Secrets had torn them apart…and reunited them in a way neither had expected She is the last person Dallas Walker ever wants to see again. Still, this U.S. Marshal has no problem taking Joelle Tate into "protective custody"—on her wedding day. To save his family from unjust charges, he'd take on a lot worse than an ex-flame he couldn't trust. But Dallas doesn't know Joelle has put her freedom on the line to protect him. Now with only two days to investigate a long-buried crime no one wants solved, they must confront their past mistakes, and the shattering secret that drove them apart. Giving in to the simmering desire may lead to an impossible second chance—or help set a trap one calculating killer can't wait to spring.…

Examines the changing situations in which hostages were used in the Europe and the Mediterranean world from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, touching on a wide range of topics in military, diplomatic, political, social, gender, economic, and legal history.