The Promise Keeper

Tim Chen built his life on silence and safety. Ten years after escaping a trafficking ring, he’s carved out a quiet existence fixing cars in Portland, keeping his past buried and his heart carefully guarded. The last thing he wants is for someone to drag him back into the nightmare he survived.

Laurent Blackwood has spent eleven years searching for his missing sister. Wealthy, driven, and consumed by guilt, he’s followed every lead, hired every investigator, and refused to give up hope. When his research finally leads him to Tim—the only person who might have answers about Emma’s disappearance—Laurent will do whatever it takes to find the truth.

Tim wants nothing to do with Laurent’s desperate quest. But when his carefully constructed world starts falling apart, he’s forced to confront a promise he made to a twelve-year-old girl: to protect the people she left behind. What begins as reluctant cooperation becomes something neither man expected—a partnership that challenges everything they thought they knew about trust, survival, and the possibility of love after trauma.

Content warnings: This novel deals with themes of human trafficking, trauma recovery, and PTSD. While the story focuses on healing and hope, some readers may find certain elements triggering.