His Unwanted Wife Is His Only Cure

er like a shroud, but she refused to wallow in it. She showered, the water scalding hot, and methodically applied her makeup-a mask of

wntown. The bartender, a man named Mike Sullivan with knowing eyes, placed a drink in front of her without be

you, Ms. Brown,"

ll, cream-colored card. On it

It was a signal from a world Hayden knew nothing about, a world where she wasn't a discard

et in her hand slid into the booth opposite her. Quinn Sha

"I found him. The man who attacked you on the yacht in Monaco four years

loose end from her past, now tied directly to the family she had married into. The attack had happened

was a test. Someone in that family wanted to know what I was capable of before I ever

ut the originating IP address traces back to a private server registered to Clemons Indus

one else did. Someone who knew exactly who I was and what I carried in my blood."

thing. Every transaction, every communication, every skeleton in that family's cl

r heels at the door, her bare feet sinking into the thick rug. Years of living on high alert, of naviga

nto the kitchen, her fingers closing around the solid weight of a chef's k

creaked in th

poised. A dark shape detached itself from t

t, but she

formance. She allowed her body to go limp, dropping her weight and sinking

ng in the silent room. As he gasped for air, she brought the heavy handle of the knife down hard on his wrist. Bo

up, pinning his throat to the floor. The e

deadly whisper. She pressed her knee do

disbelief. This wasn't the weak, defens

wheezed. "Ki

good hand, showing her a transacti

ety, her privacy, was worth to them. Kinsey's plan was pathetic and transparent: get foota

omeone," the man, whose name she now knew was Rick Tucker

of ice. She took her pho

ed you to come to the penthouse. And bring a large gift

battle engaged. The black tulip from 'M', the connection of a past assault to the Clemons family... this was about more th