Hidden Impact

by Piper J. Drake

  Hidden Impact

  By Piper J. Drake

  He’s not the hero she’s looking for

  As part of the elite Centurion Corporation team, military-veteran-turned-mercenary Gabriel Diaz is a natural defender. He’ll do anything to ensure a mission is successful. Anything but get emotionally invested—he learned the hard way that can be deadly. Easy bodyguard jobs in between the more challenging missions are all he’s interested in now.

  Maylin Cheng is desperate and running out of time. Her younger sister has gone missing but no one seems to take her concern seriously. Her last hope lies in asking an aloof bodyguard for help. He dismisses her outright, but all that changes when she is almost killed in a not-so-accidental hit-and-run right before his eyes.

  As Maylin leans on Gabriel, she begins to rely on him for more than just her safety. But as their attraction grows, so does the danger surrounding them. When the elaborate web they’re trapped in unravels, Gabriel will do anything to protect them. Even if that means putting his heart in the crosshairs.

  Book one of the Safeguard series

  78,780 words

  Dear Reader,

  Here in North America, we’re swinging back around to cozy days spent inside reading, while some of you (picture me waving at you, Australia) are headed into summer beach days. Whatever weather you’re enjoying—or not enjoying, as the case may be—a good book is always in order, and I have a few that may be just what you’re looking for.

  This month, we’ve got a particular emphasis on the mystery and romantic suspense genres. We also have the first in several new series and are introducing four new-to-Carina authors!

  Barreling onto the scene with a new series, new genre and a new pen name, Piper J. Drake offers explosive (at times literally) action and an endearing romance in the first book in her new romantic suspense Safeguard series, Hidden Impact. Meet military-veteran-turned-mercenary Gabriel Diaz. Betrayed, injured and building a new mercenary team, the last thing he expects to do is sweep Maylin Cheng off her feet—and out of the path of the car that tries to kill her. But now that he’s fallen for her, he’s all in to protect her at all costs, while helping find her kidnapped sister.

  The always incredible Josh Lanyon joins Piper in the romantic suspense category, with a charming and loveable male/male romance, Jefferson Blythe, Esquire. With only an outdated copy of Esquire’s Europe in Style to guide him, Jefferson Blythe sets out to see the world and runs straight into death, danger…and the boy next door.

  And making her debut, Mia Kay brings us her romantic suspense Soft Target. Wounded FBI agent Gray Harper will honor his dead partner by returning to work—as soon as the Bureau shrink clears him for duty. In the meantime, a long vacation in his best friend’s hometown sounds like the perfect distraction. But Nate Mathis has another plan. His twin sister, Maggie, has a stalker, and Gray’s the only one Nate trusts to catch the bastard.

  In a contemporary romance that unexpectedly hooked the entire Carina Press acquisitions team from the first page, Lucy Parker brings everything we love about romance and our heroines to the page—and the stage—in her debut book, Act Like It. Enter our heroine stage right: she’s the darling of the London press. Enter the hero stage left: he’s public enemy number one. They barely tolerate each other—and they’re about to become the most mismatched couple on the West End stage.

  Two new authors join Carina Press with new mystery series. Debut author Lisa Q. Mathews is first on the scene with The Ladies Smythe & Westin series. In Cardiac Arrest, Summer Smythe, a twentysomething party girl making a fresh start in a ritzy Florida retirement community, teams up with her neighbor, feisty senior Dorothy Westin, to clear her name in the murder of her popular—but heartless—cardiologist boss.

  Jonathan Watkins debuts with Carina with his previously self-published and newly reedited and revised Bright & Fletcher Mysteries. As soon as criminal defense lawyer Issabella Bright’s long-lost father blows into the Motor City, kidnapping, ransom and murder follow him and threaten to tear asunder the work-and-romance partnership she’s built with the man who will go to any length to keep her safe. And that man, Darren Fletcher, soon learns that shielding Issabella from danger could swiftly end with his Dying in Detroit.

  Weather (ha, get it?) you’re under a blanket keeping warm on your couch or enjoying the sun of your summer, these books will keep you company for a few hours and provide some take-you-away entertainment.

  Coming in December: Hitting both physical and digital shelves just in time for Thanksgiving here in the States is book two of Shannon Stacey’s combustible Boston Fire series, Controlled Burn. Also in December: Caitlyn McFarland ties up her dragon-shifter romance trilogy, male/male author Annabeth Albert joins the Carina team and Kate Willoughby is back with a terrific new hockey romance.

  Until next time, here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Editorial Director, Carina Press

  Dedication

  To Joy, for answering random texts in the middle of the night and reading snippets of hanky-panky scenes on request. You were the first to read this when it was just three proposed chapters, and I hope you enjoy the whole book.

  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 Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter One

  “I need your services. Whatever they cost, I’ll figure out how to pay...somehow.”

  Gabriel Diaz scowled and didn’t bother looking at the latest person to approach him, instead keeping his attention on the crowded room. He figured the slight woman was minimal threat to anything but his temper. “Look, lady, I don’t know what you think you’re trying to get, but I guarantee you I’m not into whatever you have in mind.”

  Jesus, this celebrity bodyguard gig was getting old. Fast. He’d had so many propositions tonight from plastic women as shallow as they were vain, he couldn’t stand another whiff of expensive perfume. And he only had himself to blame.

  He’d been the one to insist their team take on the easy jobs in the downtime between their real engagements. It kept a steadier flow of income for their private military contracting business, and the executive-level connections had an even more significant value than simple dollar signs. That being said, he’d overestimated his tolerance for the glitzy after-parties this particular client liked to throw. And apparently everyone from the socialites to the groupies hot enough to be allowed into the party were partaking of the food, booze and eye candy. Personal security included.

  Course, they didn’t use the business terms. No. They all whispered a different word behind their hands. Mercenaries.

  Whatever. He could give a flying...

  “N-no. I mean...w-what I...”

  He gritted his teeth. Why couldn’t she t
ake a hint and bug out? He was going to be forced to send her away crying or some shit. “What you need to do is take yourself off to find another man.”

  There was a sharp intake of breath. Good. Maybe she’d finally go and warn off other hopefuls too.

  “What you need to do is hear me out.” Steel edged her voice now, and maybe a bit of desperation.

  It was the former, not the latter, that made him take a real look at her.

  Her eyes caught him first. Deep emerald green. Shocking, actually, set in a delicate Asian face framed by a cascade of hair so black the lighting caught blue highlights. Her features were naturally beautiful, accented with a minimal amount of makeup. Very different from the majority of the people in attendance, regardless of gender.

  Color leached from her face as she must have realized she had his full attention. But she didn’t back away or break eye contact. Good for her. Lesser men had balked when Gabe had stared them down.

  “My little sister is missing.” The edge was gone from her words but the desperation was still there.

  Anger washed away. Damn. “I’m sorry, miss. But the police are the people to contact.”

  Political targets, reporters and prisoners of war were the kidnap victims private military might be contracted to locate and retrieve. The kind of people held for ransom in places so far off the radar, even sunlight might not find them. And those weren’t his team’s specialty.

  The woman in front of him was a normal civilian. Willowy, slender. The thought of a little sister conjured up images of some tiny waiflike kid. He and his partners were heavy hitters, not the kind of people you sent in to do anything but cause strategic destruction. They went into hot spots overseas and did the things politicians didn’t admit to knowing about at these glitzy events, things a US uniform wouldn’t be doing. Delicate, gentle—the sort of handling a traumatized girl retrieved from a kidnapping situation would need—was not their forte.

  The older sister shook her head. “I’ve spoken to the police and the US Embassy. No one will do anything, not yet. And by the time they believe something’s actually wrong, I might never find her.”

  Missing persons cases were tough. She was right about the time crunch. There was only a short window before the abducted was more than likely dead. Considering what could have already happened, death might not be the worst thing either.

  Definitely not going to add to what this woman was already imagining. Hopefully she didn’t know what could happen.

  “You’d do better hiring a private investigator.” He drew his eyebrows together, tried not to let the urge to squirm under her very direct stare show. Damn. Give him vapid groupies and a clueless entourage and he had no problem staring them down. This woman, it was like she could see straight through him and know how much he didn’t want to cause a scene at this very moment. There was nothing good he could do for her.

  “A private investigator doesn’t have the international resources I think your company has. And I asked—you’re the best. Henderson only hires the A players for his events and he likes to brag about the mercenaries he has on his payroll. He wouldn’t risk bragging about you if you weren’t the real thing. If you’re not the right person to talk to, maybe you have someone else in your organization? Someone I can present more details to so they’ll understand?” If she’d whined at him, it’d be easier to tell her to get lost. Even tears.

  Great, man. You’d rather make her cry than help her.

  Damn straight.

  But she was being reasonable and calm, businesslike without giving up any of the urgency she’d had from the moment she’d approached him. The lady definitely had experience negotiating. And their organization didn’t. The sort of strategy and the tactical strikes they made were a lot more final than any verbal agreement. People didn’t hire private military contractors like the Centurions for delicate jobs like this, not when the package was likely to be so fragile.

  The Centurion Corporation took contracts internationally for more...potentially volatile situations. Their jobs had more to do with combat force augmentation, local populace liaison, community patrolling and “black bag” jobs that wouldn’t be explained or reported to the US citizens. There were other private organizations with divisions to handle situations like this woman’s missing sister. But he didn’t know of any with a likely price tag any normal individual would be able to afford.

  “I’m gonna be honest, because you seem like a nice person and you’re still giving me no other choice.” He leaned forward, looming over her so his whispered words could be understood despite the blaring music around them but no one else would hear. “Save your money. Don’t give it to anyone who promises to get your sister back alive. Doesn’t matter how long they listen or what they promise you. If she’s out of the country, it’s going to take anyone way too long to get her back in one piece. Put it towards her memorial.”

  Harsh. No one wanted to tell a person their loved one was probably already dead, and almost certainly would be before anyone could find them. But feeding her false hope wouldn’t do her any favors. And he really wanted her to walk away.

  She’d stood absolutely still as he’d spoken. Hadn’t given any ground or shrunk away from him. As he straightened, he cast his gaze around the room in a safety check before looking back down at her.

  Her face was frozen, but it was her eyes again. Sheer and utter devastation, shattered hope and some emotion bordering on hate welled up with her tears. Then dark lashes came down, releasing him from the shock of it, and when she opened her eyes again there was nothing but cold calm. “I won’t thank you for your advice, but I do for your honesty. Xiè xie.”

  Thank you. In Chinese. Mandarin, he thought.

  He didn’t know Mandarin or Cantonese but he knew the words for please and thank you in a lot of languages. There were a lot of situations where someone was saying those words to him or his people. He made it a practice to try to reciprocate when appropriate when out in other parts of the world. Sometimes with genuine sincerity, sometimes with sarcasm as they tried to kill each other.

  He’d stop thinking along those lines for the time being.

  She turned and walked away, head up and shoulders straight. Her hips rolled slightly as she strode with purpose in three-inch high heels—as if she had someplace to be and he hadn’t broken her hope to pieces. And wow but the silhouette of her very tight behind in the little pencil skirt she wore did awful things to his libido. If he wasn’t already going to hell in a handbasket, he definitely would be now.

  “Trouble?” Marc’s voice murmured in his earbud.

  Only if he ever saw her again. He lifted his wrist and spoke into the tiny microphone attached to his shirt cuff. “No.”

  “Looked pretty tense from where I’m standing.” Of course Marc’d seen the exchange. They were positioned around the perimeter of the event. Each of them could survey the crowd and had direct line of sight on at least two of the others on their team.

  “Keep eyes on her in case she does something crazy.” His first priority was the safety of his client, and wouldn’t it just suck if the woman went ballistic because he’d turned her down?

  “Roger that.”

  * * *

  Qīng wā cào de liú máng.

  That was a complete and total fail. Yet again, Maylin blinked back tears and struggled to maintain her composure. The party was over now and she’d only need to finish overseeing her team’s cleanup of the catering equipment. Then she could bury herself in a tray of egg tarts and try to figure out what her possible alternatives were at this point.

  If there were any.

  With every day, every hour, her chances of finding An-mei were dwindling. It wasn’t as if her family would be of any constructive help either, even if they did somehow realize the reality of An-mei’s disappearance.

  Watching her staff carefull
y wrap up any leftover food and clear away the chafing dishes, she seized the thought of family to take her mind down safer paths for the time being.

  Thank goodness her stepmother hadn’t been there to witness either Maylin making a fool of herself or the cursing to follow. Though with a body like that man had, she rather doubted the big bodyguard ever had to settle for frog-humping, curse or no. When she’d first approached him, she’d not realized just how big he was in the midst of all the milling party-goers. She’d thought he’d been standing on a step or part of a raised stage. Nope. Both his feet had been firmly planted on the same floor as hers and he’d stood head and shoulders over the crowd. It’d taken her by surprise, made her stutter like an idiot.

  First impression was key.

  A lesson from her mother, her real one. And one she should have kept in mind rather than blowing her last chance to find someone to listen, to help her find An-mei.

  “Cleanup is complete, Miss Cheng.” The young man didn’t come within arm’s reach. Not that she’d ever strike out, but her entire catering staff was familiar with how clumsy she could get when distracted. Few ways to be more distracted than humiliating oneself at a high-profile event thrown by one of her best clients. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed her discomfiture but her own staff, and they were like family. The kind of family a person chose instead of having been born into. When it came to relations by blood, only An-mei had been the family of her heart. Maylin would do anything for her little sister. Anything to get her back.

  “Thanks, Charlie. Let’s get out of here and head home, then.” She nodded to one of the venue’s regular security guards and stepped out into the cool night hoping to clear her head.

  It must’ve only stopped raining a short while ago. Not a surprise for Seattle. The sidewalk pavement shone silver in the light of the streetlamps, with highlights of green or red from the traffic light at the top of the alley.

  “The others left for the train station already. I’ll walk you to your car.” Charlie gave her a lopsided grin.