Extreme Danger. Shannon McKenna
Praise for Shannon McKenna
“A passionate, intense story about two people rekindling lost love in the middle of a dangerous, heart-pounding situation. Intricate storylines give the book depth and power, tying in the edge-of-your-seat ending with flawless ease.”
—Romantic Times on Edge of Midnight (4½ starred review)
“Wild boy Sean McCloud takes center stage in McKenna’s romantic suspense series. Full of turbocharged sex scenes, this action-packed novel is sure to be a crowd pleaser.”
—Publishers Weekly on Edge of Midnight
“Highly creative, erotic sex and constant danger.”
—Romantic Times on Hot Night, (4½ starred review and a Top Pick!)
“Super-sexy suspense! Shannon McKenna does it again.”
—Cherry Adair on Hot Night
“[A] scorcher. Romantic suspense at its best!”
—Romantic Times on Out of Control (4½ starred review)
“Well-crafted romantic suspense. McKenna builds sexual chemistry and tension between her characters to a level of intensity that explodes into sexually explicit love scenes.”
—Romantic Times on Return to Me (4½ starred review)
“Summer just got hotter with the release of Shannon McKenna’s new erotic thriller. An intensely emotional romance heightened by a dark, intricate plot makes Standing in the Shadows a top-notch page-turner you won’t want to miss.”
—Romantic Times (4½ starred review and a Top Pick!)
SHANNON MCKENNA
EXTREME DANGER
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter
1
Just a little engagement celebration, the e-mail had said. An intimate get-together for close friends, at the bride-to-be’s family’s country home out in Endicott Falls.
Hah. There had to be forty-five, fifty people circulating out there on the terrace and the party was going strong, music blasting from the sound system. A definite wedding vibe. No mistaking that taint.
Nick hated weddings. Everything about them made him tense. Even the super happy ones, when the bride and groom were deliriously in love and had cartoon birdies fluttering in circles around their head. Especially that kind, Nick thought, staying in his hiding place behind the climbing rose trellis. The higher you flew, the farther you had to fall. And Sean McCloud was flying very high tonight.
Watching the guy and his fiancée, Liv, laughing and kissing, stuffing tidbits into each others’ glowing faces, slurping champagne, gave him the same tight feeling in his gut that he got from shark movies. Happy little kids frolicked in the surf, and meanwhile, dadum…dadum… He’d never figured out why people voluntarily watched movies like that. He himself did everything in his power to avoid that kind of emotion. He’d felt enough already to last a lifetime.
He ground his teeth, scanning the room for Tamara. She was the only reason he’d come to this damn party, and the only reason that he stayed, too. One more chance to pump her for info on Vadim Zhoglo. Before she cut Nick’s balls off to make herself a necklace. That was the threat she’d made the last time he’d pestered her about it.
He was pondering that unpleasant prospect while he watched Davy McCloud, one of the groom’s brothers, trying to persuade his extremely pregnant wife to dance with him. He wasn’t having much luck at it, but a passionate kiss with lots of tongue seemed to appease him.
Goddamn show-offs, the whole pack of them.
There were plenty of hot young single women at the party, lots of plunging necklines and come-hither glances. Some of them had been strategically positioning themselves to be on his prowl trajectory. Bleah.
He used to enjoy this kind of situation, way back in the dawn of time, before his life went to shit. He used to have a smooth way with women, at least in the initial approach. He had enough charm to get them into bed and enough skill to show them a damn good time once they were there. But not a lot else, as the ladies soon found out. It got kind of exhausting after a while.
But he couldn’t work up the energy to care about that tonight.
Two young girls jostled him in the doorway where he lurked, jolting him out of his reverie. They reeled away, giggling. Cute kids. About the same age as Sergei’s little Sveti. If she was still alive.
Which got more doubtful every fucking day.
“Hey. Try to contain your joy, why don’t you. Your enthusiasm is a little overwhelming.”
Nick stiffened at the familiar voice. He took a swallow of his whiskey, and turned to face Connor McCloud, the groom’s other brother, and Nick’s former colleague in the Cave, the FBI task force to which they both used to belong. The guy was clean-cut tonight, for him. Connor had probably been blackmailed into shaving and cutting his hair for the occasion, but he still managed to look rumpled. And very tired.
The cause of his exhaustion slept on his chest, nestled in a front carrier. Four-month-old Kevin McCloud. The carrier’s star, moon and teddy bear motif looked truly weird with Con’s dark tailored suit.
Nick frowned at the small, reddish-looking creature. “Kid threw up on your jacket,” he observed with distaste.
Con’s eyes went soft as he glanced down at the baby. “Sure did,” he said proudly. “He’s a regular little geyser. From both ends.”
Nick was failing in his attempt to keep his lip from curling. He put his drink to his mouth for camouflage, took a swig.
“Excuse me for mentioning it, but that stuff is not doing your mood any good. Maybe you should slow down,” Con suggested.
Nick fought the urge to snarl, and lost. “Con, it’s great that you