She kept his son a secret for years—she should pay for her deceit. Instead, he’s fighting the urge to drag her back into his arms—and bed.
When ex-commando—and now owner of Haven Security—Nathan Haven discovers he has a son, it’s enough of a kick to the gut. Learning at the same time that this child he’s never met is losing the battle with leukemia—the last straw. He vows to make Rebecca Hammerton regret her decision to keep his son a secret from him. But first he is going to do everything in his power to help defeat the disease that threatens his boy’s life. Then he will deal with the woman that walked away from him seven years ago without so much as a by your leave, turning his heart to stone.
He just has to suppress the constant urge to drag the damn sexy heartbreaker back into his arms—and his bed—first.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of kidnap.
Publisher's Note: Although this book can be read as a standalone it is best enjoyed in sequence as part of a series.
General Release Date: 1st May 2015
Dear Nathanial,
I’m sure you are probably shocked to be receiving this email from me after all this time. I’m reaching out to you out of desperation and fear, Nathan. My son is dying. His only hope is a transfusion of bone marrow from a suitable donor. I have exhausted every avenue in my search for that compatible match but have failed. It’s why I reach out to you now, with the hope that you might do me this huge favor and have your bone marrow tested. Not for me, Nathan. I don’t deserve any acts of kindness from you—but for the sake of my son.
The testing procedure is a simple one, requiring only a small sample of your blood to be taken and sent off for analysis, to determine if the HLA—Human Leukocyte Antigen—is a match.
Please, Nathan, I beg you. Get tested and ask your doctor to forward the results to Danny’s specialist, Dr. Gregory Parker, Head of Pediatric Oncology at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Hammerton
Still dressed in the wedding tuxedo that Antoinette Grimaldi—now Beck—had coerced him into wearing as Jason’s best man, Nathan Haven sat staring at his computer. His blood had turned to ice, frozen in his veins, as he stared at the image of the boy that filled the screen. He’d been staring at that photo for what felt like an eternity, recognized those dark eyes and the cut of the boy’s chin. It could have been a photo of Nathan himself at that age. It reminded him of the framed picture his mother still had sitting on her sideboard taken when he had won his first trophy for rugby league in the under sixes.
This boy was his son.
And his son was dying.
Nathan had not heard a word from Rebecca Hammerton for over seven years. Their last correspondence had been her ‘Dear John’ email, calling off their engagement.
He hadn’t laid eyes on her since the day he’d kissed her goodbye as he’d headed off to training camp for the Green Berets Commando Unit. That was until tonight when he’d opened the email marked to his attention, sent via the Haven Security website. Nathan clicked open his inbox and read Rebecca’s deceitful missive again.
The first time he’d read through the email, Nathan had known there was something important Rebecca was not saying. Like any good investigator would, Nathan had typed her name into the search engines of various social media sites, looking for answers.
He had found one, in the photos posted on her page.
A mother-fucking, mind-blowing, unbelievable omission from Rebecca’s plea for his help. Her son was, without doubt, Nathan’s progeny.
A son she had kept hidden from him for over seven years and one that he might never get the chance to meet if he didn’t get his act together—and fast.
His contacts were far and wide, and Nathan was going to call on every one of them he thought could aid him in this battle. First on his list was Martin Shore, a medic who over the years had patched him up on many an occasion, and who was now a doctor of emergency medicine at the local hospital. Marty had once found himself trapped behind enemy lines, caught there as he’d tried to save the life of a soldier who had taken a bullet. Nathan and his team had gone in, found Marty still working valiantly on his patient and got them the hell out of there. Since then, whenever Nathan had needed medical assistance, Marty had been happy to help.
It was only four a.m. but that didn’t stop Nathan from reaching for his phone. The guy’s probably up to his elbows in blood and guts this time of the morning anyway. He punched in the numbers that would connect him to Dr. Shore. Even though Nathan knew weekend mornings in hospital emergency rooms were usually overrun with men and women suffering the effects of alcohol-related injuries, he didn’t feel guilty distracting Marty from his workload.
“Shore,” said the gruff voice on the other end of the line after no more than three rings.
“Marty, it’s Nathan Haven. I need your help.”
“Where are you? What are your injuries?” Martin Shore’s no-nonsense take-charge voice exacted, without hesitation.
“No injuries. I need information and I need it yesterday.” Nathan had never been known for his cordial phone manner and he wasn’t going to change that now—not when every second he wasted could be the difference between his son’s life and death.
Sydney-born Donna Gallagher decided at an early age that life needed be tackled head on. Leaving home at fifteen, she supported herself through her teen years. In her twenties she married a professional sportsman, her love of sport—especially rugby league—probably overriding her good sense.
The seven-year marriage was an adventure. There were the emotional ups and downs of having a husband with a public profile in a sometimes glamorous but always high-pressure field. There were always interesting characters to meet and observe, and even the opportunity to live for a time in the UK.
Eventually Donna returned home a single woman, but she never lost her passion for watching sport, as well as the people in and around it.
Now happily re-married and with three sons, Donna loves coffee mornings with her female friends, sorting through problems from the personal to the international. But she's on even footing with the keenest man when it comes to watching and talking rugby league.
Donna considers herself something of a black sheep in a family of high achievers. Her brother has a doctorate in mathematics and her sister is a well-known Australian sports journalist.
An avid reader, especially of romance, Donna finally found she couldn't stop the characters residing in her imagination from spilling onto paper. Naturally, rugby league is the backdrop to her spicy tales of hunky heroes and spunky heroines overcoming adversity to eventually find true love.
A multiple ARRA awards finalist in 2013 & 2014 for her League of Love series, Donna is spreading her genre wings In 2015 with the launch of her new romantic suspense Haven Security Series and the re-release of her contemporary erotic novella A Fruitful Intimacy.
Reviewed by Wicked Reads
This was such a sweet story. I enjoyed this story so much even though the sexy bits were very few and not all that hot, I was more intrigued by the rest of the story and cheered the couple on to...
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Reviewed by Jo & Isa Love Books
I loved this story. It makes you believe in second chances.
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