NOW AND ALWAYS

A contemporary romance by
Charity Pineiro
Connie Gonzalez is a driven, ambitious woman who is one of
the FBIs best agents and determined to prove herself in a
mans world. Assigned to the Miami Bureau, Connie soon
finds herself going undercover in Miami's glamorous South
Beach area. An injury throws her together with the very rich
and tempting Dr. Victor Cienfuegos. Victor is everything
Connie should avoid, but despite the risks of her work and
allowing any distractions, Connie cannot deny the attraction
between herself and the sexy physician. Will danger keep them
apart or is their love strong enough to survive for now and
always?


This book is dedicated to my mother, Carmen Pineiro, my best friend and mentor.
Mom, you always told me that anything was possible if you worked hard enough for it.
You were right. Thank you for always being there for me. I miss you every day of my life.








Chapter 1
Miami, Florida
Victor glanced at her resume, certain he wouldn't hire her. She was too young and too
inexperienced. Nancy at the personnel office must have been crazy to even send her over. He
considered calling the agency to cancel her upcoming interview, but the young woman was
probably on her way. Disgustedly, he stared at the empty waiting room of his office. This
was going to be a bad day all around.
The temp had misread his note, canceled his appointments for the day, and rescheduled
them for tomorrow. Too bad that today was the day he had time for his patients. Tomorrow
he was expected in surgery.
Victor dragged a hand through his hair and tried to guess how many of his patients
would remain with him if these screw ups continued. And all because his regular
nurse/receptionist, Yolanda, had decided to get pregnant.
Damn, he cursed, but Victor wasn't angry at Yolanda. He was sorry that she was now
at home, flat on her back until the arrival of the baby in another four or five months. He
couldn't wait for her to come back once she had the baby, even if only on a part-time basis.
But Yolanda's unexpected defection to the ranks of motherhood had thrown his neat little
world into a state of chaos and made him question too many things.
He was supposed to be a triple S if there was such a thing -- thirtySomething, Single,
and Successful. An up-and-coming orthopedic surgeon who hopefully would be Chief of
Orthopedics sometime this year.
So why was it that with so much supposedly in his favor, at times he didn't know who
or what he was any more or what he wanted out of life?
He set aside the resume, drew in a deep breath, and smelled something rank. Looking
down at the overflowing wastebasket next to him, he caught a glimpse of the days old remains
of someone's lunch. Something else the temp couldn't seem to do right, although it defied
logic why someone couldn't arrange to keep the wastebaskets clean and the office looking neat.
Victor shook his head, stood, and began to straighten the disorderly piles of magazines
and health brochures available for his patients. He walked into the receptionist's area and
stopped short. A number of his patients' files were haphazardly stacked on the desk, waiting
to topple at the slightest provocation. If they did, it would take hours of work to reorganize
them. He reached to balance the precarious pile.
From the other side of the desk someone said "Hello," surprising him into jostling a
goodly portion of the files onto the floor. They landed in a heap of scattered papers and
manila file folders.
He cursed under his breath and glared at the young woman. "Couldn't you have
knocked at least?"
She squared her shoulders and crossed her arms in front of herself. "I did, but
apparently you didn't hear." She eyed him curiously as he stooped down and shoveled
together the papers from the files. "If your bedside manner's like this, it's no wonder you
have an empty waiting room."
He stopped picking up the papers. "Who are you anyway?"
"Carmen Gonzalez. I'm here for the interview for the nurse/receptionist position,
although you look like you're in more of a firing than hiring mood."
He laughed, surprising himself. There was just something about her that made it hard
to stay angry. Maybe it was her sauciness or her young eager face. Too young. "I'm sorry
you wasted your time coming."
"You're not even going to interview me?" she said softly, her crimson painted lips
forming a frown. "Look, I know we started off on the wrong foot."
He held his hand up to stop her. "It's not you. I'm in a rotten mood and besides,
you're too--"
"Young and too inexperienced," Carmen finished for him. "Nancy was afraid that you
would say that."
Victor nodded, bent, and returned to gathering the papers. "Nancy knows what I
want."
"And you're certain that I'm definitely not it," she shot back quickly.
He laughed again, shook his head, and glanced at her. "Do you always do that?"
She looked taken aback and her dark chocolate eyes widened with doubt. "Do what?"
"Finish whatever anyone is saying."
She blushed brightly and looked away. "Only when I'm nervous."
Victor doubted that there were many situations in which Carmen could be nervous. She
struck him as the cool and capable type. Just like his old receptionist Yolanda who could
handle just about anything. Despite that, he needed someone with more job experience,
especially with the nightmare his office had become in the last few weeks.
He stood and rearranged the scattered papers and folders into a pile on the desktop. He
would have to organize them when he had a precious spare moment. "Look, I appreciate your
coming down here, but I think Nancy made a mistake. It just wouldn't work. I need someone
who can straighten out this mess and handle my patients."
"You actually have patients?" she teased and glanced around the empty waiting room.
A chuckle worked out of him and he pondered again what it was about her that could
make him laugh given the current state of his life. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time
he had actually been this spontaneous. Not in a long time anyway.
"Yes, I do have patients. The problem is that the temp canceled today's appointments
and rescheduled them for tomorrow. I have to be in surgery tomorrow. So if you don't mind,
I really have to go and start calling them. Hopefully I'll still have some patients left when I'm
done." He bent, collected the last of the papers, and dumped them on the desk.
Carmen had yet to move, so he eyed her, wondering why she was still lingering and
she finally got the message.
Carmen gave him a disappointed nod and walked away.
The office phone began to ring. The problem was the phone was nowhere to be seen.
Victor searched all over the desk and burrowed under the pile of papers that had once
been his files.
"Well don't just stand there," he snapped at Carmen. She had stopped at the sound of
the ringing and now stood in the middle of the waiting room.
"Please help me find the phone," he added more politely, ashamed that he was being
rude. That wasn't normally his style, but he had neared his limit of patience.
Carmen shook her head in amusement, picked up the phone they kept for patients to
use, and with the quick push of a few buttons, she answered. "Dr. Cienfuegos's office."
She glanced at him for further instructions as the garbled sound of someone on the
other end of the line drifted over to him.
Victor didn't know how she had done it and didn't care at the moment. He waved for
her to go on with the call.
"Yes, Mrs. Ruiz. We're sorry that the doctor's temp called to cancel your
appointment."
Victor heard the angry burst of Spanish from his position across the room.
Carmen held the phone away and motioned for him to take the call, but he waved his
hands and shook his head. The last thing he needed to deal with today was Mrs. Ruiz. He
didn't care if she was one of his mother's very rich, very influential friends. She was a royal
pain in the ass, generally vicious, and he was in no mood to deal with her today.
Carmen relented and got back on the phone. In Spanish, she calmly explained the mix-
up. She reminded Mrs. Ruiz about Victor's problem, what with poor Yolanda having
difficulties with her pregnancy and leaving him without help. That seemed to bring a round of
commiseration from the other woman.
"Yes, of course. I can imagine how hard it was for you, too. I'm sure you can
understand how Yolanda feels and how poor Dr. Cienfuegos is trying to handle all this with
her gone. You know men are lost without us," Carmen said, earning the other woman's
sympathy.
Another burst of Spanish came across the line and then Carmen laughed, a rich, full-
throated laugh that reached into her eyes. He grinned, enjoying how she had the shark eating
out of her hand. It gave him second thoughts about his earlier decision not to hire her.
"Yes, yes, I agree," Carmen said, shaking her head and looking his way. "I'm so glad
you're not angry. What would be a better day for your next appointment, by the way?" She
motioned for him to bring over his appointment book and after a few tries, he located it, and
brought it out to her.
Carmen plucked the pen from his shirt pocket, sat down, flipped through the pages, and
very efficiently rescheduled Mrs. Ruiz for another day.
"Thank you very much for being so understanding." She hung up and handed him his
appointment book.
There was no way Victor was going to take it. "Please reschedule the rest."
She eyed him doubtfully and clutched the book to her chest. "I thought you weren't
going to hire me."
"I'm not. Not yet anyway," he admitted with a grin and a shrug.
He motioned to the phone sitting in the patient's area. "How did you do that with the
phone and how did you know about Yolanda?"
Carmen laughed, her dark eyes sparkling and her smile displaying straight, toothpaste
bright teeth. "We have the same phone system at the nursing school. I temp there sometimes
for Nancy, who happens to be Yolanda's cousin. And you will hire me. Trust me. I'm very
determined."
She surely was, he thought with a nod.
Victor walked back toward the receptionist's desk. "I'm going to try and straighten out
the files."
He stopped short, turned, and asked, "You're not planning on getting pregnant any
time soon, are you?"
"You're not allowed to ask that question," she reminded him, waggling a finger.
Victor knew that only too well, but that didn't stop a suddenly mischievous streak from
tossing back, "Well, I did ask. Are you?"
Carmen chuckled and shook her head. "If I was, my parents would be checking me
into the nearest convent."
He wrinkled his brow, trying to figure out that comment. "Why?"
She shot him a saucy grin. "Because I'm a good Cuban girl and still single. We don't
do that kind of thing," Carmen said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.
The laughter that erupted from his chest was heartfelt. It made him feel warm and
alive, something he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Carmen, you are too much."
She nodded, placed the appointment book down, and dialed the next patient on the list.
"My sister Connie says the same thing."
He stopped short. "There are two of you?"
She waved him off. "We're not twins. Connie's my older sister. My way too serious
older sister."
Victor smiled and mumbled again, "Too much."
"Hey, Dr. Cienfuegos," Carmen called out. "You should do that more often."
He faced her, slightly confused. "What's that?"
"Smile. You're kinda cute when you smile."
"Now, Carmen. You know you're not supposed to say that kind of thing," he teased,
waggling his finger in warning as she had done before.
She grinned saucily. "Well, I did."
Victor chuckled and walked away to fix his files. He stopped at the desk and looked
back at her as she started making calls. He wasn't going to hire her. She was too young. Too
sassy. And as he looked at her, took in for the first time all her too dangerous feminine
curves, he wondered if he was dead not to have noticed them before.
He was definitely working too hard.







Chapter 2
Connie Gonzalez slipped on the thin latex gloves before entering the crime scene. She
stopped at the door and checked the frame for signs of forcible entry. Not a nick marred the
lock or door jamb. "The perp had a key or was let in by the victim," she told the agent behind
her, who examined the door and agreed.
"Easy work, Gonzalez. Any beginner could see that."
"So let's see what else we have then." Stepping inside the room, she scanned the
interior of the shabby motel room, typical of those backstreet, by the hour establishments.
Two mismatched chairs sat beside a scarred table strewn with the remnants of a take-out
Chinese dinner for two. She stepped over and opened the containers. "One from Column A.
One from Column B. Husband says they had finished dinner when he left. Must be light
eaters," she commented about the nearly full containers.
The agent behind her grunted, entered the room, and sat down at the table. He picked
up a fork and one of the containers. "Want some?" he asked.
Connie shook her head as he dug into the fried rice and leaned back in the chair.
"Sir, I don't know how you can handle that," she said as she approached the bed where
the victim lay. Or at least what remained of the victim.
"What's the matter, Gonzalez? Stomach a little queasy?" he teased as she bent at the
knees and made herself face level with the edge of the bed and the body of the victim.
Connie laughed and tossed her shoulder length cap of hair aside. "Hell, no. The salt
and grease will kill you. Plus the MSG always gives me a headache."
He chuckled and dug back into the fried rice as Connie rose, walked to the other side of
the bed and examined the blood splatter patterns on the sheets and victim.
"Twelve gauge shotgun. Two blasts. One to the chest. One to the privates." She
blushed as she examined the victim's body.
The other agent laughed, nearly choking on the mouthful of rice. "That some new
technical term, Connie. Privates?"
"Yes, sir. I petitioned to add it to the FBI dictionary. What do you think?" While she
waited for his reply, she checked out the bathroom, and after examining the area, returned to
the main area of the staged hotel room.
Her superior grabbed an egg roll, waving it as he spoke. "I think you need to get a
thicker skin. That Catholic school innocence gives the male agents a real opportunity for
making you uneasy. Want some egg roll?" He held up the victim's purported dinner and as he
moved it around, bits of filling flew off.
"Can I help it you guys don't have any class? Anyway, let's get this over with. You're
making me hungry. Where's the other body?" she said and sat down at the table across from
him.
This time her superior did choke on the egg roll.
She reached over and pounded his back until he had control.
"How did you know there was another body?" he asked once he could talk again.
"No forced entry. The posture of the victim's body would indicate that she wasn't yet
asleep and the sheets were off her even though it's kinda cold in here."
She rubbed her arms against the chill and looked up at the two-way mirror at one side
of the room where other instructors were monitoring the test. "If it's intentional, please turn
up the heat. My Cuban blood can't handle this cold and it's the least you can do for solving
this little puzzle."
The instructor sitting across from her laughed and dug back into the pint container of
Chinese food. "Don't get too cocky, Agent Gonzalez. Or should I say, Agent-in-Training?
Since so far you're the only one to have picked up on it, let's hear your theory."
Connie nodded, leaned back in her chair, and confidently laid out her explanation for
the crime. "As I was saying, the victim was not covered, and the bed, lumpy and soft as it is,
shows a deep impression. More than our little 'victim', if she was of average weight for that
height, would have made," she said, pointing to the mannequin that had been prepared for the
exam.
"The husband claims they had been involved with some drug dealing and that his wife
was supposed to meet with one of the men."
She chuckled and shook her head in disgust before proceeding. "You guys have a
twisted idea of what meeting with someone is. Anyway, as I said before, there was no forced
entry. The nature of the gunshots is not typical of a drug style execution. The husband claims
they ate dinner, but it was barely touched. My guess is, he went to get dinner, came back, and
saw through the window that his wife was doing it with someone else. Not too smart on her
part, but maybe she thought he would take longer to return. In any case, when he saw what
was going on, he lost it, went and got his shotgun, returned, and blew them away. He laid out
the dinner to support his story."
The instructor nodded and urged her to go on. "What about the other body? Where
did it go?"
Connie stood, walked over to the mannequin, and pointed to the groin area. "I'm
assuming you intended these bits of stuff on the mannequin to be brain matter, because it's
inconsistent with what would happen to a shotgun blast to the 'privates'," she said with a
smile, teasing him. "So, I'm assuming they were involved in, let's just say something my
Catholic school mind would rather not discuss in mixed company."
"I knew you were good," the instructor said.
Connie did a mock bow and continued. "The plastic liner of the shower curtain is
missing from the bathroom and there's no trail of blood from the bed to outdoors. Therefore,
the husband likely wrapped his wifes lover in the shower curtain and took the body elsewhere.
That's supported by the small bit of plastic caught on a nail by the door jamb."
The instructor clapped. "Very good, Connie. Nice job today."
"Thanks. If you don't have anything else, I'd like to go back to the dorm now," she
said and walked back to her teacher.
He stood and plopped the pint container of food back onto the table. "Big exam
tomorrow, right?"
Connie nodded. "I have some studying to do and I want to call home and see how
things are going."
He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You're going to pass that test with
flying colors. You're the first one to solve this crime and only a few others will get it as
quickly as you did. You're one of the best I've had."
"I appreciate that vote of confidence." Only the best could choose where they wished
to be and she was itching to go home to Miami.
After another few exams, she only had one real hurdle left to go: the self defense test.
She hoped that when all was said and done, she would be at the top of her class and buying a
ticket back to Miami.
#
After a quick dinner in the cafeteria, Connie returned to the small, dormitory style room
she shared with one other woman. She sat at her desk, quickly glanced through her e-mail, and
seeing nothing urgent, closed her laptop. The various messages could wait until after she talked
to her family.
She dialed and the phone rang a few times before her sister Carmen answered.
"Hey, sis. How are you?" she asked.
"Good. What about you?" Carmen responded.
"I'm fine. Have any luck landing a job yet?" Carmen had been looking for a nursing
position for once she graduated.
"Even if I told you, you'd probably never believe me," Carmen replied.
Connie leaned back in the chair, propped her feet on the desk, and wondered what
trouble her sister had gotten into this time. "Carmen, with you anything's possible. Please,
don't keep me waiting."
Carmen regaled her with the details of her interview with her prospective employer.
Connie laughed as Carmen described the look on his face as his files fell on the floor. Her
eyes teared up from her amusement as her sister exaggerated the telephone run-in with Mrs.
Ruiz.
"This guy sounds like he's in real trouble," she said.
Carmen chuckled. "Yeah, real trouble. He needed help right away and I felt so bad
for him that when he asked me to call everyone, I gave in."
Connie shook her head. "Oh no, sis. Don't tell me he's got a pretty face and got you
to do the work for free. We didn't raise a fool, you know."
"I know, Connie," Carmen said with an exasperated sigh at her sisterly chiding. "He
offered to pay me."
"And you accepted of course," she jumped in.
"Now, Connie, don't get all crazy."
"Tell me he paid you, Carmen." There was a moment of silence on the line, then her
sister laughed--the unrestrained, earthy laugh Connie had missed so much during the months of
their separation.
"Well?" she prompted.
"Do you always do that?" Carmen asked.
Connie furrowed her brow, trying to imagine what her sister was talking about. "I
don't get it."
"Victor--"
"It's Victor now? When did that happen?" she teased as she slipped her feet off the
desk, tucked the cell phone between her ear and shoulder, and gathered her books and study
materials.
"Victor asked me if I always finished sentences for other people. So do you?"
Heat crept into her cheeks and Connie was glad her sister was not in the room to
witness her embarrassment. "All right, you got me. I'll keep quiet while you explain how he
got you to do his work for free, didn't hire you, and became Victor all in the course of one
day."
Carmen chuckled. "Lighten up. He did pay me for the day and he likes to be
informal."
Connie waited for her sister to go on, wondering if she had gotten the job, but Carmen
didn't say another word. After fifteen seconds or so, Connie asked, "So did he--"
"Hire me? I knew you couldn't keep quiet," Carmen kidded.
Connie wished her sister was in the room with her so she could provide a sisterly
smack to get her in line. "Tell me," she pressed and looked at her watch. She had to hit the
books shortly.
"Do you know he actually had the nerve to ask if I planned on having babies soon?"
Carmen admitted.
Connie bolted upright in her chair, righteous indignation seething in every pore of her
lawyer's body. "He's not allowed to ask that. The Neanderthal should know. If he refused to
hire you because of that, we'll sue."
"Take it easy, my little legal eagle. He admitted he shouldn't have asked, but then
again, it's something I wasn't thinking of doing right now."
Her adrenaline going, Connie couldn't stop. "I should hope not. At least not until
you're married."
"Ah, Connie. Earth to Connie," Carmen teased. "This is the twenty-first century.
People do that now."
"But not you, Carmen."
"How do you know?" her sister said, knocking all the wind out of her sails. Connie's
little sister had. . .well, lost itwhile Connie was still nearly a virgin at the age of twenty-six.
She didn't consider her couple of short college relationships a lot of experience, sexually that
was. She didn't know what upset her more, Carmen's active love life or her own chaste state.
"Carmen," she said huskily and paused to clear her throat. "As long as you took the
right precautions."
And as long as her sister wasnt doing it with that no account Julio from down the
block, she thought to herself.
A heavy sigh drifted from the other end of the line. "Of course, I do. Don't you?"
Connie blushed, hesitated, and then stammered out a quick, "Of course. Of course I
do." Well, at least the few times she had in any case.
"Believe it or not, Victor hired me, even though I was too young and too
inexperienced. I don't know why and I don't care. He's paying me well and I'll be able to get
experience so I can get another job once Yolanda comes back."
"That's great, Carmen. Congratulations. We'll have to celebrate once I get home."
Home, she thought with a pang of longing. It had been months since she had been back to the
small cinder block house off Calle Ocho in Little Havana.
"You know where you're being assigned already?" Carmen asked.
Connie hesitated and finally admitting, "Well, no. Just wishful thinking on my part."
"Con?" Carmen asked softly, using her pet nickname for her older sister. The one
reserved for important moments or serious ones.
Connie wondered what was suddenly bothering Carmen. "Whats up, sis?"
"Have you talked to Mom and Dad about where you'll be living if you're assigned to
Miami?"
Connie chewed on her bottom lip. "No, but they have to know I'm not going to live at
home if I come back to Miami. I mean thats so Old School."
"I know. Still, Mom launched into one of her 'My Daughters' speeches the other day.
I think she'll give you a hard time if you tell them you plan on getting your own place."
Connie sighed and dragged a hand through her hair. "Well, I'll deal with it if and
when I'm lucky enough to get the Miami assignment."
Not to mention good enough, she thought, suddenly assailed by doubt.
"Okay. I won't say anything. Besides they're not home right now. Want me to have
them call you later?"
"No. I'll be at the library studying. Tell them I'll call tomorrow. Carmen?"
"Yes, Con. What is it now?" Carmen said with a sigh, as if waiting for Connie to
chide her about something.
Connie smiled, certain she would catch Carmen off guard. "You never told me if he
was cute or not?"
"Who? Victor?" Carmen said, obviously playing dumb.
"Of course, Victor. Who else?"
There was a long, drawn out moment over the phone line as her sister considered it. "
I don't think he's your type at all, Connie."
"And yours?" she teased.
"No way," came the immediate reply. "He's much too old."
Connie pictured him, wondering what he looked like from Carmen's sparse references.
The picture of a cigarette-smoking, paunchy, sixty-something male chauvinist immediately
came to mind. "Well, I hope he's not so old that you'll be looking for another job in a few
weeks."
"I said old, not ancient. I think he'll be around for a while."
Carmen stopped for a second and laughed. The kind of laugh that told Connie her
sister wasn't being totally truthful. "Okay, Carmen, spill the beans. What's with this doctor
of yours?"
"Don't worry, Connie. You have to go, remember, so take care. I'll talk to you
soon."
Connie stared at the phone for a second after Carmen ended the call, wondering what
her sister was keeping to herself. Then she grabbed her things, slipped them into a well-worn
knapsack that had seen her through law school and now nearly thirteen weeks at the FBI
Academy. She hoped that in another two weeks, she would retire the knapsack forever as she
left the academic realm and jumped into the real world.
That was, if she could nail all her exams. She rose, heading to the library for another
long night of studying. This was too important to leave anything to chance.
#
Connie stared at the results posted on the bulletin board and smiled. Her joy was short
lived, however.
"So, Speedy Gonzalez. Think you're one up on us, don't you," she heard from behind
her.
She looked over her shoulder and upward as she stared at the man who had been the
bane of her existence for the last two and a half months.
Paul Stone was handsome, intelligent, wealthy, and he made sure everyone knew it
with his inbred arrogance. A native Floridian, he had grown up in, as he said it, Myah-muh,
and considered Connie just one of the thousands of Cuban cockroaches who had invaded his
city.
"You have a problem, Stone?" She faced him and crossed her arms before her in a
challenging pose.
He leaned closer, towering over her as he looked at the test grades and standings.
"You're number one. I'm number two, but not for long," he said as he shifted away, but still
remained close.
"That self defense test. He tsked and shook his head in chastisement. "Pretty little
thing like you is going to have a hard time, darlin'."
Connie, barely over five feet, craned her neck to examine his six foot plus height and
too broad shoulders. "Well, you know what they say. The bigger they are--"
"The harder they fall," he finished for her with a decidedly assured masculine smile.
"Not this time, Speedy. Give me a call in Myah-muh from wherever you're assigned." He
waved and was about to walk away when Connie stopped him by laying a hand on his arm.
She took a piece of paper from a pad, jotted down a number, and handed the slip to him.
Stone took it and scrutinized it for a second, a deep furrow across his brow. "What's
this?"
Connie smiled. "It's the number for the Miami Bureau office," she said, pronouncing
it Mee-ah-mee as the Cubans did. "Call me, Stone and I'll let you know how things are going
in Mee-ah-mee."
She left him standing there, open-mouthed. But even as she tried to put his words out
of her mind, she knew he was right. The self defense test tomorrow would be the hardest
challenge. Especially if their instructor decided to test her mettle by pitting her against
someone like Stone, who had at least a foot of height and a hundred pounds on her.
But she could do it, she reminded herself. She was a black belt and well-versed in
martial arts.
She would knock Stone flat on his ass if she had to in order to get back home.
#
Copyright Notice
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product
of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 1999 by Caridad Pieiro Scordato
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this
work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of Caridad
Pieiro Scordato.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By
payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right
to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced,
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mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of
publisher.

Visit Charity/Caridads websites at www.caridad.com and www.charitypineiro.com.
Cover design 2013 Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
Manufactured in the United States of America
About the Author
Charity Pineiro is the pseudonym for New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author and RITA Finalist Caridad Pineiro. Charity/Caridad wrote
her first novel in the fifth grade when her teacher assigned a project to write a
book for a class lending library. Bitten by the writing bug, Caridad continued
with her passion for the written word and in 1999, Caridads first novel was released. Over a
decade later, Caridad is the author of nearly 40 published novels and novellas. When not
writing, Caridad is a wife, and mother to an aspiring writer and fashionista. For more
information, please visit www.caridad.com or www.charitypineiro.com.
Additional Books by the Author Writing as Caridad Pineiro
Books in The Sin Hunter Series
THE CLAIMED May 2012 ISBN 978-0446584609 Forever Grand Central Publishing
THE LOST August 2011 ISBN 978-0446584616 Forever Grand Central Publishing

Books in The Sins Series
STRONGER THAN SIN November 2010 ISBN 0446543845 Forever Grand Central
Publishing
SINS OF THE FLESH November 2009 ISBN 0446543837 Forever Grand Central
Publishing

Other Novels by Caridad
GHOST OF A CHANCE, paranormal short story November 2012 ISBN
B00AUGV89G Caridad Pineiro Publishing
THE PRINCES GAMBLE November 2012 ISBN 978-1-62266-800-7 Entangled
Publishing
THE FIFTH KINDOM July 2011 ISBN 9781426891885 Carina Press
SOLDIERS SECRET CHILD Dec 2008 ISBN 0373276109 Silhouette Romantic
Suspense
Novellas
HER VAMPIRE LOVER October 2012 ISBN 9781459242289 Nocturne Cravings
Novella
NIGHT OF THE COUGAR June 2012 ISBN 9781459231153 Nocturne Cravings
Novella
THE VAMPIRES CONSORT April 2012 ISBN 9781459222731 Harlequin Nocturne
Cravings Novella
NOCTURNAL WHISPERS February 2012 ISBN 9781459221437 Harlequin Nocturne
Cravings Novella
AMAZON AWAKENING December 2011 ISBN 9781459282766 Available Harlequin
Nocturne Cravings Novella
WHEN HERALD ANGELS SING novella in A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS
October 2011 ISBN 0373776446 HQN
AZTEC GOLD January 2011 ISBN 9781426891045 Carina Press Novella
Crazy for the Cat in MOON FEVER Oct 2007 ISBN 1416514902 Pocket Books

Books in THE CALLING/THE REBORN Vampire Novel Series
BORN TO SERVE, Summer 2013, ISBN Not Available Entangled Publishing
BORN TO LOVE, Late Summer 2013, ISBN Not Available Entangled Publishing
BORN TO DIE, Fall 2013, ISBN Not Available Entangled Publishing
VENGEANCE CALLS (tentative title) 2013 ISBN Not Available Harlequin Nocturne
KISSED BY A VAMPIRE (formerly ARDOR CALLS) October 2012 ISBN
9780373885589 Harlequin Nocturne
AWAKENING THE BEAST Collection featuring HONOR CALLS October 2009
ISBN 0373250940 Silhouette Nocturne
FURY CALLS March 2009 ISBN 0373618077 Silhouette Nocturne
HONOR CALLS February 2009 ISBN 9781426828362 Nocturne Bite
HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE December 2007 ISBN 0373617763 Silhouette
Nocturne
THE CALLING COMPLETE COLLECTION October 2008 ISBN 9781426807657
Silhouette Includes Darkness Calls, Danger Calls, Temptation Calls, Death Calls,
Devotion Calls, and Blood Callsas well as a the online read Desire Calls.
BLOOD CALLS May 2007 ISBN 0373617631 Silhouette Nocturne
DEVOTION CALLS January 2007 ISBN 0373617550 Silhouette Nocturne
DEATH CALLS Dec 2006 ISBN 0373617534 Silhouette Nocturne
TEMPTATION CALLS Oct 2005 ISBN 0373274602 Silhouette Intimate Moments
DANGER CALLS June 2005 ISBN 0373274416 Silhouette Intimate Moments
DARKNESS CALLS Mar 2004 ISBN 0373273533 Silhouette Intimate Moments

Romantic Suspense Series
SECRET AGENT REUNION Aug 2007 ISBN 0373275463 Silhouette Romantic
Suspense
MORE THAN A MISSION Aug 2006 ISBN 037327498X Silhouette Intimate Moments