Bane. BRENDA JACKSON

       Her gaze connected to the most gorgeous pair of hazel eyes.

      At that moment Crystal knew it was Bane. She was about to open the door when she remembered the note. Trust no one. But this wasn’t just anyone. This was Bane.

      She unlocked the door and stepped back. Soft porch light poured into her foyer as Bane stepped in. He’d always been tall, but the man entering her house appeared a lot taller than she remembered. And he was no longer slender. He was all muscles, perfectly proportioned to his height and weight. And when her gaze settled on his face, she drew in a sharp breath. He even looked different. Rougher. Tougher.

      He closed the door behind him and her heart pounded. A part of her wanted to race to him, tell him how glad she was to see him, how much she had missed him, but she couldn’t. Her legs refused to move and she knew why.

      For some reason this Bane was like a stranger to her. Had five years of separation done that to them?

      * * *

      Bane is part of New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson’s The Westmorelands series: a family bound by loyalty … and love!

      Bane

      Brenda Jackson

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      BRENDA JACKSON is a New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred romance titles. Brenda lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and divides her time between family, writing and traveling.

      Email Brenda at [email protected] or visit her on her website at www.brendajackson.net.

      To the man who will always and forever be the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

      So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. —James 1:19

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

       Five

       Six

       Seven

       Eight

       Nine

       Ten

       Eleven

       Twelve

       Thirteen

       Fourteen

       Fifteen

       Sixteen

       Seventeen

       Eighteen

       Nineteen

       Twenty

       Twenty-One

       Twenty-Two

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

Prologue

      “You wanted to see me, Dil?” Brisbane Westmoreland asked, walking into his eldest brother Dillon’s home office.

      The scenic view out the window was that of Gemma Lake, the main waterway that ran through the rural part of Denver the locals referred to as Westmoreland Country. For Bane, this was home. This wasn’t Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, which meant he didn’t have to worry about booby traps, enemies hiding behind trees and bushes or the boat dock being wired with explosives set to go off the second someone stepped on it. Westmoreland Country was a place where he felt safe. All in all, he was glad to be back home.

      Thanksgiving dinner had ended hours ago, and keeping with family traditions, everyone had gathered outside for a game of snow volleyball. Now the females in the Westmoreland family had gathered in the sitting room to watch a holiday movie with the kids, and the men had gone upstairs for a card game.

      “Yes, come on in, Bane.”

      Bane stopped in front of Dillon’s desk. He knew Dillon was studying him with that sharp eye of his, taking in every detail. And he could imagine what his brother was thinking. Bane was not the same habitual troublemaker who had left Westmoreland Country five years ago to make something of himself.

      Bane would be the first to admit that a lot in his life had changed. He was now military through and through, both mentally as well as physically. Since graduating from the naval academy and becoming a navy SEAL, he’d learned a lot, seen a lot and done a lot...all in the name of the United States government.

      “I want to know how you’re doing,” Dillon inquired, interrupting Bane’s thoughts.

      Bane drew in a deep breath. He wished he could answer truthfully. Under normal circumstances he would say he was in prime fighting condition, but that was not the case. During his team’s last covert operation, an enemy’s