Alex Cortez is used to putting his life on the line as the Hidden Scion of the Cortez cartel. But when he is charged with the protection of his best friend's sister and her son, he braces himself to bury old feelings deep. Alina is off-limits, stubborn and gorgeous, but Alex is torn by the secret he has kept for all these years-their one forbidden night marked him forever. Alina Flores is in trouble. On the run from her abusive ex, she's collided head-on with her past. Now, she has to accept protection from the only man who ever broke her heart-the man she swore she'd never see again. But as Alex becomes part of her day-to-day, again , things heat up, tempers flare, and feelings Alina thought were long buried start to surface. Alex keeps telling himself he did the right thing by ghosting her, but when Alina's secrets are revealed, his world turns upside down. Except this time, he's not the one walking away...