Hard to Hold - 3 Hold on Tight by Stephanie Tyler

Author:Stephanie Tyler
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780440244363
Publisher: Dell
Published: 2010-01-26T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

11

Chris Waldron was a fighter. Kevin knew that the second he looked into the younger man’s eyes.

Kevin recognized the same intensity he himself had once had, when he was young and in love and had something to prove to the world.

He still had a hell of a lot to prove.

When he’d roamed the streets of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, he was a poor kid with a chip on his shoulder. His dad deserted the family when Kevin was born, and his mom worked long hours, so Kevin was always in charge of himself. He ran wild through the streets, making friends … making connections.

Hiding Jamie and PJ’s parents from the Russian crime syndicate was easy for Kevin—he knew the ins and outs, knew what that particular group was like, knew their foibles. He’d grown up with them.

From street thug to cop, he’d worked his way up the ranks to detective quickly. And he’d gone undercover, pretended not to be above taking bribes from his old friends in order to get information on higher-ranking members of the Russian crime syndicate.

Once he’d gotten the information, his life had been in danger. That’s when the U.S. Marshals came after him with an offer, based on his experience.

As a young marshal, he’d so far avoided being the one who counseled the families during their three-week-or-less phase of learning I’m not who I was anymore.

But that ended when Patricia Jane and Ana were ushered into his life, huddled in blankets they’d been given from the musty trunk of a patrol car. Fourteen-year-old PJ had blood on her hands. Ana was eight, still a baby in so many ways.

There was no way he could have put them into foster care—there wasn’t a system of checks and balances for them there. It would’ve been too great a compromise to their safety. He knew what the Russian crime syndicate was capable of, knew that keeping Ana and PJ close was of the utmost importance for their well-being.

He’d been married to Grace for three years at that point. They’d dated in high school and all through his time with the NYPD—she’d been hoping that his job as a marshal would be safer.

She’d been cold and unforgiving, even then, and Kevin blamed himself. A detective’s wife dealt with a lot.

When he’d gone undercover, their relationship suffered. High-school-sweetheart love was far different than grown-up reality. Her attitude only grew worse after they’d taken the girls in. There was nothing else he could’ve done at that point. He felt responsible, was responsible, because he’d looked into their mom’s eyes when she’d first won the case against the head of the Russian crime syndicate and promised her that nothing would ever happen to her children. And while bringing them into his home had brightened his life in more ways than he could count, in Grace’s eyes, it had done irreparable damage to his marriage.

When all was said and done, the only thing he had left to console himself with was the knowledge that he had done the right thing—the only thing, under the circumstances.

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