C L Mustafic

A vacation to the sunny, seaside, resort city of Durres, Albania puts some space between Henrick Kohler and his closeted ex, Klaus, giving him time to get his life back together. While there a chance run-in with superstar footballer, Valentino 'Tino' Alessi, sends Henrick running in the other direction. With no intention of being either another notch in someone's bedpost or their secret lover, he offers friendship but nothing more. He doesn't want to risk his heart with what he sees as just another Klaus, but with the added ability to ruin his life on a much more spectacular level.Tino can't catch a break, even doing a nice thing for a fan lands him in hot water. When he's suspended until his latest mess is straightened out, Tino does the only thing he can think of--he goes holiday home hunting in his favorite resort town. Tino falls hard and fast for the blond Austrian who wants nothing to do with him romantically, but he accepts the offer of friendship when his efforts to woo Henrick get him nowhere.Friendship is what they agree to, but both men realize there's just something there neither of them can deny. What will it take for them to overcome everything and realize there's no time like the present to grab on to what they want?

Kamal is a by-the-book mercenary and hitman who keeps to himself, dealing with the brutal politics of the Bosnian underworld. He has had very few ties to the world around him since the war that left him broken and betrayed by his lover. An encounter with a fellow mercenary, whose job it is to kidnap the adult son of the only man Kamal ever loved, leads Kamal to do something irrational. In an isolated cabin in the mountains of Bosnia with his hostage, Kamal follows the well laid-out plan of his predecessor, but somewhere along the way things get personal. In Kamal's care, Zijad becomes more than just an object standing in for his father, but a job is a job and Kamal is a professional. When questions and tensions begin to mount, Kamal begins to put the pieces together for himself, and doesn't like what he finds. Can Kamal get his revenge and keep Zijad or will he have to trade one passion for the other? (M/M)