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Wednesday, October 10, 2018

she has to trust him in a game they might not survive... Honor Among SEALs (Hearts of Valor #2) by Dixie Lee Brown

"An exciting adventure with plenty of mystery and suspense is woven together artfully. The romance is almost secondary, but wonderful. Great characters and plot." - Billie, Goodreads


Description:

Published: October 9th, 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...

EXCERPT
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.

About the author:
Dixie Lee Brownlives 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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