âI didnât want to tell you like this, Lee. But Iâm Malone. Iâve come back.â
âNo.â Ainslie shook her head. âNo, Maloneâs dead. Youâre someone called John Smith, and right from the start youâve come up with one crazy story after the other. Youâre not Malone. I buried Malone.â
âAsk me anything about our time together.â His voice was edged. âI remember it all.â
âHe made me a promise. You canât know about that.â Ainslie heard her own voice as if it was coming from a long way away, through the enveloping mist of pain.
âI promised you Iâd never leave you the way youâd been left before. Youâd had a nightmare, and I heard you crying out in your sleep. I held you and you told me about your dream.â His eyes were dark as he grabbed her wrists. âDonât you get it, Lee? I didnât break my promise to you. Iâve come back., dammit!â
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
May holds more mayhem for you in this action-packed month of terrific titles.
Patricia Rosemoor revisits her popular series THE MCKENNA LEGACY in this first of a two-book miniseries. Irishman Curran McKenna has a gift for gentling horsesâand the ladies. But Thoroughbred horse owner Jane Grantham refuses to be tamedâespecially when she is guarding not only her heart, but secrets that could turn deadly. Will she succumb to this Mysterious Stranger?
Bestselling author Joanna Wayne delivers the final book in our MORIAHâS LANDING in-line continuity series. In Behind the Veil, we finally meet the brooding recluse Dr. David Bryson. Haunted for years by his fiancéeâs death, he meets a new woman in town who wants to teach him how to love again. But when she is targeted as a killerâs next victim, David will use any means necessary to make sure that history doesnât repeat itself.
The Bride and the Mercenary continues Harper Allenâs suspenseful miniseries THE AVENGERS. For two years Ainslie OâConnor believed that the man sheâd passionately lovedâSeamus Maloneâwas dead. But then she arrives at her own society wedding, only to find that her dead lover is still alive! Will Seamusâs memory return in time to save them both?
And finally, we are thrilled to introduce a brand-new authorâLisa Childs. You wonât want to miss her very first book Return of the Lawmanâwith so many twists and turns, it will keep you guessingâ¦and looking for more great stories from her!
Happy reading,
Denise OâSullivan
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin Intrigue
Harper Allen lives in the country in the middle of a hundred acres of maple trees with her husband, Wayne, six cats, four dogsâand a very nervous cockatiel at the bottom of the food chain. For excitement she and Wayne drive to the nearest village and buy jumbo bags of pet food. She believes in love at first sight, because it happened to her.
Ainslie OâConnellâTwo years ago she buried the only man she would ever love. But when she glimpses a stranger on the way to her wedding, sheâs almost certain Malone has come back from the deadâ¦.
Seamus MaloneâHe was killed by a sniperâs bullet. Wasnât he?
Terrence SullivanâAinslieâs P.I. brother, Sully knows that the man she loved hid a dark past. But does the man who looks like Malone have an even more dangerous secret?
Pearson McNeilâOlder than Ainslie and slightly stuffy, heâs offered her his hand in marriage. Being jilted at the altar wasnât part of the deal.
Brian McNeilâHeâs angry at the way Ainslie has treated his brother. But is his anger a cover for a more deadly intention?
Paul CosgroveâHe was Maloneâs partner when the two of them worked for the mysterious âAgency,â and he saw him die. Now his own life seems to have fallen apart.
Noah WatkinsâHeâs tracked the international assassin called the Executioner for two years. When he finds him heâll kill him without a qualm.
The ExecutionerâHeâs responsible for too many deaths to count, and his identity has remained a secret. But does he himself know who and what he is?
To Sean Cole with thanks.
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
They made little shovels especially for this, Ainslie OâConnell thought in dull wonder, taking it from the man beside her and grasping it by the handle. Who would have thought it? The shaft was of oak, so smooth that it felt like silk instead of wood, and the blade itself gleamed like polished silver. It was almost too pretty to use.
âYou donât have to do this if you donât want to, Lee.â The low voice at her shoulder was thick with emotion. She looked up.
âNo, Iâm okay.â She looked down again at the shining shovel, the heap of brown loam at her feet. âBut Iâm not really sure how this works. Am I supposed to take a full shovelful, or is it just kind of symbolic, Paul?â