“She’s here to play ball,” he continued.
Maddy moved closer to his side. “As best I can.”
Cade’s brows pinched, his gaze bouncing between her and Luke. “We do this, we do it my way.”
Luke stepped forward, his boot in front of her high heel. “A few conditions, then we’re a go.”
The task force leader stood to his full height. They were matched for size and brawn. “I don’t think so.”
“She needs immunity. Protection. She gets that, we get everything she knows about her father and the Mercier cartel and their business partners. The task force has high-quality, actionable intel. It’s win-win for everyone.”
“Win-win,” Cade repeated. “Bullshit. This does nothing for you.”
“I’ve put my shit to rest.” And he had. Somewhat. That was the direction he was going, and having talked to Brock about his anger and hurt, his need to chase an impossible answer, Luke had only one thought. “This is what I need.”
He’d never discover what had happened so many years before. Long ago, he learned there would never be a body, and tonight he’d come to grips that he’d be without additional intel from the Riveras. But he could keep that heartache of losing a loved one to a cartel from wrecking others.
“That’s it?” Cade scrutinized Maddy. “One woman will change everything you’ve been harboring and hunting?”
Luke squeezed her hand. “When it’s the right woman, yeah.”
She leaned into him. “I know, in your world, I’m not trustworthy. But in mine? My word is the law. I won’t feed you lies, and yes, I have personal reasons for agreeing to help you—both in and out of this room.” Maddy let go of his hand. “Take a chance on me. You’ve got”—she checked her watch—“two hours, and it’s not just intel on Mercier. It’s actionable on Suarez, Rivera, and Eastern European business partners. Instead of guessing your next move, listen to what I have to say then know what you need to do. Win-win.”
Luke’s heart was frozen in place. “Rivera?”
Cade crossed his arms, ignoring him. “And you’re, what, just going to be some model-agency owner? No moonlighting Mercier act?”
“That’s what I’m offering.”
Cade’s eyes fastened onto hers for what felt like eternity. “You’re taking a hell of a chance on our boy, you know that, Ms. Mercier?”
Interesting wording from Cade. The hardass had a heart. Maddy didn’t notice and nodded. Cade nodded back. No one followed up on her Rivera mention.
She squared her shoulders. “Turns out, a chance isn’t what I needed—rather another perspective.”
He couldn’t wait another minute. Luke turned to her, knowing he had to ask and terrified that her answer would change everything. “What do you know about the Rivera cartel?” She blinked, studying him. He could feel his blood boiling, his headache coming. “Maddy. What do you know?”
She sank in on herself as though she knew the answer might be a game changer. “Where they buy, sell.”
“I need to track someone down.” His voice shook. His entire body needed to tremble, but he wouldn’t allow that to happen. “Can you do it?”
“Bring my father down, you’ll get a lot of information that might help. Product, placement, those things.”
Products and placement? The words were his hell but also his salvation. He’d come to terms with wanting Madeleine Mercier more than intel on the Rivera cartel, but somehow she’d just offered him the world. Fuck. His heart pounded, and his mind raced. He’d been ready to put his hurt to rest, but now he was solidly excited about the future.
“Thank you.” Luke folded his arms around her, not caring about a single guy in the room. “You have no idea.”
“I’d say the same, but maybe you do.”
He nodded and let her go. For the next twenty minutes, he listened as she schooled every federal agent in the room about an operation they thought they knew but really had no clue about. After she was done and they had scrapped and rehashed the new plan, she shakily moved to the back wall, watching Luke gear up with his team.
If all went according to plan, this operation would be over within a few hours. She’d be free, her father would be in custody in a way he could not wriggle his way out of, and she and Luke would no longer have barriers. They could explore away, both working on themselves. All she had to do was pull off her role in the setup.
Maddy’s clammy palms pressed against her designer dress. Nerves she would never admit to were eating her alive, which was ridiculous. All she had to do was walk into the warehouse, set Papa up, and be on her way. The room was stocked with well-hidden beefy men in gear, and as she watched her father’s car roll into the main warehouse, she knew she never would have been able to enact a plan of this magnitude on her own.
Luke’s team had subdued Papa’s advance team. They always came in for a security sweep, but she was able to tell them how and what to say in order for Papa to believe everything was on course. They performed flawlessly, utilizing the two private security teams and law enforcement agencies that she’d learned had formed the task force.
The time had come for the door of the black Mercedes to open. She stepped forward from her vehicle, her father catching her eye.
“Madeleine.” His smart suit said expensive, and he had his business face on.
“Papa.” She walked forward, as confident as he had trained her, wondering if he could see through the traitorous bliss on her face.
As expected, the South American buyer’s vehicle rolled into the lowly lit warehouse as well. Two men exited their car, briefcases filled with cash. Her father pulled her forward to the meet. She was a show pony of a daughter as much as his groomed next-in-line.
They spoke in Spanish, their already executed agreement solidified with a shake of the hand and—
“Freeze!”
Maddy jumped and screamed, even though she had known it would happen.
“Federal agents! Everyone, hands in the air! Hands in the air.”
Where they’d hid and how they swarmed, Maddy had no idea. But the task force, dressed in full tactical gear, surrounded them. Voices yelled. They were pushed, and everyone went facedown. Her father, the bastard, never once reached for her, never checked her safety. No, he wanted to protect his product, his business, his way of life.
They were cuffed, Mirandized, and separated, all while she still waited for Papa to look at her with any emotion. Years of pent-up hurt teared in her stinging eyes and streamed down her face.
Harsh hands that she didn’t know moved her out of the room. Her tears still fell, but the guilt she’d expected never showed.
As her father and the buyers were separated, an agent pulled her to a poorly lit hallway. “Wait here.” He parked her on a bench, her hands cuffed behind her.
She was all alone until she heard the steady rhythm of boots coming for her. “Luke?”
He rounded the corner, and his eyes landed on hers. “Beautiful.”
His hands cupped her cheeks, hauling her up to meet his kiss. Her eyes sank shut when he stopped kissing her, and he swiped the last remnants of her tears away. “You did great.”
She sniffled.
“Are you okay?” he asked, spinning her around to remove the handcuffs.
Maddy nodded and rolled her wrists as she turned back. “Better than I expected. Thank you.”
“Always with the gratitude.” He kissed her again. “Not sure what you’re thankful for this second, but I’ll take it.”
EPILOGUE
Two years later…
“Never, in a million years, did I think I would marry you.”
Luke laughed, tossing his head back as they dangled their feet over the edge of the infinity pool in the penthouse suite of the Mira House. “You’re telling me you thought you’d get married, just not to me?”
Maddy joined him in the laughter, leaning against him. The moon was high overhead. She took his other hand, pulling his forearm out so she could see the word b
eautiful newly tattooed on his skin. “What I thought was that I’d never have sex with you in this place after you walked out on me.”
“The night’s still young. We can always leave—”
She slapped his chest. “You better not play.”
Kissing her quiet, her husband lifted her off the ground and carried her into the bedroom. “Ready for your wedding present?”
Still laughing, Maddy wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought the sex was a given, not a present.”
Luke’s eyes danced as they both dropped onto the bed. He reached under a pillow and pulled out a nondescript black box with a simple silver ribbon. “Take it.”
Maddy picked up the deceptively heavy box, watching him watch her, and then tugged it open. She pulled away a layer of tissue paper.
Handcuffs.
Excitement rushed through her as she remembered all their handcuff teases, and she tossed the box after pulling them out. They were engraved handcuffs with the word Beautiful etched on one side.
“So it’s going to happen.” She kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re finally going to have a chance to cuff me.”
“Definitely going to happen.” His chest rumbled as he kissed her back.
It was perfect. In the suite where it had all started, reminding her of where they’d come when she promised him he’d never restrain her.
“Hands above your head, baby.”
One cuff clinked around her wrist. Then the other. She smiled as she complied. “Je t’aime.”
He hauled her back to the headboard. “Love you, too.”
The End
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Marnie Whitlock has never known what it’s like to be normal. She and her family moved from place to place, hiding from reporters and psychologists, all because of her gift. A curse was more like it. Seeing a victim, feeling his pain as the last of his life ebbed away, and being helpless to save him. It was torture. And then one day it disappeared and she was free. Until those who hunted her for her gift tried to kill her. And then the gift came back with a vengeance.
Beckett Hamilton leads a simple life. His ranch is profitable and a legacy he’ll be proud to pass onto his children one day, work fills his time from sunup to sundown, and his romances are short and sweet. He wouldn’t have it any other way. And then he runs into quiet and reserved Marnie Whitlock just after she moves to town. She intrigues him like no woman ever has. And she’s hiding something. His hope is that she begins to trust him before it’s too late.
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Atticus Rush doesn’t really like people. Years in Special Ops and law enforcement showed him the worst of humanity, making his mountain hideaway the ideal place to live. But when his colleagues at MacKenzie Security need him to save the kidnapped young daughter of a U.S. Senator, he’ll do it, even if it means working with the woman who broke his heart …his ex-wife.
Lady Olivia Rutledge-Cairn likes to steal things. Raised with a silver spoon and the glass slipper she spent years cultivating a cadre of acquaintances in the highest places. She parlayed her natural gift for theft into a career of locating and illegally retrieving hard-to-find items of value for the ridiculously wealthy. Rush was the one man who tempted her to change her ways…until he caught her and threatened to turn her in.
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“Being one of the good guys is not my thing.”
Bianca Sutherland isn’t at an exclusive Eyes-Wide-Shut style orgy for the orgasms. She’s there because the only clue to her friend’s disappearance is a photo of a painting hanging somewhere in Bisu Manor. Determined to find her missing friend when no one else will, she expects trouble when she cons her way into the party—but not in the form of a so-hot-he-turns-your-panties-to-ash former boxer.
Taz Hazard’s only concern is looking out for himself and he has no intention of changing his ways until he finds sexy-as-sin Bianca at the most notorious mansion in Ft. Worth. Now, he’s tangled up in a missing person case tied into a powerful new drug about to flood the streets, if they can’t find a way to stop it before its too late. Taking on a drug cartel isn’t safe, but when passion ignites between them Taz and Bianca discover their hearts aren’t bulletproof either.
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Bartender Kylie Walker went into the basement of The Corner Tavern for a box of cocktail napkins, but what she got was an eyeful of murder. Now she’s on the run from a killer with connections, and one wrong step could be her last. Desperate to stay safe, Kylie calls the only person she trusts—her ex-Army Ranger brother. The only problem? He’s two thousand miles away, and trouble is right outside her door.
Security specialist Devon Randolph might be rough and gruff, but he’ll never turn down a friend in need, especially when that friend is the fellow Ranger who once saved his life. Devon may have secrets, but he’s nearby, and he’s got the skills to keep his buddy’s sister safe…even if one look at brash, beautiful, Kylie makes him want to break all the rules.
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Desire & Ice
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Danny Patterson isn’t a teenager anymore. He’s the newest and youngest sheriff’s deputy in Surrender, Montana. A chance encounter with his former schoolteacher on the eve of the biggest snowstorm to hit Surrender in years shows him that some schoolboy crushes never fade. Sometimes they mature into grown-up desire.
It’s been years since Eliza Brightwell set foot in Surrender. So why is she back now? And why does she seem like she’s running from something? To solve this mystery, Danny disobeys a direct order from Sheriff Cooper MacKenzie and sets out into a fierce blizzard, where his courage and his desire might be the only things capable of saving Eliza from a dark force out of her own past.
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A MAN IS NOTHING
Trace Reeves was one bad day from a dishonorable discharge. The best the Navy SEALs had to offer, he became a vengeful, angry mess when his twin brother was killed-in-action. Now he’s focused on a deadly obsession and unable to cope with the pain and guilt… except one time, in the arms of a one night stand that he’d never see again. She was smart, the sexiest thing he’d ev
er touched, but she disappeared into the night.
WITHOUT HIS TEAM
Titan Group was recruiting for their Delta team. They wanted ghosts. No ties. Nothing personal. The best of the best who could live off the grid and surface when commanded. Trace was the perfect recruit. Damaged. Heroic. Nothing to lose.
UNTIL A MISSION—OR A WOMAN—CHANGES EVERYTHING
But when Trace’s one-time fling becomes his high-value target during a black ops job, the lines blur between her rescue mission and saving himself.
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Table of Contents
BOOK DESCRIPTION
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
EPILOGUE
Delta: Rescue: A MacKenzie Family Novella (The MacKenzie Family) Page 10
