by Hill, Teresa
Thank you. Thank you for her. I don’t think I ever would have met her if it weren’t for you.
Mace let his hand drop to his side and got to his feet.
Dani was waiting patiently, smiling at him. As he got to her and took her hand in his, she asked, “What was that?”
“Promises. I was making promises to him. About you.”
“What kind of promises?”
“You’ll have to wait to hear some of them. Right now, I need to take you home, and on the way, I need to tell you about Harold.”
“The old man on the train?”
“Uh huh.”
At his truck, he opened the door for her, lifted her up and set her down on the passenger seat, still facing him in the doorway.
“He made it, right? He just had a broken leg?”
“He did, but he died a few months after the shooting. Natural causes after a long, happy life. Harold and I made a promise to each other to make sure the woman Aaron loved was okay. And it turns out, Harold was a rich man. We’re talking billionaire many times over.”
“Oh.”
“Have you ever thought about what you’d do if you had tons of money?”
She laughed. “No. I think about having enough to pay my rent and buy groceries.”
“Well, you should start thinking it.”
“Why?”
“It’s kind of a long story, but that’s okay. We have time, right? Lots and lots of time.”
Billionaire Harold Hopewell traveled the world, encountering people and letting their stories touch him. In death, he is giving back, leaving an unusual will filled with life-altering bequests to the people he met along the way. Read the Inheritance Series, and let their stories touch you.
Click here to find out about other books in the series: www.theinheritanceseries.com
Page forward to read an excerpt from Will & Amanda’s story, Hero Of My Heart.
Taken hostage while teaching abroad, Amanda Warren was convinced she was going to die until U.S. Navy SEAL Will Gerard charged in to rescue her. Now she wonders if she'll ever feel safe and whole again.
Her injuries left her with few memories of her ordeal, except the fear. Striving to heal, she's driven to find Will and ask him for help once again-and discovers there's something familiar and reassuring about him.
While Amanda considers him her hero, Will tells himself he was just doing his job-to save her, then forget about her. But he admires her courage, wants her to feel safe in his arms. It's up to Amanda to convince Will that he is her hero, the hero of her heart.
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Excerpt: Hero Of My Heart
Will & Amanda’s Story
Buhkai, Africa,
January 16th
They made it to the street, both of them in one piece.
Will had flung the ambassador’s daughter over his shoulder to get her out of the school quickly. She was still fighting him, too scared to listen to anything he said or trust him, but he had to keep moving.
He took stock of their position, using the map in his head to orient himself. He'd left a go-to-hell pack in a vacant building two blocks to the west, in case it all went to hell and he thought his best chance of saving Amanda was to hide out and let everything calm down in the city. The U.S. Embassy was about eight blocks north. If he could get her there safely, she'd be evacuated with the rest of the Americans, and he could hope they all got out safely. And he'd stashed the Jeep three blocks to the east, in case he thought it best to get out of town as fast as they could.
Looking at turmoil around him, not knowing how far it might spread or how dangerous it might become, he decided their best bet was the Jeep.
Amanda was sobbing now, and no doubt terrified, but she'd stopped fighting. Good.
By the time he got near the Jeep, the crowd was thinning, the noise diminishing. He took the chance of slipping into a recessed entryway that offered some protection and privacy, and he slid her off his shoulder and to her feet.
She started fighting him again, and he had no choice. He had to use his body to pin her to the wall. The he spoke directly into her right ear.
"Amanda, your father sent me," he said. He repeated her name until she finally stopped struggling.
Then he eased his upper body away from hers and looked down at her through the darkness. She seemed to shrink back from him, although that was impossible. There was nowhere for her to go. Her back was against the wall. Still, she seemed to somehow pull deep inside herself and stared at him with giant, vacant eyes.
"Amanda," he said slowly, "your father, James Warren, sent me to get you out of here."
She shook her head. He could see the bruises on her forehead now, along with a big knot, a split lip and a bruised cheek.
Someone had beaten her up before he'd gotten into the school.
He pushed that thought aside, because he had to. He had things to do. First, to convince her he was who he said he was and get her to cooperate with him.
"Amanda?" He'd lost her for a moment, but her gaze came back to him at that. "I'm an American. Master Chief Petty Officer Will Gerard, U.S. Navy. Your father sent me. Do you understand?"
She shook her head, was trembling badly. Her lower lip quivered. She'd been through so much. "How do I know for sure?"
There we go. She was with him now, and Will had prepared for this. Mace had found a couple of things Will could use to convince her of who he was.
"Your father said to tell you he's stocking up on FunkyChunky Popcorn and Cannoli ice cream for when you get home."
She froze, trying to take it in. "Really? My father sent you?"
"Really." Will took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up toward his. He needed to know she'd heard and understood him. "Now, we need to get out of here. I don't know what's going to happen while we do that, and I need for you to do exactly what I say, when I say it."
And then he lost her again. Her eyes got so big and dazed, and she tried that shrinking-away-from-him thing, even though her back was firmly against the wall.
"Hey?" He forced her chin up again, wondering what she thought he was going to ask her to do. "I'm trying to keep you safe. If I say be quiet, you don't make a sound. If I say be still, you're still. If I say run... Are you hurt? Can you run?"
"I think so," she said.
"If you can't, tell me. I'll carry you."
She shook her head, clearly not wanting him to do that.
He started running his hands over her body, checking for any obvious injuries. She whimpered, started panting. When he got to her right side, she flinched.
"Ribs?" he asked.
She nodded, trying to make herself as small as possible by drawing in her shoulders and dipping her head down low.
"Anything else?" he demanded, looking her over and seeing a few scrapes and bruises, a few small bloodstains on her clothes here and there, nothing too alarming.
She shook her head. He wasn't sure he believed her, but she didn't seem to be in any immediate danger from a bullet or blood loss, so he let it go.
She kept doing that thing where she wasn't quite all there. He understood the need, but couldn't allow it.
"Hey," he said, maybe a little too loudly, because he startled her, and she looked terrified again. "I know you're scared right now. I know it's hard to trust anyone. But I need you to trust me enough to do what I say. I am going to do everything I can to get you out of here and back to your father. Do you understand?"
"My father? Really?"
"Yes. Cannoli ice cream. Sounds good. Never knew there was such a thing."
He waited a second, trying to let that sink in.
"Okay, I have a vehicle back there. We're going to get in it and drive for a while. All you have to do is sit there and not fight me. Don't try to jump out of the Jeep or anything like that, okay?"
He'd tie her to her seat, if he had to. It would scare her half to death all over again,
but he wasn't going to let her jump out of a moving vehicle. He was going to get her home. All they had to do was find a place to hide, hopefully have a helicopter pick them up and get out of the country, ideally while staying out of the way of a coup attempt.
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My best hope as a writer is to create that kind of experience for you, to help you know that you’re not alone, that you’re not the only person who’s ever felt the way you do, and that it’s possible to overcome really awful things in life and become happy. I also hope to show everything is better with someone you love beside you. Much love to all of you,
Teresa
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Also by Teresa Hill
Everything To Me (Dana & Peter)
Everything To Me (Prequel)
Everything To Me (Book 1)
Everything To Me (Book 2)
Everything To Me (Book 3)
Everything To Me (Book 4)
Everything To Me (Book 5)
Everything To Me (Book 6)
The McRaes Series
Twelve Days (Book 1)
The Edge of Heaven (Book 2)
Bed of Lies (Book 3)
Five Days Grace (Book 4)
Hero of My Heart (Book 5)
Entrusted To The SEAL: The Inheritance (Nov. 2016)
Christmas With the McRaes (Box Set - Books 1,2 & 3)
Other Books
UnBreak My Heart
About The Author
Teresa Hill lives in South Carolina, within sight of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, with her husband, children, three beautiful, spoiled dogs and two really stubborn cats.
She is happy and proud to be doing work she loves—writing books.
Teresa enjoys hearing from her readers. You can contact Teresa through her website: http://www.teresahill.net/about-teresa/
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