He's an investigator on a mission, but it's
impossible to ignore the brilliant woman helping him complete it…
His sister's life is at stake, and despite his
wealth and power, Sheik Emir Al-Nassar feels helpless. At least heading his
family's security agency provides him with resources to track down her
kidnappers.
But when the ace profiler he's sent turns out to be K. J.—Kate—Gelinsky,
Emir is furious. Finding the kidnappers' desert hideout is dangerous enough
without the distraction of a beautiful woman.
But K.J. is unlike any woman he's ever known. Her
fearlessness and incisive mind inspires Emir's admiration. And her compassion
breaches his guarded heart. Still, rescuing his sister is a perilous mission.
And allowing desire to cloud his focus could endanger them all.
“You’re the new agent?” he asked, the words heavy with
disbelief. “You’re the one Adam recommended?”
“Yes,” she said brightly. “I’m K.J.—”
“This won’t work,” he said. His thoughts were clouded with
anger at the thought of what Adam had done, of how much time might be wasted,
and of Tara whose life would be fur- ther endangered now that there was no help
forthcoming.
Her wide, smoky-blue eyes narrowed. “By ‘this,’” she said
slowly, “you mean me?” She took a step forward. Now she was in his face.
He frowned. If she were a man that would have been a
mistake. But she was no man.
“That’s what you were meaning, wasn’t it?
I’m not a man so...” She let the remainder of the sentence
hang.
He paused long enough to take a breath to control the anger
that made him want to lash out at someone, anyone. “You need to get on the
first flight home,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Give me a chance.” There was no hesitation in her voice or
in her stance as she faced off with him, her head up, her eyes sparking as if
enjoying the challenge.
“It’s not me that’s the problem or needs to give you a
chance,” he said. All he could feel was the pressure of an invisible clock
ticking and the betrayal of a friend thousands of miles away. Adam knew the
customs, the inherent sexism that still wove through the ancient tra- ditions
of the desert tribes. He knew it all and, still, he had sent her.
“I know,” she interjected. “It’s the customs, the tribes
outside the city, the—”
“It won’t work,” he interrupted, thinking of the desert and
where he suspected Tara’s kidnappers were hiding. He’d always been an equal
opportunity employer and supported his sister, Tara, in her fight for change.
It was a man’s world. It didn’t matter how much he disliked the fact, it was a
truth that, for now, wouldn’t change.
“Look, I know what I’m getting into. I’m qualified,” she
said, her bag swinging from her shoulder, her eyes bright with passion. “I
specialized in Middle Eastern studies—an exchange student.” She waved one
delicate, well- manicured hand at him.
Just looking at that hand confirmed every doubt he had. It
wasn’t just about customs, she was female and because of that and so many other
things, she was the wrong person for the job.
“I’ll help you find your sister. You just need to trust me.”
“No!” The word came out with all the pent- up fury that had
built since the fateful call from Tara’s kidnappers and now the full im- pact
of it sparked in his eyes as his temple pounded and his fists clenched.
“No,” he said with less edge but with no room for
negotiation. He was wasting time, had wasted time, first waiting and now in a
senseless airport run. “I don’t care what you specialized in. You’re a woman
and because of that you’re going home,” he said bluntly. “I’ve wasted enough
time. I’ll speak to the pilot and we’ll get you out of here.”
“You’re not being fair.”
“I’m not being fair,” he repeated, emphasizing each word. If
she’d been a man he would have had her by the collar up against the wall, his
face in hers. But she wasn’t and that was the problem. “You’re useless to me.
I’d have to watch out for both you and me. That’s a distraction. Look at
you—you couldn’t swing a punch or...”
One minute he was seething, glaring at her, and the next he
was flat on his back.
“You bloody flipped me,” he snarled, leaping to his feet.
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO
Ryshia Kennie is the award-winning
author of her city’s writing award and a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book
Awards. There’s never a lack of places to set an edge-of-the-seat suspense as
prairie winters find her dreaming of warmer places for heart-stopping
stories. Settings with deadly villains
threatening intrepid heroes and heroines, who battle for their right to live or
even to love, in a place that neither - or both, may call home. www.ryshiakennie.com
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