A Man Like Morgan Kane by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online

wasn't sure he'd ever loved her or anyone else for that matter. He hadn't been taught how to love, only to succeed. And he had succeeded. Not by following family tradition and becoming a lawyer, but by becoming one ofAmerica's elite warriors.
    But he had cared deeply forBethany. More than he'd ever cared about anyone else. She'd been a sweet innocent, whose passionate nature had surprised and delighted him. He'd never been able to forget her, no matter how hard he'd tried, and God knows he'd tried.
    "I'll consider taking the job," Morgan said, damning himself to hell with his own words. "But only if Bethanywants me."

    * * *
    Turning down the volume on the radio,Bethanyquieted the soft, soothing sound of Yanni at the piano.
    She glanced at the digital clock on the control panel in her Mercedes. It was already afternoon. Her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since dinner last night. But in the hours she'd stayed at the hospital while Lisa hovered between life and death, food had been the last thing on her mind. Her major concern was whether or not Lisa would live, but the nagging thought that wouldn't leave her mind was that she, and not Lisa, had been the intended victim.
    Keeping her gaze focused on the road ahead,Bethanyscrambled in her purse, grasped her cellular phone and punched her mother's number. When one of the new maids, whose nameBethanycouldn't even remember, answered,Bethanyidentified herself and asked to speak to Eileen.
    "Darling, are you still at the hospital?" Eileen asked.
    "No, Mother, I'm on my way to your house right now."
    "How is poor little Lisa? She didn't die, did she?"
    "No, Lisa is still alive. The doctors think she's going to make it. They performed microsurgery on her right hand for vascular reattachment, but there's still a chance she could lose the hand."
    "Who would do such a horrible thing? Perhaps the person who killed my Jimmy." Eileen's genteel Southern voice rose slightly in anger, then she immediately lowered it again. "What do you think?"
    "I don't know. I'll leave the detective work to the police."Bethanyhad missed too much sleep, left too many meals uneaten and undergone too many shocks in the past few days to be able to think rationally.
    She was tired. So very tired. All she wanted was to pick up Anne Marie, go home, take a bath and sleep for at least twelve hours. "Let me speak to Anne Marie for a minute, please."
    "I can't let you speak to her."
    "Why not? Is something wrong? Is Anne—"
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    "She's not here, darling," Eileen said. "Claudia called and invited her over for lunch."
    "And you let her go?"
    "Well, yes, of course. She wanted to go, and I saw no reason not to—
    "Dammit, Mother!" Tightening her hold on the phone,Bethanygroaned. "How could you have let Anne Marie go over to Claudia's alone when there's some lunatic out there trying to kill me? Did you ever stop to think that she, too, might be in danger?"
    "You should know I wouldn't send her over there alone. James drove her over and made sure she got in safe and sound," Eileen said. "My goodness, you act as if whoever sent you that bomb might try to hurt Anne Marie."
    "We never know, do we? Jimmy seemed to draw a lot of fans from the fringe element in society."
    "I'm sorry, Bethy. Really I am. It's just that Claudia and Anne Marie thought they could persuade Morgan to accept the assignment as your bodyguard. After all, he's highly trained. He was some sort of commando for years before he joined that—"
    "My God, Mother, will you stop babbling! Have you and Claudia forgotten just who Morgan Kane is?"
    "How dare you speak to me in such a way?" Eileen sighed dramatically. "Everything I did, I did because I thought it was best for you. It wasn't my fault that Morgan deserted you just when you needed him most. Claudia and Henderson and I did our best to take care of the mess that ungrateful boy left behind."
    Willing herself not to