Penny understands logic over emotion and keeps most people at arms length because she doesn't know how to connect. Oliver slips into her life-easily, first as a friend but then as something undefined and dangerously intimate but kept quietly behind closed doors. When the delicate silence between them shatters, Penny is forced to confront what she wants and what she deserves. As she steps beyond her carefully constructed world, Oliver is left facing the cost of his choices - and the realization that somethings demand more than apologies to fix. Please read the detailed authors note at the beginning of the story before you continue as my works are not for everyone.

MONTANA He was the love of my life-until he left me standing in the wreckage of our marriage. Five years later, Jared Manelis is a world champion boxer, and the father of my daughters. The man he is today is galaxies away from the boy with blood on his knuckles who once promised me forever. Now a stranger, with the world at his fingertips and a talent for irritating me to no end. But when he's left fighting for his life after a championship match, everything changes. Suddenly, the man who broke me is back inside the walls I built to keep him out. Now he's asking questions we've both avoided for years; while our present battles to keep us apart, our past fights to be brought to the light and bind us together again. JARED Five years ago, fame, pride, and one stupid choice cost me my marriage-and the family I'd always dreamed of. Now I'm with a woman I don't love, have an ex who smiles at everyone but me, and a daughter too nervous to meet my eyes. Then I'm shot after the biggest night of my career-and all I can see is her. When death caresses your cheek, you know it's time to fight for what you want. So I force my way back into her world, where she can't ignore me anymore, and begin my fight for the truth, a chance to be us again. I'll remind her why she chose me all those years ago and show her why I'm worth choosing again.