Can two broken men build one life? Ten years. That’s what Makai lost for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s been exonerated, but the abuse he suffered in prison isn’t so easy to leave behind. He heads to the one place he remembers being happy: Acker, Wisconsin, where he spent summers with his grandpa. Unfortunately, not everyone wants Makai there. Ten days. That’s how long Emil, now twenty-one, was held prisoner as a teenager. The mental and physical injuries he suffered at the hands of a drug trafficking ring still haunt him. Nightmares, anxiety, and PTSD challenge the connection forming between Makai and Emil, though together, they might find a way to move beyond their pain and into a future -- and a relationship -- that both had thought impossible. Now they just have to convince Emil’s father, the town sheriff. It won’t be easy with danger closer than they know ...

A male deputy around Makai’s age sat at one of the desks he had to pass. The guy gave him a polite nod yet still managed to look suspicious. Great.


Makai went out of the gate and rounded the column to talk to Deputy Peters.


“I was told to reserve an appointment for two weeks from now,” he said, even though he guessed that she already knew this.


“Right, okay… let’s see,” she murmured and started to flip through an appointment book. “Every two weeks, right?”


“He’s a good guy,” she said quietly, and Makai blinked at her. She never took her gaze off the book in front of her, but she continued to speak. “I think you’re here to live in peace. You went through something horrible, and I want to apologize.”


“Nothing you did,” Makai managed to say, feeling almost choked up. This wasn’t what he’d expected to hear.


Chapter 3