Bonaparte's Belle: A SEALs of Honor World Novel (Heroes for Hire Book 24), Dale Mayer [read an ebook week .TXT] 📗

to fill his dreams for him. Now they were her dreams too, and one of them was never moving off this land. This was her home, and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. She had told the overeager buyers as much, through the agents they had sent, not that she’d ever been approached by the actual would-be buyers. She told the agents quite clearly that she had no intention of selling ever. They had come back again and again and had increased the offer each time, but she just wasn’t interested.

So, she was land rich and cash poor, like she’d said, but this was home. It had been home to her people for generations, and it wasn’t changing anytime soon. But, because of all that had happened, she had had a will drawn up. And her Last Will and Testament did not allow for the property to be sold. It would be a charity in trust that would keep it as a private reserve. She also put in a bunch of other stipulations, just to make sure that, even if something did happen to her, it wouldn’t benefit these guys who had caused such havoc in her county.

She hadn’t told Bonaparte that. As he wandered the backyard, studying the pool, the layout, the trees, and the lines of sight, she could damn near see the way his thoughts were going, and she realized she didn’t want to give up on that dream of having a family either. Not now, not ever. If nothing else, she felt she owed it to her lineage to keep it going one way or another. The fact that Bonaparte was here and was so damn attractive, made that much more of a prominent goal.

*

Bonaparte loved the land here. There were very few places in the world that he didn’t like but this? This had a special pull. He wandered the area, taking great delight in the groves of trees that gave a lot of shade but kept the view open and gave the homesite the ability to look across acres and acres of land. The backyard was done beautifully, with stamped concrete around a huge pool and lots of space for dogs, for people partying, or for just having that whole family-barbecue thing. He could envision scenes filled with children and friends. He loved it and felt absolutely everything about it was first-rate. She was a very lucky woman.

But he also understood how close she was to losing it all. He would have to ask her about a will and what she had in place if she died because there was no way to take it with you, even though people have tried time and time again. Meanwhile, he would do anything he could to help her keep it. This was stunningly gorgeous and was her family history. No one on earth deserved to own this land more than her. It was her birthright, and nobody should force it away from her. She’d lost everything else and didn’t deserve to lose this too.

He studied the area, looking for any security weaknesses, and of course there were plenty. When you had space like this, that meant anybody could come from any side. Even if she did have security around the house, it didn’t stop anybody from coming cross-country and getting into the spaces you didn’t want them to. He also needed to see if she had rifles or firepower of any kind beyond the standard-issue guns she carried on the job.

As he walked back, he studied the access from the gates around the side and definitely saw a few loopholes. Even though Levi had been here, more needed to be done. Of course it looked totally different now through the lens of an imminent threat. As he walked up to the long veranda, she sat there, a big pitcher beside her. He looked at it and smiled. “Lemonade?”

“Well, yes, with a bit of a twist,” she said. “It’s got gin in it. Would you like a glass?”

“Hell yes, that sounds great,” he said, with a smile, as she poured him a cup and handed it to him. “Well, I walked around a bit. This is really a beautiful place.”

“It is,” she said, “and I really don’t want to lose it.”

“No, I don’t think you should lose it at all.” He studied the surroundings. “This is awkward and insensitive maybe, but, well, … have you made any arrangements?”

Angela immediately knew what he meant. She didn’t evade the question and answered honestly. “Yes. It’s not to be sold,” she said. “It’s to go to a charity in a trust for gardens, agriculture use, and that sort of thing. It’s never to be used for development.”

He smiled and nodded. “That’s perfect and will just piss off Ronnie and Johnny even more.”

“Maybe, but, if they’ve done something to me, thinking they’ll get their hands on my property, you can sure as hell bet I’ll do everything I can to make sure they don’t. Even from the grave.”

“Well, they won’t get their hands on it,” he said.

“I like your optimism,” she said, “but I’m little more pragmatic than you are.”

“I can see that,” he said, “and I get it. I really do. That doesn’t mean it’s not doable though.”

“Maybe,” she said. “Or maybe not.” With a weary smile, she said, “Come on. I’ll show you where your room is.”

He followed her up the stairs, loving the huge wide staircase and seeing the years of footprints going up and down. It was stunning. Not so much that it was a high-end house but that it was the heritage and the soul of the home. There was spirit to it, revealing the decades of love and dedication that had lived within. It was really hard to even imagine how anybody could abuse such a beautiful place, and the idea of someone leveling it was a horrible thought.

She opened the door to a room at the top of the stairs.

He walked in and smiled. “This