Cade

Behind the walls of Ravencroft State Penitentiary, Cade Mercer is known as inmate #15069.

He keeps his distance. Measures his words. Gives people little reason to believe they can reach him. In a place where weakness can become a weapon in someone else's hands, silence offers protection-and Cade has learned to use it well.

Then Eve becomes his psychologist.

Their sessions are supposed to follow clear rules: questions, answers, professional boundaries. Eve is there to understand him. Cade has no intention of making that easy.

But his silence does not discourage her. As she listens to what he says-and begins to notice what he leaves unsaid-the man behind the prison number becomes harder to keep at a professional distance. Each meeting leaves her with more questions about his past, his loyalties, and the things he refuses to explain.

For Cade, being watched is familiar. Being understood is far more dangerous.

Outside the therapy room, prison life continues. Dante Russo, talkative where Cade is withdrawn, sees more than Cade would like. His humor cuts through the tension, but even he cannot make the consequences of Cade's growing attachment disappear.

And beyond the prison walls is Amadeus Mercer.

Cade's brother remains a presence in a life already defined by confinement. Between them lies a history that cannot be explained by a conviction alone-a history tangled in loyalty, violence, and the weight of what remains unspoken.

As Eve draws closer, the distance Cade relies on begins to fail him. What should remain a professional relationship becomes charged with an attraction neither can safely acknowledge. For Eve, every step toward him threatens the boundaries of her work. For Cade, it threatens the control he needs to survive.

Wanting each other changes nothing about where they are-or what it could cost them.

Cade - Part One opens The Unforgiven with a slow-burning dark romance about forbidden desire, guarded vulnerability, and the uneasy distance between knowing someone's history and understanding who they are.

Inside Ravencroft, every meeting has an ending. Every door locks again.

But some things follow you back to your cell.

For adult readers aged 18+. Contains strong language, graphic violence, explicit sexual content, disturbing themes, and a psychologist-inmate relationship.

Discover more about Cade and the world of The Unforgiven at EmmaEliseKrognes.com.