Harlequin Intrigue March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2
Page 18
“It’s not for me.” She had a break between contractions, and a flood of relief wrung the pain from her overtaxed muscles. “It’s for you. You need to solve the crossword. Right now.” A concerned security guard headed toward them, but Madison waved them off. “We’re fine. I’m in labor. Not a big deal.”
“You want me to solve the crossword now? Right this second?” Disbelief hiked his voice into the next octave. “You haven’t even gotten to the hospital for the good drugs, and you’re already hallucinating.”
She left the safety of the wall and clenched his shirt in her hands as she dragged him into her. The physical pressure of their son working his way into the world was almost too much to take. They didn’t have time for this. She knew that, but the part of her he’d saved that day at the storage facility needed him to do it. He’d kept his word all this time. He deserved to know how she really felt about him. “I will have this baby on the floor if I have to, Jonah. I need you to solve the damn crossword before we go to the hospital. I thought we’d have more time, but we don’t. Understand?”
Jonah bit down on the end of the pen cap and pulled the pen free. “Fine. Three across.” His mumblings grew fainter as he filled in the boxes as fast as he could, while Madison hung on to his shirt for dear life. Nervous energy skittered up her spine as Jonah’s mouth parted. The pen cap bounced onto the floor and rolled away out of sight. He’d finished the puzzle. Her heart skipped a beat, and the pain faded as he raised that dependable gaze to hers. “Is this... Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire life. It took me weeks to put together.” Madison nodded, reaching for his hand. She stared up at him. Her hair fell behind her shoulder as she prepared for the next contraction. “Deputy US Marshal Jonah Watson, you are the bravest, most loyal man and most dependable source of safety I’ve ever had at my side. I fell in love with you long before we made this baby together. You’re the rock I’ve needed my entire life, my everything and the reason I’m standing here today. Before you rushed into my life, I was lost, but you helped me see there’s more to a relationship—a marriage—than I ever imagined. I cut you out of my life after I found out I was pregnant, but I never want to spend another day apart again. I love you. So will you marry me?”
His smile slipped. “I promise you, you don’t have to do this, Maddi. I’m happy being as involved in your life—in our son’s life—as you want me to be. Whatever you need from me, it’s yours.”
“I need everything, Jonah. I need you. Now. Forever. You’re everything I was scared of, and everything I’ve always dreamed of having, and I want to spend the rest of my life having these moments between us.” She kissed him softly. “But if you could give me a quick answer, that would be great, because there’s another contraction coming, and I might not remember this later.”
His laugh vibrated through her and straight to her toes. “Yes.”
“Yes?” Pure elation replaced the past few minutes of pain as he pressed his mouth to hers. Her feet left the ground as Jonah held her against him. She planted her hand against his chest as she settled on the four corners of her toes and smiled up at her marshal. Her life partner. Her everything. “Great. Now take me to the hospital. Noah’s little brother isn’t going to wait much longer.”
Jonah hit her with that brilliant smile all over again and wrapped her hand in his. “You got it, Counselor.”
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488072666
The Prosecutor
Copyright © 2021 by Natascha Jaffa
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at CustomerService@Harlequin.com.
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www.Harlequin.com
“Summer...” Mike said, closing the car door and slipping his hand into hers.
There was that touch, that damned touch. He was a master of making her forget herself with that simple thing. And he would always have that power over her no matter how much she knew she shouldn’t let him.
“Let’s just get Joe back, then we can think about everything else. As it stands, let’s just call a truce. Fair?” From where she stood, it was more than fair—it was a million miles past that given the circumstances. It was better to be a team than it was to fight with the one man whom she had always loved and always would.
He could never know, but it was so easy for him to see if he wanted to—her love for him would always mean sacrifices. Sacrifices she would gladly make if it meant having him in her life.
Thank you to all those who have helped make this book and this series come to life. This has been a fun series to create and see grow and change over time. I hope that these characters and their stories are just as real to you as they are to me.
A special shout-out to my editors and teams at Harlequin and my agent. Your constant and unwavering faith in me is humbling and greatly appreciated.
Also, thank you to Kristin, Clare, Melanie, Herb, Penny, Joe, Mike and Troy. These folks are my behind-the-scenes helpers who help me research, write, edit and even beta read these books at (sometimes) very short notice. To say it takes a village is an understatement!
Rescue Mission: Secret Child
Danica Winters
Danica Winters is a multiple-award-winning, bestselling author who writes books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and occasionally a touch of magic. When she’s not working, she can be found in the wilds of Montana, testing her patience while she tries to hone her skills at various crafts—quilting, pottery and painting are not her areas of expertise. She believes the cup is neither half-full nor half-empty, but it better be filled with wine. Visit her website at danicawinters.net.
Books by Danica Winters
Harlequin Intrigue
STEALTH: Shadow Team
A Loaded Question
Rescue Mission: Secret Child
Stealth
Hidden Truth
In His Sights
Her Assassin For Hire
Protective Operation
Mystery Christmas
Ms. Calculation
Mr. Serious
Mr. Taken
Ms. Demeanor
Smoke and Ashes
Wild Montana
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Mike Spade—Mike has always been quick to feel, fight and make love, and as such, he has made more than his fair share of enemies—including his ex-fiancée, Summer Daniels. Highly trained in cyber tech and surveillance, he and his siblings are part of a special operations team, STEALTH Surveillance.
Summer Daniels—Mike’s ex-fiancée and mother of Joseph Spade, Mike’s son. With an axe to bury, she will stop at nothing to keep her heart and her child safe. But with her being a double agent for the DTRA, or Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a division within the Pentagon that works to neutralize a variety of cyber, nuclear and terrorist threats, this task force is proving to put everything she holds sacred in danger after their son goes missing.
Joseph “Joe” Spade—Mike and Summer’s seven-month-old son, who has a smile as bright and charming as his father’s.
Ben Tajir—Summer’s rebound man and, conveniently, a fellow agent within Rockwood. As dangerous as he is handsome, he may well be the man behind the kidnapping.
Troy Spade—Mike’s brother and a fellow military contractor for the STEALTH Surveillance team.
Zoey Martin—Leader of the STEALTH military contractor group. As smart as she is cold and calculating, she is the linchpin that keeps everything running.
Kevin Warble—Summer’s supervisor from within the DTRA.
Rockwood—A corporation with ties to a variety of illegal and nefarious endeavors, including the theft of military weapon–grade secrets from within the USA.
ConFlux—A machining company hired to help engineer and manufacture parts for the different branches of the US military. Their contracts are highly sought after and extremely lucrative, and prove quite the target for their enemies to try to sabotage or steal.
Kate Spade—CEO of ConFlux, a company formerly owned and operated by her parents.
STEALTH—A military contracting group hired for a variety of jobs. Within the organization, Zoey Martin has created the Surveillance team, made up of the six Spade siblings.
To Jessica—
You are an amazing friend and mother.
Thank you for all you do.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER ONE
There was nothing that Mike hated more than a wedding. It didn’t matter whose it was, the season, or the amount of love the happy couple professed to each other. He would still have rather ridden bareback on an angry bull than sit in some kind of mushy gushy feel fest.
Though, when push came to shove, it wasn’t the love part that he despised. Nah. He had just found there were two events in people’s lives that always brought out both the worst and the best from those around them—weddings and funerals.
The last nuptials he had attended had been so filled with poorly masked rancor that by the time the open bar hit, things had turned to verbal tongue-lashings and two brawls. If he hadn’t interceded, he was sure a funeral would have soon followed. The last thing he had wanted was to attend two emotionally explosive events that close together.
He definitely would have preferred taking on the bull.
Thinking about bulls, a mechanical bull was exactly what this thing needed to kick it up a notch. He glanced in the direction of the reception hall, a ski lodge just beside the meadow that served as the bunny hill for new skiers in the winter months. Of course, the only thing he could spot through the windows of the A-framed building was a chocolate fountain and a tall, white wedding cake. Nothing gyrating, at least not until his cousin Savannah hit the bottle.
The pastor was talking about the meaning of life or something, but Mike wasn’t really listening as he watched the crowd seated in front of him. Aunt Carlene had her signature beehive bun, now sprinkled with a few more gray hairs than when he had last seen her. She’d always been his favorite aunt, and as she and his uncle Bingo sat up at the front on the groom’s side in what was traditionally the parents’ seats, it made him miss his mom and dad.
Their dad had talked about being at their weddings, a conversation that had always made tears well up in his mother’s eyes as she’d wistfully added how she hoped they would all find spouses who helped them be the best versions of themselves. At the time, Mike had teased her and accused her of clearly thinking they all had room for improvement. Of course, she had always waved him off and called him a stinker, but they’d both known what she’d really wanted for him and his five siblings was that they lived lives in which they were truly fulfilled and happy.
When he had gotten engaged to Summer, his mother had been over the moon. Within a week of finding out his news, she had called Summer and they had already decided on the location, colors and bridal parties. He had still been trying to come to terms with the fact their lives were about to change.
Summer had always been too good for him. She was the kind of woman who was strong and could weather any storm, but she was also the woman who understood that as a military contractor he was cut from a cloth that meant he would never be happy sitting still and would rarely be home. At the time, they had both thought they understood what their lives would entail and had naively believed their love was unlike any other, and that no matter how many horror stories they heard about contractors’ relationships falling apart, theirs wouldn’t. They had fully bought in to the idea that they, and their relationship, were different.
What idiots they had been.
Many times, like now, when he was forced to go to social functions without a date, his aunt would inevitably try to set him up with someone. He couldn’t do it, though. He missed Summer. He missed the way they could just look at one another and know what the other was feeling and thinking.
What they had...it had been something special. But looking back, he wasn’t sure they’d been an ideal fit. They were different. She liked hot and he liked cold. He wanted to conquer the world while she wanted to perfect her corner of it. And their biggest difference was their fatal flaw...he wanted all of her heart and she wanted every bit of his soul.
He’d never really get over losing her. Late at night, he would often have to console himself with the thought that, in the end, they had been too young for the kind of commitment they had made to one another. Who could promise forever when they weren’t even sure where in the world they would be tomorrow?
She had deserved better. He should have answered her calls after they’d broken things off, but some things were just too damn hard.
In front of him at the altar, the bride, Kate Scot, slipped the wedding band on his brother’s finger as she smiled up at him and said her vows. There was no mention of her obeying his brother and Mike had to hold back his chuckle. Summer had always protested that particular vow, as well. He and his brother Troy had always had a similar taste for independent women.
He had to get his mind off Summer or he would only swirl further into madness, madness that would lead to far too much beer and he’d be the one who’d end up dancing with his gyrating cousin.
Nope. He couldn’t get himself roped into any of that kind of nonsense. He had a stoic, lone-wolf reputation to uphold.
As soon as Kate and Troy kissed, he got up fro
m his chair and moved steadily away from the crowd, not so fast to give his retreat away, but quickly enough to get out of the melee of family members who would try to rope him into a conversation. He’d dropped the gift off and watched the I do’s, the rest he could hear about later.
He had parked at the far end of the lot, nose out in case he had to make a quick escape. But as he approached his truck, he noticed a woman standing near the tailgate. She had her back to him, looking toward the timber like there were answers in the pines. The only thing she would find by standing so close to his truck was a problem.
“Can I help you?” he asked, hoping the woman was just someone like him, trying to escape the ceremony, rather than a spook up to no good. In his business, he had to view everyone as a potential threat.
The woman turned around and, as she did, their eyes met. Those green eyes. Those eyes, the vibrant, down-to-earth color of spring moss, had always had the power to weave right into his soul. They, and the woman they belonged to, had an unspeakable gift to sparkle with contagious joy and instantly darken when danger beckoned. A thousand words were not enough to explain all the things her eyes had conveyed to him over the years; in fact, no words created could elicit the same feelings that she could with a simple glance.
A hint of a smile flickered over her features as she looked at him, her eyes lighting up, but just as quickly as the light had come, it disappeared and was replaced with pure unadulterated hate. Sadly, he understood why and how confused she must have been feeling, and a guilty sadness filled him. He had done this to her. He’d had a hand in the look she was sending him and the woman she had become.
“I’m sorry.” It was the only thing he could think to say. As soon as it left his lips, he wished he’d led with something more innocuous, maybe a hello instead. Yet, the milk was spilled.