Emma decided to skip the gym and went home early. It was the last easy decision she made because she found her roommate being raped by the boyfriend. She had two choices. Call the cops and be killed by his family’s mafia connections or kill him first and hope to survive. There was no choice to her. She killed the bastard first and went to the one person who could protect her. Carter Reed. He’s a weapon for the rivaling mafia family, but he’s also Emma’s secret. Not only was he best friends with her brother, but she’s the reason he became that weapon in the first place.
This book is not for the faint of heart.
The not-for-the-faint-of-heart disclaimer is no joke. This book starts with a graphic, violent rape scene and it gets even darker. That said, I loved everything about this story. Emma is a badass and Carter is the man who’s always loved her but thought she was safer without him. Now she needs him and he’s never letting her go again.
They grew up together. Carter was her brother’s best friend. When her brother’s addictions got the better of him and he couldn’t pay his debts, he was brutally murdered with a baseball bat as young Emma watched in horror. Carter avenged his best friend and sold his soul to do it, but he would have done anything to protect Emma and has no regrets. Emma never had any idea that she was in danger until they’re reunited and she learns everything.
This is a story that puts you on the edge of your seat and keeps you turning pages. I couldn’t put it down. There’s so much tension and suspense with Emma have killed the son of a powerful mobster, it destroyed her life and the lives of everyone she loved. Yet somehow, even with this crazy fast pace, Tijan manages to make the relationship between Emma and Carter a deliciously slow burn but it’s worth the wait.
Carter is almost as much of an enigma at the end as he was when we first met him so I was left wanting more. He’s a new favorite though because you have to love a man who is willing to go to war for the woman he loves. This book wraps up neatly at the end with no cliffhanger but I still can’t wait to finish the duet and then move on to Cole, which isn’t part of the series but is a standalone starring a new character from Carter Reed book 2 so I’m going on a Tijan binge, y’all.
