Contract Bride. Debra Webb

head snapped up at the sound of David’s voice. She hadn’t even realized he’d come in. Three of his friends followed. Had something happened outside? Something she hadn’t heard? Thank God he was here.

      David would help.

      “Russ needs an ambulance!” she shouted, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Please, she prayed, make them hurry.

      “Get him out of here,” David directed.

      Two of David’s friends picked up a deathly still Russ and started for the door.

      “What are they doing?” Jenn asked, a new kind of terror welling in her chest. “Where are they taking him? Someone needs to be doing CPR. He isn’t…”

      David just looked at her, his eyes completely empty of emotion.

      She pushed to her feet. Her knees wobbled. The whole scene felt surreal…like a nightmare. This couldn’t be happening. “Didn’t you hear me?” she demanded of her fiancé. “He needs help. He’s dying!”

      David adjusted the jacket of his elegant tux, then turned to the man at his side. “Kill her.”

      Chapter One

      “No,” Ethan Delaney said firmly. “I don’t do freelance work. You’ll have to find yourself another man.”

      The man on the other end of the line pulled out all the stops with a last-ditch effort to persuade him to reconsider. The offer jumped to a cool million.

      Ethan just shook his head. Anyone who offered that much money was likely up to no good. Especially since they wanted to keep the mission hush-hush and refused to go to the police. Retrieving a supposedly kidnapped relative from a third-world country where drugs were the number-one export was just plain asking for trouble.

      “Good day, Mr. Santiago,” Ethan said, then hung up.

      Some people just couldn’t take no for an answer. Ethan was a Colby agent. He took his assignments from one person and one person only. Victoria Colby. Of course, most of the time those orders were passed along to him by Ian Michaels, her second in command. But Ethan didn’t mind that. He liked Ian. Ethan grinned. He liked the guy’s wife even better. Nicole was really something. She worked at the Colby Agency now, as well, in research mostly. Ian didn’t want the mother of his child doing fieldwork. Ethan couldn’t blame him. If he had a woman like that, he’d take good care of her, too.

      But that wasn’t going to happen. He would never allow himself to get that close to another human being again. Nowadays he kept things simple…uncomplicated.

      A light tap on his office door drew Ethan’s attention in that direction. Amy Wells smiled at him before stepping inside.

      “Hey, Ethan,” she said as she placed a couple of reports in his inbox. She was young…very young. Only twenty-three, if memory served him right. And about as naive as they came. “Mildred asked me to drop off the reports Victoria signed.”

      He leaned back in his chair and gifted the Colby Agency’s receptionist with a high-voltage smile. “Good morning, Amy. I appreciate you delivering those personally.”

      That was all it took. She blushed and immediately started to back out of his office. “Have a nice day.”

      “It would be a lot nicer if you’d agree to have lunch with me,” he suggested, knowing full well what her reaction would be.

      Her eyes rounded. “I—I…ah…think I’ll probably have to work right through lunch.”

      He shook his head solemnly and blew out a breath as if weary of her rejections. “That’s a shame.”

      “Gotta go!” she almost squeaked.

      Ethan chuckled as he watched her all but fly from his office. Her answer was the same every time. The kid was afraid of her shadow and considered him to be some sort of bogeyman. He loved to tease her.

      The intercom on his desk buzzed and he pressed the speaker button. “Delaney here.”

      “Ethan, could you come to my office, please.”

      Victoria. “Sure thing.” He pushed back from his desk and stood. “On my way.”

      Ethan left his office and strolled down the richly carpeted corridor. He winked at Amy as he passed the arched entryway that led to the vacant reception area. She abruptly looked away, color rising in her cheeks once more.

      Elegantly appointed furnishings and tasteful decorating lent the perfect ambiance to the prestigious agency. From the moment a prospective client entered those polished mahogany doors, there was never any question as to the caliber of the staff housed here. But as on most Mondays, it was quiet.

      The Colby Agency was the best in the business of private investigations and personal protection. No one even got close to matching Victoria Colby’s stellar reputation. She had clients from all over the world. She had a staff of highly qualified, handpicked investigators.

      That had been the thing that made Ethan take a second look when she had recruited him. At thirty-one, and only eight years from retirement, he’d walked away from his military career without a backward glance. He clenched his jaw, purposely pushing those thoughts aside. One year later, Victoria had wanted him on her team. At the interview, she’d said that he had come highly recommended by some friend of hers who had military connections. Lucas Camp—whoever he was. Though Ethan had never met him, he knew from Victoria’s description that Camp was one of those top-secret spooks that weren’t supposed to exist. There probably weren’t more than a handful of people alive who knew who Lucas Camp was and what he did. Obviously, Victoria was one of the chosen few. Ethan only knew the rumors.

      Twenty-fours hours after the first meeting between Ethan and Victoria, he had accepted her offer. The salary was outstanding, but that’s not what had sold him on the Colby Agency. Case in point, this morning’s telephone call. Not even a million dollars could buy Ethan Delaney if he didn’t want to be bought.

      Honesty and loyalty were the two qualities that mattered most to him. Victoria didn’t play games and she never, ever allowed herself or her people to be manipulated. Victoria Colby was the genuine article. Straight as an arrow and completely loyal.

      She thoroughly investigated every client who walked through those doors. Ethan didn’t have to worry about being used or set up. He intended personally to insure that that never happened again. Those haunting memories from the past tried to surface once more. He banished them instantly.

      It was over. He couldn’t change the past. But he could damn well prevent history from repeating itself.

      Ethan paused in Victoria’s doorway. She was alone. He’d fully expected to find Ian there as well. “Morning, Victoria.”

      “Good morning, Ethan. Please come in and have a seat.” She gestured to one of the two wingback chairs that flanked her desk. “I have a possible new client I’d like to discuss with you.”

      “Great.” Ethan settled into one of the chairs, thankful for a new assignment. He preferred to stay busy and since he’d completed his last case over a week ago, he was getting a little antsy. “I can be ready to go wherever and whenever you need me—today would be terrific.” The sooner the better, he almost added.

      Victoria smiled. “That’s one of the things I like about you, Ethan. Your enthusiasm for your work.”

      Ethan nodded, acknowledging the compliment. He’d come really close to going in the other direction just before Victoria found him. Three years ago, his last military mission had almost cost him his ability to care, as well as his life. But the Colby Agency had given both back to him.

      He was whole again.

      For the most part, anyway.

      Victoria relaxed into her leather chair and studied him for a moment. It was her way. He’d gotten used to the reflective moments she indulged in. He simply sat back and enjoyed the view.