Joyce Sullivan - The Butler's Daughter

“My dress?” Juliana inquired. Her voice was hesitant. Alarmed.

Hunter smiled despite his fatigue. “The servants will expect some evidence of a romantic evening. I’ll close my eyes, I promise.” He obediently closed his eyes. Never had he imagined that the whisper of fabric against skin could be so tantalizing.

“My father warned me about rich boys like you.”

“Your father is a smart man,” Hunter retorted, “but you’re safe with me.” A vision of her naked before him turned his body to pulsating awareness. He counted her footsteps across the room, his breath exploded in his chest, and he reminded himself that asking her to remove her clothes was his idea.

“Hunter?”

He hoped she wasn’t going to ask him whether she could expect to find him in her bed when she woke up. He couldn’t trust himself with the answer to that question.

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

This month Harlequin Intrigue has an enthralling array of breathtaking romantic suspense to make the most of those last lingering days of summer.

The wait is finally over! The next crop of undercover agents who belong to the newest branch of the top secret Confidential organization are about to embark on an unbelievable adventure. Award-winning reader favorite Gayle Wilson will rivet you with the launch book of this brand-new ten-story continuity series. COLORADO CONFIDENTIAL will begin in Harlequin Intrigue, break out into a special release anthology and finish in Harlequin Historicals. In Rocky Mountain Maverick, an undeniably sexy undercover agent infiltrates a powerful senator’s ranch and falls under the influence of an intoxicating impostor. Be there from the very beginning!

The adrenaline rush continues in The Butler’s Daughter by Joyce Sullivan, with the first book in her new miniseries, THE COLLINGWOOD HEIRS. A beautiful guardian has been entrusted with the care of a toddler-sized heir, but now they are running for their lives and she must place their safety in an enigmatic protector’s tantalizing hands! Ann Voss Peterson heats things up with Incriminating Passion when a targeted “witness” to a murder manages to inflame the heart of a by-the-book assistant D.A.

Finally rounding out the month is Semiautomatic Marriage by veteran author Leona Karr. Will the race to track down a killer culminate in a real trip down the aisle for an undercover husband and wife?

So pick up all four of these pulse-pounding stories and end the summer with a bang!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Harlequin Intrigue, Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Joyce credits her lawyer mother with instilling in her a love of reading and writing—a fascination for solving mysteries. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and worked several years as a private investigator before turning her hand to writing romantic suspense. A transplanted American, Joyce makes her home in Aylmer, Quebec, with her handsome French-Canadian husband and two children. A visit to the Thousand Islands, where this story is set, gave her the inspiration to write about a hero and his castle.

Ross and Lexi Collingwood—He was the Baron of Wall Street. After their baby daughter was kidnapped and never returned, they went to extreme measures to hide the birth of their son and new heir from the world.

Goodhew—What did the butler know about the explosion that killed Ross and Lexi Collingwood?

Juliana Goodhew—She was the butler’s daughter, who’d agreed to raise the Collingwood heir as her own son.

Hunter Sinclair—This reclusive multimillionaire lived a double life as The Guardian. He’d do anything—even marry a woman he’d never met—to save his godson from a killer.

Annette York—Lexi’s sister. The baby was her only family left.

Kendrick Dwyer—The president and chief financial officer of the Collingwood Corporation. Was he too eager to fill Ross’s shoes as CEO?

David Younge—The controller. Had he been on his way out of the corporation? Or on his way up?

Sable Holden and Phillip Ballard—Ross Collingwood had ruthlessly bought out their companies in hostile takeovers. Did they want revenge?

Nonnie Wilson—Was the Collingwoods’ missing cook somehow involved in the bombing?

Stacey Kerr—Lexi’s personal secretary. Who was she sleeping with?

Gord Nevins—Could the household manager of the Collingwood estate be trusted?

To my daughter Elise

for the joy she brings me.

My sincere thanks to Denise O’Sullivan,

who recognized The Butler’s Daughter before I did.

And to the generous people listed below who answered

my tedious questions about their lives and their jobs

or provided valuable input to my plot.

From the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police services:

Jackie Oakley; Constable Bob Arbour, Bomb Tech;

and Sergeant Dave Lockhart, Intelligence Section.

Also, Mr. Victor Robles, The City Clerk, The City of

New York; Tom McCormick, W. J. Van Dusen Professor of

Management, UBC Commerce; New York State Police

Trooper Lieutenant Jamie Mills; Dr. Steven W. Maclean;

Pilot Pierre Duchaine; Ellen Hall; Judy McAnerin;

T. Lorraine Vassalo; and Rickey R. Mallory.

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

Epilogue

They weren’t going to make it to Severance tonight, Juliana Goodhew realized, resigning herself to that fact as another heart-wrenching wail erupted from her five-month-old charge who was strapped into the infant carrier in the back seat of the SUV. Cort Collingwood’s cry fractured into a refrain of sharp, desolate sobs that reverberated off the windows like steel balls.

Poor Cort was making it clear he’d had enough of traveling for one day. They’d missed their morning flight from Cleveland because he’d spent a restless, irritable night, and she’d taken him to the doctor only to discover Cort had an ear infection. The pain reliever she’d given him a few hours ago must have worn off.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” she crooned, trying to soothe him with her voice as she searched the dark New York interstate for an exit and lodging for the night. “I was hoping you’d sleep for most of the trip and before you knew it…you’d be in your parents’ arms.”

Emotion gathered tight in her throat at the thought of Lexi waiting anxiously for their arrival. Spending one more sleepless night without her baby. Lexi hadn’t seen her son since she’d tearfully handed him over to Juliana’s safekeeping when he was three days old. “They’re so anxious to see you again, pumpkin. They love you so much. But the reunion will have to wait until morning, after we’ve both had a rest.”