Forged in Fire - Shattered Valor, #2

She's trained to heal broken soldiers. She never expected one to save her.

Dr. Naomi Chen has built her career helping veterans recover from trauma—while hiding her own. Five years ago, she found her fiancé dead by suicide, and she's never forgiven herself for missing the signs. Now she keeps everyone at arm's length, convinced that caring too deeply is a liability she can't afford.

Then Marcus "Brick" Torres walks into her office.

He lost everything. She might be his second chance.

Medically retired after a bullet nearly severed his spine, Brick is adrift. The Special Forces medic who once saved lives on the battlefield can barely recognize himself in the mirror. Therapy is just another box to check—until his new doctor sees through every wall he's built.

Naomi is brilliant, guarded, and hiding something. Brick shouldn't notice. Shouldn't care. Definitely shouldn't want to protect her from whatever shadow follows her home each night.

But some threats don't stay in the past.

When Naomi's stalker ex-boyfriend escalates from flowers to surveillance to something far more dangerous, Brick's protective instincts ignite. The connection between them is undeniable—and absolutely forbidden. She's his therapist. He's her patient. Every ethics code says this can't happen.

But as the danger closes in, the line between professional and personal burns away. And Brick will have to become the soldier he thought he'd lost to save the woman who's become his reason to live.