She ran 9,000 miles to escape him. It wasn't far enough. Lydia Hawkins is not on the Gold Coast for the surf. She is hiding. After escaping a relationship that nearly cost her her life, she thinks the tropical heat of Australia is the one place her ex-a man with delusions of grandeur and a temper to match-can't find her. Then she meets Dean Connors. Dark-haired, blue-eyed, and scarred by a past he's trying to outrun, Dean is everything Lydia should avoid. He's an ex-biker with a history of violence and a family he can't shake. But Dean isn't the monster she fears; he's the only thing standing in the way of the one coming for her. When her past lands on Australian soil, Lydia learns a brutal truth: You can run to the ends of the earth, but you can't hide forever. Now, she doesn't just need a hiding place. She needs a protector.