There's always something good to read on Cover Reveals: Allegiances by Cynthia Eden

Allegiances
by Cynthia Eden
Battling McGuire Boys Book Six
An old enemy returns…with a new victim in the conclusion of The Battling McGuire Boys series.

Private investigator Sullivan "Sully" McGuire has a reputation for danger. He's spent most of his life tracking the men who murdered his parents.

The one woman who sees past Sully's predatorial pursuit is the wife he abandoned years ago. But Celia James has returned, this time with a target on her back.

In order to save Celia, Sully is forced to resurrect old demons. New dangers—and dormant desires—bring Sully and Celia close…and old enemies even closer.

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Content/Theme(s): Private Investigator, Contemporary
Release Date: May 1, 2016
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue

Excerpt & More

Purchase link(s): Hqn Amazon ARe BAM iTunes Kobo B&N
Excerpt:
“Hello, Sullivan.”

At that low, husky voice—a voice Sullivan had heard far too many times in his dreams—his head whipped up. He blinked, sure that he had to be imagining the figure standing in his office doorway. He even shook his head, as if that small movement could somehow make the woman before him vanish.

Only she didn’t vanish.

She laughed, and the small movement made her short red hair brush lightly against her delicate jaw. “No, sorry, you can’t blink or even wish me away. I’m here.” Celia James stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

He rose to his feet in a quick rush. “I wouldn’t wish you away.” Just the opposite. His voice had sounded too gruff, so he cleared his throat. He didn’t want to scare her away, not when he had such plans for her. And she’s actually here. Close enough to touch. “Should you...should you be here? You were hurt—”

Celia waved that injury away with a flick of her hand. “A flesh wound. I’ve had worse.” Sadness flickered in her eyes. “It’s Elizabeth who took the direct hit. I was afraid for a while...but I heard she’s better now.”

He nodded and crept closer to her. Elizabeth Snow was the woman his brother Mac—MacKenzie—intended to marry as fast as humanly possible. Elizabeth was also the woman who’d been shot recently—when she faced off against a killer who’d been determined to put Elizabeth in the ground.

Only Elizabeth hadn’t died, and in that particular case...it had brought Celia back into Sullivan’s life.

Now I can’t let her leave.

He schooled his expression as he said, “She’s out at the ranch. And I’m sure Mac is about to drive her crazy.” He was absolutely certain of that fact. His brother had broken apart when Elizabeth was shot. There was no denying the love Mac felt for her. “I think his protective instincts kicked into overdrive.” So did mine. When I saw you on the ground...

Because Elizabeth hadn’t been the only one hurt on that last case. Celia had also been caught in the cross fire.

But Celia didn’t appear overly concerned with the injury she’d received. “I was knocked out for a few moments. My head hit the wall.” Her calm expression dismissed the terrifying moment, but then, he knew it took a lot to terrify her. “The bullet just grazed me.”

He hadn’t realized that fact, not at first. He’d just known that she was limp in his arms.

A whole lot had sure come into crystal-clear perspective for him in those desperate moments.

“I came to make you a deal,” Celia said as she took a step toward him.

His head tilted to the side as he studied her. “A deal?” Now he was curious. Celia wasn’t exactly the type to make deals. She was the type to keep secrets. The type to always get the job done, no matter what.

During Sullivan’s very brief stint with the CIA, he’d met the lovely Celia.

And he’d fallen hard for her.

Until I thought she’d betrayed me.

“I have information you want.” She pulled a white envelope out of her purse. “I’ll give it to you, but you have to promise me one favor.”

Suspicious now, he asked, “And just what favor would that be?” She had plenty of government connections. She didn’t need him now. Never had. He knew that now.

Her smile flashed. A smile that showed off her dimples. Those dimples were so innocently deceptive. So gorgeous.

So Celia.

They made her appear so delicate.

But the truth of the matter was...Celia James was a trained killer. One of the best to ever work for the CIA.

And she doesn’t make deals.

Yet she was standing in his office, asking for one. The whole scene felt surreal to him.

“You have to agree before I tell you what I want.” She shrugged. “Sorry, but it’s one of those deal-in-the-dark situations. Promise me that you’ll be there when I call in this debt. That you’ll agree to what I need, and this information is yours.” She waved the bulky envelope a bit, as if tempting him.

His gaze stayed locked on hers. He wanted to touch her. Needed to kiss her. Instead, he stood there and forced his body to be still. “Just what information is it that you think you have?” He didn’t understand why Celia thought he’d be interested in any deal she had. He’d more than made it clear that he’d never work for the CIA again. He’d barely escaped before, when he’d been caught in a web of lies and death.

“I have your mother’s real name.” Her voice was soft, almost sympathetic.

But he wasn’t impressed by her big reveal. He and his brothers had already uncovered his mother’s real last name. They already knew—

“And I have the reason she was put in the Witness Protection Program.”

Now, that information...he didn’t know. And he was sure curious about why his mother had given up her previous life, adopted an entirely new name and wound up in Austin, Texas.

For years, Sullivan, his brothers and his sister had been working desperately to unmask the identity of the killers who had murdered their parents. One dark Texas night, two gunmen had broken into the McGuire ranch. They’d killed Sullivan’s mother, then his father. Sullivan’s sister, Ava, had managed to escape and get help, but that help hadn’t arrived in time.

Years later, they were close—finally close—to unmasking the killers. They’d worked tirelessly on the case. When the local law enforcement authorities had given up the hunt, the family had formed a private agency, McGuire Securities. They’d kept working to solve a crime that would never be a cold case, not to them, and along the way they’d helped others with their investigation firm. McGuire Securities now had a top-notch reputation that drew in clients from the South and all along the East Coast.

Years ago, Sullivan had sworn he would never stop searching for the truth about that dark night, not until he’d given his parents the justice they deserved.

Celia offered the envelope to him. That white envelope looked so small and harmless in her hands, but it had the potential to change so much. “Do we have a deal?” Celia asked. “One favor, no questions asked...and you can have her past.”
~~~~~~
Purchase link(s): Hqn Amazon ARe BAM iTunes Kobo B&N
Other titles by Cynthia Eden:

Deceptions	Reckonings	Suspicions	Secrets	Confessions

Glitter & Gunfire	Need Me	Want Me	Watch Me

Better Off Undead	Bite the Dust	Mine To Protect

Mine To Take	Mine To Keep	Mine To Hold	Mine To Crave	Mine To Have

All He Wants For Christmas	A Vampire’s Christmas Carol	Shattered	Broken	Twisted