billxmaggie
THE SHORT LEASH
A Slow-Burn Irish Thriller
Leah Kavangh is used to getting what she wants-but she's never met a man as disciplined as the one assigned to keep her alive.
When her ruthless property magnate father earns the dangerous ire of The Black Dogs, a vicious Dublin crime syndicate, he hires the best protection money can buy: Tom Carthy. A former elite soldier with a body built for war and eyes that hold the cold, pale detachment of a machine, Tom operates by one rule: never compromise the mission with emotion.
Leah, a rebellious heiress with a sharp tongue and a refusal to be caged, immediately labels him "The Terminator." She spends her days pushing his boundaries, testing his formidable control, and fighting the undeniable heat that simmers beneath his granite exterior. Tom, in turn, views Leah's existence as a risk-the one distraction that could shatter his decade of hard-won discipline.
But when a brutal attack forces them to flee Dublin for the wild, isolated coasts of Connemara, their rules break down. In the close confines of a safe house, the line between guard and asset-between duty and desire-becomes blurred and dangerously thin.
The rules shatter completely when the crime syndicate strikes. Leah's father is murdered, the contract is destroyed, and the chase turns personal. Now fugitives, hunted by Riordan's relentless assassins and the police, Tom and Leah must rely on their lethal, reluctant partnership to survive.
Tom's mission is now a vow: keep the asset safe. But when his single-minded discipline leads to a catastrophic tactical failure, Leah is captured, leaving Tom broken, compromised, and facing the hell of his greatest fear.
He failed the contract. Now he will risk everything-his life, his freedom, and his last remaining rules-to tear down the city and bring her home.