Honor Among
Seals
Hearts of Valor #2
by
Dixie Lee Brown
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pub
Date: 10/9/2018
Working
for a security company with his brothers-in-arms has given former
SEAL Matt “MacGyver” Iverson a reason to get up every morning.
But keeping a runaway bride from harm isn’t in his job description
. . .
Former Marine Kellie
Greyson is in over her head. A cold-hearted ultimatum leaves her no
choice but to wed mob boss Tony Palazzi. But when she overhears his
deadly plans for her after she says ‘I do,’ Kellie flees his
casino, only to wind up in a seedy Vegas bar. The next thing she
knows, she’s waking up beside a protective powerhouse of a man . .
.
Though Kellie’s body
kickstarts his into high gear, MacGyver is all business trying to
convince her that they need each other. Both are looking for missing
people—and all roads lead to Palazzi. MacGyver will have to lay all
his cards on the table to get Kellie to trust him in a game they
might not survive . . .
Chapter One
Kellie Greyson peered from beneath
lowered lashes at the three solemn men making no secret of the fact they were
watching her every move. Tony Palazzi, that slimy piece of horse manure, and
two of his thugs leaned their backs against the bar to her left, holding drinks
they’d yet to sample. Second day in a row.
Good. Maybe the low-cut tops and
miniskirts I bought aren’t a waste of money after all. The sky-high heels were killing her
feet, though. Combat boots had been far more comfortable.
She placed a hundred dollars’ worth of
chips in the betting circle of the Blackjack table, and the dealer dispensed
cards to each of four players, turning up a five for himself. The first two
gamblers went bust. The third stayed at eighteen. To make Tony think she
appreciated his perusal, Kellie smiled before tapping her finger on the table
beside the seven of spades and two of hearts she’d been dealt. The dealer hit
her with an ace, and a murmur of approval rippled through the players to her
right.
Kellie watched in amusement as the
dealer appeared to swat absently, as though at a pesky fly buzzing around his
ear—the obvious signal about as subtle as a freight train. His hole card was a
nine, and when he dealt himself another nine, he did a lousy job of hiding his
frustration.
She reached for the chips he pushed
toward her, leaving a small bet on the table for the next deal. When he shoved
those chips toward her too, she glanced at him. The dealer nodded to someone
behind her, and, immediately, a heavy hand dropped on her shoulder.
One of the muscled suits, who’d been
standing with Tony a moment ago, leaned to speak in her ear. “Miss, please come
with us.” His tone left no room for discussion.
Kellie glanced over his shoulder to see
who “us” was and met the stern glare of Tony’s other
gorilla. Well, it’s about friggin’ time. Three days she’d been here, choking on
the foul air, counting cards and beating the house—waiting for this exact
moment. She grabbed her chips, which the helpful dealer had placed in a box, and
stood to accompany her escorts to the cashier’s window. After she cashed out,
she’d demand to speak with the owner of the Dominion Hotel and Casino, whose
orders were, apparently, getting her tossed out. At long last, she’d have her
chance to find out what Tony knew about her sister.
Except…they weren’t taking her to the
cashier’s window. Sandwiching her between them, the two beefy men veered toward
the elevators.
“Where are you taking me?” There was
really only one place they could be going, and Kellie’s restrained excitement
warred with nervousness.
One of the men pushed the top button
beside the closed elevator, and an arrow flashed on, pointing up. “Mr. Palazzi
wants to talk to you.” The doors opened, and the man gripped her elbow, guiding
her ahead of him into the car. His hand moved over the panel of buttons and the
number forty lit up—the top floor. The second man fingered a card on a lanyard
around his neck and slid it into a slot above the numbers. The elevator started
upward.
Kellie’s heart rate lurched into
overdrive. Her palms started to sweat, in spite of her plan having finally
become reality. All she had to do was continue her charade a while longer. She
fished a tube of lipstick from her purse and swiped on a fresh coat of Parisian
Red. Tony’s vice was women—and his weakness
would be her means to the information she needed. Saliva pooled at the back of
her throat as revulsion threatened her determination.
Stick to the plan.
She’d been over this a hundred times.
Tony had been the last person to see Anna before she disappeared. Her sister’s
missing person’s case was now officially cold. But Tony, Las Vegas businessman
and crime boss, knew something. She felt it in every fiber of her being. All
she had to do was get close enough to make him trust her—long enough to find a
thread of evidence—something or someone who knew what happened and was willing
to tell the story.
To find her sister, Kellie would use
the assets the good Lord gave her without conscience. As much as she despised
playing the slut card, that description epitomized the type of woman Tony was
attracted to. She’d
seen the pictures, read the stories in the rag magazines and
seen the women hanging on his arm. Dumb, beautiful and the sleazier the better.
That was what it would take to catch the eye of the rich and powerful Tony
Palazzi.
Kellie wasn’t gorgeous, by any stretch
of the imagination, and she certainly wasn’t dumb, but she cleaned up good
enough, and her strong, toned legs, thanks to four years in the Marine Corps,
had garnered her fair share of admiration. She could play the vamp if
incentivized—and finding Anna, possibly alive, was incentive enough. There was
nothing she wouldn’t do to bring her home. Nothing.
The elevator doors slid open directly
into Tony’s office. Tall and slim, with glistening black hair and pretty-boy
features that belied his evil heart, he leaned against the edge of his desk and
stared.
The man on her right gave her a shove
and stepped into the room behind her. The doors slid shut and the elevator
whirred to life again, taking the other man back the way they’d come.
Tony pushed away from the desk and
advanced toward her, his face a mask of annoyance. “Who are you, and why are
you here?”
Despite having prepared herself,
mentally and emotionally, to meet the casino’s owner on his turf, his nearness
and obvious anger almost made her back up a step. She stopped herself just in
time. I can do this. Just play the role. Locking away any emotions that might trip her up was
second nature, also courtesy of the Marine Corps. She allowed a faint smile to
curve her lips. “My name is Kellie Greyson. As to why I’m here…I’m afraid
you’ll have to enlighten me.”
Tony stopped in front of her, snatched
the box of chips from her hand and set it on a nearby table. He slid the strap
of her small handbag off her shoulder and rummaged through it until he found
her driver’s license. Sidestepping her, he handed the ID to his thug and
whispered something. The man disappeared through a doorway to the right of the
desk.
Kellie seethed at Tony’s arrogance and
the high-handed examination of her personal property, but the object of this
exercise was to convince him he could trust her, so she’d let it go.
She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t
believe me?”
Tony turned his back, setting her purse
on the edge of his desk. “You were counting cards in my casino.”
Kellie
shrugged. “That’s not against the law.”
He faced her again, a cold smile
stopping far short of his eyes. “It’s frowned upon. Surely you’re aware of
that. I’m curious why you were so obvious. Winning eighty percent of the hands
you’re dealt is sure to get you caught and kicked out.”
Kellie glided forward until she reached
a chair positioned in front of his desk, sat and crossed her legs. “If that’s
the case, why did it take you so long to catch me?”
His lecherous appraisal flicked over
her legs and back to her face. “Because I enjoyed watching you.”
She caught herself before disgust
mushroomed and seeped through her facade. With effort, her smile widened. “I
could say the same to you. Perhaps that’s why I kept coming back.”
The door swung open and Tony’s man
returned, striding across the room until he reached his boss. Their whispered
exchange continued for far too long, unnerving her, and suddenly the wisdom of
her scheme came into question.
The hired man didn’t look at her as he
scooted by to resume his silent vigil in front of the elevator doors.
“Well? Am I who I said I was?” Kellie
stayed in character, clinging to her bravado, but it was definitely slipping.
Something was wrong. Either Tony’s
penetrating gaze saw right through her, or he simply wasn’t interested. Either
way, her sixth sense said it was time to go, regroup and try again another day.
A smirk twisted Tony’s features, and
his silence battered her flagging confidence. She pushed to her feet with a
deep sigh. “It’s settled then. You have your money back, and I promise never to
set foot in your casino again.” She stepped toward the desk and reached for her
handbag. “I’ll let
myself out.”
Tony moved quicker, catching the strap
of her handbag, and ripped it from her fingers. “I’m afraid I can’t let you
leave, Kellie. You see…counting cards is a felony, if you use a computer.” He
reached inside her bag and brought out a pocket-sized device she’d never seen
before.
Kellie’s uneasiness grew. “That’s not
mine.”
“You know that, and I know that, but
the Nevada Gaming Commission will believe what I tell them. And I’m going to
tell them I found it in your handbag, where you hid it after I caught you
cheating.” Tony stepped closer, draped his arm around her shoulders and led her
back to her chair.
Heart
Of A Seal
Hearts
of Valor #1
They’re
brothers in arms, Navy SEALS risking their lives for their country .
. . and the women they love.
This is Luke Harding’s story.
Six months in a desert hellhole taught Navy SEAL Luke Harding things he never wanted to learn about life and death. Only tender memories of the beautiful brunette he met a few weeks before his deployment helped get him through the torturous days and nights. Back in the States after a perilous rescue, physically and emotionally damaged, Luke’s about to plunge into a new kind of war. In a seemingly bucolic Idaho town, Sally Duncan faces real—and unpredictable—danger.
All Sally ever wanted was a safe place to raise her nine-year-old daughter. Her identity hidden behind a façade of secrets and lies, can she trust Luke—a man she barely knows—with the truth? Even as they give in to long-denied passion, a killer with a personal vendetta is setting an ambush that will leave them praying for a miracle and fighting for the future they may not live to see.
This is Luke Harding’s story.
Six months in a desert hellhole taught Navy SEAL Luke Harding things he never wanted to learn about life and death. Only tender memories of the beautiful brunette he met a few weeks before his deployment helped get him through the torturous days and nights. Back in the States after a perilous rescue, physically and emotionally damaged, Luke’s about to plunge into a new kind of war. In a seemingly bucolic Idaho town, Sally Duncan faces real—and unpredictable—danger.
All Sally ever wanted was a safe place to raise her nine-year-old daughter. Her identity hidden behind a façade of secrets and lies, can she trust Luke—a man she barely knows—with the truth? Even as they give in to long-denied passion, a killer with a personal vendetta is setting an ambush that will leave them praying for a miracle and fighting for the future they may not live to see.
Dixie
Lee Brown lives and writes in Central Oregon, inspired by
gorgeous scenery and three hundred sunny days a year. Having moved
from South Dakota as a child to Washington, Montana and then to
Oregon, she feels at home in the west. She resides with two dogs and
a cat, who are currently all the responsibility she can handle. Dixie
works fulltime as a bookkeeper. When she's not writing or working,
she loves to read, enjoy movies, and if it were possible, she’d
spend all of her time at the beach. She is also the author of the
Trust No One romantic suspense series, published by Avon Impulse.
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1 comment:
Thanks for putting my new release in the spotlight today!
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