The Vow of Restraint: A Brother’s Best Friend Forbidden Love Romance (The Brother’s Best Friend Vows Book 3) by June Rayne

PENNY:: Edmond Beckett is a walking iceberg in a bespoke suit. He’s my hyper-disciplined cyber chief, he speaks in maddeningly clipped sentences, and he just hijacked my weekend for a high-level corporate hack. He’s also fourteen years older than me, infuriatingly stoic, and watches me with cold eyes that hold entirely too many dark secrets. I’m supposed to be slicing through firewalls, not noticing the lethal, predatory grace hidden beneath his rigid corporate armor. But when our routine investigation in London unearths a deadly black-ops syndicate, my annoying contract job turns into a blood-soaked fight for survival. Trapped in an off-the-grid safehouse with a bleeding, dangerous man, I’m discovering that Edmond's iron control is just a mask. And what’s hiding underneath is terrifyingly protective. EDMOND:: Fourteen years ago, I made an impossible tactical choice that saved my best friend's life but cost me my soul. The price? A vow to disappear. To never bring my corrupted, violent world near Lance Reed or his family ever again. I kept that vow. Until her. Penny is brilliant, chaotic, and completely out of bounds. She leaves a trail of digital genius and infuriating mess wherever she goes. I tried to maintain a professional distance. I tried to remember that I am too old, too scarred, and too dangerous for a woman who shines that bright.Then the bullets started flying. Now, her physical location is exposed to a hit squad of trained killers. They think she's just a civilian collateral damage they can easily erase. They are about to find out exactly what I am capable of when someone targets the woman who is mine. Lance can have my life if he wants it. But he’s not taking her. The Vow of Restraint is a high-stakes, explosive romantic suspense, featuring a fiercely overprotective former-military hero, a brilliant but chaotic heroine, and a guaranteed Happily Ever After. No cheating, no cliffhangers. Tropes: Brother's Best Friend + Age Gap + Touch Her and You Die + Forced Proximity + Competence Kink + Grumpy Boss x Sunshine Hacker