He left to keep her safe…
Now she’s in peril again.
After her best friend’s murder, heiress Julia Gardiner becomes guardian to her baby, Lily. But when she needs him most, Finn Maguire, the child’s uncle—and Julia’s lover—leaves without explanation. Framed and dishonorably discharged from the army, Finn believes his investigation into his case got his sister killed. And abandoning Julia and Lily is necessary to protect them. But when a man claiming paternity challenges Julia’s custody, Finn returns to help her. Then Lily is kidnapped. Now Finn and Julia must overcome their painful past to save her—and finally clear his name.
From Harlequin Romantic Suspense: Danger. Passion. Drama.
Prologue
Two years ago
Finn Maguire stood under a stormy sky. Days of grieving his sister had left his eyes bloodshot and sore. As the gathering around her grave dispersed, he stared at the pine casket. Several people murmured condolences to him then hustled away, out of the rain. Finn barely heard any of it. His gaze remained on the casket, already lowered into the ground and blemished by a shovel of dirt and several wilted roses.
He’d learned a lot about life in these past few days. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, the sky would fall.
Only a few months before, he’d returned from Afghanistan, dishonorably discharged from the army, after being framed for the murder of Major Mark Donner. Donner had seemingly messed up paperwork on the shipment of several crates of weapons. Finn had wanted clarity on where the weapons had gone. Instead of helping Finn identify the discrepancy, Donner tried to shut him down. When a local faction had been located with the missing weapons, Finn confronted Donner, accusing him of arms dealing, only for Donner to turn up dead days later. Their shouting match at the officers’ club and one lone drop of Donner’s blood on Finn’s boot had been the evidence used against him. With no way to prove his innocence and no understanding of who was controlling the illegal operation, Finn was forced out of the military in disgrace, his career and reputation shattered.
Finn arrived home ready to clear his name, to find out who had actually killed Donner. But whoever had really killed Donner and illegally sold those weapons wanted Finn silenced. Instead of killing him, they killed Miranda. They should have killed him, not her. Not his sister.
The police claimed it was a break-in gone wrong. It wasn’t. She’d been murdered in front of her two-year-old daughter, Lily. To make matters worse, Lily may have witnessed the murderer carving what the police called an X on Miranda’s chest. It wasn’t an X. Someone had carved the Ordnance Corps insignia into her skin. A brutal reminder of whom he was up against. It was a message: “Shut up. Or the people you love will pay the price.”
Finn’s mind clouded with guilt and rage. Both Donner’s and Miranda’s murders had been a warning to stop him from digging for the truth. And it worked. The moment he saw Miranda’s lifeless body, he knew what they were capable of.
He’d ignored their warnings. He’d kept digging. And now his sister was dead.
“Finn?” Julia’s voice broke through the fog numbing his mind. She’d been Miranda’s roommate when Finn had met her a few years before. It had been love at first smile for him. They’d been together ever since. Wearing a long black London Fog trench coat covering a black dress, she stood a few steps away, holding Lily, who was bundled in her arms under a warm blanket. The two-year-old was quiet, too young to fully understand what had happened, but something in her eyes had changed since that night. She hadn’t spoken a word since Miranda’s murder.
He looked at Julia, her face pale, wet with tears and rain. She’d been his anchor when he came back, the only thing keeping him grounded. She loved him even when he wasn’t sure he deserved it.
But now, standing over his sister’s grave, he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
Finn nodded, though he felt anything but okay. He could feel Julia’s eyes on him, searching for some explanation, some reassurance, but he couldn’t give it to her. He couldn’t tell her the truth—that Miranda had been murdered as a message to him, that Lily had barely escaped that night with her life and that the people responsible may not be finished until everything he valued was destroyed.
They were still watching. And if he remained attached to her, he’d place her and Lily at risk.
“I…I think I’ll stay here for a little while,” he said, gesturing toward the grave. “You should get Lily out of the rain.”
Julia hesitated. “Finn, you don’t have to be alone right now. We should—”
“I need to be alone,” he interrupted, his voice tight. “I’ll be fine.” He tried not to be affected by the confusion and hurt in her eyes, but his heart broke as clarity came to him.
She nodded, pulling Lily closer to her. “Okay. I’ll…I’ll see you back at my place.”
She lingered a moment longer, before turning away. Lily glanced over Julia’s shoulder as they went, her wide, innocent eyes meeting his for a fleeting moment. He loved those two more than anything in the entire world.
Later that night, Finn sat on his couch, nursing some Scotch in the darkness of his apartment. He couldn’t bring himself to drive over to Julia’s place. He’d barely slept since Miranda’s murder, and the funeral had clarified what he had to do to keep those he loved safe.
His sister was dead because of him. The people responsible were still out there, and they would come for Julia and Lily next. Unless he stayed away from them. Made them unimportant.
He stared at his phone screen for what felt like forever before dialing Julia’s number. It rang three times before she picked up.
“Finn?” Julia sounded exhausted. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her through all the pain, but that path had been buried with Miranda.
“I’m sorry, Julia,” he said, his voice low, his sorrow threatening to break him.
“I can’t do this anymore. I have enough going on in my life. I can’t be your crutch and your strength.”
“My crutch? What are you talking about?”
“You’re too high maintenance for me. My new position at Fresh Pond Security is going to take up all my time. Just focus on Lily. I’m not the family type,” he said, his throat tightening.
“You’re in pain, I get it. If you need space…” Her voice cracked.
“Don’t. You’re strong and sexy and amazing. Don’t turn into a clingy, shrill hag.” He hung up before he could hear her response. As deep as he’d thrust the knife into Julia, he’d wounded himself even more.
The silence that followed was suffocating. He drank down what was left of the Scotch and poured himself more. The people responsible for Miranda’s death wouldn’t stop until they’d erased every trace of the truth. And that meant anyone connected to Finn was a target. The only way to keep Julia and Lily safe was to walk away. To let them believe he was too broken to stay.
Finn buried his face in his hands. He’d thought losing his military career had been the worst thing to ever happen to him. But nothing prepared him for the fear and rawness of walking away from Julia and Lily.
Those bastards had taken everything.
And he was not going to stop until he destroyed them.
***
Feel the excitement in these uplifting romances, part of the Fresh Pond Security series:
Book 1: Protector in Disguise
Book 2: The Twin’s Bodyguard
Book 3: The Heiress’s Bodyguard