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Lieutenant Hays West glanced around the wedding celebration, wondering when Elizabeth Oliver would appear. How would he react? Hays as a rule was calm and deliberate. Others often underestimated him because he was always friendly and smiling. He feared when he saw Liz again for the first time in fourteen years, he wouldn’t be composed or unassuming. He’d storm up to her, sweep her off her feet, kissed her until he could convince her to love him again.
Blowing out a breath, he knew he could do none of those things. If the reports were true, his Liz was now the notorious and deadly Elizabeth Oliver. It hurt to hear that. It gouged him clear through. He may be too soft, but he still prayed for Elizabeth morning, noon, and night. Which was ludicrous, as he’d been the recipient of her cold rejection and her sadistic guards. Not even his best friend Jagger or his family knew why he’d stopped pursuing Elizabeth or that he still prayed for her. It was better to keep that to himself.
The crowd was shifting and getting impatient for the arrival of the infamous guests, just as he was. Cade Miller and Jacqueline Oliver had married in a quiet ceremony a month ago but waited to celebrate until the end of July. It was too warm, and he was sweating, even in the high-mountain Montana valley Cade and Jacey called home.
Maybe he was sweating because of apprehension. That wasn’t him. He was always the cool, calm one. Not today.
Hays was here at his friend Thomas Oliver, aka Quaid Raven’s, request. Quaid had finally broken down and allowed Jacey to invite their father and older sister, Elizabeth, to the party. Quaid realized his father and Elizabeth already knew where Jacey was because of Catherine coming after Jacey and being shot right outside Cade’s barn during the battle. Quaid had decided he may as well let her invite them, show they weren’t afraid, and ‘flex a bit,’ reveal how many savvy and tough friends Quaid and Jacey had.
Quaid hoped Hays could get an inside scoop on Elizabeth. He was to find out if she intended to follow in her mother’s reign of terror, or if the governmental officials who had cleared Benjamin and Elizabeth Oliver of wrongdoing were correct and Quaid and Jacey and their spouses could live in peace. Finally.
Hays had no idea who Elizabeth was under the mask she wore and doubted she would reveal anything to him.
She’d ordered him beaten as a besotted eighteen-year-old. His physical wounds had healed, but his heart never had. When all the news came out about how underhanded and evil her mother was, his compassion for her had grown, but he refused to let her back into his heart. For all he knew, the only woman he’d ever wanted to be with was more evil than her mother.
A stir went up in the crowd as two silver Lincoln Navigators cleared the last bend in the canyon and pulled onto the unassuming gravel drive of Cade and Jacey’s cabin. There were almost fifty people here—local friends, Sheriff Clint Coleville’s armed men and brothers, and a dozen of Captain Aiden Porter’s highly trained operatives.
A bodyguard opened the rear door of the second vehicle. Hays’s fingertips tingled as the man put out his hand and the delicate hand of Elizabeth appeared first, then her feet clad in high heels and her lean legs. The man lifted her to her feet. She was quick to pull her hand free and edge away from him. Her blue eyes quickly surveyed the scene, a practiced smile on her beautiful lips.
Liz, his soul groaned in longing. Fifty feet away. All he could see was her.
Stunning. Brilliant. Blue eyes that could easily capture him heart and soul again. Seeing her again, in person, slammed into him like a round from a fifty-cal. Slow breaths, wide stance, shield his emotions. He would somehow make it through and not reveal how he’d longed for her.
Unless she focused those blue eyes on him. How would he survive if she looked his way?
He couldn’t pull his own gaze away. In a silky white dress with red flowers on it, she was beautiful and classy.
Despite his concern about how he’d react, he’d been instructed to create an opportunity to isolate her from her bodyguards and Father and see if she would open up to him. Her father hadn’t come. Interesting. Quaid hoping Elizabeth would talk to Hays when she wouldn’t confide in her own siblings was intriguing. Did Quaid think Elizabeth harbored feelings or tenderness for him after all these years and her harsh rejection?
He rubbed at his ribcage. He’d been through a lot of injuries in his life, even shot twice a couple months ago. None of his injuries had seemed to heal slower or stick in his memory longer than the ones Elizabeth had given her guards permission to inflict.
Even with all the emotional anguish and the years apart, he didn’t know how he’d react if she was closer than the fifty feet separating them. He prayed for strength and clear vision.
He was grateful Aiden Porter had a huge security presence here to counteract the men surrounding Elizabeth. Her mother’s entourage of highly-trained mercenaries. These were the guards who had escaped the arrests for murder and assault that had taken fifteen of Catherine’s men to prison and six to the grave with her. In this very valley.
Was his Liz truly as depraved as her mother? He should believe it. He’d seen it himself. Yet it was difficult to keep her in that box.
Elizabeth nodded a greeting to the handsome, young and charming bull rider, Easton Coleville, who’d strode over to welcome her, unafraid of her guards. None of them were reaching for their weapons yet, but Hays wasn’t betting on them standing down for long.
The cowboy fawned over her, and Hays couldn’t ignore the tightening in his chest. He wanted to storm up to her, shove Easton and her men out of the way, and cradle her close. That was the stupidest thing he could do, both for the mission and for his own battered heart.
He held his ground.
Then it happened.
Elizabeth glanced around the crowd, obviously searching for her sister, and her eyes landed … right on him. Their gazes connected and his world exploded. Her blue eyes. Familiar. Mesmerizing. Full of him. She lit up as if seeing him again was the deepest longing of her heart. Her expressive mouth softened into a genuine smile and Hays couldn’t catch a full breath.
She was still his, not the ice queen who’d been featured in the media all these years. Hays was the only one who knew and could see the real Liz. His Liz. Thoughtful, smart, and in love with him.
He started forward. Hays had battled and conquered enemies throughout the world. He was an elite Navy SEAL Lieutenant. It was past time he showed Liz exactly how accomplished he was, how long he’d secretly loved her, and why she should fall into his arms again.
But then her gaze suddenly turned … fearful. That made no sense. She wasn’t in danger. Was she?
An instant later, one of her seven bodyguards stepped in front of her, shooting him a challenging glare. The guy was six-two, two-twenty, none of it fat. Hays could see the man had the training, confidence, and evil intent to win at all costs.
Hays returned the confrontational look and stayed on target. The guard didn’t bother him. He’d take all seven of her guards down. He had better training now and just as much determination. He wanted answers, and he wanted her.
“Lizzy!” Jacey Oliver Miller’s delighted cry drew everybody’s attention from the new arrivals.
