Versions (The Blacklist Series Book 1) (10 page)

“I trust you.”

He drew a breath. “In the corner. Get low and stay there as long as it takes.”

Her head bobbed and tears distorted what could be her last moment with the first and last man she’d ever love.

“Go.” He disappeared from the doorway.

Rin shrank into the corner. Hot moisture rained onto her cheeks. She buried her face against her knees. A deep breath filled her lungs. She focused and reached for the steely resolve she’d relied on for so long.

About the time she found it two whispered shots knifed the silence. Rin balled her fists. She clung desperately to the promise she made. Luck’s determination to love her and the faith she had in his ability to protect her soothed the nerves jittering her entire body.

The unmistakable screech of the metal door ricocheted off the walls in the flat. A loud thwack followed. The sickening sounds she’d heard at her condo when Nate and Luck fought resumed, but abruptly died.

“I thought you were out of the country. I could have killed you,” Luck barked.

“But I trained you better than that,” Cara Lee’s voice rasped.

Rin’s stomach swan dived off a cliff and refused to surface. She covered her mouth to keep the agonizing screech of joy and misery from escaping.

“Are you hurt?” Luck asked.

“Just a scratch. Popov always did like the blade. I don’t guess she likes it much now, though,” her mom said.

“You drew her out and used Rin as bait?” Luck yelled.

“Yes.”

“Are you out of your damn mind? You put her in danger.”

“No, I didn’t. She had you.”

“And what if something had happened to you?” he demanded.

“Again I say, she has you. I get the feeling you’re better for her than I am.”

“Nothing can compare to the love of a mother. Nothing.”

“Where is she?” the familiar and hardly recognizable voice whispered.

“Where is Popov and where are her men?”

“My team has the agents. The Potomac will get Popov. I didn’t move on my own.”

“Who’d you use?”

“Mercs.”

Footsteps sounded across the floor and she knew he walked loudly to give her a moment to prepare for their arrival. They paused halfway and Velcro screeched. Then he was there, crouching in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, reaching out a hand to steady hers.

“Why are you sorry?” she breathed.

“I’m sorry you’re in here terrified when you didn’t have to be. I’m sorry I’ll hate your mother for a long time for putting you in danger. And I’m a little sorry it’s over, because now you don’t need me.” He kissed her hand and helped her to her feet. “Are you ready to see your mom?”

She clung to his side and nodded. He walked her out like a personal crutch. It was the only way her legs would function.

When she rounded the corner her vision narrowed to an older version of herself. Her mother’s hair flattened to her head in a sleek bun. The tiniest wrinkles gathered at the corners of her crystal blue eyes.

Rin smiled past the tears and torment. There would be time for questions and rage later. Right now, her mother had returned from the dead.

Cara Lee covered her mouth on a quiet sob. “I’m so sorry, my baby.” Tears flooded her eyes.

Rin held tight to Luck’s hand, but walked forward until she was toe-to-toe with her mother. “I’ve missed you.”

The arms that had cradled her from birth to her death wrapped Rin in warmth. Luck released her hand. She squeezed her mother and they sobbed together. For the time they’d missed. For the time they had to come. Rin cried and laughed.

Finally she gripped that mettle she’d forged long ago and straightened. She cradled her mom’s cut cheek and reached for Luck. And his hand was right where she’d left it. He enveloped her hand in his own and she tugged him forward.

“Mom, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Damien Luck.”

Her mom covered a smile.

Suddenly Rin dangled above the ground. Luck hugged her to his chest and kissed her full on the lips.

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear.

“So, I guess I passed your bone test,” he whispered back.

“Oh yeah,” she giggled, more at peace than she’d ever been.

B
ASE BRANCH NOVELS

ENEMY MINE

JUSTICE MINE

STRANGER MINE

WARRIOR MINE

DANGER MINE - JULY 2015

PRISONER MINE - JANUARY 2016

SURVIVOR MINE - APRIL 2016

B
LACKLIST SERIES

VERSIONS

VIRTUES - 2016

B
UREAU SERIES

FOR ALL TO SEE - APRIL 2015

PAINTED WALLS - OCTOBER 2015

A
NTHOLOGIES

COWBOY HEAT: WESTERN ROMANCE FOR WOMEN

HIGH OCTANE HEROES: EROTIC ROMANCE FOR WOMEN

WILD AT HEART VOLUME II

SEX OBJECTS: EROTIC ROMANCE FOR WOMEN - 2015

O
nce they're gone
, can you ever get them back?

A
s a CIA spy
turned traitor to her country, Cara Lee kissed her virtues goodbye long ago. After seventeen years, her retribution ended with the burial of her enemy and a fresh start with her daughter. If only she could forgive herself enough to rebuild their relationship.

Luck—her daughter’s fiancé—wasn’t Cara’s only attempt at atonement. She took Marina Sorensen off a Swedish street corner and schooled her in the art of survival. Too bad the girl sold her and Luck out to the thugs of Brödraskapet.

Her disciplined nature prods Cara to tie the loose end—one way or the other. But the commander of the UN’s special forces has other plans. The last thing she wants is another government job. Given an ultimatum—and a babysitter—she plays along.

Tyler Grace should have been a farmer in east Texas, but the universe had other plans. A tactical expert for the Base Branch, when he finds a problem, he seeks the best way to fix it. Cara presents an obstacle he’s ill prepared to conquer—but he’ll die trying.

Struggling to sort through her past, Cara clings to the one virtue she has left, while Tyler dares to prove she never lost them.

W
hen friends become
enemies and enemies become lovers.

B
orn
in the blood of Sierra Leone's Civil War, enslaved, then sold to the US as an orphan, Base Branch operative Sloan Harris is emotionally dead and driven by vengeance. With no soul to give, her body becomes the bargaining chip to infiltrate a warlord's inner circle. The man called The Devil killed her family and helped destroy a region.

As son of the warlord, Baine Kendrick will happily use Sloan's body if it expedites his father's demise. Yet, he is wholly unprepared for the possessive and protective emotions she provokes. Maybe it’s the flashes of memory … two forgotten children drawing in the dirt beneath the boabab tree… But he fears there is more at stake than his life.

In the Devil's den with Baine by her side, Sloan braves certain death and discovers a spirit for living.

M
egan Mitcham
was born
and raised among the live oaks and shrimp boats of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where her enormous family still calls home. She attended college at the University of Southern Mississippi where she received a bachelor's degree in curriculum, instruction, and special education. For several years Megan worked as a teacher in Mississippi. She married and moved to South Carolina and began working for an international non-profit organization as an instructor and co-director.

In 2009 Megan fell in love with books. Until then, books had been a source for research or the topic of tests. But one day she read
Mercy
by Julie Garwood. And oh, Mercy, she was hooked!

Megan lives in Southern Arkansas where she pens heart pounding romantic thriller novels and window-steaming erotic romance. For information on releases and giveaways subscribe at meganmitcham.com!

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