Listener note: This audiobook follows on from the end of Where Death Meets the Devil.

Meta-State spy Jack Reardon believes that after the showdown, everything has been taken care of. He has a verbal agreement with his boss to keep Blade happy, and Jack is more than willing to do his best in that regard. He also has his bargain with Ethan to keep seeing each other.

Small victories, interspersed with exploding bombs, smashed cars, and miffed co-workers, all while consorting with an international assassin. Contract killer Ethan Blade values his security, and with Jack, it's the first time he's found safety with another person. Wiring a warehouse or an outback shelter for security, no problem. Keeping safe a prickly ex-soldier-turned-spy who's a magnet for trouble, not so easy.

Instead of faceless, nameless jobs, Ethan keeps poking his fingers into Jack's cases—a car bomb gone awry, a Hen party gone wild; much to Jack's mounting dismay. They have a deal and neither one of them can seem to stick to it. It's Jack versus Ethan as the two men learn to navigate their ever-evolving not-a-relationship without losing the benefit of the bargain.