Don't Say a Word by Rita Herron

why he felt the need to remain in the shadows.”
    He veered onto the main highway. “You never visited his room or saw him outside?”
    â€œNo.” She chewed her bottom lip, wondering what he was getting at. “I was too weak at first, and avoided leaving my room. The other patients, when there were others, whispered about me. They thought I was a monster.”
    His square jaw tightened, and he reached out to slide his hand over hers. “You’re not a monster, Crystal. You’re a petite fleur, jolie fille .”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œA little flower, a pretty woman.”
    Warmth spread through her at his tone and compliment. It had been so long since she’d been away from the hospital, or with anyone other than Dr. Pace, the occasional nurse, and…Lex.
    But Dr. Pace insisted Lex was dead.
    Had she really been talking to a ghost all these months? Had she been hallucinating from the medication? Or was he lying to her to make her think she was crazy?
    * * *
    D AMON’S HAND TINGLED AS he closed it over the woman’s. A surge of sexual heat shot through his body unlike anything he’d experienced in a long time. He felt an instant connection with Crystal/Kendra—whatever the hell her name was—a connection that tempted him to believe her.
    But he had no idea if she was lying to him, or if she was the woman his brother was accused of murdering. The woman his brother had slept with and fallen for…
    A woman Damon could absolutely not get involved with.
    He jerked his hand away, but his fingers fell cold suddenly.
    Dammit, even if she wasn’t Kendra Yates, she looked a helluva lot like her, so much so that it was disturbing. And who knew what he would discover about her past? She might be a criminal. Or insane, for all he knew.
    But she also might be in trouble and needed him.
    His thoughts turned to the E-team. If she’d met Lex, perhaps he’d divulged secrets about his past and their missions before his demise.
    Meaning she could expose them. If Cal or Max knew, they’d want to silence her.
    He had to find out how much she knew. It was the only way to protect the E-team.
    Being attracted to her would only interfere with work.
    His cell phone rang, saving him from explaining the thoughts boomeranging in his head. He checked the number and answered.
    â€œDamon. Jean-Paul.” Short, clipped, to the point. “No leads yet on who wired that money transfer into the phony account for Antwaun, but I’m working on it. Anything on your end?”
    â€œI tracked down Dr. Pace. And…you won’t believe what I found.” He explained about his conversation with the plastic surgeon, and the woman in the seat beside him, well aware she watched him warily. Had she felt the heat, the lust that had shot through his body?
    Did she know he’d been part of the E-team, and a friend of Lex’s? That they would kill her if she tried to expose them?
    â€œDamon—”
    â€œSorry. Anyway, Pace claims he sent her DNA for testing, but I called the agency and there was no record of it. She’s coming with me so we can run her DNA and fingerprints and find out her identity.”
    â€œDo you think she’s Kendra Yates?” Jean-Paul asked.
    â€œI don’t know. She certainly looks like her, but she has amnesia. And I’m not sure the timing is right.” He hesitated. “Check and see if Miss Yates had any siblings. Maybe a sister who resembled her, or a twin.”
    â€œI’m on it.”
    A long pause. “How are Maman and Papa holding up?”
    Jean-Paul’s long sigh said it all. “As well as can be expected. The press mobbed them at the restaurant today. I talked to Steph and she’s going to stay with them for a few days until the worst dies down.”
    â€œDammit. This scandal could destroy their new business.”
    â€œI know. All the more reason for us to work