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In Justice, Colorado, the Kennards run everything, including the only big business in the area. 
Their sawmill employs most of the town, and the Kennard brothers live up to a long family 
history of keeping their neighbors and coworkers safe—until a motorcycle club comes to town
 and starts causing trouble. Big trouble. The kind that ends in funerals.

He carries the burden of protecting an entire town
Being the oldest Kennard brother, I’ve got a centuries-old promise to uphold—run the family
 business to give the townspeople jobs and the sort of security they can only find in Justice. 
When a motorcycle club blows that plan apart, I’ll do anything to make them aware that they 
picked the wrong town to target. As a former Green Beret, I know just how to sabotage an 
enemy. The only weakness in my armor is my obsession with a five-foot-nothing blonde who 
unknowingly holds my heart in her hands. My attraction to her could cost me my life, but I’d 
sacrifice it all to save hers.

She owes a debt that could cost her life
I’ve spent three years hiding out in Justice and paying off a debt to the Soul Suckers, one they
’ve decided to collect whether I’m ready to pay or not. When danger lands on my doorstep, 
one man jumps in to help. Alder Kennard—former Special Forces soldier and current object 
of all my fantasies. But the Soul Suckers won’t let a debt go unpaid, and with the price on my 
head rising every day, it’s only a matter of time until they come back for me. Alder would put 
his life on the line to save mine, which is something I simply can’t afford.

Everyone has a debt to pay, and the only currency I have left is my body. So when the time 
comes, I’ll trade my life for his.

“We’ve got a problem, boss.”If I hadn’t already been in a foul mood, those words would have gotten me there. “What is it 

now?”
“Motorcycle gang up on Widow’s Ridge.” Camden Reese—born and bred in Justice, friend of 

my youngest brothers, and former Marine sergeant—launched into a speech about his team running into some bikers up by the Hansen property. We’d recently signed a contract with Miss Hansen to harvest eighty acres of dead Ponderosa pine on that hill, so anything getting in our way was definitely a problem. A big one.As Camden laid out the events of the altercation, I checked over the satellite images of the area on my desk, making notes and marking locations. A star on the house to the west where the elderly Miss Hansen still lived, another to the east on the patch of earth where a trailer sat, all alone. The only two residences up that long, rough stretch of road leading to a drop-off on the far west side.That rocky piece of land sat just outside the city limits, so things like road maintenance were all but forgotten unless the two residents brought them to my attention. No biker would intentionally ride up such a rutted, gravel road without a reason—too hard on their bike and their face if they were trailing someone else.“He tried to call out Finn, but I squashed that shit,” Camden said, securing every bit of my attention for the moment. Finn—my second youngest brother, one of a set of twins, and the only Kennard ever to spend time in prison. He was also a recovering addict, and I had vowed to my dad that I’d keep him in recovery and not let him backslide. That had been ten years ago, and I still worried about keeping that vow every fucking day.“What the fuck was Finn doing on a job?” My brother didn’t work for me except for the occasional project, and I knew for a fact he hadn’t been assigned to the Hansen job.“He’d driven with me to check in on Miss Hansen. We never made it out there, though, because we ran into the bikers on the way up. One guy said some shit about Finn’s drug days, how they missed him over at the strip club in Rock Falls.”Jesus. “You get a name?”“Patch on his vest said Spark.”“Spark.” I sat back, balancing my chair on two legs. “As in plug?”Camden blinked, a cocky smile breaking across his face. “Yeah, like plug. I didn’t see the other guy’s name.”“So Spark knows Finn from what…ten, twelve years ago? He look familiar to you?”

Cam shook his head. “Never seen him in town.”That caught my attention. Justice was a small town planted squarely between two slightly larger towns, all in the middle of fucking nowhere. People didn’t happen into Justice—they came here for a reason.And if that reason was named Finn Kennard, Spark and his friend needed to be dealt with and quick. “How’d my brother handle the run-in?”“Finn ignored the bullshit from Spark. I wasn’t as restrained.”Not surprising. Cam always did have a bit of a temper. “If the sheriff gets called again on you—”Camden waved me off. “I knocked his legs out from under him and put him on the ground. Didn’t even leave a mark, I don’t think. But I made my point.”“And what point was that?” Not that I needed to ask.“That Kennard Mills would be harvesting the lumber on that side of the hill, and their club had better not have any business up there. They drove off after Spark picked himself up out of the dirt, the other guy saying something about bigger fish.” Camden frowned. “I recognized the other guy.”“Local?” I couldn’t think of anyone in Justice who rode with an MC, but I might have missed someone. Three hundred plus people were a lot to keep track of.

“No. He came into the truck stop one night when Leah and I were there for dinner.” He blew out a breath and shifted his weight. An almost unconscious gesture, but one that stood out. Normally almost confident to a fault, Cam suddenly seemed nervous, which meant I wouldn’t like what he had to say.“Yeah?” I prodded, wondering how a night out with his wife would piss me off.“Leah noticed something was up when she went to the restroom and came to get me. The asshole had Shye cornered in a back hallway and wasn’t letting her pass.”  The snap of the pencil I’d been holding breaking in two might as well have been a gunshot. “And you let him walk away?”“I had Leah and Shye looking on. I had to.”

Picturing perfect little Shye—at least ten years my junior and so damn sweet, every one of her smiles would give you a toothache—watching as I kicked the shit of some asshole was about as unappealing as a thought could get. I probably would’ve wanted to do the same as Camden and let the guy walk with a warning if I’d been there. I wouldn’t have, but I’d have wanted to. Because I wanted her, and the idea of Shye being scared of me made my gut sink like a rock.

I needed to stop thinking about Shye Anderson. An impossibility as of late, which directly correlated to why my mood had been so foul all day.I sighed, rubbing my forehead and sitting deeper into my chair, bringing all four legs back to the floor. “All right. So they rode off after you knocked Spark to the ground. Any indication they’d keep hassling you or come back for Finn?”

He shrugged. “Not really, though you never know with these types of guys.”

Lawless, clan-like, arrogant. Yeah. You never knew a damn thing with them. “Did you recognize the club logo?”“Definitely the Soul Suckers.”Of course. I’d heard they’d added a clubhouse not too far over the county line to the west. I probably wouldn’t have thought twice if I’d seen their bikes on the highway through town or heading toward the new restaurant on Main Street. I would now, though.“Might be time to set the club straight on what they can and can’t do as they ride through Justice. I’ll talk to Deacon, see if he knows anyone. Head back to the ridge, and get the Hansen site plot worked out so we can start cruising and marking trees. This might be our last big harvest before the rains come, and I want to take advantage of the summer weather while we have it.”“We’ll get it done.”“Good. And if you see Bishop on the mill floor, have him call me.”Camden nodded, then left without another word, leaving me to stew over this new mess.Fucking messes all over the place lately, it seemed.  

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The first sign that I was about to learn what happened came in the form of a rumble. A truck driving on the road, moving closer, and finally turning into the driveway. Then footsteps on the porch as Finn moved in front of the door. I kept my seat, too afraid to hope that Alder had pulled up. Telling myself that it would be Bishop or Gage instead, coming to tell Finn and me that something had happened and Alder wouldn’t be coming home. Fearing it.
Seconds dragged, every sound heightened and making my head throb. Voices, more footsteps, and then nothing. Silence for several long minutes. I finally stood, still staring at that blasted slab of wood keeping me away from the outdoors. Still waiting.
But then Alder opened the door and walked inside, and the world righted itself. I had a brief moment of relaxation before I took a good, hard look at him. Relaxation gone. I’d never seen him look so…mean.
I couldn’t move, standing still even though I wanted to run to him. Fearing how he would react. He looked bigger and rougher than usual, more military than I’d ever seen him. I’d always known he’d been in the Army, and he’d definitely acted like a soldier at times, but this was different. The man before me was all business, completely focused and ready to destroy anything in his path to complete his mission. From his heavy brown boots over his jeans to the neckline of his black T-shirt, he looked every bit like a man who would sooner take your life than listen to you mouth off. And he couldn’t’ take his eyes off me.
“All done?” I finally asked when the silence grew too heavy.
He nodded, still staring. His body tense and his eyes devouring me with a fierceness that made goose bumps appear on my arms. I didn’t know whether to be aroused or scared—maybe neither. Maybe both. I fidgeted with the coffee mug, bouncing slightly on the balls of my feet but not moving. The prey to his predator, too afraid to make a mistake and end up in his jaws. Too afraid not to.
But even prey had to take a chance at some point.
“Alder,” I whispered, my entire body trembling with the warring desires of safety and lust. One said to run away, the other to run toward. I couldn’t decide which instinct to follow, so I needed him to tell me. To give me some sign of what he needed. What he wanted. I set down the mug.
Alder cocked his head, probably at the plea in my voice. Watching me. Waiting for something. An animal finally off his leash. My dragon at the gates set free and hungry for me. I whimpered at the thought, and he finally broke.
“You going to get over here and love me, honey? Or am I going to have to bend you over that counter and eat your pussy nice and slow to remind you that you’re mine?”