Hidden Away

Table of Contents

 

 

SWEET TEMPTATION

“Sizzle, sex appeal, and sensuality! Maya Banks has it all ... This book is on the inferno side of hot and it shows on every page ... You will not want to miss out on this story.”

—
Romance Junkies

 

“An enjoyable tale of [a] second chance at life.”

—
Genre Go Round Reviews

 

SWEET SEDUCTION

“Maya Banks never fails to tell compelling tales that evoke an emotional reaction in readers ... Kept me on the edge of my seat.”

—
Romance Junkies

 

SWEET PERSUASION

“Surpassed all my expectations. Incredibly intense and complex characters, delicious conflict, and explosive sex scenes that fairly melt the print off the pages,
Sweet Persuasion
will have Maya Banks fans, new and existing alike, lasciviously begging for more.”

—
Romantic Times
(4½ stars)

 

“Ignites the pages ... Readers will relish Maya Banks’s exciting erotic romance.”

—
The Best Reviews

“Well written and evocative.”

—
Dear Author

BE WITH ME

“I absolutely loved it! Simply wonderful writing. There’s a new star on the rise and her name is Maya Banks.”

—Sunny, national bestselling author of
Lucinda, Dangerously

 

“Fascinating erotic romantic suspense.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

SWEET SURRENDER

“This story ran my heart through the wringer more than once.”

—
CK
²
S Kwips and Kritiques

“From page one, I was drawn into the story and literally could not stop reading until the last page.”

—
The Romance Studio

 

“Maya Banks’s story lines are always full of situations that captivate readers, but it’s the emotional pull you experience which brings the story to life.”

—
Romance Junkies

 

FOR HER PLEASURE

“[It] is the ultimate in pleasurable reading. Enticing, enchanting and sinfully sensual, I couldn’t have asked for a better anthology.”

—
Joyfully Reviewed

“Full of emotional situations, lovable characters and kickbutt story lines that will leave you desperate for more ... For readers who like spicy romances with a suspenseful element—it’s definitely a must read!”

—
Romance Junkies

“Totally intoxicating,
For Her Pleasure
is one of those reads you won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

—
The Road to Romance

FOR HER PLEASURE
SWEET SURRENDER
BE WITH ME
SWEET PERSUASION
SWEET SEDUCTION
SWEET TEMPTATION

 

THE DARKEST HOUR
NO PLACE TO RUN
HIDDEN AWAY

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196,

South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

HIDDEN AWAY

 

A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / March 2011

Copyright © 2011 by Maya Banks.

Excerpt from
Breaking Point
by Pamlea Clare

copyright © by Pamela Clare.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-47740-3

 

BERKLEY
^®
SENSATION

Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY
^®
SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THERE
were any number of men who would do any job Marcus Lattimer wanted done. He’d amassed a fortune and countless connections during his lifetime, most of which were steeped in murky shades of gray. The men directly employed by Lattimer were absolute in their loyalty—he would tolerate no less—but he never allowed himself to fully trust anyone.

Some jobs ... Some jobs demanded personal satisfaction. This one was a matter of honor. Others might argue that Marcus had none. By their definition, they’d be right. But he was bound by a fierce loyal code.
His
honor was what mattered.

Allen Cross was an arrogant, coattail-riding asshole. The world would be a better place without his kind of filth, and Marcus was determined that the task would be completed this day.

Marcus attached the silencer and tucked the gun into the waist of his slacks. Drawing the Armani suit coat closed, he left the confines of his car and instructed his driver to wait. He walked at an unhurried pace toward the entrance of the high-rise that housed Cross Enterprises. Around him the city lights twinkled in the darkening of dusk, and headlights from passing cars bounced along the alleyways.

The streets were mostly empty and the building barren of the weekday horde of employees who scurried in and out with regularity. He paused a short distance from the entrance and checked his watch. The security guard that manned the front entrance on the weekends was a family guy and, like most family guys, had a moderate amount of debt and stretched his budget from payday to payday.

After tonight, the guard wouldn’t have the financial worries of others in his class. Marcus had seen to that. Right now, the guard would take a strategic break from his post, and at the same moment, the surveillance cameras would go down.

Money bought many things. Loyalty. Disloyalty. A blind eye. A moment’s distraction. Fifteen minutes was all Marcus needed to rid the world of Allen Cross.

Cross was a creature of habit. He came into his offices every Saturday after seven and remained until nine P.M., when his car service collected him and drove him to the same restaurant ten blocks away. He liked the few hours of solitude to go over paperwork—but what he perhaps liked the most was the freedom to victimize a helpless woman with impunity.

Marcus’s jaw tightened in fury. Predictability killed a man. As Cross was about to find out.

Marcus rode the elevator to the twenty-first floor and stepped onto the cheap, fake Italian marble flooring, his shoes issuing a faint echo as he walked through the empty reception area.

The door to Cross’s office was ajar, and a faint light shone through the crack. Marcus pushed at the door and let it slide soundlessly open. Cross was behind his desk, kicked back in his chair, a glass of wine in one hand as he read a sheaf of papers with the other.

Marcus watched, content to wait for his prey to become aware he was hunted.