Paperback coming soon
An excerpt...
Dominic opened the driver's door,
ignored her, settled in behind the wheel, and started the truck. Slowly, he
eased away from the curb.
"We're
going to the train station. We're going to be seen by as many people as
possible. We'll buy tickets to anywhere, first train out, but we won't get on
it," he said softly.
She
straightened, but kept her grip on the bag.
"Why
we?"
she asked.
"I'm
obviously a target, too." He shrugged, but she could see the muscle in his
jaw working overtime.
"I'm
sorry about your hotel." She caught her lower lip between her teeth.
"You should never have kissed me in front of those reporters, should have
kept walking—"
"I
don't regret any of that." He shot her a glance that told her he was as
stressed as she was. He met her gaze
briefly before refocusing on the road. "John is dead, I can only assume
what happened to the other two."
She
stared at his profile and clutched her bag. There had never been casualties
until now—they were upping the stakes of the game.
"Here's
what we're going to do," he said. "We'll walk in together, buy our
tickets and make sure we're seen. I want every camera in that place seeing us
getting on a train."
"And
as soon as we get on, we sneak out?" The idea sounded risky to her, but
she understood the plan. Diversion. Make everyone think they were headed
somewhere else — together.
"I
know a place where we can go — it's a small house I bought earlier a few years
ago when we were renovating Casa Magnifica." He shook his head. "It
sits vacant now...although I'm not sure why...I ended up staying at the hotel
or the Casa Varga's back room. None of that matters, I'm rambling." He ran
a restless hand through his hair. "Anyway, we can stay there."
"No."
She shook her head. "Whoever these people are will find it. They might
believe the train story for a day, but that's it. Then they'll start looking at
your assets, on places like this that you own. I'll go alone."
"No
way."
"No,
I mean at the train station." She gulped back the panic. "You go back
to the hotel and act like the owner that you are, make an appearance of being
alone, of losing me in the chaos at the restaurant. I'll buy the ticket, get on
the train, sneak off, and wait for you."
"Too
risky."
"No,
it's the only way." Every instinct she had told her that she'd been pushed
to the train station, that there would be someone there waiting for her, but
she also knew that their only chance was to appear as if they'd been separated.
"Better yet, give a statement about my disappearance to the press...play
the part of terrified lover."
"I
am the
terrified lover." He reached out and covered her hand with his. Squeezed.
"If
they think we aren't together, at least not initially, it will buy us time. You
can come back and pick me up, but I think we need to leave Spain. We can easily
get to France. I have friends I can call who make me look tame, who would leap
at the chance at hiding me away. None of them can be bought, I have no doubt
about it. If we can just get out of Barcelona—"
"One
thing at a time," he muttered. "We'll do it your way at the train
station. Makes sense, but it's risky."
"How
is Clarence?" she asked, her voice hitching on the last word.
"Critical
condition, I don't know much. He took a bullet at close range—"
"Someone
got close enough to do that?"
Nic
nodded slowly. "You're thinking about Simon and Don, aren't you?"
"Or
Cleo," she admitted with a whisper.
He
parked in front of the train station before twisting to look at her. "Take
off your hat and jacket, be recognizable, buy a ticket to the first train to
anywhere, stay in public, though, don't go off into any shadowy corners. On the
train, put this get-up back on, careful to hide your hair like you're doing,
and then go hang out on some bench or something. I'll find you."
They
stared at each other for a heartbeat too long, neither in a rush to say
goodbye.
He
reached into his pocket for his wallet. "You probably need—"
"I
have sixty thousand dollars in my bag," she admitted with a crooked grin.
"I planned ahead."
His
eyes widened before glancing down at her death grip on the Gucci bag. "And
here I thought you just really loved your designer bling." He smiled in
the dim light and reached out to cup the back of her head. "I don't regret
one second of knowing you so don't start beating yourself up, do you hear
me?"
Tears
rushed to her eyes at his simple words, but she blinked them back. She'd cry
later, when she was alone and far from here.
"And
don't even think about ditching me again, do you promise?"
"You
have—"
"Promise
me."
"The
hotel needs—"
"Promise
me, Vanessa."
"Fine.
I promise."
He
pulled off the hat before reaching behind her head to remove the hairpins. When
her hair cascaded down, he unzipped her jacket and pushed it from her
shoulders. Holding them both, he nodded toward the bag. His voice shook with
emotion when he whispered, "Hide these until you need them."
She
pulled off her jeans before yanking down her skirt. She wore boots now instead
of high heels, but best to look the part of the Vanessa Warren that would be
instantly recognizable...at least for this first part of the plan.
"They
were going to blow up that part of the hotel with or without me being in the
picture." He held her face between his palms and looked into her eyes.
"I would have gotten a call and rushed in — without the benefit of
spending the past twenty-four hours with you. The hotel going up in flames has
nothing to do with you and me being together. Do you understand that?"
She
nodded.
He
crushed his mouth against hers in a fast and hard kiss that broke the tears
free from where she'd been holding them at bay. He stroked them away with his
thumbs before lifting his head.
"Please
stay safe," he said.
"Make
a good show about being torn up about my disappearance." She forced a
smile. "I want the world to know that a man like you...cared."
"Cares.
Present tense."
Ignoring
that, she stepped from the truck, adjusted the bag, and walked into the train
station with her head held high.
She'd
never been so terrified.
The
train station looked like heaven, all light and activity. A group of backpackers
waited at the gate. Languages of every kind repeated over the loudspeaker
announcing that the train to Paris would board soon.
“One
ticket to Paris.” She slapped money
underneath the ticket counter and tried to calm her breathing.
Ticket
in hand, she elbowed her way through the throng boarding the train, thankful
that she didn't have to wait long. Unfortunately, there weren't many empty
seats and none that afforded her any privacy to change into her disguise.
Pulse
thumping out of control in her neck, she glanced over her shoulder, but
everyone around her looked suspicious in her current paranoid state. Finally
finding a bathroom, she entered and locked the door. As fast as possible, she
pulled on her other clothes, shoved her hair back under the hat, zipped her
coat, and jumped into the hallway just as they announced that they were ready
to depart. Holding her bag in front of her, she
ducked out the back and leapt from the train as the doors closed.
Chest
heaving from the constant fight-or-flight mode, she backed away from the train,
eyes wide as she waited for an assailant to pounce. No one followed.
She
found a quiet wall where some backpackers slept on benches, sank against the
floor, looped her legs over the bag as if preparing to rest with the others,
and pulled her hat to just above her eyes.
The
interior of the train station darkened with the departure of the train bound
for Rome. Footsteps echoed in the vastness.
She
exhaled a long breath, gaze darting between the entrances. Watching. Waiting.
Keep reading!
From the back cover...
One little lie leads to a whole lot of trouble.
Reclusive international resort developer, Dominic Piazza,
needs a date to ward off his matchmaking parents. When he persuades the
notorious Vanessa Warren to play his girlfriend for the night, he has no idea
he's stepped into the crosshairs of kidnappers who will do anything—destroy
everything—to get to her.
Power...it's a heady drug.
Vanessa Warren is America's favorite rebel. Daughter and
granddaughter of US Presidents and sister to a future one, her family
connections and notoriety are seen as leverage for manipulating the White
House—if she's captured.
One true thing...
Trapped in a rapidly escalating international terror plot,
Dominic and Vanessa's lie becomes the only real thing in the midst of
betrayals, conspiracies, and murder. As their world falls apart, they suddenly
only have each other to rely on against ruthless people who will stop at
nothing to achieve their goal. Who can they trust? Who is behind the plot—her
own family, a political rival of her family's, or a terrorist organization? How
far will the kidnappers go—what will they be willing to sacrifice—to control
the power of the White House? Is there anywhere in the world where they can
find safety?
Paperback coming soon
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