When they were teenagers, Quinn MacGregor and Aaron Larsen fell in love over the course of one magical summer. It ended in bloodshed and tragedy. Now, ten years later, Quinn is back in Spruce Creek, Nevada, to inherit his family’s criminal cartel. His cousin Jimmy has been making friends -- and enemies -- in dangerous places, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy to hand over leadership to Quinn. And Jimmy might not be the only one who wants Quinn out of the way for good, especially if Quinn’s secret comes out. Aaron Larsen is back in Spruce Creek to sell his former family home. Aaron lost a leg in Afghanistan, and he’s drinking too much and battling depression and PTSD. The last thing he needs is for Quinn MacGregor to drop back into his miserable life. But when Quinn is shaken by the news that he left more behind in Spruce Creek than his bad memories, he turns to Aaron like it’s old times, and Aaron doesn’t know how to say no. The events of ten years ago cast a long shadow, and in a town where they can’t trust anyone else, Quinn and Aaron just might have to learn to trust each other again.

A Desperate Man

Benny was barely fifty, but he looked eighty.


“He’s alive,” Charlie said, and glanced at Quinn. There was an unsaid “for now” that passed between them.


He handed the blanket to Charlie and she spread it nearby. Benny weighed next to nothing when Quinn lifted him onto the blanket. He watched Charlie wrap it around the frail, used-up, barely dressed form, and then picked the bundle up.


They got Benny into the car and Quinn made a U-turn next to the closest dog.


No hospitals for Benny. Quinn understood. Benny would just walk out when he woke up. He was alive for now, and whatever shit was in his system had clearly protected him from the worst.


Once they were on Main Street again and headed for yet another trailer park, Charlie looked at him.


“Did you know that Aaron is in town?”


Quinn nearly swerved off the road. “W-what?”


Chapter 18