Chapter One

Reece watched twilight descend as he lazily moved his rocker with a foot. Mountains surrounded the cascading thoroughfare of the endless forest. The lush valley gave him a sense of peace unlike anything else. The first time he had seen the cabin surrounded by tall trees and a carpet of grass, it had become his salvation. The isolation was his therapy. The death of his partner, Joe, had forced him into a mandatory psych evaluation, but even when he'd been released to go back to active duty, he discovered he couldn't. The moment he stepped foot in the firehouse, a cold shiver sluiced down his spine, leaving him frozen in the doorway, unable to move forward.

So, he went to the one place that always healed his soul.

He had never been afraid of fire. It was probably the first requirement to do his job, but every nook and cranny reminded him of Joe. How he had made the ultimate sacrifice by saving Reece, and it made him feel … unworthy. "Survivors guilt," they called it, but whatever technical name it happened to be, it showed he was nothing but a fucking coward. Joe had traded his life for a man who didn't even have the goddamn balls to pick up the pieces and resume the job.

He had taken a leave of absence to work through his grief. Not wanting to be around people, he had fled to his cabin. Anger, depression, anxiety—he was pretty sure he had skipped a few steps in the grieving process, but he didn't care.

When his phone rang, he glanced at the caller ID and sighed. It was his childhood friend, Dan. They had done everything together growing up on the streets of Richmond. While he had gone to college, Dan had decided to be a firefighter and managed to convince Reece to change his major to fire science. Once he graduated, he got his EMT license and joined Dan in Firehouse Seventy-Two. Now, his best friend called every day to make sure Reece hadn't done something stupid like blow his brains out. What he and everyone else failed to realize was that he would never disrespect Joe like that. How could he throw away the second chance Joe had given him? Reece connected the call.

"I'm here," he greeted.

"Good," Dan muttered, his voice a bit weak. "My daily mental dose of is today the day Reece doesn't answer has been fulfilled."

Reece frowned. Dan was always the happy-go-lucky type of guy, and his distracted tone was completely out of character. "You okay?"

"Reece, I … I've done something stupid and now I might lose my marriage."

"What the fuck did you do?"

There was a pregnant pause. "I, ah, had an affair."

That floored him. As far as he knew, Dan and his wife Anna were happily married. He'd been best man at their wedding. Anna was like a little sister to him. "What the fuck? You cheated on Anna?"

"Listen, I'm not proud of it. Okay? But that's not the worst of it."

"It never is. Jesus, Dan! You're married to the nicest woman on the planet."

"I know! Shit, I know. There's nothing you can say that I've not already told myself." He let out a breath in a whoosh. "Now this woman is blackmailing me and I don't want Anna to find out how much of a stupid fuck I am. I don't want to lose her, Reece."

"Should've thought about that before you stuck your dick into a woman that wasn't your wife. Why the fuck did you do it?"

"Because … hell, she's gorgeous. Even you would've cheated, asshole."

The statement rankled Reece. "Don't you dare. If you don't want to be married anymore, you should've divorced Anna."

"Why?" Dan demanded. "So you can marry her?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I love Anna as a friend. Just like you."

His heavy sigh came through the line. "Shit. I know. I'm sorry."

"So, who is this woman?"

"Her name is Rebecca Fox. Do you think … Reece, I need your help."

"Help with what?"

"To, uh, tell her to back off. Maybe? Negotiate with Rebecca to not tell Anna."

"Jesus fucking Christ." He disconnected the call, beyond irritated with his friend. Was he the only person in the world who took a vow seriously? Granted, he'd never been married, but when he found the right woman, it would be them versus the world. He believed a vow was sacred, especially a marriage vow. He picked up his phone and called Dan back, who answered quickly. "Listen, I don't condone cheating. At all."

"I understand—"

"Shut up," Reece muttered harshly. "What does she want? Money?"

"Yeah. Turns out she's a prostitute. I honestly didn't know until she demanded payment."

Reece forced himself not to drive to Dan's house and beat the shit out of him. Anna deserved better. "All right, but I have conditions. First, after I handle your whore, you'll tell Anna—"

"No! That's the whole purpose of you helping me!"

"Shut up. You don't have to tell Anna about the woman being a hooker, but you have to tell her you messed up."

There was a pregnant pause. "Fine. What other conditions do you have?"

"That you never, and I mean never, cheat again. If you do, I will stand with and support Anna over you. Got it?"

"We're best friends."

"Yes, but you fucked up. If Anna had come to me about this, I would support you over her. This is about doing the right thing, Dan."

"Fine." His tone didn't sound like everything was fine, but that wasn't Reece's problem.

"Do you have her address?"

"Um, why?"

"Because I'm going to help your dumb ass out."

"Yeah. I, ah, looked her up through DMV records."

And the fucking-up continued. "You aren't supposed to look that up for personal use. That's not why we have access to it!"

"Just stop. Please. I'm not up for your censure right now."

Reece let out a frustrated breath. "Send me a picture and her illegally obtained address and I'll do my best to change her mind."

"Thank you," Dan said, relief in his tone. "It won't happen again."

"It better not, Dan. Anna is a good woman and she deserves a good man, so forget about this other woman and keep it in your pants from now on. Got it?"

"Got it," he said with an irritated sigh. "I'll send you the information."

He hung up again without answering, and went back to rocking in his chair. A moment later, a couple of text messages pinged, one after another. Reece opened the texts and the first thing he saw was a woman so exquisite she almost took his breath away. Pitch-black hair, eyes the color of the sky. A naughty smile teased the corner of her mouth. Her face was heart-shaped, with full lips begging to be kissed. He had the sudden mental picture of her wrapping those lips around his cock.

Fuck! Dan was right. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Too bad she had the morals of a fucking snake in the Garden of Eden. The more he stared at the picture, the angrier he became. It wasn't rational at all, but since the other part of his life was in the toilet, this seemed like something he could focus on.

He absolutely blamed Dan for his infidelity, but the woman was also partially to blame. Blackmail implied she knew he was married, so she probably targeted him. Certainly not for money because although firemen made enough for a comfortable life, it wasn't blackmail-worthy. So, why the fuck would this woman go after Dan?

The longer he thought about it, the angrier he became. Rebecca was probably one of those women who used their beauty to get whatever she wanted, leading men around by their dicks. He should simply seek her out and explain the situation. Maybe offer a bribe or something.

Rising, he headed inside to do a little more research. Someone like Rebecca Fox was sure to have a social media profile. Bitches like her needed the adulation the Internet provided. He'd do his homework and come up with a plan to end the home-wrecker's hold on Dan.