Sydney Harper is a skilled FBI agent who has built her life on control and resilience, but beneath her composed exterior lies a secret: an abusive marriage she's desperate to escape. When a mission takes her undercover with her partner, James Miller, posing as a married couple to infiltrate the empire of ruthless crime lord Rafael Santos, Sydney sees an opportunity to reclaim her freedom and her power.
For James, the mission is more than just another assignment. Haunted by his own past, he's fiercely protective of Sydney, watching as her courage grows and her walls begin to crack. What starts as a professional partnership becomes something deeper as they navigate the treacherous waters of betrayal, danger, and deception.
The stakes escalate when they uncover the horrifying truth about Santos's operation-an empire fueled by human trafficking and violence. The lines between their undercover personas and their true selves blur as they fight to bring justice to the victims, all while evading the suspicion of the powerful man they've been sent to take down.
But as their bond strengthens and Sydney confronts the scars left by her abusive husband, the mission becomes personal. Each decision carries a cost, and every moment of vulnerability could be their last.
Will they succeed in dismantling Santos's empire, or will the price of justice shatter the fragile trust they've built? In a world of danger and shadows, love may be their only refuge-but only if they're brave enough to claim it.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]