THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR & THE SAPPHIRE HEIST are being released by Montlake, which is an Amazon publishing company, and will only be available for sale at Amazon. You can download a free Kindle reading app for any smartphone or tablet here
**THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR & THE SAPPHIRE HEIST are available for free on Kindle Unlimited!**
Keep your lover close and your enemy closer…
After giving in to a fiery night of passion, island adventurer Steph Anderson and bounty hunter Jake Harlowe are back to square one. With millions in stolen jewels at stake, it’s hard for Steph not to question her new partner’s true motives—no matter how sexy he might be. Jake is hungry for more of Steph, but he can sense her growing mistrust, which only fuels his own doubts. Worse, there’s undeniable evidence that someone else is now after the jewels—and that they are both in real danger.
Fighting against their magnetic attraction is a distraction these two can’t afford. In order to survive, they’ll have to pull off one more heist—and trust each other with something even more precious than jewels: their hearts.
And Don’t Miss the First Book, THE SAPPHIRE AFFAIR, now available!
Order your copy today!
The best part of the windows was the
view they afforded—a clear shot into the art gallery across the street, wedged
next to an empty storefront on one side and the Atlantis submarine tours on the
other, with a slim alley slicing between the gallery and the vacant shop. That
must be the property Isla and Eli were trying to purchase to expand the
gallery.
Good Lord, business must be good in
“Artlandia” if they had the kind of change needed to annex a shop. He chuckled to himself. Of course business was good for Eli. The
man was a thief. The bastard stole money from hardworking Americans. Jake dug
his fingers into his palms, a burst of righteous anger fueling him—a reminder
of why he did what he did for a living. Because rich, privileged men like Eli
Thompson thought nothing of skimming a little off the top. Eli had done that to
the tune of $10 million from his very own hedge fund, stealing it from the
Middle America customers the fund served. Then he turned their retirement
savings to diamonds and skipped out of the good old USA and into the Caymans
with the loot in his pockets, and Jake had the evidence to prove it, thanks to
his client—that same fund. All he needed to do now was locate those watermarked
diamonds, take them back, and return the money to its rightful owners.
Eli had gotten away with his fraud so
far. But the road stopped here with Jake. His mantra was simple: “Don’t let the
bastards get away with anything.”
That was the promise he’d made as a
teenager after the drunk driver who smashed into his parents’ car had gotten
off scot-free. Now as an adult, Jake had no qualms whatsoever with tracking
down the criminals and scum of the world to make sure they paid up.
Soon, it would be Eli’s turn.
And if the tip he and Steph had
garnered last night about the location of the gems was right—inside the frames
on the art in the gallery office—Eli’s opportunity to pay the piper was coming
due any minute. Made sense that the rocks would be stuffed inside frames. You
could store a lot of stones in that sort of clever hiding spot. Come to think
of it, the frames he’d seen in the halls at Eli’s Sapphire nightclub had an
unusual look to them, too. Strangely heavy for such light, contemporary art.
One more possible option to pursue.
Jake lowered his shades, placed his
palms on the windowsill, and stared across the street. From the second story of
the church, he had a bird’s-eye view of the gallery. Well, it was really
courtesy of the binoculars built into the awesome sunglasses he wore today that
he was able to keep watch on the back door, then the front, then the alley
along the side of Isla’s Island Gallery. The most useful sunglasses ever, they
provided a close-up look into what was many feet away. He enjoyed the little
gadgets of the job, like his lock-picking kit and the sunglasses with the
built-in zoom.
With its bright white walls and steel
framework, the gallery exuded class and style. The proprietor was catering to
the wealthiest clientele on the island, even if it was located amid souvenir
shops, bars, and tour operators. As Jake scanned the swank location, he took
mental note of the number of employees visible in the gallery—three, including
one at the reception desk—as well as the activity of the establishment.
Busy.
A green Honda pulled up outside the
gallery, and a tall guy with graying hair emerged, glanced at the gallery
doorway, then popped into a souvenir shop down the block. A thick, burly man in
a suit strolled by next, ducking into the gallery for five minutes or so,
chatting with Isla the whole time. A woman in a flowy red dress walked in next.
When the woman left the gallery, she
blew a kiss to Isla, who held open the door. The woman breezed down the street
with a brochure in hand. Jake checked his watch. One more hour ’til showtime.
This morning in Steph’s hotel room, they’d checked out every angle of Isla’s
Island Gallery with Google street view as they’d prepped, but it was wise to
obtain an actual visual with one’s own eyes.
Though the visual he wanted
in his line of sight again was Steph Anderson.
Since self-publishing her debut romance novel CAUGHT UP IN US three years ago, Lauren Blakely has sold more than 1 million books. She is known for her sexy contemporary romance style that’s full of heat, heart and humor. A devout fan of cake and canines, Lauren has plotted entire novels while walking her four-legged friends. She lives in California with her family. With ten New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than fifty times. Her bestselling series include Sinful Nights, Seductive Nights, No Regrets, Caught Up in Love, and Fighting Fire as well as standalone romantic comedies like BIG ROCK and MISTER O, which were both instant New York Times Bestsellers. In the fall she’ll release WELL HUNG, another romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter.
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