Blind Faith

  Blind Faith

  Rebecca Zanetti

  Begin Reading

  Table of Contents

  A Preview of Total Surrender

  An Excerpt from Forgotten Sins

  Newsletters

  Copyright Page

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  To Kathy and Herb Zanetti, AKA Guga and Papa, who love and protect family with everything they are.

  Acknowledgments

  Publishing a book requires both solitude to write and collaboration to make happen. BLIND FAITH wouldn’t exist without the generosity and hard work from several amazing people. I’d first like to express my gratitude to my family and friends, especially Big Tone, for keeping me from becoming a hermit as I write.

  A big thank-you to my editor, Michele Bidelspach, who is singularly one of the most insightful and intelligent women I’ve ever had the honor of working with.

  To my agent, Caitlin Blasdell, who has provided much needed guidance, humor, and protection in this wild publishing industry—my career and writing are where they are right now because of our mutual hard work. To Liza Dawson, thank you for the support and the fun dinners while at conferences!

  Thanks to Megha Parekh for all the hard work and great communication, and thanks to copy editor Carrie Andrews and production editor Jamie Snider for the precise, excellent work. Thank you also to Diane Luger and Larry Rostant for the truly awesome book covers, and to everyone at Grand Central Publishing / Forever who work so tirelessly getting books to happy readers.

  Finally, thanks to my street team, Rebecca’s Realm Runners, for the incredible support and a fun place to play on Facebook.

  Prologue

  Southern Tennessee Hills

  Twenty Years Ago

  Nathan’s boots echoed on the hard tiles, the deep sound thrown back by the cinder blocks lining the wall. He’d wiped the snow off the bottom of his boots before heading inside, but the soles were still slippery. His eleven-year-old gut churned, and his mind spun. His older brother, Mattie, was out on a mission, and shit was about to hit the fan.

  The situation was totally Nate’s fault, but he couldn’t be taken from the facility. If he was forced out, Matt would blame himself. And who would take care of the two younger brothers when Matt went out on assignment? At around twelve years old, Matt often went out on a job, and somebody had to protect Shane and Jory. Nate had taken on the duty years ago.

  He paused outside of the office doorway and took several deep breaths. Centering himself, he smoothed his face into innocent lines and knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” came the low baritone of the commander.

  Sweat dripped down Nate’s back. He shoved open the door and hurried inside to stand at attention. The scents of bleach and gunpowder nauseated him.

  The commander studied him with black, fathomless eyes while sitting behind a metal desk. He wore a soldier’s uniform, his hair in a buzz cut, his body lean and hard. Behind him sat a woman furiously scribbling in a notebook on a small table. Dr. Madison, the head scientist who studied the cadets at the facility, liked to scribble.

  “We seem to have a situation, Cadet Nathan,” the commander said.

  Nate’s spit dried up. “Yes, sir.” God, please make the situation be about what he’d done wrong and not about Matt’s mission. Matt was invincible. Nothing could happen to him.

  “We found your stash of tree, decorations, and cookies,” Dr. Madison said, her blue eyes narrowing in calculation.

  Relief tickled down Nate’s spine. Matt was all right. “Yes, ma’am.” Damn it. He’d hidden those items carefully in a storage shack on the outskirts of one of the training fields. How had they found everything?

  “Cadet Nathan, this is a military facility. You are a soldier created in a lab to follow orders and protect our organization.” The commander pushed back from the desk and rose to his full height. “How in the world did you learn about Christmas?”

  Nate tilted his head to look way up at the commander’s face. Someday Nate would be taller and bigger. Even tougher. But now, not so much. “I can’t remember, sir.” In truth, he and his three brothers had snuck into computer rooms to watch television sitcoms via satellite. The idea of Christmas had struck a chord with all of them.

  The brothers fought for freedom by following orders, and they fought for other people to have families and pretty trees with presents. Maybe someday Nate and his brothers could have that, too. If they were strong enough and good enough, maybe they’d get families who would love them. Christmas seemed to be about family and love, both of which intrigued Nate until his chest hurt.

  “Humph.” The commander clasped his hands behind his back. “I take it you were planning some sort of celebration with your brothers?”

  Nate’s knees wobbled, but he stayed upright. “Yes, sir. I thought the younger brothers should have good memories of their childhoods.” It was too late for him, and that was all right. But he needed to give his younger brothers something good in their lives. Plus, seeing the younger kids happy cut down on Matt’s guilt over how hard he trained them.

  “How did you procure the items?” Dr. Madison asked, her pencil poised to write.

  Nate shrugged. “I cut off the top of a tree and made the decorations from old weapons.” The presents he’d either stolen throughout the compound or made himself, and those were hidden somewhere else. Hopefully safely. Jory would love the modified remote-control attack helicopter.

  “I could have you hanged,” the commander said thoughtfully.

  Dread and fear heated Nate’s lungs. Who would take care of Shane and Jory? “Yes, sir.”

  The commander scratched his chin and eyed Madison. “Well?” he asked her.

  Nate gulped in air and looked toward the woman. Would she want him hanged?

  Dr. Madison pursed her red lips. “I think we should give Cadet Nathan a choice.”

  Great. Another one of her crappy experiments. “A choice, ma’am?” Nate asked.

  “Yes. The first choice is that you relinquish all of the Christmas items, and we’ll forget this ever happened.” She tapped her pencil on the paper. “The second choice is that you go ahead with Christmas for your brothers, and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

  Nate swallowed. “What’s the catch, ma’am?”

  She smiled, revealing sharp white teeth. “A few days after your pseudo-Christmas, you go onto the training field with the three oldest Brown brothers.”

  The three oldest were all around fifteen, and although Nate was a hell of a fighter, he’d get hurt. Nobody could take on all three of them.

  His mind reeled as he considered his options. A little bit of pain was worth giving Shane and Jory a small bit of happiness. Of thinking they were part of a real family with good times. Plus, Matt often came back from a mission angry and depressed. A happy memory would be good for him, too.

  “I’ll take the second choice—with one condition,” Nate said, his chin lifting.

  Dr. Madison giggled. “Listen to the boy, Commander. He’s giving us conditions.”

  The commander lifted a dark eyebrow, his lip twisting. “What’s the condition, Cadet?”

  Nathan took a deep breath. Maybe the Brown brothers wouldn’t break too many of his bones. “This deal is between us, and I don’t go onto the field with the Browns until Matt is out on another mission.” Jory and Shane w
ould think Nate had gotten in trouble but wouldn’t know why. Hopefully by the time Matt returned, Nate would be mostly healed, so he wouldn’t figure it out. “Matt can’t know the truth.”

  “Interesting.” Madison smoothed back her black hair. “You don’t want him to know you’re sacrificing your health for your brothers?”

  “No, ma’am.” Definitely not. Matt would blame himself and maybe go off the deep end and finally challenge the commander. None of them were ready for that. Yet.

  Dr. Madison nodded. “You intrigue me, young man. How far would you go for family? For love?”

  Nate frowned. “I don’t understand the question, ma’am.”

  She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “You have a deal, Cadet Nathan. Have a very merry Christmas.”

  Chapter 1

  Washington, DC

  Present Day

  The glittering hotel ballroom teemed with reptiles and predators more dangerous than any snake or rebel fighter Nate had killed in humid jungles far from home. These masked their true natures with designer suits and red lipstick as they used the sword of power in another typical fund-raiser for some useless cause. He could put them all down within seconds.

  Or maybe he just needed to follow his younger brother’s advice and stay the hell away from people for a while.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to seek solitude.

  The kill chip implanted near his spine pulsed as his heart rate sped up, forcing blood quickly through his veins. Veins much too close to the abnormal killing device. So he counted evenly to control his heart, eyeing the exits from the opulent ballroom, estimating how many security guards stood at watch. At least seven had been provided by the hotel, while several more, dressed in Armani, chatted with partygoers as if they belonged.

  They didn’t belong amid the rich and powerful any more than Nate did.

  The difference was that Nate liked it that way.

  Even so, he’d donned a Brioni tuxedo that had earned him more than one come-hither glance since he’d arrived at the fund-raiser—from women and a couple of men. A fake beard covered his jaw, while brown contacts masked his eye color. But there was no way to hide his height or the breadth of his chest, so he used them to his advantage in the sleek suit.

  Even with his size, hiding in plain sight was one of his specialties.

  His heart rate slowed, and he tuned in to the mundane conversations around him. With his enhanced hearing, he often had to filter most noise or he’d go insane. But tonight he listened for one woman, opening up his senses. Heart and respiratory rates had signatures—tempo, rhythm, and something too difficult to explain—and right now he hunted for one he’d once known well.

  She didn’t seem to be in the large ballroom.

  A group of lobbyists argued to his left, while two women in glittering sheaths spoke over champagne glasses to his right. The men argued about the next Super Bowl, and the women disagreed over international relations with China.

  He bit back a grin and maneuvered between tables, once again shoving the bombarding sounds into a box.

  While the ability to hear a penny hit the ground outside the raucous gathering gave him the edge he needed, now he required a clear head. This might be the most difficult job he’d ever taken, but if he or his brothers were to survive, he needed to find the one woman he’d never thought he’d seek.

  Only to save his brothers from their kill chips would he even attempt to speak with her again. She’d broken his heart once, and once was enough. He had never believed in second chances—for himself or for anybody else.

  But his one true job in life, the reason he had purpose, was to protect his brothers. So he’d storm hell once again to do what he needed to do.

  “Excuse me.” A petite blonde in sparkling red brushed her breasts against his arm. “Do I know you?”

  “No.” He fell back on training and pasted on a charming smile. “Much to my dismay.”

  She twittered, and bloodred lips curved in a smile. Even in the four-inch spiked heels, she had to tip back her head to meet his gaze. She licked her lips. “I’m sure we’ve met.”

  He had the oddest urge to back away from her voracious smile. What did she want? His supersenses allowed him to pay attention to the security patrolling the room while also monitoring her eye movements so he could discern the truth. As a liar, she wasn’t bad. But they didn’t know each other. “I’m afraid we haven’t met.”

  “Let’s remedy that situation.” She stepped closer, and the scent of strong floral perfume gathered around them.

  From her breathing and the slight dilation of her pupils, he could tell she’d probably imbibed at least three glasses of champagne. If he’d needed a companion to use as cover, she would’ve been perfect. But this was a solo mission.

  A heartbeat echoed in his head, shoving away all other sounds. Thump. Thump. Thump. Familiar and once dear—he knew that beat. Slowly, he turned toward the doorway to the smaller room.

  Audrey.

  This was the closest he’d been to her in five years. His focus remained on the stunning woman across the room. His entire body tensed, and adrenaline flooded his system. He’d been gifted the genetic ability to control his body responses, and usually he was the best. But at the moment, he might as well be a robot on the fritz and not a trained, unfeeling assassin.

  She’d thinned out in the five years they’d been apart, shedding the last vestiges of her teenage years. Nicely muscled arms showed health, while faint circles under her eyes hinted that she worked too hard.

  He already knew how hard she worked, considering he’d been tailing her for a week. From a distance. Hoping to get a glimpse of her child. Their child.

  Even after seven whole days, one look at her and his body short-circuited. That had to end.

  Her dress covered high breasts in a way that was both alluring and modest, while the high heels accented toned legs. Those legs had felt amazing wrapped around his hips, and sometimes, when dreams intruded, he could still feel her. Smell her. Taste her.

  She smiled at a man gesturing wildly to another man. Nate idly tuned in to the conversation, noting it centered around tort reform.

  “Well.” The blonde in front of him spun on a heel and huffed off.

  He’d forgotten all about her. If she had been a threat, she could’ve stabbed him in the gut. He wouldn’t have seen it coming.

  Yet another example of why he needed to stay away from Audrey Madison.

  Even so, he slid his champagne glass onto a table and strode toward the smaller ballroom. It was time to find the truth—whether Audrey liked it or not.

  * * *

  Somebody was watching her. Audrey Madison glanced around the opulent ballroom, her face remaining calm while her heart roared into overdrive. She’d navigated a lonely childhood, surviving with finely honed instincts. The need to fight or flee lived in her daily moments.

  Now was the time to flee.

  Elegant and sexy, her black cocktail dress wrapped tightly around her fit form and wouldn’t hinder her escape. Unfortunately, the three-inch Jimmy Choo heels needed to be kicked off, a necessity made nearly impossible by the two U.S. senators currently debating tort reform to her left.

  She automatically smiled at a pun from her boss, Senator Nash. He’d slicked back his gray hair and trimmed his mustache, making him look more like a rancher playing dress-up than ever before.

  She turned and took a sip of champagne while searching unobtrusively for the threat.

  Men in tuxedos and women in stunning dresses scattered throughout the most prestigious hotel ballroom in Washington, DC. Tension rode high in the party atmosphere due to the hint of power threading through the air. The attendees of the political fund-raiser either had power and were desperate to hold on to it, or they were filching at tendrils and grappling to claim more.

  Her reason for being there differed. Somewhat.

  In fact, she’d give her seven-hundred-dollar shoes away in a nanosecond for the opportunity to
curl up with comfy socks and Little Women. Sure, it was a classic, but it was about siblings and a nicer time. She owned several dog-eared copies.

  The idea that people in real life could have families and make homes was as much fiction as the novels she read. Audrey’s talent lay in subterfuge and not in homemaking, unfortunately. She’d love to have kids and make the world a fun place for them—from birthday parties to the everyday cutting of crusts off sandwiches. Carol Brady from the Brady Bunch had the best job around, in Audrey’s opinion. Not only did Carol have a safe life, but she had a family. A real one.

  Audrey took another sip of champagne, searching for the source of her unease. Where was the threat?

  Her gaze swept past the two imposing soldiers dressed in suits standing by the outside exit, pretending to chat. They’d been following her for weeks, and they were certainly owned by the commander. He’d been having her followed, and the only explanation she could come up with was that he’d lost trust in her. If he’d ever had any.

  He’d put her in the political world as an aide to a powerful senator to further the commander’s agenda, and if he discovered her own agenda, he’d have her killed.

  But the two guys watching her proved that the commander wasn’t sure yet—she was still standing.

  No, a stronger predator stood near. She felt him.

  As if drawn by a magnet, her focus landed on a man leaning casually against the doorway leading to the dance floor. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him until recognition slammed into her, heating her ears and weakening her knees. It couldn’t be. It really couldn’t be.

  Her fingers lightened their hold around the champagne flute, and she clutched tight to keep from dropping the delicate crystal.

  How could Nathan be here? Heat flowed through her so quickly her lungs seized. Panic flared into her veins, and furious tears pricked the backs of her eyes. In a nanosecond, her entire central nervous system snapped like a live wire.

  His gaze held hers captive as he lifted one lip in a mocking grin.