Rib And Recoil

He built a cage to catch a monster. He didn't expect to fall for the bait.

Cassidy I ran as far east as the continent would let me. Forty thousand dollars in cash, a stolen drive full of my husband's darkest secrets, and a new name. I thought I found the perfect hideout: a secluded cottage on Heron Neck, a narrow Maryland peninsula that floods twice a day. I thought the lock on the outside of my bedroom door was just a coastal eccentricity. I thought my quiet, rugged neighbor Declan Stone was just a helpful local waterman. I was wrong. I didn't escape a cage just to walk into another one. But as a massive hurricane rolls in, cutting the peninsula off from the mainland, I realize the storm outside is nothing compared to the secrets of the man holding the keys.

Declan For seven years, I've had one purpose: find out who took my sister, Nola. Every line of code, every port log, and every dollar I've spent led me to Garrett Wren. When his wife ran, I built the perfect trap. I set the price low, cash only, no questions asked, and waited. Cassidy was supposed to be my leverage. She was the key to unlocking the truth, the bait to draw her husband directly to my dock. I installed the lock on her door because I needed to control the variables. I didn't plan for the way she looks at me. I didn't plan for her sharp, unbroken spirit, or the way she tethers me to reality. And I certainly didn't plan on falling in love with my own hostage.

Now, the causeway is destroyed. The water is rising. And the monster is coming. To survive, the girl who was locked away and the man who builds the cages must decide if the only way out is together.