Wicked Games by Maddie Taylor

Some games are deadly. Some loves are inevitable. This one is both.

After losing her family in a tragedy, Emily Peterson has spent years rebuilding her life, brick by fragile brick. She works, she studies, she survives. Feelings aren’t just inconvenient, they’re downright dangerous. And no one threatens her carefully reconstructed world more than Detective Alec Yarborough.

Fiercely protective, irresistibly commanding, and powerful enough to break through her stubborn defenses, Alec is more than just her brother’s best friend. He’s the boy Emily loved in secret, and the man she walked away from to shield her wounded heart.

When a coworker’s disappearance unearths long-buried evidence in her family’s case, Emily volunteers to go undercover. Furious at her recklessness and desperate to keep her safe, Alec is the first to step into the line of fire beside her. But working together quickly reignites their blistering chemistry. As she falls back into Alec’s arms, she finds the piece of herself she never knew she was missing.

Soon, the real threat isn’t the conspiracy that claimed her family years ago. It’s denying the man who commands her heart and soul. Can she finally surrender to the powerful love that was always inevitable?