by Lori Ryan
“Kelly, I think we need to head on over to the hospital now,” Jack said, and Logan recognized the overly-easy, I-don’t-want-to-set-off-the-crazy-pregnant-lady tone of his friend’s voice.
Kelly’s dad provided backup for Jack. “Yeah, Kel, I think that’s probably a good idea. Head on over, let the doctor see how you’re doing. Get that baby on out of there.”
“Nonsense,” Kelly said with a wave of her hand, but Logan saw she was panting slightly now and he had to wonder how much pain she was in. “I’ve got three more weeks. Heck, Maddie was a week late. For heaven’s sake, I’ve most likely got another month with this one. These are just Braxton-Hicks.”
“Um, Kel,” Jack said, scratching his head, and Logan caught Chad trying to stifle a laugh. Logan had to clamp down on his laughter, too. The sight of big Jack Sutton saying “um” to his wife and clearly struggling with how to get her to the hospital to deliver their baby without ticking her off, was priceless.
Logan watched as Jack took a step toward Kelly and put a hand on her belly. “I think if they were Braxton-Hicks they would have stopped when you laid down earlier, right?”
They’d managed to get Kelly to lie down for about thirty minutes, but she was up again now. Logan cracked a smile.
“All right,” Kelly’s mom said, coming into the room, a whirlwind force to rival her daughter. “Let’s get my daughter to the hospital. No more dillydallying. Go get the car,” she said to her husband, and they all made a path for Jack as he escorted Kelly through the room and down the stairs.
As the group filed out of the room after the couple, Logan hung back with Sam, wanting just one minute of alone time with her before they joined the group again. He had a feeling they would be following everyone to the hospital and waiting for news of the next Sutton baby. He was happy to do that, wanted to be there with their friends. But first, he wanted a minute with Sam.
He turned her in his arms and kissed her mouth, fully, passionately, holding nothing back. He loved her more than he’d ever thought possible.
He pulled back and looked into eyes that matched the heat he was feeling, but the moment was cut off by Chad calling up the stairs to them.
“You guys coming?”
“Yeah,” Logan called back. They’d ridden over with Jennie and Chad so they needed to catch up to them to get to the hospital. He had only one question for Sam first.
“Do you think you’ll be that crazy when you have a baby someday?” He couldn’t wait for them to start a family. He hoped all of their children were like her. Strong and beautiful and so smart she scared him. Then again, if they were all that smart, he might be in trouble.
She smiled up at him and something about the look in her eyes told him she had a secret. He didn’t even realize he was holding his breath and probably holding her a little tighter as he waited to find out what she had to tell him.
“I guess we’ll find out in about eight months. Well, seven months and three point five weeks, near as I can figure,” she said, and Logan lifted her and let out a whoop. He’d never felt such pure happiness flow through him. Sam was his. And they were building a life together. They were building a future together. A family. His family.
THE END
*****
Keep reading for a sample of J.M. Madden’s Embattled Hearts!
A Letter from the Author:
Thank you so much for continuing this journey through the world of Sutton Capital with me. Legal Ease was my first book and there are still so many characters in the series who are near and dear to my heart.
Samantha Page first appeared in Legal Ease and it was so much fun getting her a happily ever after of her own. I hope you loved her and Logan as much as I do! I’ll continue writing in the series as long as you all will let me. You guys are the reason I’m able to have the crazy, whacky, messed up dream life of a writer. Believe me when I say, I’m so grateful to you for that.
Thank you again for reading! Please come connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or my website. I love to hear from readers. And, if you’ve read a book of mine and loved it, please consider leaving a review on the retailer of your choice or on Goodreads. It helps other readers connect with me and helps me keep on doing what I’m doing. Hope to see you online, my friends!
Lori
P.S. Want to find out what happened on that mad dash to the hospital with Jack and Kelly? I’ll write that scene out for you all soon and send it to my newsletter readers. To join the newsletter (I give away a fifty dollar gift card each month!!!), go to www.Loriryanromance.com and sign up.
Other Books by Lori Ryan
(links can be found at www.loriryanromance.com)
The Sutton Capital Series
Legal Ease
Penalty Clause
The Baker’s Bodyguard
Negotiation Tactics
The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams
The Baker, the Bodyguard, and the Wedding Bell Blues
Her SEALED Fate
The Triple Play Curse Novellas
Game Maker
Game Changer
Game Clincher
Coming Soon
Love and Protect
Promise and Protect
Serve and Protect
Sutton Capital Series Character Guide
(contains spoilers to other Sutton Capital Books!)
Jack and Kelly Sutton: Jack and Kelly met and fell in love in Legal Ease, book one of the Sutton Capital series when they married one another for business and financial reasons (I’m a sucker for a marriage-of-convenience story!). They have a daughter named Maddie. Jack is the CEO of Sutton Capital and Kelly is a law student. Jack is best friends with Andrew Weston and cousin to Chad Thompson. Kelly is best friends with Jennie Thompson and is sisters with Jesse Bradley. Her brothers are Liam and David Bradley and parents are Betty and Jim Bradley.
Andrew and Jill Weston: Andrew and Jill knew each other in their teens and ran into each other again in Penalty Clause, book two in the series. They adopted twin boys in The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams, book four in the series. Andrew is best friends with Jack Sutton and Chad Thompson. He is the Chief Financial Officer of Sutton Capital. Jill is a freelance photographer.
Chad and Jennie Thompson: Chad and Jennie first met in LEGAL EASE but didn’t fall in love until book three of the series, Negotiation Tactics—or didn’t admit to it! Chad is the head of security at Sutton Capital and is a former Army Ranger. Jennie works with Chad in Sutton Capital’s security division. They have a daughter named Ella.
Zach Harris and Jesse Bradley: Zach owns his own private security and protection firm and Jesse owns a bakery/deli in the lobby of the Sutton Capital building. Jesse and Zach’s story began in The Baker’s Bodyguard. To read this novella for free, go to my website (www.loriryanromance.com) and sign up for my newsletter. Once you’ve confirmed your subscription via email, you’ll receive a link to download the novella.
Gabe Sawyer and PJ Cantrell: Gabe Sawyer made his first appearance in Penalty Clause. He and PJ fell in love in The Billionaire’s Suite Dreams. Gabe made his fortune building an international chain of hotels before deciding to settle down in Connecticut near the Sutton Capital gang. PJ is a country singer turned pop star, who spent her teens and twenties on the road traveling for tours.
Mrs. Poole: Jack Sutton’s housekeeper and pseudo mother/grandmother to everyone.
Mabry Thompson: Chad’s mother and Jack’s aunt.
Sara Blackburn, Jax Cutter, Dave Alexander, and Kaeden O’Shea all made their first appearances in this book. You can bet your sweet butt, they’ll have books of their own as soon as I can get them written!
A quick guide to the
Villains of Her SEALed Fate
One beta readers suggested I create a guide to the villains in this book, so here it is!
Lorenzo Alonzo: This is the man responsible for the human trafficking ring that kidnapped Kelly in Legal Ease. He has long wanted revenge against Sam for her part in taking him down.
Nikolai Bogolomov: This is the arms dealer/terrorist taken out by Logan and his team in his final op in the military. His wife, Adeline, and two sons, Nikolai (“Kolya”) and Vadik, were killed with him. He is survived by his daughter, Klavdiya Bogolomov—who also uses the name Diya Molov—and his nephew, Yoshi Bogolomov.
Diya Molov: Her full name is Klavdiya Bogolomov, daughter of arms dealer and terrorist, Nikolai Bogolomov. She and her cousin, Yoshi, are the only survivors of the Bogolomov family.
Yoshi Bogolomov: His full name is Alyoshi Bogolomov. He is the cousin of Diya Molov and nephew of arms dealer and terrorist, Nikolai Bogolomov. He was raised by Nikolai after his parents’ death.
Peter Gatorelli: He is a black hat hacker known as H3sthat600d who works for Diya Molov.
Acknowledgements
I can’t even tell you how many people it took to bring this book to you! Along the way, whenever I reached out to friends and strangers alike, they answered my questions, brainstormed plot, and read drafts for me without hesitation.
Technical consultants – For technical consultation on everything, including computers and hacking, listening devices, medical procedures, criminal procedure, Military matters, therapy, use of prostheses, and the law, I’d like to thank: Ernie Green, Monique Cain, Stephen McRae, Jon Bartholomew, Chief Scott Silverii, PhD, Dr. Ashley B. Hampton, J.M. Madden, Karen Henderson, and KaLyn Cooper. I would especially like to thank Jasmine2501 and Michael Egan for answering a perfect stranger’s messages and helping without hesitation. Now listen guys, on the technical stuff, trust me when I tell you, if there are errors in here they’re all mine! But, I promise, I did my best to take what they taught me and get it right.
Beta Readers – For reading drafts and letting me know where I’d gone off track and what made no sense whatsoever, I’d like to thank: Bette Hanson, Patricia Parent, and Beth Ann Stifflemire.
Editing, formatting and cover – Thank you to Novel Ideas Editing for editing the book and for seeking further technical answers when needed, and to Jessie Winter for proofreading services. Thank you to Amy Atwell and Author E.M.S. for formatting and organizing the uploads, and in general, keeping me sane. And, thank you, thank you, thank you to Viola Estrella for once again giving me a cover I love to pieces!
Plotting – For always answering the phone when I needed to fix my plot, I’d like to thank Kate Baray and Jessie Winter. You guys are awesome.
To Laura Madden, thank you for letting me steal your divorcing the gym scene! And, to Kay Manis and Ruby Merritt, well, you had nothing to do with this book. That said, I miss you, so I’m throwing you in here!
And, as always, thank you to my husband and kids for putting up with me. I know it’s not easy. No, really, I know it’s not easy. You guys are saints! I love you to pieces.
*****
If you like military romance, following is an excerpt from J.M. Madden’s Lost and Found Series. I think you guys will love her work as much as I do! The prequel, The Embattled Road, is free as well as the first book in the series, Embattled Hearts. This is an excerpt from Embattled Hearts. Enjoy!
Excerpt from
The Embattled Hearts
The Lost and Found Series
by
J.M. Madden
Chapter One
Shannon looked down at her rear tire incredulously. “Are you serious? Why today, damn it?”
Snow flurried around her as she stood there, hands on hips, and tried to decide what to do. She’d have to change it, of course. And call Duncan to let him know she’d be late. Grumbling, she stomped up the walk and into the house to change her clothes.
Twenty minutes later, she was positively livid. Not only was the brand new snow tire flat for no apparent reason, but so was the freaking spare. How the hell did that happen? She could hear her father’s amused voice in her mind now, as he whispered ‘oh, calamity Grace’. Little black rain clouds followed her sometimes and no matter how many pairs of boots she wore or umbrellas she carried, she always managed to get drenched.
Lisa pulled into her driveway a couple houses down just then and waved. Shannon heaved a relieved sigh and crossed the snowy ground to her. “Hey, neighbor.”
The pretty strawberry-blond flashed a tired smile. “Hey, yourself. Something wrong? You’re usually gone by now.”
Shannon waved a hand at the lopsided Explorer. “Somehow, I managed to get not one, but two flat tires sitting in my driveway.”
Lisa scrunched up her face and laughed. “Really? Oh, Shannon, even for you that’s impressive.” She looked down at her blue scrubs. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll drive you to the garage. Come on in.”
Shannon followed Lisa up the walk and waited on her entry rug while she changed. “Wow, nice TV,” she called. The flat screen took up a huge expanse of wall-space. Looking around, she could see evidence that a man might be staying with her neighbor.
Lisa peeked her face around the corner, grinning.
“You like that? Boyfriend’s last apology for being a schmutz.”
Shannon laughed and shook her head. Lisa’s up and down relationship with her boyfriend was more tumultuous than a Colorado snow storm. “So why do you stay with him?”
Her friend’s face closed down. “There are some things you can’t change in life; who you’re related to, taxes, the nasty boss you’d like to shove off a roof. And you can’t choose who you’re attracted to.”
Oh, boy. Didn’t she know it?
Lisa drove her to the garage, then back home an hour later. Shannon couldn’t quit wondering aloud about the tire. “If nothing was in it, how did it get flat then?”
Lisa glanced at her and shrugged, but Shannon could tell her patience was wearing thin.
“Sorry, I know I keep harping on this, but it’s driving me nuts. I also had strange tire tracks in my driveway last week.”
“Well, do what the mechanic said and drive the truck in and he’ll check the other tire too. And maybe the tracks were just somebody turning around.”
Shannon nodded and looked out the window. She needed to think about something else.
“I’m sorry I’ve delayed your sleep. Working swing this week?”
“Nah. Just pulled an extra for a friend with the flu. I’ll be back on day after tomorrow.”
“Ah, was it a bad shift?”
Lisa grimaced as she turned into their subdivision. “Bad enough,” she admitted. “A three year old swallowed two quarters and a nickel, an old guy came in with chest pain, and there was a car crash out east that was flown in. Not pretty. They all managed to survive though.”
“I don’t know how you do it, Lisa.”
The other woman shrugged. “You get used to it.” She grinned. “I don’t know how you sit at a computer all day.”
“You get used to it,” she retorted, laughing.
Lisa stayed with her long enough for Shannon to change the tire, then headed home. Shannon changed her clothes, again, and drove to the garage. The nice little mechanic had the truck ready to go in minutes.
“Nothing in that tire either, ma’am.”
Shannon stared at him for several long seconds, and asked him to repeat that. He did, but it didn’t make any more sense the second time. She paid the man and walked out to her truck in a daze. What would cause both tires to go flat that way?
Or who?
Unease tightened her scalp, and she glanced up and down the busy street. Then she shook her head at her craziness. It was a fluke. Had to be.
*****
John gritted his teeth and clenched the wheels of his sport chair in his fists as he listened to the men blather on about how good their lives could be. He wished they would just shut the fuck up so he could hear Shannon in the outer office. She’d come in beautiful but frazzled two hours late and said her tire had been flat. That actually hadn’t worried him as much as the unease he had seen in her eyes. She’d tried to laugh the incident off, but he’d been watching her for a long time. Everybody else accepted her
explanation, but in his gut he knew something wasn’t right.
Something one of the men said snagged his attention. Pictures? Really? He was supposed to be taking part in the meeting, but the proposal was so ridiculous he’d zoned out. He focused his attention on the two…men seated beside him. Were they for real? Yes, they were competent, knew the security business and had plenty of money to throw around, but at the bottom line they wanted the publicity of financing an all-veteran detective agency. His eyes flashed to Duncan’s across the desk, and he was gratified to see his boss was as unenthused as he was.
Time to end this farce.
“Are you fucking serious?” he snarled.
The men looked uncomfortable for all of two seconds, before they plowed on with their spiel.
As if it wasn’t bad enough they were disabled, now these yahoos wanted to make money off them? No fucking way. Even Chad seemed turned off. Texas was his home state, and he was the one who had pushed for this meeting, to talk about a possible expansion to Dallas. John personally thought that the Denver office was enough for now. They were busy, but not so busy that things slipped through the cracks.
John was relieved when the meeting finally began to pull to a close. The automatic cringe on Duncan’s face and the way he crossed his arms when he heard the proposal had said it all. How were they supposed to be effective investigators if their faces were plastered everywhere, as well as their disabilities? That was the part that turned his stomach. Why on earth would he want more people to know he was damaged? He could hardly stand the stares now. He had taken the on-line crimes section and the technology side—the bugs and wires the guys used every day—deliberately so he wouldn’t have to deal with the public. To offer them money was just crass.
Chad, ever the laid-back Texan, deflected the conversation to a favorite sports team and Duncan told the men they would consider their proposal. John knew by the sound of his voice, though, that they would do no such thing.
The business was doing great, but he could not help but be resentful that he was not part of the detectives out on the street. Looking down at his worthless legs, he was once again swamped with anger. As a Marine, it had been standard practice to run for five or ten miles a day. Now he was lucky if he could get his thigh to twitch on command. It was historic if he could even get a hard-on.