True Deceptions (True Lies) Read online

She shrugged. “We’ll never stop looking over our shoulders, will we?”

  “I have plans to slow down.”

  Simon wanted to retire from his strange placement at MI6, but it would be safer if he stayed in the arms field. Retired, he’d be considered weak and a target. If he remained in the game, he’d be able to keep tabs on all the players. Having a second-in-command as competent and loyal as Dane would keep him even safer. Dane, however, wasn’t ready to give up his cushy sales job in California. But Simon could be persuasive when he wanted to be. He just needed the right bait.

  Cassie had clearance to return to her old job. He’d already spoken to his contacts at HQ, and they’d agreed to allow her to work remotely from the farmhouse near Oxford he’d purchased for her wedding present. Living close to Henry and Alex would also be a benefit.

  “So I stay home, and you run around the world making arms deals?” Cassie asked after hearing the details of their future life together.

  “We can switch positions, but your knowledge about the arms trade is weak, and I’m not quite as advanced as you are in computers. Besides, I’ll do all the cooking when I’m home.”

  “Vegan meals?” With a twist of her neck, she faced him nose to nose.

  He kissed her. Long, hard, deep, and intense. She should know better than to come so close. If only he could lock the door. She pulled back first, breathing deep and looking a bit flustered. Man, he loved her.

  “We can be vegan on Mondays, Wednesdays, and an occasional Friday.”

  She lifted her eyebrows. “I bet you’ll be in London on those days.”

  “That’s what I love about you, angel. Analytical skills galore.”

  Life moved exactly as Simon had envisioned. He scaled down his business, Cassie happily worked from a home office, and Junior continued to grow inside her mother. She’d be arriving into the world in a matter of weeks.

  At that exact moment, however, Simon dedicated himself to Cassie’s physical needs. She looked amazing under him, as though she had been placed there for his dinner, dessert, and tomorrow’s breakfast as well. By the time they had finished the first three courses, Cassie’s eyes were beginning to close, but Simon was still hungry. He began to explore her expanding curves. He started with her breasts and moved to her rounded stomach.

  Her pregnant body fascinated him. He caressed down her side until his fingers detoured over her thigh. “Don’t move. I want to see if you can remain perfectly silent as I torture you.”

  She laughed, and her body shook, but she said nothing.

  “You’re failing. Stop moving.”

  The phone on the bedside table rang.

  “Ignore it,” he called out before descending further.

  His cell phone rang.

  “Don’t move,” he ordered.

  Cassie, always one to follow orders, lifted his cell phone. “It’s Dane.”

  “He can talk to my voicemail.”

  Dane’s refusal to become his partner pissed him off. They’d be perfect together, and Simon wouldn’t have to worry about the CIA breathing down his throat. Dane, however, didn’t want the hassle.

  “You better answer it.”

  “You’ll be asleep if talk I on the phone.”

  “Exactly. I need a break. You’re insatiable.”

  “You need more sex to improve your stamina.”

  She handed him the phone, kissed him on the cheek, and rolled over. “Good night, Simon.”

  He hit the speaker function. He didn’t have secrets anymore where Cassie was concerned. “Dunn.”

  “We have a problem. How quickly can you get to Columbia?”

  We? He glanced at his almost sleeping wife. “I can’t. I no longer have a death wish, and my wife will kill me if I leave her before Junior arrives.”

  “A rebel group took my sister. I need backup from outside the agency.” The strain in Dane’s voice changed Simon’s mind.

  Cassie turned to face him. “Go. We owe him our lives. You might as well pay him back before the baby’s born.” She sat against the headboard, completely alert. She still showed fear on her face without any attempt to conceal it, but the strength bubbling up through her inner core created a steel wall that would protect her in the future.

  Simon gave Cassie a slight nod and spoke into the phone. “I’ll be at Heathrow in two hours. Text me the specifics.”

  Dane let a relieved laugh. “I love that woman of yours. Give Cassie a huge kiss for me, but nothing more. We don’t have the time.”

  The phone call ended, and the prospect of Dane joining his organization just improved one hundred percent.

  He grabbed his suitcase and threw in a few necessities for the trip. After he finished, he walked over to Cassie. She should have put her clothes back on, because her naked breasts were seducing him back into bed. He kissed her with a blaze that would never extinguish, no matter how much he tried to satiate himself in her.

  “I’ll be home soon.”

  “I know you will.”

  “You do?”

  A smile lifted the corners of her mouth, more like a skilled operative than a seductive wife. “If you aren’t back within two weeks, I’m coming to get you.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  She raised her eyebrows, fierce and proud as a lioness. Damn, she would.

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  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to Jim, Sophia, and Vivienne. Being the family of a writer is not easy. I tend to ignore the dishes, the laundry, and meal preparation while I’m struggling with a story, and my thoughts are often in another dimension thinking about fictional people and events. I love you guys more than words can say.

  Thanks to Candace Havens, my editor, for your amazing assistance in polishing this manuscript from a good story into a great one.

  Kate Forest, Betty Bolté, and Susan Scott Shelley are the best critique partners ever. Thanks for the support.

  A shout out to my agent Michelle Grajkowski for guiding me through this crazy business.

  And a special thanks to all the fans who loved Simon in “Untrue Colors” and asked for his story to be told.

  About the Author

  Veronica Forand is an attorney and an award-winning writer of romantic suspense.

  She’s lived in Boston, London, Paris, Geneva, and Washington, DC and currently resides near Philadelphia. An avid traveler, she loves to roam across continents with her husband and kids in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and finding the perfect piece of chocolate.

  Sign up for the Select Suspense newsletter and be the first to hear about new releases from Veronica Forand and other fantastic Entangled authors!

  Reviews help other readers find books. We appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative. Thank you for reading!

  Also by Veronica Forand…

  UNTRUE COLORS

  Brilliant art appraiser Alex Northrop’s ex used stolen art to fund his nefarious activities. Now he wants her dead. Professor Henry Chilton is shocked to find a beautiful stranger passed out in his bed, and even more so when she reveals a priceless painting is a forgery – the painting he’d planned to use to fund a woman’s shelter. Her knowledge of art is undeniable—just as his attraction to her is irresistible. But in order to help Henry recover the real painting, Alex must risk exposure…and her life.

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  UNDERCOVER WITH THE ENEMY

  a novel by Sharron McClellan

  High-risk securities operative Holly Milano usually prefers to work alone. Having a partner is, well, annoying. Now she’s working undercover with Kane MacMillan to retrieve a priceless diamond necklace, and Mr. Plan Everything is seriously
cramping Holly’s fly-by-the-seat-of-her-sexy-pants style. Their conflicting approaches could destroy their cover—or worse, get them killed. But when the stakes are raised, neither Holly nor Kane are prepared for the possibility of an unexpected attraction...or that they’re now putting their lives and their hearts on the line.

  CUBA UNDERCOVER

  a novel by Linda Bond

  Cuban-American TV reporter Rebecca Menendez plays by the rules. When she’s kidnapped by a fierce and intensely handsome man who needs her help, however, all of those rules seem pointless. With his sister’s life and freedom in jeopardy, Antonio Vega isn’t taking any chances. But once Rebecca and Antonio are in the Cuba, they’re immersed in a world of corruption, deceit, and betrayal. It’s a deadly game…and there are no rules.

  PRISONER OF LOVE

  a novel by Cathy Skendrovich

  When Lucy Parker is carjacked by an escaped prisoner, her fun weekend in the mountains takes a nighmarish turn. Now she’s caught up in a dangerous world of stolen money, vicious drug dealers, and murder, and the only thing keeping her alive is her oh-so-hot captor. With their lives on the line, the race is on to get to Las Vegas before they’re killed...and they’re running out of time.

  DOUBLE JEOPARDY

  by Linda Wisdom

  Medical Examiner Lauren Hunter has never known anyone like Assistant District Attorney Josh Brandon. Handsome, kind and tender, he’s everything she has ever wanted in a man. Until he gets a new admirer who starts phoning Lauren with threats, then breaks into her home and rips her clothing. Someone is determined to come between Lauren and Josh. Someone whose rage is growing. In the shadows of night, someone watches. And waits…for the perfect moment to strike. For if she can’t have him alive, she’ll see him dead. Either way…he’s hers.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  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

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Veronica Forand…

  Untrue Colors

  Discover more Entangled Select Suspense titles…

  Undercover with the Enemy

  Cuba Undercover

  Prisoner of Love

  Double Jeopardy