Paula Graves - Kentucky Confidential

The return of the wife he thought was lost and a baby he never knew existed will make this a Christmas to remember...

Captain Connor McGinnis has seen a ghost. Staring at a surveillance photo of a Kaziri immigrant, there can be no mistaking that the starkly beautiful—and visibly pregnant—woman in a head scarf is his wife, Risa. The woman he presumed was dead after her plane crashed into the ocean.

Risa McGinnis, relocated by the CIA when they learned of a price on her head, has settled into the guise of a widowed immigrant. Confronting Connor again resurrects sweet memories and a burning passion. But until this unknown enemy is captured, Risa must focus more on Connor’s protection than on their attraction. After all, the strength of her marriage—and the safety of her baby—depends on it...

Resourceful, he thought. That was Risa.

He felt a familiar tug low in his gut, a pull of attraction and admiration and awe, all wrapped up in one small, brilliant woman. And then, like a slow-rolling detonation, the delayed impact of the reality he’d been tamping down beneath his game face finally hit him with devastating force.

She’s alive.

Shock waves of pent-up emotion blew through him, and he ended up dropping to the cold bus stop bench before his knees buckled.

He took several deep breaths, his heart hammering as if he’d run for miles. Risa sat beside him, her compact body warm, and she put her hand on his arm.

“What’s wrong?”

How could he tell her what he was feeling when he couldn’t trust the emotions? Yes, he was thrilled beyond words that she was alive. He had mourned her deeply, longed for her when she was no longer within his reach, but those feelings seemed to belong to another person.

A person who couldn’t have imagined that his wife would let him believe she was dead when she was very much alive.

And carrying his child.

Kentucky Confidential

Paula Graves

www.millsandboon.co.uk

PAULA GRAVES, an Alabama native, wrote her first book at the age of six. A voracious reader, Paula loves books that pair tantalizing mystery with compelling romance. When she’s not reading or writing, she works as a creative director for a Birmingham advertising agency and spends time with her family and friends. Paula invites readers to visit her website, www.paulagraves.com.

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Connor McGinnis—His wife, Risa, died in a terrorist attack almost eight months ago. Or did she? A surveillance photo of a pregnant Kaziri immigrant leads the former Marine on a search for the truth. But can he live with what he finds?

Risa McGinnis, aka Yasmin Hamani—She’s come to terms with living a lie to protect herself and the child she’s carrying. But when the past she left behind storms into her new life, everything she’s fought to preserve may be destroyed.

Martin Dalrymple—Risa’s only contact with her past has gone silent. Why has he stopped communication with her? Is his own life in danger?

Alexander Quinn, Maddox Heller and Rebecca Cameron—Connor’s bosses at Campbell Cove Security Services have promised their support in his search for the truth about his dead wife.

Farid Rahimi—Risa’s boss at the restaurant where she works undercover as a waitress named Yasmin pings her danger radar. But why?

Tahir Mahmood—The brutal terrorist was presumed dead after an explosion years ago. But is it possible he’s still alive? And could he be behind the ongoing threats to Risa’s life?

Jesse Cooper—Convinced someone high in the government may be trying to kill Risa, Connor reaches out to this security expert with experience dealing with government conspiracies.

Leland Garrett—Is the Homeland Security agent friend or foe?

For my editor, Allison, whose Raylan Givens

love led to this series.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Dedication

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

Chapter Seventeen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“She’s dead,” Connor McGinnis whispered, though his eyes declared the words a lie.

On the street below his window, the woman he was surveilling tugged her faded coat more tightly around her swollen belly and waited for the chance to cross the street. A light wind swept snow flurries in small white eddies down the street and threatened to whip the gauzy roosari from her head. Grabbing the scarf as it slid down to reveal the dark luster of her wavy hair, she tugged it back into place, but not before he got a look at her face.

Her intimately familiar face.

She looked tired and careworn, but there were no signs that she’d been injured. Of course, the crash had happened months earlier. She might have had time to heal from even a serious injury.

Though how she’d survived the blast in the first place...

He tamped down a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. Not yet. Emotions on the battlefield could be deadly. And if Risa was still alive, he was already engaged in a war he hadn’t known about only a few days ago.

If Risa was still alive. He couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it yet, no matter what his eyes were telling him. He’d seen news footage of the wreckage found floating in the water off the coast of Japan. Even if someone had survived the bomb blast that sent the jet hurtling into the Pacific Ocean, no one would have come out of that crash unscathed. And Risa’s name was on the passenger manifest, which meant she’d gotten on the plane.

He didn’t know how this woman could be Risa, no matter how much she looked like her.

Except there were ways to fake passenger manifests, weren’t there? Ways to fool transportation security. It was one of the biggest nightmares facing national security agencies worldwide.

Traffic cleared momentarily, and the woman started across the street. Her gaze darted around, right and left, in front and behind, as she made the short transit from one corner to another.

Hypervigilant, he thought.

Reasonable, he supposed, for a refugee from war-torn Kaziristan.

Or for a woman hiding from her past.

Stop. It’s not Risa. It can’t be.

He was grasping at straws. Letting what he wanted get in the way of what actually was.

That was a good way to drive himself insane. He had to keep his emotions out of the equation. Think logically. Deal in facts.

If Risa had survived the crash, she’d have found a way to let him know.

Wouldn’t she?

He lost sight of the woman—the woman who couldn’t possibly be Risa—as she turned at the corner and walked under the narrow awnings of the storefronts below the shabby apartment he’d rented earlier that morning. He resisted the urge to run to the ground floor and follow her down the street. It wasn’t time to make that particular move.