Chapter 1

      Feeling like he’d been called to the principal’s office, Parker Payne settled nervously onto the chair in front of the desk of the new chief of the River City Police Department. The fact that Woodrow Lynch was also his new stepfather didn’t help his anxiety.

      Even though it had been some years since he’d been in school, Parker remembered all too well the feeling of being called to the principal’s office. The anxiety that gathered low in his stomach, twisting it into knots.

      He’d spent a lot of time in this office, too, when he’d worked for the River City PD’s vice unit. But he’d quit the job a long time ago when his twin, Logan Payne, had resigned from being a detective in order to launch the Payne Protection Agency. Now Parker had his own franchise of the family business. He was a boss. But something about Woodrow Lynch and this office made him feel like the troublemaking kid he’d once been. Or at least like the rule-breaking vice cop he’d been.

      “You’re probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here,” Woodrow began. The guy was family now, but the former FBI bureau chief was still intimidating as hell with his big build, iron-gray hair and stone face that revealed none of what he was thinking or feeling.

      Parker, who was usually never without words, just nodded in response.

      “It’s because I want to hire you.”

      Parker’s jaw dropped. “But I already have a job.” His own damn business, actually—one that he loved and wasn’t about to abandon to go back to a place with too many rules.

      Woodrow’s lips curved into a slight smile. “I know. That’s what I meant. I want to hire your agency.”

      Panic struck Parker’s heart. “Why? Is Mom in danger? Are you?” His mom, widowed for nearly two decades, had just found happiness again. Parker hated the thought of anyone putting her life or her newfound happiness at risk.

      “No, not at all,” Woodrow assured him. “She’s fine. This is strictly business.”

      Parker narrowed his eyes and futilely tried to read his stepfather’s unreadable face. “Why me?” he asked. “Why my agency?”

      His brothers, Cooper and Logan, had their own agencies. And Logan’s agency employed two of Woodrow’s former special agents, one of whom, Gage Huxton, was now his son-in-law.

      “It’s business for me,” Woodrow said. “It might be personal for you.”

      A chill chased