Brent

One farm. Two nights. A vow that changes everything.

Jessie Alvares is a ghost. After escaping the glass-walled prison of her life with Julian Lopez-a man who views people as acquisitions-she has one goal: disappear so completely that he can't find her or their four-year-old daughter, Maya. Storm Farm was supposed to be a forty-eight-hour pit stop, a place to breathe the scent of cedar and hay before vanishing again.

But Brent Thorne wasn't part of the plan.

As a high-level equine vet, Brent is used to fixing what's broken with clinical precision. But from the moment he finds a terrified Jessie in his foaling barn, his primal instincts override his professional detachment. He sees the shadow of trauma in her eyes and the predator on her trail.

When Julian's reach extends into the Bluegrass, Brent offers the only protection the law can't easily dismantle: his name.

The marriage is supposed to be a tactical maneuver-a fake union to build a legal fortress around Jessie and Maya. But as they hole up in an isolated caretaker's cabin, the "fake" part of their vow begins to incinerate. Between the scorching heat of their shared nights and the terrifying reality of their shared danger, the line between protection and possession blurs.

But in Brent's world, secrets are as deadly as the man hunting them. When a devastating misunderstanding shatters Jessie's fragile trust, she realizes that even the strongest sanctuary can't keep the past at bay.

Julian Lopez is coming to reclaim his "property," and this time, Brent Thorne will have to prove that a vet's vow of protection is written in more than just ink-it's written in blood.