Cross Island

Originally scheduled for publication in July 2018, this edition was cancelled prior to its expected release date.
Attorney Clive Baptiste lives life at arm’s length. Never quite making friends, never keeping a boyfriend, and never letting his personal life interfere with his work. But things go sideways when a high-profile civil suit lands him in the middle of a stalker’s crosshairs. Clive doesn’t want or need a bodyguard, even if that man is the gorgeous and brooding Victor Quiñones—who is also on the outside of the close-knit group of queer friends Clive withdrew from long ago.
Clive is a difficult client, but Victor understands the reasons for the icy lawyer’s guardedness all too well. Deeply closeted due to his own tumultuous past, Victor hides his anxiety and insecurities behind his scarred face and muscled wall of anger and insolence, making himself the black sheep of a group he secretly yearns to belong to. Like Clive, it’s easier for him to pretend he doesn’t mind being alone.
Forced together, they develop an unlikely friendship that grows into a smoldering attraction. After being out in the cold for so long, neither man can ignore the fire between them. But with the stalker closing in, the distracting blaze may come at too high a price.