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  Her gaze connected to the most gorgeous pair of hazel eyes.

  At that moment Crystal knew it was Bane. She was about to open the door when she remembered the note. Trust no one. But this wasn’t just anyone. This was Bane.

  She unlocked the door and stepped back. Soft porch light poured into her foyer as Bane stepped in. He’d always been tall, but the man entering her house appeared a lot taller than she remembered. And he was no longer slender. He was all muscles, perfectly proportioned to his height and weight. And when her gaze settled on his face, she drew in a sharp breath. He even looked different. Rougher. Tougher.

  He closed the door behind him and her heart pounded. A part of her wanted to race to him, tell him how glad she was to see him, how much she had missed him, but she couldn’t. Her legs refused to move and she knew why.

  For some reason this Bane was like a stranger to her. Had five years of separation done that to them?

  * * *

  Bane

  is part of New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson’s The Westmorelands series: a family bound by loyalty … and love!

  Bane

  Brenda Jackson

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  BRENDA JACKSON is a New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred romance titles. Brenda lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and divides her time between family, writing and traveling.

  Email Brenda at [email protected] or visit her on her website at www.brendajackson.net.

  To the man who will always and forever be the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

  So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. —James 1:19

  Contents

  Cover

  Introduction

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  Extract

  Copyright

  Prologue

  “You wanted to see me, Dil?” Brisbane Westmoreland asked, walking into his eldest brother Dillon’s home office.

  The scenic view out the window was that of Gemma Lake, the main waterway that ran through the rural part of Denver the locals referred to as Westmoreland Country. For Bane, this was home. This wasn’t Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, which meant he didn’t have to worry about booby traps, enemies hiding behind trees and bushes or the boat dock being wired with explosives set to go off the second someone stepped on it. Westmoreland Country was a place where he felt safe. All in all, he was glad to be back home.

  Thanksgiving dinner had ended hours ago, and keeping with family traditions, everyone had gathered outside for a game of snow volleyball. Now the females in the Westmoreland family had gathered in the sitting room to watch a holiday movie with the kids, and the men had gone upstairs for a card game.

  “Yes, come on in, Bane.”

  Bane stopped in front of Dillon’s desk. He knew Dillon was studying him with that sharp eye of his, taking in every detail. And he could imagine what his brother was thinking. Bane was not the same habitual troublemaker who had left Westmoreland Country five years ago to make something of himself.

  Bane would be the first to admit that a lot in his life had changed. He was now military through and through, both mentally as well as physically. Since graduating from the naval academy and becoming a navy SEAL, he’d learned a lot, seen a lot and done a lot...all in the name of the United States government.

  “I want to know how you’re doing,” Dillon inquired, interrupting Bane’s thoughts.

  Bane drew in a deep breath. He wished he could answer truthfully. Under normal circumstances he would say he was in prime fighting condition, but that was not the case. During his team’s last covert operation, an enemy’s bullet had nearly taken him out, leaving him flat on his back in a hospital bed for nearly two months. But he couldn’t tell Dillon that. It was confidential. So he said, “I’m fine, although my last mission took a toll on me. I lost a team member who was also a good friend.”

  Dillon shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Me, too. Laramie Cooper was a good guy. One of the best. We went through the academy together.” Bane knew Dillon wouldn’t ask for specifics. Bane had explained to his family early on that all his covert ops were classified and linked to national security and couldn’t be discussed.

  Dillon didn’t say anything for a minute and then he asked, “Is that why you’re taking a three-month military leave? Because of your friend’s death?”

  Bane eased down in the leather armchair across from Dillon’s desk. When their parents, aunt and uncle had gotten killed in a plane crash over twenty years ago, Dillon, the eldest of the Denver Westmorelands, had acquired the role of guardian of his six brothers—Micah, Jason, Riley, Stern, Canyon and Bane—and his eight cousins—Ramsey, Zane, Derringer, Megan, Gemma, the twins Adrian and Aidan, and Bailey. As far as Bane was concerned Dillon had done an outstanding job in keeping the family together and making sure they each made something of themselves. All while making Blue Ridge Land Management Corporation, founded by their father and uncle, into a Fortune 500 company.

  Since Dillon was the eldest, he had inherited the main house in Westmoreland Country along with the three hundred acres it sat on. Everyone else, upon reaching the age of twenty-five, received one hundred acres to call their own. Thanks to Bailey’s creative mind, each of their spreads were given names—Ramsey’s Web, Zane’s Hideout, Derringer’s Dungeon, Megan’s Meadows, Gemma’s Gem, Jason’s Place, Stern’s Stronghold, Canyon’s Bluff and Bane’s Ponderosa. It was beautiful land that encompassed mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers and streams.

  Again, Bane thought about how good it was to be home, and safe here talking with his brother.

  “No, that’s not the reason,” Bane said. “All my team members are on leave because our last operation was one from hell. However, I’m using my leave for a specific purpose, and that is to find Crystal.”

  Bane paused before adding somberly, “If nothing else, Coop’s death showed me how fragile life is. You can be here today and gone tomorrow.”

  Dillon would never know that Bane wasn’t just referring to Coop’s life, but also how close he’d come to losing his own more than a few times.

  Bane watched as Dillon came around and sat on the edge of his desk to face him, unsure of how his brother had taken what he’d just said about finding Crystal. Especially since she was the main reason Dillon, and the rest of Bane’s family, had supported his decision to join the navy. During their teen years, Bane and Crystal had been obsessive about each other in a way that had driven her family, as well as his, out of their wits.

  “Like I told you when you came home for Jason’s wedding...” Dillon said. “When the Newsomes moved away they didn’t leave a forwarding address. I think their main objective was to put as much distance between you and Crystal as they could.” He paused, then said, “But after your inquiry, I hired a private investigator to locate their whereabouts, and I’m not sure if you know it but Carl Newsome passed away.”

  Bane shook his head. Although he definitely hadn’t been Mr. News
ome’s favorite person, the man had been Crystal’s father. She and her dad hadn’t always seen eye to eye, but Crystal had loved him nonetheless. “No, I didn’t know he had died.”

  Dillon nodded. “I called and spoke to Emily Newsome, who told me about Carl’s death from lung cancer. After offering my condolences, I asked about Crystal. She said Crystal was doing fine, working on her master’s degree at Harvard with plans to get a PhD in biochemistry from there, as well.”

  Bane tipped his head to the side. “That doesn’t surprise me. Crystal was pretty smart. If you recall she was two grades ahead and was set to graduate from high school at sixteen.”

  What he wouldn’t bring up was that she would have done just that if she hadn’t missed so many days of school playing hooky with him. That was something everyone, especially the Newsomes, blamed him for. Whenever Crystal had attended school steadily she’d made good grades. There was no doubt in his mind she would have graduated at the top of her class. That was one of the reasons he hadn’t tried to find her for all these years. He’d wanted her to reach her full potential. He’d owed her that much.

  “So you haven’t seen or heard from Crystal since that day Carl sent her to live with some aunt?”

  “No, I haven’t seen her. You were right at the time. I didn’t have anything to offer Crystal. I was a hothead and Trouble was my middle name. She deserved better and I was willing to make something of myself to give her better.”

  Dillon just stared at him for a long moment in silence, as if contemplating whether or not he should tell him something. Bane suddenly felt uneasy. Had something happened to Crystal that he didn’t know about?

  “Is there something else, Dil?”

  “I don’t want to hurt or upset you Bane, but I want to give you food for thought. You’re planning to find Crystal, but you don’t know what her feelings are for you now. The two of you were young. First love doesn’t always mean last love. Although you might still care about her, for all you know she might have moved on, gotten on with her life without you. It’s been five years. Have you considered that she might be involved with someone else?”

  Bane leaned back in his chair, considering Dillon’s words. “I don’t believe that. Crystal and I had an understanding. We have an unbreakable bond.”

  “But that was years ago,” Dillon stressed. “You just said you haven’t seen her since that day Carl sent her away. For all you know she could be married by now.”

  Bane shook his head. “Crystal wouldn’t marry anyone else.”

  Dillon lifted a brow. “And how can you be so sure of that?”

  Bane held his brother’s stare. “Because she’s already married, Dil. Crystal is married to me and I think it’s time to go claim my wife.”

  * * *

  Dillon was on his feet in a flash. “Married? You? Crystal? B-but how? When?”

  “When we eloped.”

  “But you and Crystal never made it to Vegas.”

  “Weren’t trying to,” Bane said evenly. “We deliberately gave that impression to send everyone looking for us in the wrong direction. We got married in Utah.”

  “Utah? You have to be eighteen to marry without parental consent and Crystal was seventeen.”

  Bane shook his head. “She was seventeen the day we eloped, but turned eighteen the next day.”

  Dillon stared at him. “Then, why didn’t the two of you say something? Why didn’t she tell her parents that she was your wife or why didn’t you tell us? You let them send her away.”

  “Yes, because I knew that although she was my wife, I could still be brought up on kidnapping charges. I violated the restraining order from that judge when I set foot on her parents’ property. If you recall, Judge Foster was pissed about it and wanted to send me to the prison farm for a year. And knowing Mr. Newsome, had I mentioned anything about me and Crystal being married, he would have demanded that Judge Foster send me away for even longer. Once I was gone, Newsome would have found a way to have our marriage annulled or forced Crystal into divorcing me. She and I both knew that so we decided not to say anything about our marriage no matter what...even if it meant being apart for a short while.”

  “A short while? You’ve been apart for five years.”

  “I hadn’t planned for it to be this long. We figured her old man would keep her under lock and key for a while. We were prepared for that seven-month separation because it would give Crystal a chance to finish high school. We hadn’t figured on him sending her away. But then something you said that day stuck with me. At the time I had nothing to offer Crystal. She was smart and deserved more than a dumb ass who enjoyed being the town’s troublemaker.”

  Bane didn’t say anything for a minute before adding, “I told you earlier that I hadn’t seen Crystal, but what I didn’t say is that I managed to talk to her after she left town.”

  Dillon frowned. “You made contact with Crystal?”

  “Only once. A few months after she was sent away.”

  “But how? Her parents made sure no one knew where she’d gone.”

  “Bailey found out for me.”

  Dillon shook his head. “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me? And how did Bailey find out where Crystal was?”

  Bane held his brother’s gaze. “Are you sure you want to know?”

  Dillon rubbed his hand down his face. “Does it involve breaking the law?”

  Bane shrugged his shoulders. “Sort of.”

  Bailey was their female cousin who was a couple of years younger than Bane and the baby in the Denver Westmoreland family. While growing up, the two of them, along with the twins, Adrian and Aidan, had been extremely close, thick as thieves, literally. The four used to get into all kinds of trouble with the law. Bane knew that Dillon’s close friendship with Sheriff Harper was what had kept them out of jail.

  Now the twins were Harvard graduates. Adrian had a PhD in engineering and Aidan was a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Research Hospital. And both were happily married. Bailey, who had her MBA, was marrying Walker Rafferty, a rancher from Alaska, on Valentine’s Day and moving to live on his spread. That announcement had definitely come as a shock to Bane and everyone else since Bailey had always sworn she would never, ever leave Westmoreland Country. Bane had met Rafferty today and immediately liked the ex-marine. Bane had a feeling Rafferty would not only handle Bailey but would make Bane’s cousin happy.

  “So if you knew where she was, what stopped you from going to her?” Dillon asked, holding Bane’s gaze.

  “I didn’t know where she was and I made Bailey promise not to tell me. I just needed to talk to her and Bailey arranged a call between me and Crystal that lasted about twenty minutes. I told her about my decision to join the navy and I made her a promise that while we were apart I would honor our marriage vows, and for her to always believe that one day I would come back for her. That was the last time we talked to each other.”

  Bane remembered that phone call as if it had been yesterday. “Another reason I needed to talk to Crystal was to be certain she hadn’t gotten pregnant during the time we eloped. A pregnancy would have been a game changer for me. I would not have gone into the navy. Instead, I would have gone to her immediately.”

  Dillon nodded. “Do you know where she is now?”

  “I didn’t know up until a few hours ago. Bailey lost contact with Crystal a year and a half ago. Last week I hired someone to find her, and I got a call that she’s been found. I’m heading out in the morning.”

  “To where?”

  “Dallas, Texas.”

  One

  Leaving her job at Seton Industries, Crystal Newsome quickly walked to her car, looking over her shoulder when she thought she heard footsteps behind her. She tried ignoring the sparks that moved up her arms, while telling herself she was probably getting all worked up for nothing. And
all because of that note someone had left today in her desk drawer.

  Someone wants the research you’re working on. I suggest you disappear for a while. No matter what, don’t trust anyone.

  After reading it she had glanced around the lab. Her four colleagues seemed preoccupied, busy working on their individual biochemistry projects. She wondered who’d given her the warning and wished she could dismiss the note as a joke, but she couldn’t. Especially not after the incident yesterday.

  Someone had gotten inside her locker. How the person had known her combination she wasn’t sure, since there hadn’t been any signs of forced entry. But whoever it was had taken the time to leave things almost exactly as she’d left them.

  And now the anonymous note.

  Reaching her car, she unlocked the door and got inside, locking it again behind her. After checking her surroundings and the other cars parked close by, she maneuvered out of the parking lot and onto the street. When she came to a stop at the first traffic light, she pulled the typed note from her purse and reread it.

  Disappear? How could she do that, even if she wanted to?

  She was currently working on her PhD as a biochemist, and was one of five chosen nationally to participate in a yearlong research program at Seton Industries. Crystal knew others were interested in her research. Case in point: just last month she’d been approached by two government officials who wanted her to continue her PhD research under the protection of Homeland Security. The two men had stressed what could happen if her data got into the wrong hands, namely those with criminal intent. She had assured them that even with the documented advances of her research, her project was still just a theoretical concept. But they had wanted to place her in a highly collaborative environment with two other American chemists working on similar research. Although their offer had been tempting, she had turned it down. She was set to graduate from Harvard with her PhD in the spring and had already received a number of job offers.

  But now she wondered if she should have taken the men’s warning seriously. Could someone with criminal intent be after the findings she’d already logged?