A federal agent falls for his target in the newest Coltons of Shadow Creek romance!
On the hunt for escaped criminal mastermind Livia Colton, FBI agent Josh Howard knows just where to start: the fugitiveâs family. Namely, Liviaâs eldest daughter, Leonor Colton, who was very close to her criminal mother. Could the alluring museum curator be hiding the Colton matriarch? Maybe.
Undercover as a billionaire art collector, Josh is invited into Leonorâs life. Heâs surprised to find that the heiress, betrayed by an ex and at odds with her siblings, needs a strong shoulder, and there Josh is all ears. But when an attempt is made on Leonorâs life, Josh finds his cover is about to be blownâalong with his unexpected true feelings for his Colton connection.
âAnd just what is it that you really want to doâbut donât?â Leonor asked him in a voice that had mysteriously gone down to just above a whisper.
As it was, her voice sounded very close to huskyâand he found it hopelessly seductive.
Standing just inside her suite, Leonor waited for him to answer while her heart continued to imitate the rhythm of a drum roll that only grew louder by the moment.
Josh weighed his options for a moment. Damned if he did and damned if he didnât, he couldnât help thinking. And then he answered her.
âKiss you,â he told Leonor, saying the words softly, his breath caressing the skin on her face.
She felt her stomach muscles quickening.
âMaybe you should go ahead and do that,â she told him. âI promise I wonât stop you.â
* * *
The Coltons of Shadow Creek:
Only family can keep you safe...
Prologue
âYou, lady, are a real piece of work.â
At the moment, there was no one else in the FBI field office in San Antonio, Texas with Special Agent Joshua Howard. His words were addressed to the photograph of Livia Colton he had pulled from the file on his desk. A file he had gone over and reviewed countless times in the last few days.
Livia, or rather, her untimely escape from prison, was the reason he was about to temporarily relocate to Shadow Creek, a place unofficially known as âthe town that Livia built,â and with good reason.
Josh shook his head as by now all too familiar details danced before his brown eyes. The life of the attractive, blond-haired, fifty-two-year-old illegitimate product of a one-night stand between one of the wealthier Coltons and a drug-addicted prostitute read like something out of a Hollywood movie, right down to the part where, by all indications, Liviaâs once-unchecked sociopathic behavior rivaled that of a classic âbad seed.â
While behaving lovingly toward her easily manipulated father, Livia was ruthless toward her half siblings. Rumor had it that, by his own admission, Livia was the only person whom Matthew Colton, her convicted serial killer half brother, truly feared. In Joshâs book, that was saying a great deal.
Marrying and discarding husbands as if they were used tissues, Livia amassed a considerable fortune and six children along the way, all presumably with different fathers. Resorting to her natural cunning, she managed to quadruple her fortune through organized crime. Sheâd trafficked in drugs, women and whatever else might have been profitable at the moment.
Her children, she barely tolerated unless there was a photographer within the vicinity to immortalize her with them. She had been a great one for photo ops. There had been one offspring, her oldest daughter, Leonor, whom people said she disliked less than the rest.
Not exactly a glowing testimony, Josh thought.
The living definition of a wild child Livia Colton had finally given, before her downfall, at least outwardly, all the signs of wanting to settle down. Sheâd gotten married again, this time to an Argentine horse breeder who it was said treated her children far better than she did. She had had her last child, Jade, with him.
Playing the part of a benevolent pillar of the community, Livia built the town she had adopted a much-needed hospital, funded most of their 4-H program, allowed other ranchers to use her water supply without charge and threw legendary parties. Shadow Creekâs society worshipfully revolved around her. No one questioned where her rather fabulous wealth came from, especially not those who benefited from it.