Say No More Read online

  “Not at all,” he said, smiling. “But I would like to ask you to reconsider the offer MI6 intends to make to you. If you’re interested, The Gravediggers have an opening for a qualified agent.”

  “You’d let a woman join the brotherhood?” Liv asked, saccharine sweet. “You’re so progressive. But I believe I’m going to have to pass.”

  He uncrossed his legs and got up from the chair, putting his hands in his trouser pockets as he went to stand in front of the window.

  “What are you doing here, Dante?” she asked. “I think I made myself clear back on the boat. This is exactly what I was hoping to avoid. I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster for almost two years. I can’t do it anymore. Great sex isn’t worth the heartache.”

  “What if I told you I love you?”

  She stiffened and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d say you must need great sex pretty badly to pull out that card.” Pain ricocheted through her body, and she hoped her strength to stand and face him held until he left. “If that’s all you came for, you can leave. In fact, I insist on you leaving even if that’s not what you came for.”

  “I’ve been told I have too much pride,” he said, ignoring her. “Too much arrogance. And that’s always been true. So I need you to look at me and see the truth.”

  He came toward her, and her knees gave out and she dropped down onto the bed. He took her hands and knelt down in front of her. She wanted to look away, but his gaze was captivating, and she saw something in the depths of his eyes she’d never seen before.

  “This is just me,” he said sincerely. “There’s no Simon Locke and no Gravedigger. Only the real Dante Malcolm. A man who comes to you imperfect. A man who thought he had great worth, but was worthless. A man who was selfish, but finds himself wanting only to give to and serve one woman. A man who didn’t become a real man until one woman showed him his true reflection.”

  His voice broke, and Liv realized she was holding her breath. A single tear fell from the corner of her eye and trickled down her cheek.

  “You’ve made me a better man,” he rasped. “A man who loves you with everything he is, can be, and will be. You’re worth all the risk. You’re worth the fight. And if you’ll have me, I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you.”

  She didn’t know what to say. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected Dante to humble himself before anyone, much less her. But here he was, on his knees, his pride in tatters and love in his eyes.

  The guard she’d placed around her heart slowly came down and she touched the side of his face. “You really mean it.”

  “I love you, Liv. Always and forever.”

  The tears came faster and she launched herself at him, so they both fell to the floor. She wept against his neck, and he held her, whispering words of love and comfort.

  “Is this a good kind of crying or a bad kind?” he asked.

  “It’s good,” she said. “I love you too. You’re worth the risk and worth fighting for.”

  “How do you feel about becoming Lady Malcolm?” he asked. “It’s a defunct title, of course, now that I’m deceased, and you’d have no power or standing in society, but the benefits are good.”

  “What kinds of benefits?” she asked, arching a brow and feeling a lightness inside that had never been there before.

  “These kinds of benefits,” he said, rolling her to her back and kissing the side of her neck.

  She arched against him and felt his hardness press against her.

  “I think these are benefits that can be agreed upon,” she said, her breathing coming faster. “Lady Malcolm has a nice ring to it.”

  “Speaking of rings,” he said. “I’ve one in my pocket for you.”

  “And I thought you were just happy to see me,” she said, her laugh choking off on a moan as he stripped off her tank and his lips found her nipple.

  “A lady never laughs when she’s about to be ravished,” he said. “There are rules to being a lady.”

  “Says who?” she panted, his mouth driving her crazy.

  “London society for hundreds of years.”

  He stripped off her lounge pants and his own clothes, and lay between her open thighs, the head of his cock pressing against her, stretching her.

  Her mouth quirked in a sly smile, and then she hooked her leg around his thigh and deftly flipped him onto his back.

  “This lady never follows the rules,” she said, and then she sank down onto him and rode them both to oblivion.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to my children—Ava, Ellie, Max, Jamie, and Graham. I’m pretty sure we hit the lottery with you guys for children. Thanks for your endless patience as I sit in front of the computer for hours. For learning how to cook and order take out. And for dragging me out of the chair to play foosball when I need a break, but am too stubborn to take one. You’ll never know how much I love you.

  Thanks to my husband, Scott. You’ve been my cheerleader, my sounding board, and my shoulder to cry on during some of the most difficult moments of my life. You work out scenes with me and stay up all night when I’m racing against the clock for deadline. You’re a hero among heroes—my hero—and I love you.

  Thanks to Lauren McKenna for pulling everything you could get out of these books. You’re the rock star of editors, and I adore you. And thanks to Marla Daniels and the rest of the Pocket team for all their hard work (I know I made things interesting), but you guys make everything look easy, even when it’s not.

  Thanks to Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency for just being awesome in all things. From the emails to check on me to the business side of things, you’re first class, lady!

  Can’t get enough of the Gravediggers series? Check out the first two installments, on sale now!

  The Gravediggers aren’t exactly what they seem. They’re the most elite of the world’s fighting forces—and all they have in common is that they’ve been betrayed by the countries they’ve died for. Because they are dead. To their country, their military, and their families. Sometimes the dead do rise …

  The Darkest Corner

  *

  A Gravedigger is willing to risk it all to follow the one woman who drives him crazy halfway around the world. But when the ones who own his soul find out that he’s deserted them, there will be nowhere to hide.

  Gone to Dust

  *

  ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BY FAIRYTALE PHOTOGRAPHY

  LILIANA HART is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than forty titles, including the Addison Holmes Whiskey and J. J. Graves Mystery series. Since self-publishing in June 2011, Liliana has sold more than four million ebooks. She’s hit the #1 spot on lists all over the world, and all three of her series have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Liliana is a sought-after speaker who’s given keynote speeches and self-publishing workshops to standing-room-only crowds from California to New York to London.

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  The Darkest Corner

  Gone to Dust

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Liliana Hart

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Pocket Books paperback edition August 2017

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  Interior design by Bryden Spevak

  Cover design by Patrick Kang

  Cover art © Yalande De Kort/Trevillion Images

  ISBN 978-1-5011-5007-4

  ISBN 978-1-5011-5008-1 (ebook)