Hard to Hold Read Online Free PDF Page B

had been worth a tango with madness.
    Right up until he’d turned his back and abandoned her.
    She’d reeled from the shock for months, only pulling herself together with a promise
     that no man, especially Nick-bloody-Marshall, would ever wield that degree of power
     over her again. No, he could take his sneaky ways of lulling her toward self-destruction
     and strangle on them.
    And if there was one surefire way to get him to take to his heels, though she might
     live to regret it when he came back—as she knew he would eventually, even if just
     to punish her—then what the hell, she’d use it.
    “It started right after I received confirmation that I’m pregnant.”

Chapter Three
    Anna, pregnant?
    It wasn’t surprise that had driven Nick out of her home without a word. It was appalled
     disbelief. And he’d bloody near fallen down that ladder of hers in his bid to escape.
    Making the acquaintance of a full bottle of whiskey hadn’t helped a damn. Not when
     it had meant having to reassure Mrs. Briggs, his weekly cleaner, that no, his normally
     pristine house hadn’t been ransacked, at least not by home invaders.
    Turning in for work, despite not being rostered to do so, with a hangover from hell
     the following morning hadn’t been a smart move either. He’d wanted an update on the
     police investigation and, without finesse, had stomped all over protocol to get a
     copy of Anna’s case file. A territorial war had broken out, furious complaints had
     been lodged, and he’d received a dressing-down from the Commander, the likes of which
     he wouldn’t forget in a hurry. Not exactly the first warning he’d ever received, but
     certainly his last if he wanted to keep his job.
    Jeeeesus H. Christ. Anna, a mother? His palms sweated every time he thought about
     it. Of her with another man’s kid. A kid that had things—no, had he —been different, should have been his.
    His knuckles ached from where he’d put his fist through the wall after he’d found
     out.
    For the life of him, he couldn’t fathom why the hell he should care. He certainly
     hadn’t found any answers at the bottom of the bottles he’d drained before pitching
     that escape route out as a dead loss. And God help him if Anna ever found out he’d
     called in a private security firm to watch over her. Teutonic plates would shift at
     the fit she would pitch.
    But the ex-intelligence men employed by Fortress , the civilian security operation owned and run by his former commanding officer, Jack
     Ballentyne, knew how to be discreet.
    Footsteps echoed in the corridor beyond his office. A curt knock and his door sprung
     open, no polite wait to be invited in. Will entered, a shit-eating grin on his face.
    “I’ve heard a little whisper that you’ve put Anna under surveillance—bloody hell!”
    “Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Nick said drily, watching as Will scanned the
     seven-foot-square, interactive screen displaying the highlights of his investigation
     to date.
    “The Commander’s gonna have your ass if he catches you running renegade, mate.” He
     grinned devilishly before sobering and removing his sunglasses. “Need any help?”
    “I’ll let you know if I do. In the meantime…” Nick jerked his head toward the door
     in an unspoken order for his friend to leave.
    True to form, Will pretended too-stupid-to-live. “Might help if you listed under her
     personal profile the fact that she’s pregnant as the possible trigger for kick-starting
     events,” he said, giving a single nod at the screen.
    Nick shot him a filthy look. “You knew?”
    “About her going the AID route, yes. That it had worked, no. At least, not until yesterday
     when she called.”
    “AID?”
    “Artificial Insemination by Donor. Anonymous in Anna’s case.”
    Nick clenched the muscles in his cheeks to stop his jaw from hitting the floor. Anna
     was effortlessly gorgeous. She exuded sex appeal the way a permanently erupting volcano