Only the Lucky

Alicia Morgan was never supposed to be a problem.

She's brilliant. Controlled. A crisis-management CEO who refuses to believe she needs protection—until the world she's built so carefully turns against her. When KOAN assigns me to her detail, the rules are simple: keep her safe, keep her daughter safe, and don't cross lines that can't be uncrossed.

Living in her house makes that last rule harder by the day.

She's guarded, careful, and not inclined to share the whole truth—even with the man hired to protect her life. The more I watch her navigate a threat she never saw coming, a custody battle, and a life held together by sheer force of will, the clearer it becomes: the real risk isn't external. It's the secrets people protect because they think they're harmless.

She trusts me to secure her home. She doesn't trust me with the truth.

The closer we get, the more I start to see what she's built—and what she's terrified to lose. A daughter who watches everything. A reputation that can shatter with one wrong headline. A strength that hides exhaustion I know too well.

I've spent my life staying one step removed. But Alicia makes distance impossible.

Because when the threat isn't obvious—when it wears familiar faces and hides behind routine—I don't just guard the perimeter. I guard the people I'm falling for.

And sometimes, the most dangerous thing isn't the enemy watching from the shadows. It's what you're willing to risk when you finally stop pretending you don't care.

ONLY THE LUCKY is the fourth standalone novel in the Sinful State series, where protection turns personal, secrets cut deeper than any weapon, and jealousy proves just as deadly as a bullet.