A Perilous Eden Read online

  The groom was striking in his tux. Tall, straight, handsome and, really, all the wonderful things that the prince who wed such a princess should be.

  The church was decked out with a multitude of flowers, and there was beautiful music. It was rumored that even the president was in attendance, and, of course, that meant security and even more confusion.

  The bride’s father’s eyes seemed a little damp as he handed her over to the groom. And yet, when his eyes met the groom’s, he seemed confident that he couldn’t have found a better man to whom to give his daughter.

  Actually, Ted Larkspur thought, listening to the vows being exchanged between his daughter and Adam Tchartoff, he had found Adam Tchartoff. He’d gone to great lengths to find the man.

  And now … this.

  The justice of the peace told Adam that he could kiss his bride. To cheers, Adam did so. Ted exhaled. It was done. His daughter was married.

  The newlyweds turned and walked down the aisle.

  The reception was held at Ted’s home in Alexandria. The catering bill had been exorbitant, but he had only one daughter, and he had wanted her to cherish this day forever. Of course, she would have done so even if she had been married in the house with no witnesses but himself and Toni. Still, this had been important to him.

  They danced in the garden under the stars. He held her close to him, and he felt his eyes fill with tears again. He wasn’t losing a daughter, he was gaining a son, he reminded himself. If anyone deserved Amber for a lifetime, it was Tchartoff. He had saved her life.

  And still …

  “There’s a rumor going around that the groom is going to take a post in Washington,” he whispered to Amber.

  She arched a brow and smiled. He’d never seen a more beautiful bride. Ever. Even if she was his daughter.

  “Yes, he’s going to take the job, Dad.” She sighed. “It would be a waste to keep him away. He’s so knowledgeable, and with all his languages …” She shrugged. “But the house is only an hour’s commute. I want him home nights.”

  Ted smiled. “Amber, if you think I’m going to have any control over your husband …”

  She laughed. “Okay, then, I’ll warn you. I’m going to make sure he has no wish to work nights.”

  “Ouch. Careful, my ears are tender!” Ted moaned. “I can still remember when you were in diapers, you know.”

  “Diapers. Yes, that’s the idea.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t you want to be a grandfather?” Those sea-green eyes were on him, beautiful, mischievous.

  He would have answered her, except the groom cut in just then. “Excuse me, sir!”

  The two of them waltzed away. It was just as it should be; Ted knew that.

  The president came up and slapped Ted on the back. “Congratulations. It seemed we were in the midst of disaster, and now it’s turned to triumph.”

  Ted nodded. “Yes.” He was silent for a moment. “Grandchildren! They’re talking about grandchildren.”

  The president laughed. “Mm. Just think, they will be part Russian. Your grandchildren will be part Russian.”

  “And Austrian. And American—”

  “Yes, all-American,” the president agreed, laughing.

  Ted glanced at him, then smiled slowly and looked across the lawn, where the two were still dancing, beautiful, graceful, raptured by one another. “Grandchildren. Actually I think I rather like the idea. Yes, I like it very much. She could have a little girl, just like herself. A beautiful little girl.”

  Washington, D.C.

  May 24

  The call reached Ted Larkspur at 4:00 a.m.

  “It’s a boy, sir. Michael Theodore Tchartoff. He was nine pounds, one ounce, and he has a head full of blond hair. Blue eyes, at the moment. Oh, and he can kick like a linebacker.”

  Ted allowed the phone to drop for a moment, a smile as broad as the Atlantic stretching across his features.

  A boy …

  He couldn’t wait to see his grandson. They could play ball in the park.

  No, the grandchildren idea wasn’t bad at all.

  “Adam, congratulations!” he said quickly. “And Amber?”

  “Amber is just fine. We’re still in the delivery room. She’s right next to me. Want to talk to her?”

  “No,” Ted said. He laughed. “Tell her I’m on my way!”

  A boy. Michael Theodore Tchartoff.

  He liked it! It was an all-American name if he’d ever heard one, and it was just right for his grandson.

  A Biography of Heather Graham

  Heather Graham (b. 1953) is one of the country’s most prominent authors of romance, suspense, and historical fiction. She has been writing bestselling books for nearly three decades, publishing more than 150 novels and selling more than seventy-five million copies worldwide.

  Born in Florida to an Irish mother and a Scottish father, Graham attended college at the University of South Florida, where she majored in theater arts. She spent a few years making a living onstage as a back-up vocalist and dinner theater actor, but after the birth of her third child decided to seek work that would allow her to spend more time with her family.

  After early efforts writing romance and horror stories, Graham sold her first novel, When Next We Love (1982). She went on to write nearly two dozen contemporary romance novels.

  In 1989 Graham published Sweet Savage Eden, which initiated the Cameron family saga, an epic six-book series that sets romantic drama amid turbulent periods of American history, such as the Civil War. She revisited the nineteenth century in Runaway (1994), a story of passion, deception, and murder in Florida, which spawned five sequels of its own.

  In the past decade, Graham has written romantic suspense novels such as Tall, Dark, and Deadly (1999), Long, Lean, and Lethal (2000), and Dying to Have Her (2001), as well as supernatural fiction. In 2003’s Haunted she created the Harrison Investigation service, a paranormal detective organization that she spun off into four Krewe of Hunters novels in 2011.

  Graham lives in Florida, where she writes, scuba dives, and spends time with her husband and five children.

  Graham (left) with her sister.

  Graham with her family in New Orleans. Pictured left to right: Dennis Pozzessere; Zhenia Yeretskaya Pozzessere; Derek, Shayne, and Chynna Pozzessere; Heather Graham; Jason and Bryee-Annon Pozzessere; and Jeremy Gonzalez.

  Graham at a photo shoot in Key West for the promotion of the Flynn Brothers trilogy.

  Graham at the haunted Myrtles plantation, Francisville, Louisiana.

  Graham and the Slushpile Band playing the Memnoch the Devil Ball at the Undead Con in New Orleans, 2010.

  Graham with dear friend, actor Doug Jones.

  Graham (third from left) with F. Paul Wilson, R. L. Stine, Jon Land, and other friends at the seventh annual ThrillerFest, held in New York City, 2011. The authors participated in the “Be Book Smart” campaign organized by Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy organization.

  Graham (seated center) with her local Romance Writers of America group in Broward County, Florida, 2011.

  Graham (second from left) with fellow authors Stephen Jay Schwartz, F. Paul Wilson, and Barry Eisler participating in a panel at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, Los Angeles, 2011.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1990 by Heather Graham Pozzessere

  Cover design by Michael Slavin

  ISBN: 978-1-4976-7395-3

  This edition published
in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

  345 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com

  EBOOKS BY HEATHER GRAHAM

  FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

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