Publisher's Synopsis
Russell Griffing had it all. As Crush Crandall's head hatchet man in his crew, no one messed with him, therefore no one got to Crush. Even though his mother has written him off as a lost cause for running with a rough crowd, Russell knows he can do more with his life. His boss's wife thinks so, too, when she offers him the opportunity of a lifetime to be the boss at one of her businesses. Russell could see the light at the end of the tunnel until he got distracted.
Even though ten years older than her, Victoria Crandall has had a crush on Russell Griffing since first meeting him at the age of sixteen. When he rebuffs her advances citing her young age, she figures out a way to get his attention. Right after midnight when she turned eighteen years old, she takes a racy picture of herself and sends it to Russell as he's working an illegal job for her father. Little did she know that the picture would keep him distracted so much that he's caught off guard when police show up and arrest him.
After twelve years in prison, Russell is ready to collect money owed to him by his former boss. When that falls through, he now is looking for a bit of payback. When Crush asks him to pick his daughter up from the airport, Russell is only too happy to do so if only to get close enough to her to hurt her after Crush lied to him. When Victoria makes him an even better deal to keep her away from her father for the weekend, he decides to work for her if only to get close enough to make her pay for her father's lies. The more time he spends with her, the more he realizes how the old feelings he had for her never went away.
Victoria never thought she would see Russell Griffing again after her impetuous picture. Now that she fears her father may betray her to capture her decease mother's businesses, she needs an ally to help her. There could be no better one than Russell. But can she trust him to keep her safe, especially when she reveals an important aspect of his incarceration? Can Russell forget about the past to embrace a new future? Can love drive these two together?
