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Destiny Blaine/Natalie Acres
www.destinyblaine.com
Other excerpts found here: www.destinyblaine.blogspot.com
Breakfast by the Sea
By: Destiny Blaine | Other books by Destiny Blaine | Notify me of Destiny Blaine's new releases
Categories: Erotic Romance, Menage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense, Western/Cowboys
Word Count: 77,410
Heat Level: SCORCHING
Published By: Siren-Bookstrand, Inc.
AVAILABLE: Wednesday, November 17th
This new release is offered at a 15% discount for four weeks.
[Menage Amour: Erotic Cowboy Menage Romanctic Suspense, M/F/M/M/M/M, M/F/M]
A beautiful woman with a checkered past runs a legitimate bed and breakfast on Jekyll Island. Several young men posing as cowboys move in Breakfast by the Sea and things become chaotic right from the start when the oceanfront B&B turns into a command center for a very determined group of special Super-Op Forces.
Pursuing a man known as the King of Hearts, five tough operatives fall for a woman they’re supposed to eliminate. When the team discovers Paige Lambert is in fact the Queen of Hearts, they can’t ignore their handler’s orders. Is the bed and breakfast owner destined to die for her past crimes or will she end up under the protective custody of the men hired to kill her?
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Excerpt
STORY EXCERPT
God, he was mad. He couldn’t believe they were protecting a target. He was good and damn furious. What was Adam thinking?
Jeff was fucking pissed off. He wanted an explanation. He deserved one. “Wasn’t it bad enough that you spent the last five years with a woman who seemed bound and determined to make you look like a fool?”
Adam flinched. “I deserved that. Everyone tried to tell me. I wouldn’t listen. When I took my vows, I took them to mean I’d be with the same woman until death do us part, like the minister marrying us suggested.”
“Yeah, well, congratulations. You stuck by those vows, and look where commitment and loyalty got you.”
“This isn’t about me.”
The tide rolled in and out, in and out. Jeff had been sitting there for a long time, listening to the waves break around him, staring up at the black sky, and wondering what kind of woman grabbed a man at first sight. He’d gasped for air when he’d first met her, meeting as it was, and yet he could’ve killed her in the same breath, angry when he realized her face existed in their fucking deck.
“What has gotten into you?” Adam asked, concern in his voice.
“I thought about asking you the very same thing.”
Silence. Adam mastered the gift of negotiation. He used every tactic he could to make his marks talk without giving into the need for violence.
Jeff, on the other hand, didn’t have the patience. He liked to beat the truth out of his targets, find out what they knew, and then laugh when he destroyed the kind of monster most deserving of the fate he was hired to deliver.
An eye for an eye, and based on his history, it would eventually be how he died. Men like him didn’t die old or retire to a porch swing.
Jeff knew the score. He kept a tally. The time would come when he paid the ultimate price. It was the way the universe kept a balance. The eye for an eye thing eventually got them all—good guys, bad guys, men with badges, thugs dealing drugs—every last one of them. In the end, they all met the same challenging fate.
“Do you think we’re held accountable for the things we do?”
Adam cleared his throat. “You mean for the hits?”
“Yeah,” Jeff replied thoughtfully. “Do we face the same outcome? Are we any better than those killing innocent people?”
“I think so. We put a stop to illegal activity. We hunt animals, not decent men and women.”
“Is that what you tell yourself when you drag a man away from his dinner table while he’s sitting across from his wife and small children?”
“I do,” Adam said. “If I take out one of these guys on their front lawn, I don’t think about who’s watching from inside, but that’s me.
“I think about the guys and gals who didn’t go home from work because of one of these creeps. I wonder what their victims miss in life, the Christmas holidays, the summer vacations, who they’ll never see grow up or graduate from college. That’s what I think about.
“To hell with what the thugs leave behind. I consider the blameless. I ponder what these criminals took away from those who didn’t deserve a life cut short. Then, I think of the lives I saved because I did my job and stopped a man or woman with criminal intent.”
“Do you have any idea how many shots I’ve been required to fire while the target sat with his or her family?”
“I’m sure a lot. We all have.”
“Twenty-seven,” Jeff informed him.
“And out of that many, how many do you regret?”
“Not a damn one,” Jeff admitted. “The targets all had numerous kills, and the women? Oh, God, they were the worst. Still, the older I get, I wonder if there’s a better way.”
“You’re questioning yourself?”
“Not exactly, but sometimes I ask why me? Why did I pull the trigger?”
“You chose this line of work. This isn’t the kind of job that reaches out and grabs you. Our operatives understand what they’re getting themselves into, and they realize when they enter our training program that if they ever leave, we’re unable to protect them.”
“I ain’t leavin’, so don’t worry about me,” Jeff drawled.
“Sounds like you’ve considered going somewhere.”
“No, but lately I’ve spent a lot of hours thinking about life and death. You know, about my time, and how much I have left.”
“Your time will come, whether you’re with our team or not.”
“Don’t you worry that if you live by the gun, you’ll die by its bullet?”
“If you’re behind a misguided missile fighting for the wrong cause, then yes, I believe you’ll die as you’ve lived. But we’re the good guys. We stand for what’s right, what’s worth defending. We save others by destroying evil, savage individuals who take the lives of those who had a life worth living. If you don’t find peace in anything else, hold fast to that, Jeff.”
“I still say that woman may ruin you,” Jeff changed the subject.
“Maybe, but probably not.” Adam chuckled. “I’m the rock, remember?”
“You’re the backbone of this operation, that’s for sure.”
“Rocks don’t roll uphill.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jeff asked.
“Don’t worry about Paige. She’s out of my league.” Adam slapped Jeff on the back and walked away.
Maybe Adam thought Paige Lambert—Carpasia—was out of his league, but as far as Jeff was concerned, they were in the same class.
They were all killers. She’d killed before. He’d bet on that any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The lady wasn’t clean-handed.
Females rarely purchased guns for show. Since his fellow operatives had fallen victim to Paige’s womanly ways, Jeff would do his homework. He would find out Paige Lambert Carpasia’s secrets. Then, he’d expose her. His team had a right to know with whom they were dealing.
In the meantime, he’d stay away from her, keep as much space between them as possible. Otherwise, he couldn’t be responsible for his actions.
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