Seduced by a Steele--A Sexy Dramatic Billionaire Romance Read online

  Will a damsel in distress

  be his redemption?

  A notorious heartbreaker

  is about to meet his match...

  When the “thief” caught driving his stolen vintage car turns out to be a stunning runaway heiress, Mercury Steele is conflicted. On the one hand, Sloan Donahue, penniless and on the run from her tyrannical family, triggers the billionaire playboy’s protective instincts. But she also triggers red-hot desire. Mercury refuses to think his simple seduction is becoming something deeper, especially when Sloan is keeping secrets...

  New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Jackson

  “I don’t need you to take care of me.”

  “You don’t?” Mercury asked. “Was it not my stolen car you were driving?”

  “Yes, but—” Sloan stammered.

  “Were you not being evicted?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Did I not take you to my parents’ home for the night?”

  “Has anyone ever told you you’re rude?”

  “Just answer, please.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t give you the right to think you can control me.”

  “Look, Sloan. You need help. I want to give it.”

  “But my father will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He doesn’t care who he hurts. I refuse to let you or your family become involved.”

  “That’s not your decision to make. The Steeles can take of ourselves.”

  “You don’t know my father.”

  “Wrong. Your father doesn’t know us.”

  * * *

  Seduced by a Steele by Brenda Jackson

  is part of the Forged of Steele series.

  Selected praise for New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Brenda Jackson

  “Brenda Jackson writes romance that sizzles and characters you fall in love with.”

  —New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Lori Foster

  “Jackson’s trademark ability to weave multiple characters and side stories together makes shocking truths all the more exciting.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “There is no getting away from the sex appeal and charm of Jackson’s Westmoreland family.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Feeling the Heat

  “What is it with these Westmoreland men? Each is sexier and more charming than the one before.... Hot, sexy, smart and romantic, this story has it all.”

  —RT Book Reviews on The Proposal

  “Jackson has a talent for creating the sexiest men and pairing them off against feisty females. This story has everything a hot romance should have.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Hot Westmoreland Nights

  “Is there anything more irresistible than a man so in love with a woman that he’s willing to give her what she believes is her heart’s desire? The Westmoreland clan will claim even more fans with this entry.”

  —RT Book Reviews on What a Westmoreland Wants

  Brenda Jackson

  Seduced by a Steele

  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 brendajackson.net.

  Books by Brenda Jackson

  Harlequin Desire

  The Westmoreland Legacy

  The Rancher Returns

  His Secret Son

  An Honorable Seduction

  His to Claim

  Duty or Desire

  Forged of Steele

  Seduced by a Steele

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or brendajackson.net, for more titles.

  You can also find Brenda Jackson on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Claimed by a Steele by Brenda Jackson

  Excerpt from Too Texan to Tame by Janice Maynard

  One

  Mercury Steele glanced over at his mother, sitting across the breakfast table. Eden Tyson Steele, you just had to love her.

  He’d just told her how awful the past few days had been for him. Not only had he lost a client but also one of his prized antique cars had been stolen. She had the audacity to say there must be a reason for the streak of bad luck he’d had lately. Of course, she couldn’t resist blaming it on his womanizing ways.

  “That’s awful about your car getting stolen, Mercury. What did the police say about it?” his father asked with concern.

  He appreciated his father’s empathy, but then, Drew Steele had passed his love for antique cars on to his six sons. He’d passed something else on to them, as well. Namely his testosterone-driven genes.

  In Drew’s younger days he’d been quite the ladies’ man. His reputation as a philanderer had been so bad that he’d been run out of Charlotte by a bunch of women out for blood—namely Drew’s. He had fled from North Carolina, where most of the Steele family lived, and made his way to Phoenix. That was where he’d eventually met and fallen in love with Mercury’s mother.

  Eden Tyson Steele, a green-eyed beauty and former international model, whose face had graced the covers of such magazines as Vogue, Cosmo and Elle, had practically snatched Drew’s heart right out of his chest. Proving miracles could happen.

  For the longest time, it seemed their six die-hard bachelor sons had inherited Drew’s philandering genes when their womanizing reputation rivaled that of their father’s. They’d become known as the Bad News Steeles. Four of Mercury’s brothers had now married, leaving only two brothers still single: Mercury and Gannon.

  He couldn’t speak for Gannon, but Mercury intended to be a bachelor for life.

  Their brother Galen was the oldest of the six and had gotten married first. At thirty-eight he’d made millions as a video-game creator. Tyson was thirty-seven, the most recent to marry, and was a gifted surgeon. Eli, at thirty-six, was a prominent attorney in town and had been the second to marry. Jonas, who was thirty-five and the third to marry, owned a marketing business. Mercury was thirty-four and was a well-known sports agent; and Gannon, who had recently turned thirty-three, had become CEO of the family’s million-dollar trucking firm when Drew had retired.

  “They will be on the lookout for it, Dad, but I was told not to get my hopes up about getting it back. More than likely it will be dismantled for parts. Knowing that hurts more than anything. That particular car was my favorite.”

  Drew nodded sympathetically and Mercury appreciated his father’s understanding of just how upset he still was about it, even if his mother did not. He glanced at his watch. “I need to get going if I intend to make that appointment. A possible new client.”