The Protector by K. Alex Walker

A vow he made…

After growing up on the streets as a kid in Washington DC, former Navy SEAL, Dez, vowed he would never return after joining the military. And he’d kept the promise—until the death of one of his fellow comrades forces him to go back to the city he’d been convinced was damned.

However, the night before he plans to fly out of the city, he runs into Larke Tapley, a federal prosecutor at a crossroads about leaving her secure job and branching out on her own.

A vow she breaks

The two develop a friendship, remaining in contact while he covers private missions overseas, and she develops a name for herself in the legal world. Over time, the need to see her in person forces Dez to do what he’d vowed never to do… He returns home.

The minute he arrives, there’s a break-in at Larke’s office. He assumes the person has been sent for the bounty still on his head, until the man reveals he has come to kill Larke.

The woman who is now his mission

Dez deems her under his protection, and together, they aim to find two missing girls and dismantle one of the most salacious underground operations of the criminal world. Dez also vows to make the woman who’s been his rock and his reason to live for two years, his.

Forever.