In the quiet Bavarian town of Ansbach, Germany, a disciplined killer who worships perfection and silence makes a mistake: he collides with a sharp-tongued florist who doesn't scare easily-and who knows how to discipline back.He takes her. What he doesn't expect is the noise she brings into his ordered world, and how much he wants it. Vaughn-six foot four, iron composure-starts to crack under Carol West. She's spicy, precise, a mouth like a blade; beneath the petals she keeps secrets with more thorns than roses. She admires his control and his gentleman calm. She intends to command it. When her past collides with his discipline, darkness turns to heat-and then to a bond that tastes like blood. Whether it lasts is another matter.