Trapped in a web of hate with no escape, a young woman discovers her attraction to the man determined to protect her may be her undoing. Will time run out, or will he find a way to protect her before her abusive father kills her? When Rowan is awarded a ballet scholarship to Michigan State University during her senior year of high school, her life's dream is finally realized. Having lost her mother at an early age and being subjected to the abuse of a destitute drunken father, she has known unimaginable loss and heartache and been left wanting for a better life-a life now within her grasp. But with one ill-fated phone call, her life is turned upside down. Logan is Rowan's best friend's older brother whose career is taking off as he prepares to graduate law school and move cross-country to the prestigious law firm that has offered him a very lucrative contract. When Rowan finds herself at Logan's mercy after he inadvertently learns of the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her father, their lives become intertwined in a way neither ever imagined nor wanted. In an effort to protect her, but with his own hands tied by her unwillingness to report the abuse, Logan strikes a deal requiring Rowan to stay with him whenever there is a chance her father might be on a drunken binge-which is often. For her agreement and cooperation, he will keep her secret. Soon, their time together weighs on them both, and they find themselves constantly tempted to step outside the bounds of their supposed platonic relationship. But there is no point. The devastating fact of the matter is their lives are moving in opposite directions-a relationship destined to die before it even has a chance to live. The ever present clock plagues them both as it ticks off the days until they are parted. But one all important question remains-after he leaves, how will he protect her from a father intent on hating her until the day he dies ... or the day he kills her?