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Soldier’s Secret Child
Caridad Pineiro
Table of Contents
Caridad Piñeiro is a USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author of twenty novels. In 2007, a year marked by six releases, Caridad was selected as the 2007 Golden Apple Author of the Year by the New York City Romance Writers. Caridad’s novels have been lauded as the Best Short Contemporary Romance of 2001 in the NJ Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest, Top Fantasy Books of 2005 and 2006 by CATALINA magazine and Top Nocturne of 2006 by Cataromance. Caridad has appeared on various television shows, such as the FOX News Early Edition in New York, and articles featuring her novels have been published in several leading newspapers and magazines, such as the New York Daily News, Latina and the Star Ledger. For more information on Caridad, please visit www.caridad.com or www.thecallingvampirenovels.com.
This book is dedicated to the men and women of the military and their families, without whom we could not have the liberties that make our daily lives possible.
Chapter 1
Macy Ward had never imagined that on her wedding day she would be running out of the church instead of walking down the aisle.
But just over a week earlier, she had been drawn out of the church by the sharp crack of gunshots and the harsh squeal of tires followed by the familiar sound of her fiancé’s voice shouting for someone to get his police cruiser.
Her fiancé, Jericho Yates, the town sheriff and her lifelong friend. Her best friend in all the world and the totally wrong man to marry, she thought again, her hands tightening on the steering wheel. She shot a glance at her teenage son who sat beside her in the passenger seat.
“You ready for this, T.J.?”
He pulled out one earbud of his iPod. Tinny, too loud music blared from it. “Did you want something?” T.J. asked.
It was impossible to miss the sullen tones of his voice or the angry set of his jaw.
She had seen a similar irritated expression on the face of T.J.’s biological father, Fisher Yates, as he stood in his Army dress uniform outside the church with his brother—her fiancé. Fisher had looked far more attractive than he should have. As she had raced out into the midst of the bedlam occurring on the steps of the chapel, her gaze had connected with Fisher’s stony glare for just a few seconds.
A few seconds too long.
When she had urged Jericho to go handle the incident and that they could postpone the wedding, she had seen the change in Fisher’s gaze.
She wasn’t sure if it had been relief at first. But the emotion that followed and lingered far longer had been more dangerous.
Now, there was no relief in T.J.’s hard glare. Just anger.
“Are you ready for this?” she repeated calmly, shooting him a glance from the corner of her
