THE TEXAS TATTLER
All the news that’s barely fit to print!
Honeymoon Horror
Danger was the last thing honeymooners Dawson and Matilda Fortune Prescott expected on a rustic getaway following their lovely whirlwind marriage. But wedding bells turned to gunshots when the new Mrs. Prescott went for a woodsy walk.
“I heard a twig snap behind me, then a bullet zinged past my head and landed in a tree,” Matilda told The Tattler. “I was terrified and I guess I fainted.”
Inside the log cabin love nest her new hubby heard shots and raced outside to find his wife slumped on the forest floor. She was uninjured. Police extracted a pistol bullet from a tree, but they have no other hard evidence. Notorious Red Rock ruffian Clint Lockhart tops the list of suspects. Lockhart holds a longtime grudge against the Fortunes that festered into heinous acts once before when he was convicted of murdering Sophia Fortune. Lockhart escaped prison a few months ago and remains at large.
“I know Lockhart is to blame. And he will pay mightily,” Dawson told reporters.
In related news, it seems that Willa Simms, godchild to mogul Ryan Fortune, has gone missing…and so has “bodyguard” Griffin Fortune, brother to Matilda. Sources confirm that their disappearance is related to the shooting. Does their hiding out foretell another close call—for a Fortune’s bachelorhood?
Meet the Fortunes of Texas
Griffin Fortune: He was just doing his job—keeping lovely professor Willa Simms safely hidden away in a cozy mountain cabin. But the longer he was secluded with her, the harder it became to guard his untouchable heart against her beguiling innocence.
Willa Simms: She had never felt anything as overwhelming as her passion for the covert operative. But she was a woman who wanted home and hearth and he dodged danger on a daily basis. Would love overcome their differences so they could make a life together?
Teddy Fortune: The family patriarch longed for his sons and daughter to find the same happiness he has in his own marriage to their mother. Dare he hope that his fondest wish would come true?
To Love and Protect Her
Margaret Watson
About the Author
MARGARET WATSON
is a passionate reader who has always loved romance. Even when she was reading Nancy Drew books, she was fascinated by Nancy’s relationship with Ned. When she outgrew Nancy Drew, she moved on to Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt and Helen MacInnes. Then she discovered Georgette Heyer, and she’s never looked back. Margaret is a voracious reader who loves just about any kind of book, but romance and romantic suspense have always been her favorites. She loves exploring the intricacies of relationships and is a sucker for a happy ending. She began writing more than eleven years ago and realized immediately that it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Margaret lives in Naperville, Illinois, with her husband and three daughters. She is fortunate enough to be involved in two careers that she loves. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she practices veterinary medicine in Chicago. But writing is definitely her first love. She spends as much time as she can at her computer, working on her stories. When people ask why she does both, she tells them that veterinary medicine is her job, but writing is her passion. And being a romantic through and through, she always follows her heart.
For Bill, who makes all of my dreams come true.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
One
This was the last place Griffin Fortune wanted to be.
He sat in his truck outside Willa Simms’s apartment, staring at the door of the upscale, quietly tasteful building, and reflected that those qualities could also perfectly describe Willa. Which was why he didn’t want to be here. Willa Simms was way out of his league.
But he had promised his uncle, Ryan Fortune, that he would take a look at Willa’s security system and make sure she was all right, so he’d driven the two hours into College Station from the Fortune’s Double Crown Ranch. It was the least he could do for Ryan, who had been a generous host to the recently discovered Australian branch of the Fortune family.
He’d only be here for a few hours, he told himself. For a few hours, he could ignore the way Willa stirred his blood. Self-control was second nature to him. And if he found that self-control strained whenever he was around Willa, no one else needed to know.
The glow from the streetlights glistened on the rain-slicked pavement as he watched the door to her apartment. “The place looks safe enough to me,” he muttered to himself. He scowled at the attractive, sturdy building. But he wouldn’t leave without checking it out thoroughly. He’d given Ryan his word, and Griff always kept his promises.
“Might as well get it over with. Hell!” he exclaimed as he stepped out of the truck and into the cold drizzle. “December is a damn uncomfortable season in Texas.”
He had just stepped away from his truck when the door of the apartment building burst open from the inside. Two housepainters dressed in white overalls and with painter’s caps pulled down low over their faces, hurried out the door. They carried a rolled-up rug between them, and they seemed to be in a hurry.
Who wouldn’t be, on a night like this? Griff thought sourly. Out of habit, he watched as the painters headed in the opposite direction. Even when he was off duty, he paid attention to his surroundings.
As the painters approached the side of the building, the rug they carried began to wriggle. Griff narrowed his eyes and, without thinking, began to run.
“Hey, there,” he shouted at the painters. “What are you doing?”
The person in the front glanced back at him, then raised his hand and smashed something down on the rug. It stopped wriggling, and Griff broke into a sprint.
He was gaining on the painters and their burden. They struggled to move faster, but it was clear to Griff that whatever they carried was heavy, and it was slowing them down. As he got closer, the person in the lead took one more look at him and said something to the other person. Then they dropped the rug and ran.
They jumped into a dark blue van that had no windows and no signs on the doors. Griff squinted to read the license number, but the van was too far away and the light was too dim. He was reluctant to leave the rug and its contents lying on the cold, damp ground.
The van tore out of the parking lot, its tires squealing, and disappeared into the night. He watched it leave with a flash of regret that he hadn’t been able to stop the two housepainters. Then he bent down to examine the