by Elise Noble
“No. Well, I guess a bit. I mean, I owe him everything, but that’s not why I’m doing this. I never thought I’d have a child, and more than anything, I want to be Race’s mom.”
“Caleb.”
Dani went rigid. “What?” she whispered.
Black pointed at the closed file on the coffee table in front of him. “Caleb’s mom. Race Melliton’s birth name is Caleb.”
“Fuck.”
Now Dani sobbed properly, and Emmy reached out and squeezed her hand, stroking her thumb over the knuckles.
“Her son was called Caleb,” she whispered.
Oh, Dani. Ethan kissed her hair, wishing he could take some of her pain. She’d lost so much. He wanted to give her the world, starting with that little boy.
Black knelt in front of her and took Dani’s other hand in both of his.
“You’re sure about this?”
She nodded.
“Then I’ll fix it.”
Whatever else Black might have been, he was quick and he was thorough. The first batch of paperwork was completed in record time. The adoption was going through as a two-stage process, with a single-parent adoption followed by a second-parent adoption, and three weeks later, Dani walked into the apartment with her son, now officially Caleb di Grassi.
Ethan hoped to change that to Caleb White in the near future, but he’d take things one step at a time.
Dani led Race into his new bedroom, the second biggest, now furnished with a double bed and two bunks so his friends could sleep over too. Bradley had been involved in the decorating, so as well as the closet and the chest of drawers, Race had a state-of-the-art silent drum kit and a TV the size of Texas.
“How long can I stay here?” he whispered, and Dani got all sniffy.
Ethan sat on the bed, bringing him to eye level. “This is your home now. Wherever we live, you live.”
“Can I put up posters?”
“Any posters you like.”
“Is there any food?”
“Why don’t we help Dani to cook dinner? She still can’t chop things up with her bad arm.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Will she make us eat vegetables?”
“A few. But I’m sure we can find some chocolate too.”
That evening, Ethan leaned back on the sofa with one arm around Dani’s shoulder and Race squashed in between them. In four short months, Ethan had gone from rockstar DJ to family man, and that should have scared the shit out of him but somehow it didn’t. Everything about this felt right—his girl, his soon-to-be son, and the new direction of Spectre.
The good balanced out the bad. The horror of Christina’s murder, Lyle’s death, having to confront the demons of his childhood—nothing could erase them, but hope could ease the hurt.
Everything happened for a reason.
WHAT'S NEXT?
So, what’s going on with Oliver and Stefanie? I wanted to know too, so I wrote them their own story.
Rhodium
Lawyers. Stefanie Amor’s had enough of them to last a lifetime. One left her heartbroken, the other left her in bed and did a runner. But as the witness in a murder case, she’s got no choice but to cooperate with defence attorney Oliver Rhodes, a great white shark who gets his kicks from chewing up lesser mortals and spitting out their sorry remains.
Oliver has two passions in life: money and winning. Stefanie’s a shiny new toy he’s not supposed to have, pretty to look at but so easy to break. Playtime’s fun, but what happens when the game isn’t a game anymore?
**WARNING - Rhodium’s dirty!**
Find out more here: www.elise-noble.com/rhodium
And the Blackwood Security series continues…
The Scarlet Affair
Seven dead men. Seven grieving widows…
After a series of particularly nasty home invasions, Blackwood Security is hired to catch the killers. With the company’s reputation at stake, everyone on the team is desperate to solve the mystery, unaware that there’s a traitor in their midst.
Cade Duchamp’s eager to help, but a minor indiscretion with the wrong girl leaves him banished to undercover duty. He’s always liked motorbikes, but he doesn’t like being a biker. Uncomfortable leather, an itchy beard, oil and grease—need he say more? Cade wants to be back at head office, hunting down the real bad guys. At least, he does until five-year-old Scarlet turns up. The daughter he never knew he had.
Taylor Hancock likes to fade into the background. As an office cleaner, she can come to work, do her job, and avoid those dreaded social interactions. But nobody says no to Emmy Black, and as Scarlet’s new nanny, Taylor’s forced way out of her comfort zone into a world of shopping trips, parties, and playdates.
The only problem?
She’s the traitor.
Find out more here: www.elise-noble.com/scarlet
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END OF BOOK STUFF
I knew from the moment Dan walked into Albany House in Pitch Black that she’d have her own book someday, and I hope White Hot didn’t disappoint. At first, Ethan was going to be a rock star, because I can imagine Dan at a concert climbing up on random men’s shoulders to get a better view, but after I introduced the Ghost as a little red herring in Red Alert, I started wondering about the man behind the mask. And I figured Dan would share that curiosity.
Research for Ethan was fun too—I was totally in the dark about how mixing desks work, but luckily, I found a guy who works in a factory that makes them and he gave me a tour. Kind of fascinating, and some of them cost more than a house!
The other characters who intrigued me were Stefanie and Oliver. I’ve been deliberately vague about Oliver in previous Blackwood Security books, but if you imagined Emmy’s lawyer was a crusty old dude in a baggy suit, then you were totally wrong. Oliver might have grey hair in a young-Richard Gere sort of way, but he’s hot and he’s filthy.
Filthy.
I normally hold back a touch with the dirty bits—Carbon is my grubbiest story to date—but that wouldn’t do Oliver justice. So I decided to write his story in the Elements series. And I know people in my family are going to read it (including my mum) so if you’ll excuse me, I’m just gonna go and die of embarrassment before its publication date.
You can think of Rhodium as an extended epilogue to White Hot, if you like. It covers the Carter and Skinner trials as well as what happens between Mr Rhodes and Miss Amor. But before I wrote Rhodium, White Hot had a different ending, one where Emmy didn’t make it to the airport on time and Carter managed to escape.
Just for fun, here’s what happened a few weeks after that…
“You were right about the fuel tank,” Emmy said to Ana as they peered over the edge of the cliff. The outlines of the few trees that had found life clinging to the steep, rocky slope were lit up from below by the glow of the burning car.
Ana smiled. “Always a shame when somebody falls asleep at the wheel
, isn't it?”
Emmy's answering grin was a mirror of Ana's. “Especially when it means the waste of a perfectly good BMW. That thing had an awesome sound system. It almost drowned out the asshole shouting in the trunk.”
Even while on the run in Colombia, Ricky Carter had still gone for his first choice of vehicle. A BMW 5-series with all the bells and whistles.
“I liked your idea of using curare to incapacitate him rather than scopolamine,” Ana said. “It was a nice twist, him being awake all the way down, just unable to move.”
“Eduardo taught me about it. He’s been cultivating the vines in his garden for years. I've taken a few home with me for the greenhouse at Riverley. You never know when they might come in handy, although Sofia stole half of them.”
Ana’s stomach grumbled, and she glanced at her watch. “Speaking of Eduardo, we should head back to his place. It's late and I'm getting hungry.”
Emmy took one last look at the flames before swinging her leg over the sleek black motorbike. Ana climbed onto the pillion seat and wrapped her arms around Emmy's waist.
“You're right,” Emmy said. “I could do with something to eat as well. What are we having?”
“Barbecue.”
Anyhow, back to the real world where Carter’s awaiting trial and Oliver’s busy pissing Stef off and Stef’s dealing with money trouble and blackmail and her dysfunctional family back in Georgia… I hope you’ll join me for Rhodium if you like your books a little dirtier.
Huge thanks to my team as always—Amanda for editing, Abi for the cover, Lizbeth, John, and Dominique for proof reading, and Harka, Cecilia, Jeff, Quenby, Renata, Nikita, Helen, Lina, Musi, David, Stacia, and Jessica for beta reading. You guys rock!
OTHER BOOKS BY ELISE NOBLE
The Blackwood Security Series
Pitch Black
Into the Black
Forever Black
Gold Rush
Gray is my Heart
Neon (novella)
Out of the Blue
Ultraviolet
Red Alert
White Hot
The Scarlet Affair (2018)
Quicksilver (TBA)
The Blackwood Elements Series
Oxygen
Lithium
Carbon
Rhodium (2018)
Platinum (TBA)
Nickel (TBA)
The Blackwood UK Series
Joker in the Pack
Cherry on Top (novella)
Roses are Dead
Shallow Graves (2018)
The Electi Series
Cursed (2018)
Spooked (2018)
Possessed (TBA)
The Trouble Series
Trouble in Paradise
Nothing but Trouble
24 Hours of Trouble
Standalone
Life
A Very Happy Christmas
Twisted
Also by Elise Noble
Blackwood Elements
Oxygen
Lithium
Carbon
Rhodium
Platinum
Meet Me at Midnight
Blackwood Elements Box Set
The Elements: Oxygen - Lithium - Carbon
Blackwood Security
Pitch Black
Into the Black
Forever Black
Gold Rush
Gray is my Heart
Out of the Blue
Ultraviolet
Red Alert
White Hot
The Scarlet Affair
Quicksilver (Coming Soon)
Black is my Heart
Blackwood Security Box Set
The Black Trilogy (Blackwood Security Books 1 - 3)
Blackwood Security - Cleaned Up
Pitch Black - Clean Version
Into the Black - Clean Version
Forever Black - Clean Version
Gold Rush - Clean Version
Blackwood Security - Cleaned Up - Box Set
The Black Trilogy - Clean Version (Blackwood Security Books 1 - 3)
Blackwood UK
Joker in the Pack
Roses are Dead
Shallow Graves
Cherry on Top: Blackwood UK #1.5
The Electi Series
Cursed
Spooked
Trouble Series
Trouble in Paradise
Nothing but Trouble
24 Hours of Trouble
Standalone
Twisted
A Very Happy Christmas
Neon (Blackwood Security #5.5)
Life: A Brush with Love
Trouble Times Three
For the Love of Animals
Watch for more at Elise Noble’s site.
