Mia Russo spent ten years working undercover, entrenched in the dregs of society before handing in her shield. Opening her own pawn shop is a piece of cake in comparison. All she needs is the bad attitude she developed on the streets and the shotgun under her counter to keep law and order. Until the day Zeke McBride walks into her shop.
Zeke knows Mia has every right not to trust him. He was the one who chose the next op instead of her. And all he can hope is that somewhere under the snarl and cynicism is a woman who can forgive. Because whether she trusts him or not, they’re going to have to work together to bring down the gang that’s decided Mia is their next target.
The door opened and boots scraped across the hardwood floor. Something in the atmosphere changed—an electric current that was all too familiar. It heated her from the inside out, but chills pebbled across her skin. Her nipples spiked right along with her temper. It had always been that way.
Zeke McBride looked better than she remembered—though he was harder and had more of an edge. He’d always kept his dark hair shaved close to the scalp, but she could see the threads of silver sneaking in, especially around the temples. He’d always had facial hair for as long as she’d known him, but he’d let it grow to full scruff, and there was plenty of silver in that too. The age looked good on him.
His eyes were a dark forest green with flecks of gold, and he had impossibly long lashes for a man. She’d always been jealous. Those eyes never missed anything. One of his eyebrows had a scar running through it. That was new since she’d seen him last.
Zeke had always been big—several inches over six feet and muscled like a bodybuilder. The sleeves of his black shirt fit tight around his tattooed biceps and he wore jeans and a pair of steel-toed black boots. He was one-hundred percent badass, and if she still wasn’t so mad at him she’d have pounced and claimed what was hers.
He’d always loved the undercover life. In his mind it was the ultimate battle of good versus evil. It was a way to feed the adrenaline rush, play within the shades of gray, and ultimately put away the bad guys.
Memories assaulted her—love and fear and chaos and danger and arguments—lots of arguments—and she was suddenly back in the place she’d been seven years before. Hurt and scared and not willing to sacrifice anything more than she already had. And he hadn’t been willing to sacrifice anything at all. Or it least it had seemed that way to her. But she’d been unbending—they both had—so she’d walked away.
“Well, f*ck,” she said.
“It’s good to see you too, Mia.”
~*~
Liliana Hart is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author in both the mystery and romance genres. After starting her first novel her freshman year of college, she immediately became addicted to writing and knew she’d found what she was meant to do with her life. She has no idea why she majored in music.
Liliana is an avid reader and a believer in all things romance. Her books are filled with witty dialogue, steamy sex, and the all-important happily-ever-afters her romantic soul craves. Since self-publishing in June of 2011, she’s sold more than 1.2 million ebooks all over the world.
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