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Another Side Of Midnight
Mia Zachary
Mills & Boon Silhouette
Two months, two weeks and four days ago, Steele woke up alone in a hotel room. All Stone left was a note–and a lot of questions. He's back, and she wants answers–but he wants more.Smart-mouthed Vegas private eye Estella 'Steele' Mezzanotte is used to all kinds of trouble. She's nursing another black eye from her bartending sideline, her mom's dropping hints about nice Italian boys and Midnight Investigation Services is struggling. Otherwise, Steele would never have accepted her current gig–suspected adultery, maybe embezzlement. Possibly murder. Her ex, Cameron Stone, wants to partner. Steele wants to punish him for past misdemeanors.But she's got to trust him or risk facing another side of danger alone…
Advance praise for
MIA ZACHARY’s
Another Side of Midnight
“Mia Zachary has a winner with Another Side of Midnight! With a wonderfully defined heroine, snappy dialogue and an intricate plot, what’s not to love?”
—USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Kenner
“Mia Zachary takes chances that pay off in this edgy, compelling read!”
—USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Leto
“Sparks fly when Steele and Stone clash in this dynamite, double-blind mystery.”
—New York Times bestselling author Rebecca York
“Steele is…sassy and strong, beautiful and smart but she also has [a] hint of vulnerability underneath that smart mouth attitude. Put Steele and Stone together and you get explosive chemistry… the pages fairly sizzle…. Another Side of Midnight grabs you right from the very beginning and keeps you until the end.”
—CataRomance
“Mystery, hard-balled suspense and a sizzle that won’t quit are a combination that I crave when I read a romantic suspense. Mia Zachary delivers my cravings to the max!
This book is definitely a keeper!”
—The Best Reviews
MIA ZACHARY
Over the years, award-winning author Mia Zachary has penned really bad poetry, even worse song lyrics, adolescent short stories and overly descriptive class papers. Her first completed contemporary manuscript placed second in Harlequin Books’ 2000 Summer Blaze contest.
She’s written four Blaze novels since then, including the bestseller Afternoon Delight; “Spirit Dance” in the paranormal anthology Witchy Business; and Another Side of Midnight, her first romantic mystery. Go behind the scenes of the Midnight agency at www.SteeleMidnight.com.
Mia lives in Maryland with her husband of seventeen years and their beautiful little boy. Visit Mia online at www.miazachary.com for excerpts, reviews, articles and more!
Another Side of Midnight
Mia Zachary
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Dear Reader,
A funny thing happened while driving home from lunch with girlfriends one day. A kick-ass heroine and a complex premise attacked me and didn’t let go of my imagination until the story had unfolded onto the manuscript pages…. Now here it is three years later and I could not be prouder to introduce you to the hero and heroine of my first mystery novel.
Steele Mezzanotte has a new P.I. agency, a showgirl’s body and a sharp-edged attitude. Born and raised in Vegas, street smarts and a smart mouth have always kept her in control of any situation. That is, until Cameron Stone walks into her life. Drop-dead gorgeous, with a lot of Scots charm, the enigmatic “problem solver” has a habit of disappearing, but he’ll always return to Sin City. And to Steele. Because the only thing that comes between a rock and a hard case is love…the greatest mystery of all.
Let me know if you enjoy the story as much as I loved writing it. I love to hear from my readers!
Mia
As a writer I know how important words are. And yet I can’t seem to find the right ones to express the breadth and depth of my gratitude to those friends who have kept the faith when my own wavered. This story is dedicated to Mom and Lisa, who believed from the beginning and to Rachel and John who loved it to the end. Thank you from my heart. I’m also very grateful to Marsha Zinberg, Birgit Davis-Todd, and Kathryn Lye for standing by this project from the first premise and pitch. Thank you, ladies!
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE (#u75135dd3-02bc-5cfe-8ea8-11b4cf77a0e9)
CHAPTER TWO (#u2b966005-e77a-5dc5-b1a9-5a7ed0464ad2)
CHAPTER THREE (#u1a4857c6-ad41-5a1e-b65e-90095df189e1)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u58bfc54f-e099-5f11-9a7c-6c6e17167abb)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u47f3b409-b152-5cf1-861e-4ae89a71ec77)
CHAPTER SIX (#ubd8030ab-6266-56c0-8a21-3a8f1ea7c36c)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#u6d8d8b85-e836-57cf-9fd3-3eeefe863b19)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#ua3f62d75-4cd2-5bad-9955-12799f014671)
CHAPTER NINE (#u43e901be-b139-5df1-814c-57370a5531fa)
CHAPTER TEN (#u43b3e45d-e343-5271-a8da-ca7e7cac6f88)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#u40004739-5500-5330-9020-da078b743adc)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#ue93f2ccf-51c2-5cc6-9ecd-416f72c6166d)
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)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY (#litres_trial_promo)
AUTHOR’S NOTE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
Lady Luck Strikes Again
LAS VEGAS, BABY. My kind of town.
Home to five different Cirque du Soleil shows, about 197,000 slot machines, over thirty-six million annual visitors, who knows how many Elvis impersonators and, of course, one Lady Luck.
However, as luck would have it, I’d spent the past half hour in a hot car, my digital camera poised near the small opening at the top of the tinted window. One of my best friends had let me borrow the Toyota from her used car dealership. My beloved Harley Davidson Softail motorcycle isn’t exactly conducive to surveillance.
Downtown, the casinos are smaller than on the Strip, the hotels cheaper and the atmosphere more nostalgic than glamorous. “Glitter Gulch” is where you’ll find the Golden Gate’s ninety-nine-cent shrimp cocktails, the annual World Series of Poker at Binion’s Horseshoe and VegasVic, the forty-foot neon cowboy. However, once you move past the four main blocks of interest, downtown feels meaner, gritty and weather-beaten.
The February temperature was a balmy eighty degrees, which meant it was over one hundred in the Toyota’s driver seat. And I wasn’t exactly sitting here for the fun of it. Waiting across from a run-down bar like a paparazzo anxious to snap photos of a clandestine meeting wasn’t my idea of a good time, but it is part of my job.
My name is Stella Mezzanotte—midnight star in Italian— and I’m a private eye.
Damn, I like saying that.
Which was why I was roasting my ass outside of the Polar Lounge. At the moment I was following a client’s girlfriend of two months because he thought she was messing around on him. Well, duh. With clown-red hair, capped teeth, collagen-filled lips and saline-filled boobs, did he honestly think she’d be genuine about her feelings?
People lie about anything and everything, especially when it comes to relationships. I hate these cases. I usually end up finding out things my clients don’t really want to know and then nobody wants to pay for bad news. But, until I get full ownership of the agency, I’ll take almost any case that comes in my door.
My mind was drifting toward a heat-induced nap when something—or rather someone—caught my attention.
The man walking out of the Polar Lounge was all kinds of gorgeous, but there was something else about him… An aura of quiet violence. This guy wasn’t bulging with muscles under his dark T-shirt, but he had strength.
My instincts told me he wasn’t afraid to use it. And yet beneath his military-short, dark blond hair was one of the most sensual faces I’d ever seen. Fascinated by the powerful, confident way he moved, my finger instinctively triggered the camera shutter. When he glanced over at me, I noted the intensity of his light blue eyes.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?”
Oops. I’d been so focused on the golden god I hadn’t seen Scarlet’s boyfriend cross the street. Rat yanked open my car door and made a grab for the camera.
“Hands off, pal. I’m just getting some exterior shots for a story I’m doing on the bar.” Lame, I know, but it was all I could come up with since I’d been taken off guard.
“Sure you are, honey.” This time he tried to grab me.
