Undercover Bride

Undercover Bride
Kylie Brant

THE AGENT: Spirited, beautiful Rachel Grunwald.THE MISSION: Convince Caleb Carpenter, a man whose reputation was as devastating as his looks, that she should be his bride.THE SHOCKING TRUTH: Rachel can't keep from falling for this powerful, enigmatic man!Her assignment was to go under cover as Caleb Carpenter's intended bride–even though her groom was a militant leader and alleged killer! Then her suitor showed her a taste of passion, and Rachel wondered how she could win her war against Caleb when she had already lost her heart?

When a deadly traitor

threatens to dishonor a top-secret agency,

A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY

begins….

Caleb Carpenter

Piercing eyes, menacing dark looks—a powerfully seductive man!

A man with more secrets than even his monstrous reputation reveals, Caleb is determined to find a bride to complete his empire—a woman who will stand by his side as he conquers the Western world!

Rachel Grunwald

Beautiful, blond, with a vulnerability no man has ever touched…until now.

This SPEAR operative has a personal stake in bringing Caleb Carpenter—and his entire compound—down. But going undercover as Caleb’s bride has unanticipated dangers once Caleb reveals the true power of his passion….

The Traitor

Known only as “Simon,” he’s due to make an appearance at Caleb’s compound….

No one knows what’s driving this deadly villain, only that he seems determined to destroy SPEAR’s top man. It’s up to Rachel to stop Simon—before Caleb’s seduction stops her!

Undercover Bride

Kylie Brant

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For Aunt Marty, with love and fond memories

A note from gifted autor Kylie Brant, author of over ten books for Silhouette:

Dear Reader,

This is my first opportunity to work with a continuity series, and I’m incredibly pleased to be included in A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY. The plots are suspenseful, the heroes delicious and the heroines strong and courageous—all the ingredients for page-turners!

Undercover Bride is the second book in the series and poses the kind of dilemma I relish. After all, what could possibly go wrong when a female secret agent investigates a white supremacy group and its handsome, dynamic leader? As it turns out, plenty can happen—and does!

My writing shares time with my full-time teaching job, my husband and five children. Now that two of my kids are in college, we only juggle three athletic calendars each season. These days, the most time my husband and I spend together is sitting on a bleacher at a game of some kind! We’re also veterans of emergency-room visits, usually the result of the aforementioned sports. But when the games are over, the housework done (sort of!), I can close the office door, turn on the computer and just dream away. And in between the frequent interruptions of phone, husband, children and dog, Rachel and Caleb’s story unfolded.

I invite you to sit back, block out your distractions and immerse yourself in the results!

Sincerely,

Readers my contact me at: P.O. Box 231 Charles City, IA 50616.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 1

He didn’t look like a man committed to spreading hatred, prejudice and destruction.

Rachel Grunwald tacked the color eight-by-ten glossy onto the padded wall before her where she could study it while she continued her workout. The photo of Caleb Carpenter managed to convey an aura of power; an invisible energy that all but crackled just below the surface. Based on physical appearance alone, she would have guessed the man as high-level military, or even as one of those exorbitantly priced motivational speakers that seemed to abound these days. As the leader of The Brotherhood of Blood, Carpenter was, in a manner of speaking, both.

She drew her arms up and slowly slid one foot behind her to rest on point. Eyes fixed dispassionately on the photo, she arched her back and raised her leg, the fluid movement as graceful as ballet.

Most would consider the man handsome. His piercing blue eyes contrasted sharply with his short, sleek black hair. Some might mistake the strength in his jaw as a mark of integrity; the squared-off chin as a sign of determination. Few, she imagined, would look at the man and guess him a racist who preached death or deportation for the non-Aryan and disabled.

She spun, her foot shooting out to land hard against the picture. If Carpenter had actually been standing before her, she would have just broken his nose. A slight frown marred her exquisite face. Her timing was off. She’d aimed for his nose. With an acquired patience, she ran through the move a dozen more times, until she was satisfied with it. In her eight years as an agent she’d found it most effective to neutralize an opponent completely, rather than to merely annoy.

She bent to the palm-size tape recorder on the floor and pressed Play. Moving to the long foam-packed punching bag, she swiped her face and bare midriff with a towel and waited for the quietly measured tones of a man she’d never met to describe her next mission.