Intimate Choice by DC Stone #RomanticSuspense
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Date of Publication: 07/10/26
Tagline: Real world, Real Men, Real Crimes
Ava Larsen has spent her adult life trying to outrun the shadow of the girl she used to be: a bully whose mistake cost her sisterās life, and one who pushed away a boy they both loved. But her redemption is cut short when her latest investigation into a high-profile money laundering ring turns deadly.
After surviving a brutal kidnapping, Avaās only hope for survival is Michael Gonzalez, a Secret Service Agent fueled by a decade of bitterness. Mike doesnāt believe Ava has changed, and he certainly hasnāt forgiven her for the accident that killed his first love. But with a corrupt government official determined to silence her, Mike is ordered to protect her at all costs.
From the streets of New York to the corridors of power in Washintong D.C., the two are hunted by an enemy that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried. As the investigation reaches a breaking point, Mike and Ava must navigate a minefield of political betrayal and personal trauma. In a race against time, theyāll have to trust each other to surviveāor let the sins of their past bury them both.
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āGet to the point. Whatās up?ā
She sighed. āI donāt even know where to start.ā The watch on her wrist buzzed with a notification. She checked it, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. āThis case looks to be seriously fucked up. Not a whole lot to tell you right now other than there were several, and I mean weāre talking numbers in the teens, bodies found in this old house. Owner is this guy everyone said was super quiet, always kept his yard clean, etcetera, etcetera. From what the neighbors are saying, no one would have thought any of the horrors weāve found were happening in this house. Talking victims, all women, completely cut up. Sometimes methodically so. As if he had all the time in the world to do the perfect job.ā
Mike grimaced. āThis is why I do protection and white-collar fraud. I could never sit through those forensic shows you and Dwayne used to watch.ā
Charlie threw him a saucy smile, then went serious again. āEarly this morning, a woman actually got out of the house. Naked as the day she was born. Ran a few houses down and collapsed on the porch but not before she rang the doorbell.ā
The mental image she painted had him wincing. āJesus. Is she okay?ā
Charlie took a deep breath and let it out super slow as if she was preparing for something. He braced, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. Whatever she was about to say was going to mess him up entirely. Thatās why sheād been taking for-fucking-ever to get to the point. Itās why she was here in person instead of calling him on the phone. Itās why Dwayne had sent her. Sheād always had ways of calming Mike down, even under the tensest of situations.
Except for that one time. He shook his head, refusing to think about that now. Itād been years since heād seen her.
āWho was the woman?ā he asked, his voice rough. But he knew. The answer was written all over Charlieās face, from the grimace to the pity stamped across her faery features.
Her name spoken was like someone socked him in the gut. He let out a rush of air, expelling oxygen immediately, as if it needed a place to escape. Kind of like his body was fighting to do, too. It was amazing how oneās body reacted to news or the presence of someone whoād made part of their life hell. That whole fight-or-flight response was true, and as he thought of the Ava of his childhood, and both the sister and the murderer of the first woman he loved, his body was warring with itself, trying to figure out which response it wanted to go with.
The urge to flee was so strong, he actually took a step back. Charlieās knowing gaze sharpened on him, and she sighed, the sound coming out with a lot of pity he didnāt need. It only served to piss him off.
āLook, maybe we can find someone else,ā Charlie said, shaking her head, then did a double take at something over his shoulder and tossed a glare at the women still admiring them from afar. āThose fucking womenā¦ā
It was at that moment his mother decided to make an appearance and came storming out of the house having found her shoes. His normally very demure mom looked spitting mad, her red face a mask of irritation and anger.
Charlie chuckled low, following the path his Ma took to the garden hose, who then bent and turned the water on.
āShit,ā he said again, ignoring Charlieās outright laughter now. He started toward Ma, intent on intercepting her before she could open the hose up on the neighbors. He knew her plan almost as if sheād put an announcement in the paper. āYou could help, you know,ā he said to Charlie.
She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. āNot a chance. This is the best entertainment Iāve had in ages. Come on, donāt be a spoilsport. Let Karen teach those hens a lesson.ā
He picked up his pace to a jog as his Ma started across the lawn, her intent now screamingly clear. That the ladies hadnāt moved and were still watching on with faces of various bemusement was baffling. āMa,ā he called. āCome on now, donāt.ā
āMichael James,ā she said, and he winced. āGo put a shirt on. Iām about to teach the girls some manners.ā
Standing behind her in the doorway was his father in a similar pose as Charlie had been, crossed arms and a smile stamped across his face.
āPops, come on,ā he called. āDonāt just stand there.ā
Daniel Gonzalez shook his head, his chest moving with a chuckle Mike couldnāt hear. āIām not getting in the middle of this. Anyone want some popcorn?ā
He reached his mother just as she lifted the hose and pointed, then squeezed the handle, causing a spray of what had to be icy cold water shoot out and over the women sitting along the edge of the lawn. Shrieks and screams lit up the neighborhood before he could grab the nozzle and push it down. The smile on his motherās face was the loudest of them all.
āThat should teach them,ā she said, and he sighed.
Approximately thirty minutes later, Mike took a deep breath, calling on patience and strength, the confidence heād grown as he went through weeks of training at FLETC and the Secret Service Training Academy. His hands were sweating like they normally did when he did any kind of public speaking, something heād been struggling for years to overcome. If heād been in the gym he normally went to, heād be able to put some chalk on his hands to soak up the moisture, but as it was, all he could do was rub them on his light-wash 501s.
After his mother had doused the neighborhood watch ladies with water earlier, heād gone inside to change and had put on jeans and a pale baby-blue button-down. He was by no means wanting to impress the woman on the other side of the door, but he couldnāt escape the feeling driving inside of him. The one that told him he wasnāt a young teen able to be pushed around anymore. That he couldnāt care less what she thought of him.
But all of that was a lie, and he knew it. He just refused to admit it.
Ava Larsen had an impact on his life and who heād grown to become.
He was here at the hospital at his brotherās request to consult on a case, apparently. There was nothing saying he had to spend any length of time with her at all. Heād listen to what his brother had to say, would hear her version of events, then heād make a recommendation for what they should do next. That was it.
With another deep, calling-on-calm breath, he pushed and held the door open for Charlie, keeping his eyes downcast as she entered. He blew out a breath through pursed lips, then stepped inside and lifted his gaze to meet the sky-blue ones of his childhood bully.
D.C. āDesiā Stone is a best-selling romance author and full-time fraud investigator. She lives in the northeast with her incredibly supporting husband, two kids, a cat, and the ever-growing family of dogs.
After serving eight years of service with the United States Air Force, she went on to transition into the world of financial crimes and became a lead investigator for many years.
Reading has always been a passion of hers, getting lost in a good, steamy romance is one of her favorite past times. She soon after discovered her own love for writing and recreating stories and characters in her head. Her writing concentrates on romantic with specifics in paranormal, suspense, and erotica.
Now, when she isnāt trying to solve a new puzzle in the world of fraud, she is engulfed with coffee, her laptop, and all those crazy characters in her head. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hudson Valley Romance Writers, New Jersey Romance Writers, RomVets, RWA Kiss of Death, and the Liberty State Fiction Writers. She served as the 2014 NJRW Vice President and Conference Chair. Come stop by on Facebook, Twitter, or her website and say hello!
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