Some men are born protectors, some are forged by the tragedies of their past, some are tempered and toughened by the atrocities they witness on the battlefield. Former Navy SEAL Logan Haines was a combination of all three. From a young age, he was taught that love hurt—it came with fists, lies, guilt, and blame. As far as he was concerned, love was pretend, a façade used to manipulate the ones you should care about the most, and he wanted no part of it. He f**ked, he played, he had fun—period, the end.

Then he walked into Triple Canopy and met the sexy receptionist, Lauren Saunders, and no other woman would do. The problem was she wanted that ugly four-letter L-word Logan had spent his life avoiding. She wanted marriage and babies and the stupid picket fence. Worst of all, she wanted all of that with Logan. Until he successfully pushed her away.

Now Logan’s living in a hell of his own making. Lauren wants not one thing to do with him. And if seeing the woman he’s fallen in love with every day at work isn’t bad enough, someone’s trying to kill her.

When Lauren vanishes, it’s all hands on deck. In a race to find her, all the men of Triple Canopy go on the hunt. Lauren is one of their own, a member of the team. But only one man stands to lose everything. Logan’s hell-bent on finding the woman who taught him love is peace not pain—even if it means he dies trying.