The Mercenary And The Marriage Vow

by Doreen Roberts

  Letter to Reader

  Title Page

  Books by Doreen Roberts

  DOREEN ROBERTS

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Copyright

  What the hell was this woman doing to him? Nathan asked himself bitterly, looking down at Valeri’s unconscious form.

  How could he have let her get under his skin like this? The chances were that she was married.

  Yet he couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind. There was no way to ignore it any longer. He wanted her in the worst way. He had ever since he first set eyes on her.

  How had a woman like this gotten mixed up with someone like the man who claimed to be her husband? How the hell had he managed to get himself mixed up in this?

  Now, more than ever, he wanted to get to the bottom of this crooked deal. But first he had to try to forget how Valeri Richmond was driving him wild....

  Dear Reader,

  It’s month two of our special fifteenth anniversary celebration, and that means more great reading for you. Just look what’s in store.

  Amnesia! It’s one of the most popular plot twists around, and well it should be. All of us have probably wished, just for a minute, that we could start over again, be somebody else...fall in love all over again as if it were the first time. For three of our heroines this month, whether they want it or not, the chance is theirs. Start with Sharon Sala’s Roman’s Heart, the latest in her fabulous trilogy, THE JUSTICE WAY Then check out The Mercenary and the Marriage Vow by Doreen Roberts. This book carries our new TRY TO REMEMBER flash—just so you won’t forget about it! And then, sporting our MEN IN BLUE flash (because the hero’s the kind of cop we could all fall in love with), there’s While She Was Sleeping by Diane Pershing.

  Of course, we have three other great books this month, too. Be sure to pick up Beverly Barton’s Emily and the Stranger, and don’t worry. Though this book isn’t one of them, Beverly’s extremely popular heroes, THE PROTECTORS, will be coming your way again soon. Kylie Brant is back with Friday’s Child, a FAMILIES ARE FOREVER title. Not only will the hero and heroine win your heart, wait ’til you meet little Chloe. Finally, welcome new author Sharon Mignerey, who makes her debut with Cassidy’s Courtship.

  And, of course, don’t forget to come back next month for more of the best and most excitingly romantic reading around, right here in Silhouette Intimate Moments.

  Leslie Wainger

  Senior Editor and Editorial Coordinator

  * * *

  Please address questions and book requests to:

  Silhouette Reader Service

  U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

  Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

  * * *

  THE MERCENARY AND THE MARRIAGE VOW

  DOREEN ROBERTS

  Published by Silhouette Books

  America’s Publisher of Contemporary Romance

  Books by Doreen Roberts

  Silhouette Intimate Moments

  Gambler’s Gold #215

  Willing Accomplice #239

  Forbidden Jade #266

  Threat of Exposure #295

  Desert Heal #319

  In the Line of Duty #379

  Broken Wings #422

  Road to Freedom #442

  In a Stranger’s Eyes #475

  Only a Dream Away #513

  Where There’s Smoke #567

  So Little Time #653

  A Cowboy’s Heart #705

  Every Waking Moment #783

  The Mercenary and the Marriage Vow #861

  Silhouette Romance

  Home for the Holidays #765

  A Mom for Christmas #1195

  In Love with the Boss #1271

  DOREEN ROBERTS

  lives with her husband, who is also her manager and her biggest fan, in the heart of the Oregon wine valley. She believes that everyone should have a little adventure now and again to add interest to their lives. She believes in taking risks and has been known to embark on an adventure or two of her own. She is happiest, however, when she is creating stories about the biggest adventure of all—falling in love and learning to live happily ever after.

  To Bill, who knows me better than I know myself.

  You’re wonderful, and I love you.

  Chapter 1

  Nathan Thome smiled as the blue Honda ahead of him turned onto the crowded Interstate 5 out of Sacramento. Luck seemed to be with him for a change. His assignments didn’t usually turn out to be this easy.

  He settled in a couple of cars back behind his quarry and relaxed his shoulders. She wasn’t going to notice his ancient, beat-up Volvo in the dark. All he had to do was follow her to wherever she was going, wait for the right opportunity and strike up a conversation. Judging from what he’d been told, she’d bite, all right.

  He wondered where she was going. Probably some hot spot outside of town. He’d met plenty of women like Valeri Richmond. Women who knew how to use their bodies to get what they wanted. Women who would stab their best friend in the back if they felt threatened. Women who lived for excitement, and didn’t care how they got it.

  When he’d first seen the pictures of her, he’d found it hard to believe she was that kind of woman. She was attractive—early thirties, with the kind of dark mysterious looks that could turn a man’s head, yet with an air of class that would make him think twice about following up on his urges.

  Especially a man like Nathan Thorne. Nat didn’t usually waste time with niceties. He knew what he wanted and he let a woman know what he wanted. If she was interested, he’d go for it. If not, he’d walk away. No promises, no regrets. No one got hurt that way.

  As for Valeri Richmond, she was an enigma. According to the one man who claimed to know her best, she was a selfish, hard-hearted opportunist looking for adventure. If Nat hadn’t known what he did, the woman in the photograph could have easily fooled him. And very few people fooled Nathan Thorne.

  Now that he knew who he was dealing with, he was prepared. Normally he would have balked at this kind of assignment. Forcing a woman to do something she didn’t want to do was not the way he operated. But this case was an exception.

  He’d take her back where she belonged—the easy way or the rough way. It all depended on how cooperative Valeri Richmond would be. And he knew just how to make women like her cooperate. He didn’t foresee any problem at all.

  To his surprise, she turned east onto Highway 50. He frowned, wondering what game she was up to. She was on the road to Nevada, the last place he expected her to be heading. Just in case, he narrowed the gap between them. It would be much easier for her to lose him on the highway.

  He followed the blue Honda for an hour or two, growing more uneasy all the time. It was now almost midnight and the traffic was thinning out, making him more visible. He wove in and out of the two-lane highway, sometimes pulling slightly ahead, always ready to react if she made any sudden moves. She was speeding enough to keep him on his toes, yet he was pretty sure she was unaware of him on her tail.

  When it happened, it happened fast. She’d pulled about four car lengths ahead of him when he saw her brake lights flash. Automatically he stomped on his own brakes, swearing as she fishtailed off the road and plunged into darkness.

  Fighting the wheel, he followed her onto the uneven, desert
-dry ground, bouncing over ridges and potholes until his teeth rattled. She’d fingered him after all. Damn her. She was doing her best to lose him, and she was tough to see in the faint glow of moonlight.

  His headlights picked her out now and again as she plunged without lights through the dry brush. She had guts, he’d give her that. She was heading back to where the road curved around to the right.

  He’d just sit tight on her tail and wait until she hit the road, Nat thought grimly. Sooner or later she would have to stop. He’d make up his mind then whether he wanted to tip his hand or wait for another opportunity.

  In any case, considering the road she’d taken, she could well be going back on her own. If so, his services would no longer be needed.

  And that was just fine with Nat. He hadn’t liked the smell of this assignment from the beginning. He was starting to like it a lot less now.

  He had just about convinced himself that he was off the hook when all hell broke loose. She was just a few yards off the road when her car must have hit a gully. The car flipped like a tossed pancake, landing on its passenger side.

  He was out of his car and racing like the devil before the sounds of the crash had died away. In the darkness he’d seen sparks, and he knew what that meant.

  The first explosion almost hit him in the face. He ducked, then scrambled up onto the car and yanked on the door. Miraculously, it opened. If she had locked it, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.

  He leaned down to undo her seat belt. Her head rested on the wheel, her arms hung limp at her sides. Flames were already licking along the underbelly of the Honda. He had seconds, at most. He gripped her under her arms and pulled. Sweat trickled down his face as he dragged her out. Acrid smoke stung his eyes. She was unconscious, which was just as well. He had no time to be gentle. She felt light in his arms when he picked her up and ran with her, half stumbling, to a small outcrop of rocks.

  He felt the heat of the blast as it passed overhead. He was flat on his face, her body crushed under him. He waited for the flames to die a little and then eased himself off her still figure.

  She was alive, her pulse strong. Thank God. He couldn’t have lived with his conscience if she hadn’t made it. He ran expert hands over her, but couldn’t find anything broken. In the glow from the flames she looked defenseless lying there, her eyelashes a dark smudge above her high cheekbones.

  He studied her features. She was beautiful all right. But then it had been too damn long since he’d been interested in a woman. The last thing he needed was to get excited about this one.

  Apart from the fact that she probably needed medical attention, she was so far off-limits that it was ridiculous. Right from the start he’d had the feeling that he should have turned this job down. Now he was sure of it.

  He looked up at the stars and swore long and loud, recalling the phone call that had caused a defenseless woman pain and had brought him to his knees beside her on this dark, empty desert road.

  She came awake suddenly, the way she always did after a bad nightmare; heart pounding, mouth dry and a sickening sense of confusion. The first thing she noticed was that the wooden paddles of the fan in her bedroom ceiling were no longer there. They’d been replaced by a cold light beaming down at her from two fluorescent strips.

  A steady, monotonous beeping came from somewhere on her right. She shifted her head, wincing as pain sliced viciously across the back of her eyes. She waited a moment or two for her vision to clear.

  A plastic tube ran from a bottle of clear liquid suspended above her head into a needle, which stuck into her arm just above her wrist. She stared at her other wrist. She was wearing a plastic name tag...and someone else’s watch.

  Sunlight filtered through the blinds of a small rectangular window set high in the pale green wall. A small TV set looked down at her from a high shelf at the foot of the bed.

  She was in a hospital room.

  Panic hit her, swift and debilitating. What was wrong with her? How did she get here? Why couldn’t she remember?

  She looked back at the gold watch that she’d never seen before. It was ten after three. She’d slept through most of the day.

  A phone sat on the bedside table, and she stretched out her arm, striving to reach it—though she had no idea what number she wanted to dial.

  The door opened and a serious-looking man in a white coat entered the room, followed closely by a matronly nurse. His face lit up when he looked at her.

  “Well, Valeri, it’s nice to see you awake, at last. How are you feeling?” He paused at the foot of the bed and unhooked a clipboard. “I’m Dr. Harrison. I attended to you when you were brought in here last night.”

  She ran her tongue over her dry lips. Valeri. Her name was Valeri Richmond. “What happened to me? Where am I?” The fear clogged her throat, and her voice came out a husky whisper.

  Dr. Harrison studied the chart for a moment or two, then looked up with a professional smile. “You were involved in an auto accident last night. You’ve been unconscious until now.”

  She waited while her muddled mind absorbed this shocking news. “Am I badly hurt?”

  The doctor shook his head. “Fortunately, your friend managed to get you out before any serious damage was done. Apart from a few bruises and a slight concussion, you were relatively unharmed. You’re a lucky young woman. If it hadn’t been for Nathan Thorne, you might have ended up in the morgue instead of a hospital bed.”

  She seemed to be having trouble following the words. Apparently she’d wrecked her car. The shock of it must have wiped the memory from her mind. But there was something else—something that wasn’t right at all. “Who’s Nathan Thorne?” she asked warily.

  The doctor narrowed his eyes and peered at her intently. “Exactly what do you remember?”

  She tried to think, but the effort intensified the pain in her head. “Nothing about the accident,” she admitted.

  “Well, try not to worry. That happens sometimes in cases like this. It will most likely come back to you eventually. Headache?”

  She nodded, then wished she hadn’t when the agonizing pain exploded inside her head again.

  “We’ll give you something for that,” the doctor said, scribbling something down on the chart. “Every four hours, Nurse.”

  “Yes, Doctor.” The nurse gave Valeri a wide, encouraging smile.

  “Just try to lie still and relax.” Dr. Harrison handed the chart to the nurse. “The pain should pass completely in a few hours. In the meantime, I need to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?”

  “All right.” If she had answers. Right now she didn’t seem to even have answers to her own questions.

  “Do you feel like sitting up?”

  “I think so.”

  He nodded to the nurse, who pushed something at the side of the bed.

  She heard a low hum as the top portion of her bed slowly raised, allowing her to view more of the room. She could see out of the window, but the view looked totally unfamiliar. Unless she was seeing things, those were mountains in the distance, shimmering in summer heat. That didn’t make sense.

  “Where am I?” she asked sharply.

  “You’re in the recovery room of St. Sebastian’s General Hospital.” Dr. Harrison glanced at the nurse. “Ms. Richmond is well enough to see Mr. Thorne now. By the time he gets up here we should be through.”

  “Yes, Doctor.”

  Valeri could feel the panic rising again, threatening to suffocate her. “Wait! I don’t want to see anybody.”

  “He’s very anxious to see you, Valeri.” The doctor’s voice was soothing, but it had just the opposite effect on her.

  Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, and she had to make him understand. “I don’t know anyone by the name of Nathan Thorne.” She struggled to sit up, but the pain made her groan and she sank back on the pillow.

  “Get that medication. Stat.”

  “Yes, Doctor.” The nurse hurried out the door.

&nbs
p; “I’ve never heard of St. Sebastian’s Hospital, either.” She glanced at the view from the window. “What part of town is it in?”

  The doctor sounded cautious when he answered. “It’s on the west side of Carson City.”

  Her shocked gasp seemed loud in the quiet room. “Carson City? Nevada?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s impossible. I can’t be in Carson City.” A wave of panic engulfed her body. “I live in Sacramento. What am I doing here? How did I get here?”

  “You came by ambulance.” The doctor moved up the side of the bed toward her and tucked his finger under her chin. “Look at me, please.”

  She opened her eyes, mortified to feel the moisture of tears on her lashes.

  “Now, tell me the very last thing you remember.”

  She fought the fog clouding her brain, struggling to make sense of everything. “I...I’m not sure. I remember leaving the office last night...” She frowned. “I thought it was last night. But it was cold and wet.”

  “Can you tell me what day it is?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, she gave him the day, month and year. She didn’t like the look on his face. Alarmed again, she added quickly, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  For an answer, he reached over to her table, picked up the newspaper that was lying there and held it open in front of her eyes.

  Heart thumping, she stared at the headlines, half expecting to see her name emblazoned across the front page. Instead, she saw a story about the tobacco industry’s fight over a recent court case.

  Puzzled, she stared up at the doctor. “I don’t understand.”

  “Look at the date,” Dr. Harrison said gently.

  She did so, and caught her breath. No, it wasn’t possible. She stared so hard the numbers blurred together. “No,” she said sharply. “This is wrong. This can’t be today’s paper.”