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Dear Readers:
I can’t believe we are finally about to Surrender, after all that denial and demand . For the many of you who have written me, so very eager for this book, thank you for your patience and excitement. I hope it lives up to your expectations and makes the wait worthwhile. I am excited about this one for many reasons. Ella’s such a survivor, and as she takes on her own life, she inspires me to be one, as well. And I wouldn’t mind kicking ass the way she does, too!
Many of you started Ella’s story with the Inside Out series, and for those of you who know that series, guess what? Chris and Sara are back in Surrender! And oh, how surreal it was to write about them again, if only a little bit. For new readers, Chris and Sara will offer you some small glimpses into Ella’s life from the Inside Out series. So let’s recap before we start Surrender. Spoiler warning! If you have not read Denial and Demand, do not read forward!
We all remember where this story started in Denial. Ella wakes up in a hospital bed with amnesia, having been saved by Kayden Wilkens. As they wade through the dangers of her memory loss and his Treasure Hunting world (The Underground), their passion and connection become something they can no longer ignore. And what comes of their weakness for one another is a lasting emotional bond and the ultimate exchange of trust.
Kayden and Ella began book two, Demand, by testing the strength of their relationship with the weight of their secrets and lies. What eventually comes of that is a stronger and deeper connection in the face of both Neuville’s impending threat and Niccolo’s deception. The two warring stepbrothers, who run the French and Italian mobs, are at odds over each other, Ella, and the butterfly necklace that she once held in her hands. But her memory still refuses to allow her access to why she had it and where she left it.
We left Ella and Kayden right after their confrontation with Blake Walker, one of the founding brothers of Walker Security, who was sent by Ella’s best friend, Sara, and Chris Merit to find Ella. After Blake finally found her, he helped shed some light on who she is. Yet with more of the truth came more uncertainty. Ella has just dropped the bomb that she believes she has a connection to the CIA. She’s unsure of what kind of connection it is—but what will this mean for her and Kayden’s relationship? And who does this make her in the grand scheme of the terrifying web of danger they still find themselves in?
There is so much more to explore in Surrender, and I hope you’ll enjoy the final installment of Ella’s story . . .
xoxo,
Lisa
characters
Ella Ferguson (25)—Heroine in the series. Woke alone in Italy, saved by our hero, Kayden Wilkens. Best friend to Sara McMillan from the Inside Out series.
Kayden Wilkens (32)—Our hero in the series. Leader of the Italian branch of The Underground (a treasure-hunting operation). Saves Ella and brings her to live in his castle while she recovers.
Niccolo—Very dangerous Italian mobster. Ella has some sense of unease and knowledge of this man that she can’t quite grasp.
Matteo—Works for Kayden and The Underground as a hacker. He helps create Ella’s new identity as Rae Eleana Ward, and continues to try to find out who Ella is.
Adriel Santaro—Both lives and works for Kayden running a high-end collectibles store from the castle. Kayden fired him from The Underground after Adriel’s father was killed on a hunt.
Giada Santaro—Adriel’s sister. Also works in the collectibles store. Has a very hard time coping with her mother and father’s deaths. Blames Kayden and The Underground for her father’s murder.
Marabella—Kayden’s housekeeper, lives on the premises. Very close to Kayden, Adriel, and Giada. Is considered a mother figure by them all.
Detective Gallo—Kayden’s greatest adversary. Very intent on making trouble for Kayden, and on finding out who Ella really is.
Chief Donati—The chief of police; Detective Gallo’s boss. Friendly with Kayden, yet hiding secrets of his own.
Sasha—A Hunter. Her family is made up of Hunters and Hawks that used to run the French branch of The Underground, before Kayden took over for them. She befriends Ella and has quite the personality.
Blake Walker—A transplant from both the Tall, Dark and Deadly series (you can read his and Kara’s story in Beneath the Secrets) and the Inside Out series. Chris Merit (Inside Out) hired Blake to help him and Sara find Ella after she ran off to elope with David and disappeared. At the end of the Inside Out series, Blake was still searching for her.
Enzo—One of The Underground’s newest and youngest members, killed during a dangerous mission.
Elizabeth—Kayden’s deceased fiancée. She was murdered in the castle five years ago.
Nathan—Physician for The Underground who helps Ella as she recovers from her severe concussion. While very charismatic, he is also tough and implacable.
David—Ella’s ex-fiancé (mentioned in the Inside Out series). He swept Ella off to Paris to elope. Very vivid and shocking memories return to Ella of her time with David, involving lot of arguing and anguish. At the end of Denial Ella still cannot remember all that transpired between her and David, but she does know she didn’t love him.
Kevin—Kayden’s adoptive father. He was the original owner of the castle and the previous leader of the Italian branch of The Underground. After he was murdered along with Elizabeth five years ago, Kayden took over his post in The Underground and ownership of the castle. Best friend to Kayden’s father.
Sara McMillan—Ella’s best friend from San Francisco. Readers might know her as the heroine from the Inside Out series. She is married to Chris Merit.
Chris Merit—Famous billionaire artist married to Ella’s best friend, Sara. They are currently residing in Paris. Read Chris and Sara’s full story in the Inside Out series.
The Jackals—A highly corrupt group of “pirates” who will do any dirty work and double-cross anyone they see fit.
Alessandro—Leader of The Jackals.
Garner Neuville—Head of the French Mob. “Saved” Ella after David abandoned her in Paris, but soon turned out to be her worst nightmare. He is the cause of her most horrific memories as they slowly return. Stepbrother to Niccolo.
Carlo—One of Kayden’s hunters. Former Jackal.
prologue
sara
Paris
Ella’s alive!
It is the news I have hoped and prayed to receive for months on end. It doesn’t feel real until I hear her voice on the phone, and suddenly all the pieces of my heart, which I was certain would end up shattered, are healed. But too soon, she ends the connection. I hold the phone to my ear, not ready to let go of her, haunted by her secrecy and reliving the past thirty minutes that got me to this moment. I was in Chris’s studio, reveling in the fact that this famous, sexy artist has been my husband for almost two weeks—and then it happened, the moment I’d been anticipating for months. I shut my eyes and live it again, because how can I not want to live it again?
A Matchbox Twenty song fills the air, fuel for his creative juices; a canvas is in front of him, a brush in his hand. He’s only a few feet away from me, focused on his work, his longish blond hair sexily mussed up, his feet bare, his jeans slung low. He wears no shirt, of course. He never paints with a shirt on, which is quite all right with me, considering I ha
ve a delicious view of a well-defined chest, and his multicolored dragon tattoo that speaks of a jagged-edged past and a soul that is dark and light in equal parts—much like the paint he marks on his canvas.
There is something special about watching him work here in Paris, in the city where he first picked up a brush that would turn him into a rock star of the art world. Especially since he is painting me. I am naked and exposed in every way with this man, sitting in the alcove of a massive arched window, my legs pulled to my chest. There was a time when I swore I’d never let him paint me. When I knew he’d see things I didn’t want him to see, because I didn’t want to see them myself. But that was then, and this is now. And while I am still damaged, still fighting old wounds, no one understands better about the cuts that never heal than Chris Merit. No one understands the damage that can never be repaired, but simply caressed. We are two lost souls that were found in the fog of pain and heartache, able to see again, to breathe again, as one.
I am lost in that spell when Chris’s cell phone rings and he digs it from his pocket. The instant he gives me his back, I know something is wrong. It’s in the sharp way he turns and the knotting of his shoulders. I’m on my feet in an instant, darting for his T-shirt on the chair next to his easel and canvas. I’ve just pulled it over me when I watch him drag his fingers through his hair, an act of emotion he’d show no one but me. Ella, I think, fearing that this is the news we’ve waited for from Blake Walker, the PI we’d hired to find her, and that it must not be good. I hug myself, preparing for the worst. She’s dead. She must be dead.
“Now?” Chris asks the caller, turning to look at me, his green eyes lighter than I expect, no tragedy in their depths. “Yes. Give me sixty seconds to fill her in.”
“What is it?”
“Ella’s alive.”
“What?! You’re sure?”
“She’s with Blake, and he’s going to let you talk to her.”
“Yes,” I say, rushing forward and reaching for the phone.
“Easy, baby,” he says, his fingers catching my hip as he pulls me to him. “There are things going on that we don’t know about, and she won’t tell us. You can’t push her for anything she doesn’t feel ready to tell you.”
“Oh my God,” I say. “Ella! It’s really Ella?”
“It’s really her.”
“Is she in danger? What happened to her?”
“Just talk to her and be glad she’s alive. We’ll figure out the rest later.”
I put the phone to my ear and her voice radiates through it with joy. And then we are talking, about me and Chris, and she won’t talk about herself. But I talk. I walk to the ledge and sit down and I hold onto to every word she speaks, because she’s alive. But then we say goodbye, she hangs up, and I have no way to reach her again. And that joy I felt while talking to her begins to transform to worry. To fear.
“Talk to me, baby.”
At the sound of Chris’s voice, and the feel of his hands on my naked leg, I return to the present, blinking him into view and setting the phone down on the ledge.
“She’s not okay, Chris,” I say, covering his hand with mine. “I sensed it. She’s different. She’s changed, or . . . I don’t know what. But she only wanted to talk about us getting married. She wouldn’t tell me anything about where she’s been, and she says the man she’s with is wonderful, but she’d also said that about David. Where is she?”
“Blake said he can’t tell us that.”
“Why?” I don’t give him time to answer. “She’s in danger.”
“Yes,” Chris agrees. “She’s hiding from something.”
“Is it Garner Neuville?” I ask, aware that he’d had an affair with her and has been looking for her too.
“We don’t know anything, Sara.”
“We know he’s dangerous, and I wanted to ask her about him so badly. Can we call Blake and find out what’s going on?”
“Let him focus on taking care of her. He’ll call us the minute he can.” His phone starts ringing again. “And that’s going to be him.”
“Oh, thank God,” I breathe out, while Chris picks up the phone off the ledge and then gives me a nod, telling me it’s Blake.
“I’ll put him on speaker,” he says, and I quickly scoot over, giving him room to sit next to me, both of us leaning against the alcove surrounding the window.
“Blake, Sara and I are both on the line,” Chris says, setting the phone on the ledge between us.
“I can’t believe you found her!” I say. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m glad we found her, too,” he says. “But here is where things get complicated. She’s hiding, and when you uncover someone who’s hiding, you either save them or destroy them.”
“Who is she hiding from?” Chris asks.
“I don’t know,” he says. “But the man she’s with is protective as hell.”
“Is she his prisoner?” I ask. “And who is he?”
“She’s not a prisoner,” Blake says. “I’m sure of it. Now, does that mean she’s aware of the many sides of the man she’s with? That, I cannot say.”
“What sides?” I ask.
“He’s a powerful man,” Blake says. “And while he’s known to have a moral compass, he’s also known to be a person you don’t cross.”
“You’re not making me feel good here,” I say. “Who is he, exactly? Powerful in what way?”
“I’d like to know those answers, as well,” Chris adds.
“He’s the leader over France and Italy for an organization called The Underground. They’re Treasure Hunters by their own definition. They will find anything, from people, to things, to data—you name it—for a price. I did some digging around when I found out who he was with, and he’s known to have offered aid to a few U.S. government agencies.”
“So he’s not a bad guy,” I say, relieved.
“Sweetheart,” Blake says, “I’ve known agents who were bad. I’m not willing to define him as good quite yet. The problem for me is that he doesn’t seem to feel that the group we hired to help find Ella is trustworthy. He’s concerned they’ll sell her out to whoever she’s running from.”
“Is he right?” Chris asks, an edge to his voice.
“They’re European-based, and there’s no record of them with any U.S. agency. I’m digging deeper.”
“Do they know who we are?”
“I never used your names,” Blake says, “and we have no reason to believe they’d connect the dots or even bother trying, but—”
“That’s as far as you need to go,” Chris says. “I’m taking Sara back to the States tonight and I need your men there waiting for us.”
My objection is instant. “You have a huge charity event at the Louvre in a couple of days, Chris. People paid big money to meet you.”
“Your safety is first,” he says. “The end. We aren’t talking about it.”
“Actually,” Blake says, “pulling out would get attention you don’t want. At this point, we don’t know who Ella is running from, why she’s running, or even if we have a problem at all.”
“We don’t know that we don’t, either,” Chris counters.
“This event is important to you, to us,” I say. “And to the Children’s Hospital.”
“Your bodyguard, Rey, is excellent,” Blake says. “So is his brother. I’ll coordinate with them and cover you now.”
“Rey’s already on duty,” Chris says, “and so is his brother.”
“I’ll update him on the situation, then,” Blake says. “And I’ll get my men on a plane to you to cover the event. If you want to leave right after the event, we’ll take you straight to the airport.”
Chris’s lips thin, the lines of his body are tight, and I can almost feel his fear for me clawing at him, taking him to a private hell I’ll visit with him when this is over.
“Or,” Blake says, clearly uncomfortable with the silence, “they can escort you back to San Francisco.”
“When do we get an update?”
“Twelve hours.”
“We’ll let you know our plans then.”
“Understood,” Blake replies.
Chris ends the call, sucking in air and lifting his face to the ceiling. And I know what’s going on in his head. Paris is where he lost his mother and father. And it’s where street robbers killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents and he was forced to kill a teenage boy before he shot her, as well. And it’s where that same ex killed herself only weeks ago. Paris is the hotbed of his torment, yet it’s also the place that put a paintbrush in his hand and began to heal him. But he doesn’t need me to tell him I know these things. He knows I know. He knows I understand.
I stand up and walk to the easel he was working at in the center of the otherwise nearly empty room, stopping at the table next to it. I flip on the radio and find the angst-filled Hozier song he’s been listening to recently while working on one of his charity projects featuring the catacombs of Paris. The music fills the air: “Take me to church, I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.” But there are no lies between Chris and me—and I don’t want anything else between us right now. I pull off his shirt and turn to find him standing in front of me. And when my eyes meet his, the punch of emotion I see in them weakens my knees.
“Nothing is going to happen to me,” I promise, and before the words are out, his fingers are tangling roughly, erotically, in my hair and he’s dragging me against him. And when he kisses me, it’s laced with torment and pain. I just pray that the only enemies we have to face in our future, or Ella’s, are the ones inside us right now.
one
ella
Italy
Minutes after I’ve ended my call with Sara, Kayden and I are standing in the break room of the shooting range and Kayden is kissing me, drinking me in, his hands possessively on my waist and at my neck, as if he’s afraid to let me go. As if he’s afraid somehow I will be lost, and the truth is, so am I. So am I. It doesn’t matter that he is my next breath, and that I believe I am his. It matters that exposing my past might steal everything we think we are and want to be together. It matters that while reconnecting with Sara was welcome and wonderful, there was other news that came with finding her again. News that I may really be a CIA operative, as I’ve suspected, perhaps here in Italy for reasons that don’t suit The Underground—an organization where Kayden is The Hawk, the leader.
Surrender Page 1
