By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Heather Long
&
Blake Blessing

Carve up the world…

From the moment my sexy death angel strode through that door, I’d been in lust. Or at least that was what I told myself. Beautiful, powerful, and far too dangerous for me, and I was hooked.

Utterly, irrevocably hooked.

Course, she had her own personal psycho puppy and, man, as much as I’d like to hate him, I didn’t. The dude was OCD to the point of painful when it came to cleaning, and he had the best skills in the kitchen. He also worshiped the ground she walked on.

Same, man, same.

We were making this work, even with the Fed in the dungeon. Then she didn’t come home. I didn’t care what I had to do, I was going to get her back.

If that meant letting the Fed out and working with him, then I was down. He could kick down the door and break the bones, whatever it took. If we had to take the world apart, well, then that was what we’d do.

Rick needed her. Mr. Call Me Cash was obsessed with her.

And me?

Well, I was all of the above. No way we were letting her go without a fight, not after we’d hit more than one high note together.

NOTE:
HIGH NOTE is a full length dark adult romance and psychological thriller with suspenseful themes. Any trigger warnings will be included in the foreword. Some situations may be uncomfortable for readers. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This is book three in the series.

If you haven’t read the other books in this series, STOP! Go back and read them this book starts where the last one left off.

When we last left Vienna, she had been abducted and was about to be interrogated. Rick and Fletcher had been fine until she didn’t call. Faced with the worst they need help to find her and free Cash from the cell in the basement.

They’re not sure if they can trust him but he will give them a different view as they retrace Vienna’s last known steps. When they finally let Cash call his answering service, they get the break they needed. An informant has valuable information, but there’s a lot more than that.

This is a favorite scene.

“What happened?” Rick asked. “We waited for you…”

Okay, even I melted a little at that quiet admission.

Drew turned and patted his chest right over his heart and left her hand there, as if she realized he just needed physical touch. “I’ll explain all that later. What’s most important right now is why he,” she pointed at Cash, who grinned like the devil he was, “is with you. And how you found him.” She pointed to the blue-eyed fucker staring intently at Drew.

Yeah, I didn’t like him at all.

We still hadn’t discovered how he was able to bring us here.

Rick didn’t seem inclined to throw himself in the naughty circle, so I explained the easiest of the two. “We couldn’t find you,” I started.

Fuck, I sounded just as pitiful as Rick.

“I knew something was wrong, and I exhausted all of my resources and skills and still couldn’t find you.” I sucked in a deep breath for courage. “Because we were desperate, we let him out to help us find you.” Tossing an arm out at Cash, I almost yelled, “And look! It worked! Because he has a spidey-network of people on your trail. You should be upset with him, not us.”

Drew should be proud. I incorporated one of her 5 Ds. Deflect. I was deflecting the blame onto the ex-Fed.

Cash shrugged, all nonchalant. “I got us here. And you look like you could use the help, even if you got out on your own.” The fucker looked so proud I wanted to punch him in the face. But from over here.

She turned to Horatio, not even acknowledging Cash. “And you?”

He stepped forward, still drinking her in. Had he even blinked?

I was on to his game. The fucker wanted her to notice his blue fucking eyes.

Rick hugged her waist from behind when she lifted a foot to get closer to Horatio.

I studied him through new eyes, trying to see what Drew saw. She obviously knew him, and that irked me.

He wasn’t the stunner Rick was, or even Cash. He was maybe half an inch shorter than me and just a little broader. Standard brown hair. No distinguishing features except for those fucking blue eyes he didn’t even try to hide beneath round frame glasses.

“When you didn’t surface for a few days, I thought you might need some help. And these knuckleheads didn’t know their asses from a hole in the ground. So, I… assisted.” One side of his mouth kicked up in a crooked grin, transforming him into a somewhat attractive man. I guessed. If you squinted and tilted your head sideways.

Yup, still hated him.

Drew’s brows dropped and her lips pinched. “How did you know where I was?”

His grin grew. “Ah, that’s information. We could say you already owe me for getting your boys here.”

“How much?” She shot back.

“Dinner?” “I’m not going on a date with you,” Drew said as I shouted, “Hell no!”

Rick just growled. Good. We could intimidate the accountant with our psycho puppy. To him, Rick would look like a rabid rottie.

“A family dinner is fine.”

“Nope! No. Hell to the fucking no.” This man was not invited into the house. “No more.” I stopped and pointed at Horatio. “We already have enough foxes.”

He crinkled up his nose as he watched me resume my pacing behind Drew and Rick. “Excuse me?”

“No more blue-eyed fucking foxes in the hen house!” I shouted, then pressed up behind Rick’s back like he was holding me back from raining destruction on Horatio’s head. “We have enough, thank you fucking much.”

While Horatio didn’t so much as glance in my direction, Drew did. At her quirked brows, I frowned and then flushed.

“Well,” I continued in more of a mumble. “We do.”

“You never mentioned knowing her,” Cash said into the silence, his tone less arrogant and much more broody. I damn near smirked. Oh, look at that. Mr. I-Fucking-Know-Everything didn’t know something.

“You never asked,” Horatio told him without a sideways glance, then nodded to Drew. “Do you require medical assistance?”

With one question, he flipped my attention back to Drew. She really did look like death warmed over. Our death angel was still there, bruised and battered, but very much alive. Rick rumbled a sound, but she just rubbed a circle against his chest.

“I do not,” she answered. “We can discuss a family dinner later.” Then she flicked a look at Cash. Some of his smugness had drained away as he studied her in return, then eyed Horatio. “We will also discuss the releasing of dangerous individuals when they could be a threat to the two of you.”

Could be. Not was.

That actually made my chest puff out a little.

“Since you’re here, someone manage him. I need to get some more supplies.”

“What do you need?” Rick was ready to open a vein if necessary. Me too, if it came to that, despite the fact I’d prefer to never see blood again.

“Besides a steak, a hot bath, and perhaps a very large glass of wine,” I tacked on for him. There was no mistaking the faint gurgling noise that came from her stomach.

“I need to wash up,” she said, choosing her words carefully. Our accountant “friend”— okay, not our friend, but clearly he wanted to be Drew’s, the blue-eyed bastard— nodded.

“You also require rest,” he said. “If you have no objections, I’ll take care of closing the cabin.

Probably better for you to get home.” “Wait a fucking minute,” Cash said abruptly. “Wash— where’s Sandra Jane? Is that what you need help with? She should be arrested—” He stopped abruptly, and I stared at him.

Was he for fucking real, now? Did they all take stupid pills this morning? We couldn’t hand her over. I had no idea what she knew or didn’t know, but that wasn’t the point. She hurt Drew. That was unacceptable.

Period.

“Ignore the former federal officer,” Horatio said. “Some habits are almost impossible to break. He is, however, not an idiot. I also assume the two of you need to have a conversation. Those two would be better somewhere else, with you secure.”

If by somewhere secure, he meant home, and without him, I was down with it.

“And you?” Drew asked, ignoring Cash as easily as Horatio did. That was almost funny, because a vein throbbed in his forehead as he cut his glare back and forth between the two of them.

“I am a patient man. You’re safe. As for the rest, we can call it a favor…”

Before any of us could object, Drew merely shook her head. “We don’t deal in favors.”

“True,” he said with a faint smile. “But that, too, is an old habit.”

“One, I’m not interested in breaking.”

“Heard,” he acknowledged. “Then add, allowing me to bring a dessert or a bottle of wine to the family dinner for the cost.”

A troubled look passed over her face. The fact Drew let me see her feelings in her expressions at all was a gift, but this, I didn’t think was so much about allowing any of us. She sure as hell wasn’t allowing Cash. No, there was a weariness to her, a kind of strung too tightly. Now that I’d noticed it, I couldn’t unsee it.

Rick didn’t offer any objections. I expected the Big Guy to just shut this down, but he didn’t. Instead, he let himself be lulled by the contact with her. Yeah, that I got. I didn’t want to focus on them at all, just on her.

“If that means we can get you out of here,” I said. “Then let’s go. I can handle dinner with the numbers guy, as long as we don’t have to talk math all night.” Then again… “We could do group rounds of Sudoku. Pretty sure I can kick his ass.”

That pulled a smile from Drew, and she chuckled. “I think we’ll be fine. Dinner, and you may bring the wine after Rick decides what we’re having. I’ll message you the details.”

“Accepted.” Horatio turned to go back to the car, pausing only when Cash grabbed him.

Oh, was someone about to get their ass kicked?

“Ratio, you didn’t tell me you knew her.”

Yeah, we established that.

“No, I didn’t. Nor will I ever confirm it for you. The lady is tired. Try not to be too much of an ass.” Then he glanced back at Drew once more. “Unless this is another issue you need cleaned up?”

It was probably the most civilized and scary fucking threat I’d ever heard. The man was an accountant, but you’d have to be an idiot to miss the actual menace underscoring those perfectly polite words. Like said idiot, who released him with a laugh.

The Fed was definitely out there. “I’m starting to think there’s something really wrong with him,” I told the Big Guy quietly. Drew definitely heard me, but she didn’t look away from the other pair. I could imagine she weighed all the pros and cons in an instant. It seemed a very her thing to do.

“No,” she said, finally. “Thank you for offering.”

“Of course.” He shook off Cash, or maybe the Fed just released him. Either way, he returned to the car and retrieved a bag. “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” he said as he returned and headed toward the house. “Vienna.”
Heather Long; Blake Blessing. High Note (Kindle Locations 1170-1245).

Cash’s informant obviously knows Vienna but at this point he doesn’t know how he knows her. This is an interesting development, and it just gets better from here.

More clues, more things Vienna takes care of, revelations, the kindle melting scenes and an OMG ending. I can’t wait for the next book!

5 Contented Purrs for Heather and Blake!

Heather Long

USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas in the summertime.

From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories–her characters drive the books.

When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

Blake Blessing is no longer new on the Indie scene, but she’s still ecstatic about this chapter in life. She is a mom, wife, art enthusiast, and author.

She attended ten different schools growing up, so books became her constant friend. Escaping into books of all different genres made life fun and exciting. Blake was also raised on music and still blasts it through the house and car at every opportunity.

She has a weird sense of humor and a penchant for chocolate milk. It only makes sense she would one day go on to write her own stories.