Diamond may be used to saving the world, but can she save her own relationship?
With her husband’s killer still on the loose and her life in England a disaster, Diamond returns to the only thing she knows: work. As the star of special ops takes on enemies from the States to Syria, she finds the toughest battle is the one going on in her own head.
While she faces her demons, the man she left behind is involved in his own struggle when a beautiful stranger crosses his path. Will Luke give in to the ultimate temptation?
Please scroll to the bottom for content warnings.
Ebook Retailers
Subscription Services
Apps
Paperback Retailers
Add to your Bookshelf
Libraries
Also available from Borrowbox
BOOK TRAILER
Excerpt – The past…
The man’s footsteps receded into the distance, and I resisted the urge to walk faster. Instead, I maintained the brisk-yet-casual pace expected of a woman out walking on her own at that late hour.
I must have been a couple of hundred yards down the road when a prickling of the hairs on the back of my neck told me something was wrong. The road curved to the right, and in the window of a clothes shop ahead of me, I saw the guy whose wallet I’d just liberated following me. Why had he turned around? He was close enough for me to see his eyes focused in my direction as his reflection floated eerily among the mannequins dressed up in evening wear.
My heart sped up as I considered my options.
Walking at my current pace, I could be mistaken for innocent. Maybe the guy changed direction because he was lost? If so, he’d have to find someone else to help with directions. Or perhaps he was an axe murderer? Oh, that was so much more comforting, but I could carry on walking and hope for the best.
Or I could run.
If he’d noticed the wallet was missing, running would make me look pretty damn guilty. If I ditched it, would he still come after me? Was he the forgiving type?
Another glimpse, this time in a car mirror. He’d gained on me, still walking, but he looked to be about Jimmy’s height and his legs were a lot longer than mine. Could I outrun him? I wouldn’t win gold at the Olympics, but I’d had plenty of practice.
I risked a glance around.
You know that little sentence they print on wing mirrors? That objects in the reflection may be closer than they appear? Well, it was fucking right. He was thirty yards behind me, and as I turned, his eyes locked on mine.
Oh, shit. He knew.
I ran.
I hoped that as I was from the area and knew it well and he, being from the States hopefully didn’t, I’d be able to give him the slip. The slap of his leather-soled shoes on the paving slabs told me he’d broken into a run, and that spurred me to sprint faster. What kind of shape was he in? Which of us would run out of steam first?
JJ’s was a mile away, and I cursed myself for saving money by walking. Why hadn’t I taken the Tube or a cab like a normal person? Oh, yeah, because it was harder to steal wallets while riding in a cab.
Silly me.
His footsteps got louder and I realised I had no chance of making it back to JJ’s ahead of him, so I ducked left into a side street. The end was blocked, if I remembered rightly, by a fence with a small hole in it. A hole that should fit me but not him, and barbed wire topped the chain link, which was probably why some enterprising soul had cut the hole in the first place.
The road was narrow, little more than an alley, and with the high buildings either side, little moonlight got in. As I skidded to a halt at the end, a string of spluttered four-letter words spilled past my lips. The place had morphed into a building site. The fence I remembered had been replaced by a barrier of smooth wooden boards, at least eight feet high. Dim pictures pinned to it showed what the area would look like if the builders stopped drinking tea long enough to do any work.
I jumped at it and hooked my arms over the rough timber at the top. My ungainly scramble failed to get me over it, and I fell back to the ground, swearing again as I landed on one knee.
I glanced back.
The guy was almost on me, still moving fast. I didn’t have time for another run-up.
Fuck. Why the hell had I been so stupid as to get myself into this mess? I promised the big man upstairs that if I got out of this, I’d never steal a wallet again. Not unless the mark was clearly too unfit to run, anyway.
Despite the fact I’d never been to church in my life, I looked to the heavens, praying for divine intervention.
And got it.
Scaffolding stretched skywards, covering the façade of the building next to me. A yellow sign told me to Keep off! Danger of death!
Well, I’d never been one for authority, had I?
I went up.
Excerpt – The present…
I itched to reach for the pistol in my handbag, but I’d promised Nate I wouldn’t shoot anyone today. Dammit. I didn’t fancy incurring his wrath quite so soon after arriving back, so I’d have to do this the hard way.
The footsteps grew louder as they left the grass and hit the concrete path. I spun around, shoving Bradley behind me as some little punk ran up. How old was he? Seventeen? Eighteen? He was taller than me, and heavier, but who cared? That only meant he’d fall harder.
Moonlight glinted off the blade in his right hand as he thrust it towards us. Good grief—his stance was all wrong.
“Gimme the bag and the watch,” he demanded, then flicked his wrist towards Bradley. “Those earrings real?”
Bradley put his hands on his hips. “Of course they are. Do I look like the sort of man who’d wear cubic zirconia?”
Oh, Bradley. He’d rather be mugged than admit to wearing paste.
I went to hand my bag over, but before the kid could take it, I dropped it on the ground. Oops. As he bent to pick it up, I kneed him in the face, and there was a satisfying crunch as his nose broke.
Score one to me.
He let out a howl and straightened up, dripping blood down his shirt and all over the ground. Pain driving him, he ran at me with the knife held out in front. I sidestepped and twisted it out of his grasp. Amateur.
Bradley leapt back as I swept the asshole’s legs out from under him, and when he was flat out, face down, I pressed the tip of the blade into his neck.
“If I see you round here again, this knife’ll be buried to the hilt. Got it?”
I lifted his mouth out of the dirt just enough for him to mumble, “Got it.”
“Should I call the cops?” Bradley asked.
No way. “You should know better than to ask.”
I’d been in the Richmond PD’s bad books since I left for England, and if we got them involved, they’d bombard me with irrelevant questions for hours, just for the hell of it. Our dinner reservation wouldn’t wait. Instead, I let the guy up, and in seconds he’d disappeared into the night.
“He won’t be back here if he’s got any brain cells left.”
“I doubt he had any in the first place,” Bradley pointed out.
“You’re probably right. That went quite well though, don’t you think?”
Despite being a little rusty, I’d controlled the situation with no problems and my worries about underperforming receded just a tiny bit. Not a bad evening so far, and I still had spring rolls and prawn fritters to look forward to.
Bradley squealed as he stepped forward and picked up my handbag, holding it out in front of him as if it was poisonous. “No, I do not think it went well. He bled on your Louis Vuitton! And just look at the state of you.”
Okay, so he had a point. My silk top, once a pristine cream, had taken on a tie-dyed appearance. Fuck it. I’d forgotten how much mess a broken nose made. The mouthwatering taste of crispy wontons receded into the gloom.
“Guess we’re not going out for dinner anymore,” I said. “We’ll have to pick up pizza on the way home.”
“I should have remembered how trouble follows you around.” He rolled his eyes in the dim light and pulled out his phone. “Do you want jalapeños on yours?”
CONTENT WARNINGS
If you have any concerns about specific triggers, please contact me using the contact page.
The clean version…
I understand that some readers might prefer to read without swearing or detailed sex scenes, so if this is you, then there's good news! I've adapted the first five books in the Blackwood Security series to give you the same great stories with no F-words or open-door spice 🙂
Find more details HERE!