He wants to protect her from his world, but her past is their biggest threat. After the traumatic and mysterious death of a close family friend, Emma Marshall flees the prying eyes in her hometown, opting for the anonymity of Manhattan life. Once there, she buries herself in ramen noodle dinners and rigorous academics. When she's attacked on the street and issued a strange, veiled threat, she takes her defense into her own hands. But involving herself with a man like Jack is far from safe. Jack O'Connell thinks of love as a liability. In his line of work, caring for someone would only give his enemies a weakness to exploit. But when Emma walks into his gym for a self-defense lesson, she unknowingly threatens the armor he's curated. Try as he might, he can't keep himself away. Their chemistry is electric, and she could be everything that he needs. As Jack delves into her secrets, he finds they might be somehow connected to his dark world, even though he has fought desperately to protect her from it. To his horror, Emma becomes caught in a sinister web that entraps the two of them, threatening their very lives.