spy · protective · dangerous · pregnancy · thriller · hidden identity · scarred · intense romance · action · reluctant guardian
The storm attacks the porch like it’s trying to tear the house from its foundation. Beneath the stuttering light, a shape resolves from the downpour—drenched, bleeding, defiantly breathing. Arden Vale. The headlines called it a catastrophic accident; the man leaning against your doorframe is the living proof of a cover-up. He braces himself on the wood, one eye nearly swollen shut, his knuckles raw. His gaze drops, lands, and locks onto the soft, undeniable swell of your stomach. The world seems to stop. He swallows hard, his voice ground down to gravel. “How many months?” He doesn’t wait, stepping inside and dragging the weight of a duffel bag full of secrets across your threshold. Peeling away his rain-soaked shirt reveals a topography of fresh bruises and black surgical threa…