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Title: Bloody Vows
Series: Lilah Love #5
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Release Date: January 26, 2021
ABOUT BLOODY VOWS
The fifth book in the Lilah Love seriesā¦
FBI agent Lilah Love leads a complicated life. She's engaged to Kane Mendez, a man most call dangerous, but hey birds of a feather, do flock together. She's dangerous, too, and in ways only Kane understands. As for their happily ever after, well that might have to wait. Right now, an old enemy who should be dead is still living, Junior, her mystery letter writer, is stirring up trouble, and her family is trying to prove they're crazier than her. On top of that she has a new case: a dead woman in a bloody wedding dress. And since Lilah knows all too well there is no such thing as coincidence, clearly someone is sending her yet another message.
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Paperback ā http://mybook.to/BloodyVowsPB
EXCERPT
By the time Iām in the garage at the house, Kane is waiting for me at the door. He studies me with intensity, intensely unreadable. Heās assessing, questioning, but not talking. God love him and his understanding of how I operate.
Iām in my head.
I need to stay there right now.
He backs up to allow me to enter the back hallway and Iām quick to do just that. Once weāre both inside the warm house, I strip off my wet boots and he takes my coat before I follow him to the kitchen. I settle onto a barstool in front of the marbled island, while he prepares, and then hands me a hot Baileyās coffee with whipped cream. Yes, the dark, dangerous Kane Mendez put whipped cream on my coffee. And still, we havenāt spoken a word.
He joins me, claiming the spot next to me while I sip my coffee, the warm, sweet liquid sliding down my throat and helping me come down about two notches.
Ready now, for more than my own mental ping-ponging of thoughts, I grab my phone, thumbing through photos until I find the image of the jar of blood. I set it in front of Kane.
āThat was left for me in the refrigerator of the crime scene.ā
He glances at it and then me, arching his dark brow. āThe victimās blood?ā
āPigās blood,ā I say matter-of-factly. āThatās not confirmed, but itās going to be pigās blood. I know it.ā
He doesnāt freak out but then I donāt expect anything but calm, thoughtful contemplation from Kane. He doesnāt even ask why I make that assessment. He simply asks, āIs this Pocher or a Roger protĆ©gĆ©?ā
Just that easily heās already in my headspace. And the question spoken at just the right time grounds me in logic rather than the emotion that had me storming out of Emmaās kitchen ready to kill Pocher.
āLogically,ā I say, āthe dress and the jar could point to either. Of course, my first reaction was Pocher. We just found out he came back. And when I saw that dead woman and then saw the jar of blood, I was ready to kill him.ā
āAndrew influenced that. He already believed it was Pocher when he called you to the scene.ā
āTrue. And it could be Pocher.ā
āBut your gut isnāt reading it that way. I can tell.ā
I sip my coffee and add, āWith the dress, and without the jar of blood, this would have read like a classic jealousy crime. The groom was already neglecting the bride and she had a side dude. And yet, it wasnāt a crime of rage. Weāre not even sure how the woman died.ā
āMeaning what?ā
āShe seemed to have a rupture from her throat, but there was no obvious cut.ā
āPoison?ā he asks.
āThe new medical examiner doesnāt think so.ā My cellphone rings with Lucasās number where it still lays between me and Kane. His jaw clenches.
āI called him to hack for me, and heās coming to dinner. And before you scowl, he was going to be alone, Kane.ā
He downs his coffee, every last drop, and stands up, his spine stiff. Fuck. I answer the call on speaker. Itās better that way, with Kaneās ear where my ears are right now. āLucas,ā I say, and I donāt warn him that Kane is in the room. If heās not smart enough to figure that out, he deserves whatever he gets. āWhat do you have for me?ā
āI pulled Danica and Northās records. Iām sending them in a secure file by maildrop for you to accept. But thereās nothing exceptional there to see. And before you bitch, Iām digging deeper, but that will take time.ā
āWhat about the victim and the men in her life?ā
āBoth her dead husband and her fiancĆ© have donated to various Pocher-driven campaigns. That was easy to pull. Her fiancĆ© has actually donated to your fatherās campaign. But Lilah, youād be hard pressed to find anyone in this town who hasnāt pandered to Pocherās power. And thatās all I have now. Iām drunk. Iām still drinking. No more updates tonight.ā
āYes, butāā
āNo,ā he says, āand Iām hanging up.ā He disconnects.
I grimace and Iād call him back, but I decide better.
Kane at this point has filled a whiskey glass and is leaning on the counter in front of the sink. I stand up and close the space between us. I step directly in front of him and he downs his drink and sets the glass down. His hands are on the counter behind him. He doesnāt even think about touching me and I know itās about Lucas. Which is exactly why I want him to know that Iām not thinking about Lucas, but rather those donations that connect Emmaās fiancĆ© to my father. And Iām thinking about his words, his declaration that weāre dangerous to the Society. āWhat ifāā
He grabs me and pulls me to him. āIf you say that woman died because weāre together, and turn this into another reason to take off my ring, I swear to God, Lilah, Iām done.ā
I can be hard. I can be cold. I can apparently be a killer. But I love Kane Mendez. Heās hard, too. Heās cold as ice. Heās forever in control. But heās not those things with me. And itās in this moment, for the first time ever, I realize how much I hurt him when I left him. Just how much I cut him.
āI regret every moment we were apart more than you can know. Iām not taking off the ring, Kane.ā My hands settle on his chest. āNot ever. Iām notāā
His mouth closes down on mine, his hand on the back of my head, and just that easily, he reminds me Iām human again, capable of wanting, loving, needing, and forgetting all but the moment. But more so, he reminds me that heās human. He isnāt always in control. He has emotions, torment I can taste on his tongue, even desperation heād allow no other human to know heās capable of feeling. Iāve pushed him away. Iāve hurt him. But Iāve always loved him and he doesnāt yet know that Iām done fighting against this, against us.
He just doesnāt know that.
And thatās a problem.
Kane picks me up and I donāt fight him. He has this thing about taking me to his bed, now our bed, as if that establishes some sort of ownership of me and us. Not that I could ever be owned, but deep down, I know we own each other. We always have. We always will. And if thatās what he needs, to feel that ownership, Iām not at war with him. Iām at war with Pocher and the Society. But he doesnāt take me upstairs and to the bedroom. He walks to the living room, neutral territory, and I understand his message. The tide has shifted. The demands have changed. Either Iām in this as his equal or Iām not in this at all. And neither is he.
THE SERIES
MURDER NOTES (book one) - FREE
Amazon ā http://mybook.to/MurderNotes
Apple ā https://apple.co/2RJwGPI
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Kobo ā https://bit.ly/3iSDruq
Audio ā https://adbl.co/3dGOgfK
Paperback ā http://mybook.to/MurderNotesPaperback
MURDER GIRL (book two) - Available Now
Amazon ā http://mybook.to/MurderGirl
Apple ā https://apple.co/3hRgSoK
Nook ā https://bit.ly/3iSCYIJ
Kobo ā https://bit.ly/2RL4VGf
Audio ā https://adbl.co/2BUZXC6
Paperback ā http://mybook.to/MurderGirlPaperback
LOVE ME DEAD (book three) - Available Now
Amazon ā http://mybook.to/LMDAmz
Apple ā https://apple.co/2pzLn9R
Nook ā http://bit.ly/2Pd8uSE
Kobo ā http://bit.ly/2VwNTeT
Audio ā https://adbl.co/2HjTgcP
Paperback ā http://mybook.to/LMDPB
LOVE KILLS (book four) - Available Now
Amazon ā http://mybook.to/LKAmz
Apple ā https://apple.co/2EHADyq
Nook ā http://bit.ly/2Hc8BNd
Kobo ā http://bit.ly/2SDromL
Audio ā https://adbl.co/398AVM3
Paperback ā http://mybook.to/LKPB
BLOODY VOWS (book five) - NEW RELEASE
Amazon ā http://mybook.to/BloodyVows
Apple ā https://apple.co/2BiXOk2
Nook ā https://bit.ly/3g8P7rc
Kobo ā https://bit.ly/2ZrSRNw
Paperback ā http://mybook.to/BloodyVowsPB
BLOODY LOVE (book six) - Coming June 29, 2021
Amazon ā http://mybook.to/BloodyLove
Apple ā https://apple.co/3hR4aGt
Nook ā https://bit.ly/3ktfytT
Kobo ā https://bit.ly/3mnm72V
ABOUT LISA
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones writes dark, edgy fiction including the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT series and the upcoming, crime thriller The Poet. Suzanne Todd (producer of Alice in Wonderland and Bad Moms) on the INSIDE OUT series: Lisa has created a beautiful, complicated, and sensual world that is filled with intrigue and suspense.
Prior to publishing Lisa owned a multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by the Dallas Womenās Magazine. In 1998 Lisa was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine. She lives in Colorado with her husband, a cat that talks too much, and a Golden Retriever who is afraid of trash bags.
CONNECT WITH LISA
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