She refused to pay a predator's tax. He'd spent seven years watching someone die—and he wasn't going to watch her be destroyed.

Brynn Gallagher built Iron and Grace from nothing. When a protection racket came for her gym, she grabbed a forty-five-pound plate and told them exactly where they could shove their demands. She thought standing alone made her strong.

She was wrong.

Now her windows are shattered, her car is ash, and her members are being hunted. Tommy Galvez has fifteen enforcers, a corrupt councilman, and six years of crushing anyone who tells him no.

He's the Black Hills Riders' quietest brother. Patient. Watchful. And completely changed by her.

Garrett "Vigil" Nolan spent seven years caring for a dying father. When he walks into Brynn's gym and finds her threatening trained killers with a weight plate, something wakes up. She's not a victim. She's not a mission.

She's his.

What starts as protection becomes claiming—a connection that burns through both their defenses. But the man hunting Brynn has an army of enforcers, an arsonist on call, and a reputation built on destroying everyone who defies him. He's already burned her gym to the ground.

Now he's going to learn what happens when patience runs out.

In the Black Hills, some men wait for the right moment to strike. And Vigil has been waiting his whole life for something worth fighting for.

This book was previously published under a different pen name.