Ann Peterson - Claiming His Family

Dex didn’t move. He didn’t even breathe. “I have a son.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact.

“Yes,” Alyson said finally.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded.

“I couldn’t take the chance. I was afraid you’d try to take him away from me.”

His face flushed with anger. “You should have trusted me to do the right thing. You should have damn well told me.”

She let his anger buffet her. He was right. She’d known it in her heart all along. She should have told him. Despite her fear. Despite the risk. “I’m here now. I’m telling you now.”

“Why are you here now, Alyson? Why did you pick tonight of all nights to tell me I had a son?”

“Because…” She forced her words through the thickness in her throat, through the fear tightening her lips. “Because he’s gone.”

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

Out like a lion! That’s our Harlequin Intrigue lineup for March. As if you’d expect anything else.

Debra Webb concludes her trilogy THE SPECIALISTS with Guardian of the Night. Talk about sensuous and surreal and sexy. Man alive! You’re sure to love this potent story that spans the night…and—to be sure—a lifetime. And you can find more COLBY AGENCY stories to follow this terrific spin-off later in the year.

Veteran Harlequin Intrigue author Patricia Rosemoor has created a new miniseries for you called CLUB UNDERCOVER. It’s slick and secretive—just the way we like things here. Fake I.D. Wife is available this month and VIP Protector next month. So get your dancing shoes retreaded for this dynamic duo.

Finally we have two terrific theme promotions for you. Claiming His Family by Ann Voss Peterson is the newest addition to TOP SECRET BABIES. And Marching Orders by Delores Fossen kicks off MEN ON A MISSION. Who could ever resist a man in uniform?

So we hope you like our selections this month and we look forward to seeing you choose Harlequin Intrigue again for more great books of breathtaking romantic suspense.

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Ever since she was a little girl making her own books out of construction paper, Ann Voss Peterson wanted to write. So when it came time to choose a major at the University of Wisconsin, creative writing was her only choice. Of course, writing wasn’t a practical choice—one needs to earn a living. So Ann found jobs ranging from proofreading legal transcripts to working with quarter horses to washing windows. But no matter how she earned her paycheck, she continued to write the type of stories that captured her heart and imagination—romantic suspense. Ann lives near Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, her two young sons, her Border collie and her quarter horse mare. Ann loves to hear from readers. E-mail her at ann@annvosspeterson.com or visit her Web site at annvosspeterson.com

Dex Harrington—A target of revenge, District Attorney Dex Harrington stands to lose everything he cares about: his career, his reputation and the child he never knew he had.

Alyson Fitzroy—A DNA analyst in Wisconsin’s State Crime Lab, Alyson fell in love with Dex years ago. And when their relationship crumbled, so did her heart. But now she must go to him for help if she ever hopes to see their child again.

Andrew Clarke Smythe—The rapist is clever enough to get himself pardoned for his crimes. But that isn’t enough. Now he wants revenge against the district attorney who put him in prison. And he’ll do anything to get it.

John Cohen—Is the assistant district attorney cynical enough that he would sell out his office for cash?

Lee Runyon—How far will the top criminal defense attorney go to serve his clients?

Connie Rasula—Did she lie in order to get Smythe out of prison?

Maggie Daugherty—An employee of the D.A.’s office, Maggie holds a grudge against Alyson. But what is the real reason behind her narrowed eyes and severe frown?

Valerie D’Fonse—The brilliant scientist loves to gossip. But is there something sinister behind her wide smile?

Jennifer Scott—Is the crime lab chemist romantically involved with Andrew Smythe? Or is she part of the conspiracy to get him released?

Al Mylinski—He’ll give his all to serve justice.

To Brett, a true labor of love.

Special thanks to Jerome Geurts, Director of Wisconsin State Crime Lab—Madison for his help. Any errors, omissions or creative license are mine alone.

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

Alyson Fitzroy stared at the television screen and ground her teeth together until the pain shooting along her jaw made her let up. A scene taped earlier in the day flickered on the ten o’clock news. Grinning broadly, Andrew Clarke Smythe swaggered to a waiting limousine, a small crowd of supporters cheering him on from outside the prison gates.

Andrew Clarke Smythe, the most notorious serial rapist in Dane County’s history, was free. And the tests Alyson had performed in Wisconsin’s State Crime Lab were responsible.

Since the day she’d received the order to perform the DNA comparison between blood found under the fingernails of a recent rape victim and the DNA of the imprisoned Smythe, she’d feared this would be the result. But she’d hoped the police would be able to shoot holes in the impossible theory that Smythe had a DNA clone out there committing rape—before he won his appeal for a new trial. She’d never dreamed the governor would bypass the criminal justice system completely and give the Smythe Pharmaceuticals heir a pardon.

She wrapped her arms around herself. She felt sick to her stomach. But as sick as she felt, she knew it had to be worse for Dex.

As if echoing her thoughts, Dane County’s new District Attorney Dex Harrington’s face flashed on the television screen next. Outwardly he looked the same—the all-American male with hair the color of a sun-kissed beach and the square jaw and cleft chin of a superhero. But he’d changed in the past year and a half. She could read it in the hardness in his eyes, the rigid muscles along his jaw. He seemed even more judgmental than he had the last time she’d seen him. The time she’d been the one on whom he was passing judgment. The time she’d come up wanting.

She shoved the bitter memories from her mind. She couldn’t waste her life being bitter. It wouldn’t change anything. And looking at Dex’s face on TV, the solemn line of his lips, the tortured squint of his eyes as he answered the reporters’ questions, bitterness was far from her reach. She felt only regret.

Alyson pushed herself up from the couch and switched off the television. Wrapping her terry-cloth robe tighter around her, she padded out of her comfortable little living room on bare feet and started up the staircase leading to the bedrooms.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she strode past her own bedroom to the closed door at the end of the hall. She paused for a moment and listened. Hearing nothing, she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Though Alyson had closed the windows against the humidity, the air still smelled like the fresh June night outside. She squinted her eyes against the darkness, the full moon obscured by drawn curtains. Only a feeble light from the hall chased away the shadows and revealed the white bars of the crib in the corner. The crib that held the most precious thing in her life.