Nerve And Needle - Whiteout Sins, #26

"There is a violence in being known. In handing someone the needle that could open you, and trusting them to close you instead."

Oona Merritt fixes broken things. Living alone with her dog in a fortified barn in rural Montana, she spends her days restoring antique saddles and her nights locked behind triple-bolted doors, hiding from the shadows of an abusive past. But when a generational blizzard hits, her isolated sanctuary is breached by a nightmare she never prepared for.

Rip crashes into her barn bleeding out from a gunshot wound, a stolen motorcycle outside and a hidden flash drive in his saddlebag. At gunpoint, he forces Oona to use her heavy leatherworking needles and waxed thread to stitch him back together. Rip is an undercover informant on the run from the Iron Veil motorcycle club, carrying the evidence to destroy the empire that killed his brother.

Trapped in the barn as the lethal storm rages, the tense hostage situation shifts into something far more dangerous. Oona recognizes the stillness of a man who endures pain without flinching, and Rip sees the fierce resilience of a woman who refuses to be a victim again. As they slowly peel back each other's armor, an intense, undeniable bond forms between them.

But the storm is ending, and Marcus Locke's hit squad is closing in on their coordinates. When the whiteout clears, Oona and Rip must turn the isolated barn into a fortress and fight for the fragile peace they've built—or die in the snow.