Atlanta homicide detective Patrick “Tick” Kelly turned his back on the world the day he lost his family to unimaginable tragedy. Isolating himself in a beach shack on Mango Key, Florida, he drowned his grief and trauma in drink. Now sober and a bestselling author, Tick would gladly stay a recluse forever if his brother didn’t keep trying to drag him back to the land of the living.

After years of sacrificing her personal life in favor of her DEA job, Kate Rush resigned and moved back to her native Miami. But the unofficial assignment that has just come her way is too intriguing to pass up. She and a fellow ex-agent are relocated to Mango Key to keep an eye on an imposing, mysterious fortress believed to be at the center of a major crime organization. At first, the Kelly brothers are suspected of involvement, but Kate is sure Tick poses no danger—except for the slow-burning gaze that makes her breath catch and her heart race…