"Maybe she'll strut over here and kill me. Put me out of my misery with a stomp of her heel."

First Surrender

When Natalie Halstead receives the worst news imaginable, she puts her life on hold and comes home to Lawson to care for her little brother. She struggles each day to give him the best life that she can, a better life than she had while ensuring that her stepfather will be punished for his crime against her mother.

Sheriff Jackson Malec's home has been inundated with dangerous crimes and he has taken the initiative to put a stop to it. Unfortunately, he still hasn't found answers a year into his new role, forcing him to investigate new leads.

A lifelong drug dealer is about to go on trial for killing his wife and Jackson wants to know where he got his hands on the drugs that he gave her. In the process, he becomes entangled with a beautiful, but rage-filled, woman. She doesn't trust cops and she doesn't trust men. That hatred comes to a boiling point when the Sheriff's Department offers the defendant a deal, more information in exchange for a lighter charge.

Losing her mother senselessly has already left Natalie splintered, but the threat of her stepfather getting out of jail to reclaim her brother is unacceptable. The Sheriff doesn't let other people's feelings dictate his decisions, but when this dark-haired, spit-fire, of a woman reveals the slightest bit of fear in her eyes, he's doing everything to fix his mistake. His priority has always been to eliminate the danger in Rollins County but now he wants to protect this broken woman and her little brother even more.

Content Warning: Explicit Sexual Content, Pregnancy Loss
Mentions of: Physical & Sexual Assault, Drug Use, Coercion/Rape.