by Gayle Wilson
“You lead the way,” Kathleen suggested, smiling. “After all, you’re the one who’s married to the boss.”
Belatedly, she wondered if Claire might be offended by that teasing comment. When Claire laughed instead, Kathleen decided that she just might like this woman, whose face she had seen dozen of times on her television screen, as much as she liked Tyler, whose face was, she realized, equally famous.
“That position as the boss’s wife is still a little new for me to feel totally confident of my reception, but somehow...” she paused, her eyes finding Griff again “...somehow I don’t think he’ll throw me out. At least, maybe not today.” And still smiling, she lead the way to the room where the men they loved were talking.
GRIFF SPOTTED THEM FIRST, his smile at Claire probably warning Hawk and Jordan that their conclave was about to be invaded. Not that she believed he would really mind this very feminine invasion.
Especially when Gardner reached for him, almost lunging out of Tyler’s arms as soon as she spotted him.
“Obviously a daddy’s girl,” Kathleen said, smiling at Griff as he took his daughter. Then her eyes shifted to Jordan’s face, and she added, “I have one of those.”
Jordan returned her smile, holding her eyes, the unspoken communication obvious. And seeing it might have been what prompted Hawk to put his arm around Tyler’s spreading waistline, pulling her firmly against his side.
“We were wondering what you three were up to,” Claire said.
The silence that followed her comment lasted too long, and it was Jordan who answered it.
“Hawk and I were offering Griff an employment opportunity,” he said, his tone amused, because they all knew Cabot’s financial resources.
“An employment opportunity?” Claire repeated carefully.
“We’re offering Griff a job,” Hawk said. “Since we’ve found out that he’s not really dead. Just unemployed.”
“Like us,” Jordan added.
“A job doing what?” Claire asked.
“Standing guard,” Hawk said softly, his tone free of amusement. “It’s what we’re good at.”
“You don’t mean...” Claire hesitated, trying to imagine exactly what he did mean.
“Going private,” Jordan said, clarifying what they’d been thinking. “Providing protection for people who have problems like the three of us have had recently. We think there may be others from the team who might be interested in something like this as well.”
“After all,” Griff said softly, his eyes on Claire’s face, “we have the skills.”
It was what he had told her before. And he had offered to use those skills on her behalf even before he had known the truth about Gardner’s birth.
To find and retrieve what was lost or stolen. To guard and protect the innocent. Like their daughter. Like Jamie and Meg Sorrel. Like Kathleen, and Tyler Stewart.
The skills these men possessed had been acquired on a very different battlefield. They had proven, however, that what they had learned in that war could be adapted to the kinds of missions the three of them had undertaken during the last six months. Protecting lives rather than destroying.
“We’d like to use them for other battles,” Griff said, echoing her own thoughts. “To fight other wars.”
“There isn’t any other war,” Claire said softly, and saw by the sudden pain in his eyes that he hadn’t understood. And so she clarified it. After all, this was one of the things she still needed to say to him.
“It’s all the same war,” she said, her eyes leaving his to touch on the faces of the men and women who had gathered today to celebrate their union. “A war against evil—the same evil you’ve always fought. And if people like you don’t choose to fight that war...then eventually evil will win.”
The silence in the small circle of friends was profound and complete. No one knew better than these six people about the reality of that evil. It had touched each of their lives.
“And it must not,” Claire said softly, her eyes coming back to Griff’s. “It must never be allowed to win. Not even one small battle. Not if any one of you can prevent it.”
“I take it then I have your permission,” Griff said after a moment, smiling at her.
She wondered if she could really bear to let him face the dangers this kind of enterprise would involve. Then Gardner’s hand touched Griff’s mouth, and smiling, he put his lips against her fingers, a father’s kiss.
“And my blessing,” she said softly, letting him go to be again what he had always been. A good, strong man fighting evil. And it had taken her too long to realize that.
“And mine,” Kathleen said, watching the same interplay between father and daughter. “I know what it’s like to live in fear. If the three of you can do for someone else what Jordan did for me and for my children—our children,” she corrected, smiling again into Jordan’s eyes, “then you must.”
Tyler’s fingers were unconsciously spread, almost protectively, over the baby she carried, and her eyes had found Hawk’s face. She studied the rugged features and then drew a deep breath.
“In all honesty...” she began and, wide violet eyes still focused on her husband, she hesitated, as if reluctant to say aloud what she felt.
And they were all waiting, Claire realized. Silently waiting, breathing suspended.
“In all honesty, Hawk’s not too handy around the house. I’ve been a little disappointed in that,” she said apologetically, speaking to Hawk before she turned back to face the others. “But I can tell you from personal experience,” she continued, the corners of her beautiful mouth tilting, “he’s hell on wheels at protecting people.”
Hawk was the first to laugh, the sound of his laughter unexpected, rich and free. The others joined in as soon as they understood that Tyler had given her permission, as well.
“To the future,” Claire said, her eyes on Gardner’s face. Then she lifted them to her husband. “And to your new team.”
“Something new, rising from the ashes of the old,” Griff said softly.
He was right, Claire thought. They had all risen from the ashes of their pasts. Hawk, who according to the CIA no longer even existed. Jordan, who had been transformed into someone else. And Griff... Griff, who had literally come back from the dead.
“Like the mythical phoenix,” she said, “born from the fire that destroys it.”
“The Phoenix Brotherhood,” Griff said.
And they knew, just as he had, that it was exactly right.
Don’t miss these upcoming titles by Gayle Wilson.
LADY SARAH’S SON,
a November release from Harlequin Historicals,
will be on the shelves in October.
EACH PRECIOUS HOUR,
a December release from Harlequin Intrigue,
will be on sale in November.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5128-1
HER BABY, HIS SECRET
Copyright © 1999 by Mona Gay Thomas
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual know or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
�
�I want the truth,” he said softly. “Which you never told me. Not last night. A
Letter to Reader
Dedication
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Prologue
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
Epilogue
Teaser chapter
Copyright
