Bound By Blood: His Unwanted Contract Bride

f the LAX VIP terminal. Darleen pushed it forward, her knuckles white against

hem of her coat. His eyes darted around the crowd, sharp an

Darleen said,

the hall caught the light, throwing rainbows across the floor. Ari

look!

r hand free. She darted into the sea of arriv

Darleen

ved past a man in a tailored suit, her eyes locked on the pink pigtails disappearin

he hall. She didn't see the silver-tippe

h

, ready to cry. She looked up, her gaze traveling up the expensive fabric of a suit, p

old the careless brat who had bumped into him. But as his eyes focuse

chin. The exact shade of her hair. It was a face he hadn't seen in thirty yea

ped to her knees, her arms wrapping aroun

looked up at the old man, her body angled to shield h

aze shifted past Aria, locking onto the

tared at Thurston with a watchfulness far beyond his years, his small ha

ac

body began to shake. The blood drained from

hem," Thurs

nd dark fabric closed around Darleen and her children. The noise of the a

ind her back, her hands trembling but her spine rigid. S

she demanded, her voice cutting

forward, his blue eyes burning with a feve

their

him now. The West family patriarch. The most dangerous man in the

iness," she said, her to

ock on his face melted into abso

name echoing in the space betw

s of that night four years ago-the storm, the heat, the confu

leen's leg. She tilted her head

voice clear and high-pitched.

caped his throat. It was almost a laugh. The child's words confir

Thurston ordered, pointing

his thick fingers closi

rm free. She bared her teeth, her ey

in, and I will scream kidnapping so loud ev

protective stance, the way she was ready to fight

f," he c

Thurston adjusted his grip on his cane. The frantic energy was

he asked, his voice hard and demanding

lifted her chin, staring h

r voice ringing with defiance, "they should learn some manner

t in decades. He studied her, reassessing the woman in fron

p at Thurston and said clearly, his voice smal

nto her purse, her fingers trembling slightly

it out to

blank. No name, no company, no address. Jus

n said, her voice dropping to a low, da

p at her, his mouth slightly open in she

did yo

so tightly her knuckles were white. She forced herself to walk, not run, each step a battle against the urge

ng the business card. He watched the t

n their depths, the kind that b

"I want every detail of Darleen Reynolds's life on my desk in on