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An Outlaw To Protect Her
Harper St. George
Running from her past…Into the arms of an outlaw!In this Outlaws of the Wild West story, gunslinger Zane Pierce is the only man who can shield brothel madam Glory Winters against a dangerous threat. But safety at the smouldering Zane’s side comes at a price, and soon it’s not just the secrets of her past that have Glory on edge…it’s the realisation that she might be losing her heart to an outlaw!
Running from her past...
Into the arms of an outlaw!
In this Outlaws of the Wild West story, gunslinger Zane Pierce is the only man who can shield brothel madam Glory Winters against a dangerous threat. But safety at the smoldering Zane’s side comes at a price, and soon it’s not just the secrets of her past that have Glory on edge...it’s the realization that she might be losing her heart to an outlaw!
Outlaws of the Wild West miniseries
Book 1—The Innocent and the Outlaw
Book 2—A Marriage Deal with the Outlaw
Book 3—An Outlaw to Protect Her
“Readers will find the sexy adventures of Emmaline and Hunter reason enough to stay up late.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Innocent and the Outlaw
“St. George enlivens the Old West through her characters’ fast-paced story, which sizzles with sensuality and action.”
—RT Book Reviews on A Marriage Deal with the Outlaw
HARPER ST GEORGE was raised in rural Alabama and along the tranquil coast of northwest Florida. It was this setting, filled with stories of the old days, that instilled in her a love of history, romance and adventure. At high school she discovered the romance novel, which combined all those elements into one perfect package. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two young children. Visit her website: harperstgeorge.com (http://www.harperstgeorge.com).
Also by Harper St George (#u6be2ffb6-58a8-5194-a4fe-9e7495edaa9b)
Viking Warriors miniseries
Enslaved by the Viking
One Night with the Viking
In Bed with the Viking Warrior
The Viking Warrior’s Bride
Outlaws of the Wild West miniseries
The Innocent and the Outlaw
A Marriage Deal with the Outlaw
An Outlaw to Protect Her
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
An Outlaw to Protect Her
Harper St George
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07406-3
AN OUTLAW TO PROTECT HER
© 2018 Harper St. George
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Contents
Cover (#u62424f2e-4751-532b-89bf-2267d2336ea6)
Back Cover Text (#u0284bcd4-7acb-53fa-a00a-59c2d003293b)
About the Author (#ue21a27d8-d8dc-5001-a581-7234eb4a27a3)
Booklist (#u138a026b-4815-5d5e-ae70-3581968b4dd8)
Title Page (#udd9982ee-2cf4-5115-8eff-6c3e470d5b5d)
Copyright (#u480dc5c6-2043-54e2-ad55-9f3e7bdf5777)
Chapter One (#u7683ff34-020a-5d33-8ddf-b5b5337c3401)
Chapter Two (#uba43344a-65ea-5232-a143-d79c35a0cbda)
Chapter Three (#u637c6619-f027-5ec9-ac10-e6c6a27489e6)
Chapter Four (#ub3d02369-462e-5a73-83a9-5d7f9832d4f0)
Chapter Five (#u706e2700-b0ad-51c2-a3e5-db0b911754d9)
Chapter Six (#uda120aed-2af8-530e-bfe5-8dd48cc3c000)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u6be2ffb6-58a8-5194-a4fe-9e7495edaa9b)
Being the madam of the most notorious brothel in Montana Territory came with certain privileges. Financial security and independence rode high at the top of that list for Glory Winters. In fact, she would go so far as to say that those were the only benefits that really mattered. For they allowed the other freedoms to exist. Without them, she’d never have been able to open her home to women running away from unfortunate situations. Nor would she have had the resources to purchase nearly an eighth of the town of Helena, making her the single most prosperous female landholder.
Unfortunately, those very same privileges that she so enjoyed came with some definite negatives. One of those negatives sat across the table from her now. He grinned, giving her a flash of the gold crown capping his left bicuspid as he tossed back the remainder of his brandy. Glory suppressed a shudder as he swallowed, making the beginnings of what would soon be a double chin wobble as he did so. He brought his handkerchief up and pressed it to his mouth before wiping it across his sweaty forehead.
“Excellent beefsteak as usual, Miss Winters.”
Drawing on the impeccable manners she’d been taught at her mother’s knee, Glory offered him a dazzling smile. He was a guest and she wouldn’t insult him, but making conversation with him made her skin crawl. “Thank you, Mr. Harvey. I’m so pleased you enjoyed your meal.” She intentionally drew out the vowels to make her Southern drawl more pronounced. It never failed to charm even the most cantankerous gentleman. Though she used the term gentleman loosely in the case of William Harvey. The only thing noble about him was his dress. He was a snake in the trimmings of probably the most expensive suit she’d ever seen on a man. For a town that had made millionaires out of humble miners, that was saying a lot.
“You’ve done quite well for yourself here.” He sat back in the chair, leather creaking as he laced his hands over his lap.
Glory kept her smile in place. The words hung heavy in the air between them, filling it with silent tension broken only by the hushed conversation at one of the other tables across the dining room. Harvey always had something up his sleeve. She recognized this as the moment before he would strike and she tried to prepare herself for how bad the bite would be. One thing she had learned in her years here was to never underestimate the greed of men, especially when they saw a woman who had something they wanted.
Harvey wasn’t the first to want a stake in her business. He wouldn’t be the last.
“You’re too kind,” she said.
“And you’re too humble. I remember when this place was little more than bare floorboards and straw mattresses.”
She tried not to wince. Victoria House had never been quite that shoddy. When she’d arrived with her dear friend Able, the place had been a neglected mansion that had seen better days, but it certainly hadn’t been a hovel. They had slowly transformed it into the grand club it was today. She’d hired a proper chef, and they had several dining rooms and parlors where gentlemen could come to relax surrounded by opulence. There were plenty of saloons down the road where they could go to get a whiskey for half the cost with cheaper buy-ins for poker and faro, but they came to Victoria House because they liked the atmosphere. The dust of sophistication that coated the mansion fed their need for luxury.
These men had pulled gold, silver and copper from the earth to make themselves wealthier than they’d ever dreamed possible. The social salons of New York and London might not welcome their new money, but Glory was happy to give them a taste of that same opulence right here in Helena. Even her gowns came straight from Paris. The men were more than willing to hand over a portion of their riches for a taste of that life.
“Well, I’ve always known the value of a little hard work. As do you.” She wasn’t above pouring on a little flattery.
He inclined his head as if it were quite the task to lord over the men who did the backbreaking work of maintaining his gold mines. “It’d be a shame to see all of this hard work go to waste.” He raised a hand and indicated the room with its silk wall coverings, Persian rugs and brass finishings.
Ah, and there it was. He was after her wealth. Now to figure out his game before he could lower the trap. She’d perfected her poker face years ago, so she managed not to reveal so much as a flicker of her lashes. “Hard work rarely goes to waste.”
His smile faded, replaced by cold calculation. “You are aware that statehood is just around the corner for our humble little territory? Helena is in the running for state capital. Thanks to the railroad, nice Christian folks are moving here and they don’t want to see an establishment such as this in our midst. Surely you can see the benefit of having a friend like me.”
Rumors were that Harvey would be elected to the legislature; it was the main reason she tolerated his odious presence. She couldn’t afford to alienate anyone with political clout. “But I thought we were friends,” she countered.
He shrugged, his cold gaze sliding over her exposed shoulders and down farther in a slow glide that made her want to scrub away the filth he’d left behind. “We could be closer, Miss Winters. Much closer. I could help you keep everything you’ve worked for, and you could help me.”
She didn’t even want to entertain the thought of what helping him would entail. “I think the fine people of Helena will come to understand how much good I do for the town. My taxes and personal donations have contributed to the school that was recently built.”
He laughed. “Money only goes so far. The reputation and honor of our fair city is at stake, particularly when it comes time to vote for statehood. Why, a notorious place such as this might not be able to exist in a law-abiding state.”
“Then the fate of Victoria House is sealed either way,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder.
“Ah, but I have friends, Miss Winters. And soon I’ll have influence. If we were...friends...I could extend that influence to you.” He licked his lips, leaving them wet and shining in the light of the candle flickering on the table between them.
She swallowed past the bile that threatened to rise in the back of her throat, and opened her mouth to tell him in her sweetest voice that no way in hell would she ever be that sort of friend to him. Because she was a madam, men often assumed incorrectly that she was also for sale and she had to set them straight. Thankfully, Able intervened before she said something foolish and made an enemy they didn’t need.
“Miss Winters.” His large frame took up nearly the entire doorway of the dining room. “You’re needed upstairs.”
He had a sixth sense when it came to saving her. It had been that way ever since they escaped together twelve years earlier. She simply wouldn’t have made it out of that house in the South Carolina low country all the way to Helena had he not almost literally carried her the entire way.
“Excuse me, Mr. Harvey. Duty calls. It’s been a pleasure.” She rose and nearly gasped audibly when the man leaned forward and grabbed her wrist. No one ever touched her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Able step into the room, ready if he was needed.
“Think about what I’ve said, Glory. You may not have that long to make up your mind,” Harvey said. His eyes flashed with cruelty as he let her go just as Able came to a stop next to his chair.
“Is that a threat?” She bit the words out through clenched teeth.
“Not at all.” He grinned, but it wasn’t the least bit friendly. “Merely an observation of things to come.”
“Good evening, Mr. Harvey.” Without another word—as much as she hated him and all he stood for, she wasn’t willing to make Harvey an enemy—she strode out of the room with Able close behind her.
“Thank you for intervening,” she whispered once they’d walked far enough down the hallway to not be overheard.
