps, he’s thrown off guard when a gorgeous stranger takes an interest in him at a Halloween themed benefit. Throwing caution to the wind, Elliot decides to allow himself the freedom that being with the enigmatic Cruz de la Vega brings for just one night.

But what happens when one night isn’t enough? Or when the past catches up with the present? Can what two men found in each other in just twenty-four hours really last a lifetime?