Chapter 1
Mixed feelings surged through Hannah Steeles as she stumbled to the chair. She had to sit down
or she would pass out.
Gustav Kolodenko , the sexy heart throb with the Russian accent
who’d swept her off her feet less than two months ago in exchange for a green
card wedding and to father her child in wedlock was back—and not in a
good way.
He’d
jilted her at the altar two weeks ago. Well, sort of. She was about to jilt him at the altar after having second
thoughts about their Vegas vows. After all, she’d only met him two months ago.
Now, here he was in front of her, presumably holding her captive now in Andre’s
Toronto penthouse while Andre was away. And Gustav wasn’t even the man she
thought he was. She’d just learned that he was somebody else.
Gustav
was an undercover secret service agent from her country. God, what had she done
now? Why was he after her? Hannah’s head throbbed, she felt as if a hammer was
pounding on her skull.
“Are
you going to be okay?” Gustav asked smoothly as he walked over to the window to
peer outside. He then moved around the suite to make sure they were alone. He
seemed to have a sweeping device in his hand to detect bugs. She’d recognized
such a device when Andre’s chauffeur and right hand man, Hans, had come to
sweep their hotel suite for bugs in Vegas.
Hannah
sat dazed on the chair, unable to move. Paralyzed by fear. Fear
of the unknown. Fear of what Gustav Kolodenko ,
or rather Mr. James Gustav Kendricks , III, secret
service agent 08975 MSSA , wanted with her.
She
stole a second glance at the badge she held in her hand after Gustav handed it
to her a moment ago. She ran her fingers over the cold, hard metal material and
felt every groove. It was real. This was all real. This whole situation was
like a vivid nightmare.
“So…so
you’re a…a secret agent?” she whispered breathless,
dazed. Her eyes drifted to his dark grey suit and silk tie, his jacket was
loose fitting, obviously to conceal his service pistol. His body filled out
nicely in the suit, she noticed.
“You
could say that?” he answered as he walked over to where she was seated. He
leaned against the granite counter in the kitchen area in front of Hannah.
Moments earlier, she was sitting there opposite Andre. It was strange how
situations could turn in a heartbeat. There she was with a man she should have
despised but for some reason, she didn’t.
“What
do you mean by that?” she lifted her head to look into his eyes. His eyes were
blue as the ocean and sparkling, his jawline strong and set with high
cheekbones. He was certainly a charmer and delicious eye candy for sure. He was
also smooth operator. Just the way he moved was silky, flawless, calm and
indicative of a man who was always in control.
There
was something in Gustav’s beautiful bright eyes framed by his dark eyebrows
that she found oddly trusting. That was what got her hooked on him when they’d
met that night two months ago at a bar of all places. An
upscale bar.
She had
gone there with her roommate Lucy after she’d confided in Lucy that she needed
to find a husband quick and get married and have a baby before it was too late.
She had a hereditary medical condition related to her uterus that would make it
difficult for her to conceive as she grew older.
Hannah
just didn’t want to have a baby out of wedlock like her mother. She’d promised
herself that. She hadn’t even known her real father and her mother was the talk
of the town when she’d given birth to her. Hannah still carried the disgrace on
her birth certificate with father unknown written on it. It was a devastating
shame she carried around with her. A shameful chain that had
to be broken.
“Well,”
Gustav sighed, slicing through her concentration, “the truth is, I am on
leave.”
“On
leave?”
“Yes,”
he said with his arms folded across his broad chest, a dimpled grin settled on
his handsome face. There was something about
Mixed feelings surged through Hannah Steeles as she stumbled to the chair. She had to sit down
or she would pass out.
Gustav Kolodenko , the sexy heart throb with the Russian accent
who’d swept her off her feet less than two months ago in exchange for a green
card wedding and to father her child in wedlock was back—and not in a
good way.
He’d
jilted her at the altar two weeks ago. Well, sort of. She was about to jilt him at the altar after having second
thoughts about their Vegas vows. After all, she’d only met him two months ago.
Now, here he was in front of her, presumably holding her captive now in Andre’s
Toronto penthouse while Andre was away. And Gustav wasn’t even the man she
thought he was. She’d just learned that he was somebody else.
Gustav
was an undercover secret service agent from her country. God, what had she done
now? Why was he after her? Hannah’s head throbbed, she felt as if a hammer was
pounding on her skull.
“Are
you going to be okay?” Gustav asked smoothly as he walked over to the window to
peer outside. He then moved around the suite to make sure they were alone. He
seemed to have a sweeping device in his hand to detect bugs. She’d recognized
such a device when Andre’s chauffeur and right hand man, Hans, had come to
sweep their hotel suite for bugs in Vegas.
Hannah
sat dazed on the chair, unable to move. Paralyzed by fear. Fear
of the unknown. Fear of what Gustav Kolodenko ,
or rather Mr. James Gustav Kendricks , III, secret
service agent 08975 MSSA , wanted with her.
She
stole a second glance at the badge she held in her hand after Gustav handed it
to her a moment ago. She ran her fingers over the cold, hard metal material and
felt every groove. It was real. This was all real. This whole situation was
like a vivid nightmare.
“So…so
you’re a…a secret agent?” she whispered breathless,
dazed. Her eyes drifted to his dark grey suit and silk tie, his jacket was
loose fitting, obviously to conceal his service pistol. His body filled out
nicely in the suit, she noticed.
“You
could say that?” he answered as he walked over to where she was seated. He
leaned against the granite counter in the kitchen area in front of Hannah.
Moments earlier, she was sitting there opposite Andre. It was strange how
situations could turn in a heartbeat. There she was with a man she should have
despised but for some reason, she didn’t.
“What
do you mean by that?” she lifted her head to look into his eyes. His eyes were
blue as the ocean and sparkling, his jawline strong and set with high
cheekbones. He was certainly a charmer and delicious eye candy for sure. He was
also smooth operator. Just the way he moved was silky, flawless, calm and
indicative of a man who was always in control.
There
was something in Gustav’s beautiful bright eyes framed by his dark eyebrows
that she found oddly trusting. That was what got her hooked on him when they’d
met that night two months ago at a bar of all places. An
upscale bar.
She had
gone there with her roommate Lucy after she’d confided in Lucy that she needed
to find a husband quick and get married and have a baby before it was too late.
She had a hereditary medical condition related to her uterus that would make it
difficult for her to conceive as she grew older.
Hannah
just didn’t want to have a baby out of wedlock like her mother. She’d promised
herself that. She hadn’t even known her real father and her mother was the talk
of the town when she’d given birth to her. Hannah still carried the disgrace on
her birth certificate with father unknown written on it. It was a devastating
shame she carried around with her. A shameful chain that had
to be broken.
“Well,”
Gustav sighed, slicing through her concentration, “the truth is, I am on
leave.”
“On
leave?”
“Yes,”
he said with his arms folded across his broad chest, a dimpled grin settled on
his handsome face. There was something about
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