PARAGON
My former business partner framed me for espionage and nearly put me in prison.
Now, he’s calling from federal custody because the DOJ is coming after his sister for crimes she didn’t commit.
I have the skills to prove Nora Lawson is innocent.
Keeping her safe while keeping my hands off her is a different problem entirely.
CLOVER
My husband died serving his country. Luke Austen was the one person who kept me from falling apart, until the night when everything between us changed.
He pulled away without a word. I took the hint and moved on, except I never really did.
Now, my brother’s crimes have put a target on my back, and Luke is the only one who can make it go away.
Surviving this would be easier if he’d stop looking at me like he never wanted to walk away in the first place.
1
Paragon
It was close to midnight and I was still awake when my phone lit up on the nightstand.
The number was one I recognized, from the federal detention facility in Alexandria, Virginia.
Trevor Collins, my former business partner and a man who’d tried to frame me for the crimes he’d committed, had been calling for days.
I’d been letting it go to voicemail because I had no reason to ever talk to the sonuvabitch again.
I picked up this time, ready to go off on him in a way that would make it perfectly clear not to call again.
“Luke.” Trevor sounded like he hadn’t slept in days. “Don’t hang up. It’s about Nora.”
He said the one thing that would keep me from hanging up. “What about her?”
“She’s going to be indicted for things I did, Luke. Things I used her name for. If you don’t help her, two things will happen. One, the DOJ will indict her. Two, the fuckers from Morrison’s operation will use her as leverage against me.”
The indictment was bad. Morrison’s people were worse. The former threatened her career. The latter threatened her life.
“Why should I believe a word you say.”
“Because you know I love my sister.”
I should have hung up. Trevor Collins was the man who’d framed me for espionage and gutted my company. He’d nearly sent me to prison, and I didn’t owe him a thing.
“Tell me everything. If you lie to me once I’ll hang up and you can watch what happens from your cell.”
“I won’t lie.”
“You’ve done nothing but lie since the day I met you.”
“Not about her. Never about her.”
“Start talking.”