Elle James - Deadly Fall

New York Times bestselling author Elle James’s chilling romance brings together a billionaire and his beautiful bodyguard!

In a Gothic mansion on a windy coast, former soldier Dixie Reeves and her client, billionaire Andrew Stratford, are in grave danger. The single dad has hired her to help him protect his daughter from a mysterious threat. As their enemy closes in, even tough-as-nails Dixie has to hold her nerve...and keep her guard up to stop herself from falling for Andrew and his adorable little girl. The long nights pass, and Dixie and her handsome boss can’t deny they’re barreling toward the kind of love that changes lives. That is, if they can somehow keep their instant family safe from the danger at the door!

The deep, resonant tone of Mr. Stratford’s voice filled the room, making it seem smaller, more intimate.

The soft glow of the lamp on the nightstand brought them closer together. They probably looked like a family.

Dix jerked upright. She hadn’t come to Stratford’s mansion to become part of his family. She’d come to protect this family.

She glanced around, wondering where Leigha’s mother was and why she wasn’t there, taking care of her child.

Fontaine had told her she would be the bodyguard for the Stratford family. From what she could tell, that family consisted of two people. Father and daughter. And the daughter called her father Mr. Stratford.

Why?

As her father read, Leigha’s eyes closed. Dix backed away from the bed, her hand clenching around the damp cloth. Her goal was to leave the room and perform the search of the giant house for any weaknesses in entry and exit points.

She’d almost made it to the door when a little voice said, “Please don’t go.”

* * *

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Dear Reader,

With a heavy heart I wrote this book, knowing it was the last in the Devil’s Shroud series. I’ve grown to love Cape Churn and all the members of the Stealth Operations Specialists team who’ve made this little town their home. I’ll miss Sheriff Taggert and his wife, Nora, and sheriff’s deputy Gabe McGregor and his talented artist wife, Kayla. We won’t be going back to McGregor B and B to sample Mollie’s best clam chowder or sit on the porch with Creed and Emma, Nova, Jillian or any of the other characters we love as we stare out over the beautiful Pacific Ocean at sunset.

I hope you enjoy this last installment as we bring back Andrew Stratford, the eccentric billionaire, his daughter, Leigha, and the newest addition to the Stealth Operations Specialists: former army ranger and MMA fighter Dix Evans, as she finally finds a place to call home, a little girl to love and a man who has the patience and ability to help her through her own issues.

Enjoy discovering the secrets of Stratford House and the beautiful Oregon coast, and thank you for coming along for the ride!

Elle James

Deadly Fall

Elle James

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ELLE JAMES, a New York Times bestselling author, started writing when her sister challenged her to write a romance novel. She has managed a full-time job and raised three wonderful children, and she and her husband even tried ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas). Ask her, and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with an angry 350-pound bird! Elle loves to hear from fans at ellejames@earthlink.net or ellejames.com.

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This book is dedicated to my readers, who buy my books and let me live the dream of writing full-time. Without you, I’d still be commuting to work wearing business clothes and tight shoes instead of working at my desk in my yoga pants, barefoot.

Also to my family, who puts up with my late-night writing, taking my laptop on vacations and letting the cooking and cleaning go when I’m on deadline. They know I’m working and try to get along without me.

I also dedicate this book to my little dogs who remind me to get out of my chair and take them outside. They keep me company during the day when I’m writing and are just happy to be with me. Okay! Okay! I’m getting up. Sheesh! You could at least have let me finish my dedication...

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

“Leigha?” Andrew Stratford called out.

The old mansion had been quiet for too long.

“Leigha?” he said a little louder.

He glanced up from the computer terminal, having spent the last three hours day-trading, buying as the prices on several of the stocks he had his eye on dipped to an all-time low.

He’d made his fortune on Wall Street. Since the accident, he’d left it all behind and moved to Cape Churn, Oregon. Giving up the high-stress job of managing the fortunes of other people to only managing his own portfolio had been a decision he’d never regret.

Not that he’d had much of a choice. With the scars he’d acquired, his high-powered, beautiful clients would be less likely to come to entrust their money to him. So intent on being the wealthiest, most beautiful people money could buy, they wouldn’t have the courage to face a man with a wicked scar running from the base of his jaw up to his eye. The burn scars on his right hand would be a deal breaker in a society where a good handshake was a measure of a man’s character.

But the main reason he’d come back to Oregon was the reason he rose from his desk.

“Leigha,” he called out.

Now that he had a daughter to look after, he couldn’t live the fast-paced, late-night lifestyle he’d been living for the past ten years as one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. And, frankly, he didn’t want to. He’d burned the candle at both ends with a high-powered job and a jet-setter lifestyle. Sure, he’d amassed a fortune, but what else did he have to show for it?

Andrew stretched. He needed to get up and move. His housekeeper, Mrs. Dottie Purdy, had ducked in an hour ago saying she needed to stock the pantry and Leigha preferred to stay and play.

Normally, Leigha played in the big mansion with Brewer, her black Labrador retriever. Andrew could count on the reassuring sound of little feet and canine toenails clicking across wooden floors. For the past fifteen minutes there had been nothing. No sounds, no squeals of delight or soft-spoken tea parties in the salon two doors down from Andrew’s office.

Silence used to be calming when he was a bachelor without a care in the world. Now that he had Leigha, silence was disconcerting.

The little girl was always into something. Though she was abnormally solemn, she was a natural-born explorer and adventurer. She reminded Andrew of himself at that age. His nanny had despaired of keeping up with him. Unfortunately, Stratford House perched on the edge of a three-hundred-foot cliff. If she wandered too far from the house, Leigha could fall to a very grisly death on the jagged rocks below.