Her Private Avenger. Elle Kennedy

      Chapter 1

      “I don’t like being summoned.” Quinn leaned against the wide door frame and directed a withering look at the silver-haired man behind the desk.

      “I don’t like summoning you. And I certainly don’t like needing your help.” Edward Kerr’s features grew pained, as if the admission caused him physical torture.

      Intrigued, Quinn stepped into the spacious office, his black boots barely making a sound as he crossed the pristine parquet floor toward Kerr. A lone visitor’s chair sat in front of the forbidding mahogany desk but he made no move to sit down. He didn’t plan to stay long. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure why he showed up here to begin with. Two years ago he’d vowed never to lay eyes on this man—or his daughter—again. Why he’d broken that vow still eluded him.

      He examined the older man’s face, saw the worry flickering in Kerr’s dark blue eyes, and his intrigue deepened. Revealing his weaknesses was not in Edward Kerr’s character. His entire career could be credited to his ruthless nature, his ability to remain poised and controlled in any situation. Which raised the question—what was causing Kerr’s obvious anxiety?

      Or perhaps he should be asking whom.

      “Morgan is in trouble,” Kerr said, getting right to the point.

      Something that resembled concern tugged at Quinn’s gut. He managed to paste on a mask of indifference and said, “So?”

      “That’s your response? So?” Disbelief washed across the older man’s face. “This doesn’t worry you?”

      “Worry suggests I actually give a damn about Morgan’s well-being.” He offered a cool smile. “I don’t.”

      “You’re lying.”

      Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. “Is this the reason you called me, to inform me that your daughter is in trouble? If so, you’ve wasted both our time.”

      A pleading note entered Kerr’s gravelly voice. “I need you to help her.”

      He shook his head in irritation before taking two steps back toward the door. “Good night, Edward.”

      “Goddamn it, Quinn! She’s in danger!”

      Another step to the door. Don’t look back, a little voice warned. He’s playing you. They’re both playing you.

      “She’s missing, Quinn.”

      A flicker of alarm. Ignore it, keep walking.

      Almost at the doorway. One more step and he’d be out of here. Free of Edward Kerr. Free of Morgan. Free of the torna do of memories that assaulted him the moment he’d heard her name.

      “She tried to kill herself last week.”

      That last revelation made him freeze. Before he could stop it, the image of Morgan’s gorgeous face swept into the forefront of his brain. Her wavy blond hair, always haphazardly falling onto her regal forehead. Those perceptive blue eyes that tilted upward just enough to make her look exotic. The stubborn slant of her chin, the delicate earlobes she refused to pierce. Then he heard her voice in his head, her sassy no-nonsense tone, spoken in a throaty pitch that made her sound as if she walked around with a perpetual cold.

      And he remembered her fire, her determination, her will.

      Slowly, he turned to face the father of the woman he’d once desperately loved.

      “Bull,” he said flatly. “She would never try to take her own life.”

      “I’m telling the truth.” Kerr’s eyes became shuttered, but there