Spotlight: Dangerous Desires by Dawn Altieri

Three years after Emma Sloane’s wealthy fiance’s mysterious death, she’s finally ready to move on and pursue her own dreams. But her plans are derailed when she’s attacked outside her New York City apartment in what she thinks is a random violent incident. Then other women who look just like her start turning up dead… Homicide Detective Jake Quinn is haunted by the one case he couldn’t solve. When he’s put in charge of a new high-profile murder case, he interviews a victim who escaped a similar attack—and to his shock it’s Emma, the former fiancée of his unsolved murder victim. Neither expects the sparks of attraction between them. But the killer escalates, clearly targeting Emma, and Jake’s job is on the line. Can he solve this case before it’s too late for both of them?

Excerpt

She’d been questioned. Anyone who’d want to hurt you? Anyone you’ve argued with recently? Anyone who might be holding a grudge? No, no, and no.  

He slid his fingers to the handgun at his waist. If he hadn’t been searching her apartment for a killer, it would’ve been an incredibly sexy move.  

The way he raked his gaze down her body… She was the victim of a crime he was investigating. She should be offended. Furious, even. But she wasn’t. 

It may have been a while since Jake had had sex, but he’d never had sex like that.   

He’d waited so long for something like this. There was no way he was letting her go now.  

The feelings were so unfamiliar, it had to be love. Had to be everything he never thought he’d find and had been certain he didn’t deserve.  

“That sounds like an abuse of power, Detective,” she said.

“You want to see an abuse of power? I’ll bring my cuffs home tonight.” 

“You’re not the first person to make bad decisions because you thought you were in love.” Not that he knew anything about being in love. Bad decisions? Yes. Love? He still had a thing or two to learn about that. “

He had to figure out a way to keep her in his life. He’d been terrified of someday losing her, but the thought of not having her at all…now it seemed so much worse.

This wasn’t just some fling he was going to be able to shake off once she was out of danger and free to live on her own again.

As deliciously handsome as he looked in that suit, it served no greater purpose than to make her want to get him out of it.  

He’d warned her over and over they shouldn’t get involved, but like a fool, she’d promised him she could handle something casual. This was about as far from casual as it could get. 

He’d told her he couldn’t make her happy. So why had she been so damned happy with him? Why had she felt like she had everything she wanted when she’d believed she could have him? 

He’d put solving the case above Emma’s safety, and he’d sworn he’d never make that mistake again. He deserved every ounce of her anger. 

You’re everything I never thought I’d find, everything I was convinced I didn’t deserve. You’re home. 

She was his, damn it. Whether she was ready to accept it or not, she belonged with him. No goddamned serial killer would ever get near her. He’d make damned sure of it. 

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About the Author

A lifelong resident of northern New Jersey, Dawn Altieri has been scribbling stories practically since birth. After reaching a milestone birthday (she won’t say which one), she figured it was about time she took a shot at writing professionally.

With an overactive imagination and a slightly twisted mind, she enjoys reading dark and dangerous tales almost as much as writing them. When she’s not curled up on the sofa with her laptop, her latest story, a box of chocolates and a cup of tea (or a glass of wine, depending on the time of day), she can be found volunteering in the world of animal rescue. To keep a roof over her head, she works in the printing industry as a graphic production artist. She shares her home with her husband and daughter, and a menagerie of rescued fur-babies.

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