Betrayed

Aspirations of building a tiger sanctuary coupled with the danger of caring for the powerful animals make for long days, short nights, empty pockets, and no room for relationships.

​Alex loves Cami for her stubborn spirit, recognizing in her a light that can't be extinguished. And he needs to protect it. Even if it means tearing his own heart and soul apart, ignoring the pain of unrequited love, and helping Cami care for the majestic and abused tigers of her sanctuary.

​But when a threat targets the animals, even Alex can't keep Cami safe. As the danger stalks them, Cami and Alex will be forced to face a reality they can't imagine.

Cami Lockhart stared out the window at the expanse of the ranch before her, mind clicking with possibilities. It was enough land, and the Smoky Mountains held their own natural barriers. But for the dream to become reality, she was going to need a lot more. More money. More security. More men.

Big dreams required a lot of
everything.

She settled down at the kitchen
table to consider the scattered papers. Brushing aside the diagrams and business plans to study the budget, she sighed and then nodded. Coming from a family with money had its perks. Gaining their approval was not going to be one of them, but some dreams couldn’t be pushed aside.

She pushed one foot into a leather boot and pulled it up by the straps. Employees, volunteers, and even a half-billion dollars could be washed through quickly without some careful planning.

Her mare, Nugget, pawed at the ground as she stepped outside. The horse seemed to have a sixth sense about her
plans, and if that was so, Cami guessed the animal wouldn’t be all that happy about them.

She reached out to pat the horse’s mane. “Sorry, girl. I’ll keep you safe, you know that.”

The horse neighed for a gentle pat to the nose, then Cami made her way to the waiting saddle and hoisted herself
upward in one fluid motion. “After one more ride around the property, we’ll turn in for the night. I’ve got a lot of paperwork to prepare for tomorrow.”

Together, they trotted toward the main gate of the fifteen-hundred-acre property, then stopped short as a black
pickup stalled out at the closed barrier. “Whoa, girl.” Cami brought the horse up short at the gate but didn’t bother to climb down.

Cowboy boots hit the dirt, and then a head with sandy blond hair ducked out of the vehicle.

“Can I help you?” she called, her soft voice hardly intimidating.

He stepped out from behind the metal and took her aback. A bit office, a bit rugged, a nice mouth. She raised one eyebrow and smirked. Too good-looking for his own good.

“I’m looking for a Cami Lockhart?”

She narrowed her eyes and slid from the saddle. “You found her. Can I help you?” Holding onto the reins, she walked
to the gate but refrained from offering her hand.

“I understand you’re building a
tiger sanctuary here. I’ve come on behalf of the county to deliver the petition
submitted to the county government to stop your efforts.”

Cami blinked rapidly with wide
eyes. “Come again?”

The man stepped to the opposite side of the gate and handed a piece of paper over the white fence. She snatched
it from his hand and quickly scanned the document. “There aren’t even any cats here yet. Don’t you think this is a little premature?”

He grinned, eyes twinkling in the glow of early evening. With a tilted head, she studied them discreetly and realized they were the same color as her chestnut mare. Too brown, too clear. And for a man who looked like him, too alluring. Even if he wasn’t here on a
mission to kill her fledgling dream, she wouldn’t trust him. No bias there.

“Better to stop you now before
money is wasted on a project that will be shut down before it opens.”

She flung the paper at him like a Frisbee, smiling with satisfaction as it fluttered to his feet. “We’ll see about that. You should collect all the facts before you go around, starting
wars.”

He retrieved the document, then attempted to hand it back to her. Cami crossed her arms. With a shrug, he folded the paper and tucked it in a back pocket. “The meeting is in less than
twenty-four hours. Bring those facts with you and be prepared to defend your stance. You won’t win, but you can try.”

She snorted and climbed onto
Nugget’s back. “We’ll see about that.” She clicked her tongue and began to steer the horse away from the stranger, then pulled back on the reins to regard him. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t. But the name is Paul,
Paul Schotter.”

She nodded and grinned sweetly. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Paul Schotter, and will be happy to watch you
squirm in your seat.”

A gentle kick to Nugget’s ribs and she galloped away. “Jerk. He can’t shut us down, can he, girl?” The horse neighed, and Cami pulled gently on the reins to slowly turn the horse around.

The pickup peeled out of the drive, Paul Schotter driving too fast down Rickard Road.

Good, she thought, her chest puffed and shoulders dropping. She’d irritated him. The
feeling was mutual.

Few people knew of her plans for the sanctuary, and none of them would have leaked the information to hurt her.
Liz, Alex. Her parents didn't support her but wouldn't see her dream ruined. Liz was her childhood BFF, and aside from Alex, her closest friend. For his part, Alex was her best friend, her ranch hand, her most trusted ear.

Cami patted Nugget’s neck with a raised brow. Somehow the plans were made public, and the fight started before
she’d expected. That was okay though. Better to get it out of the way and move forward. Already, she’d spoken to a couple of other sanctuaries in other states, and they needed help. The first cats would arrive in five weeks. There
just weren’t enough facilities to house the animals removed from private owners who’d taken them in as cubs, expecting to have a fun and unique pet, and found
the beasts too hard to handle as they grew. And then there were the
malnourished, mistreated, downright abused cats taken by the authorities. If they weren’t put down, they needed a place to go to live out the rest of their lives. Already, Cami wouldn’t be ready in time to save some animals. There was
no time to waste.

Reaching back, she pulled her
blonde ponytail into two parts and in opposite directions, tightening the holder in place. She didn’t have time for makeup, rarely left her waist-long
hair free, and almost never was out of her jeans, cowboy boots, and button-down
shirts. Caring for tigers wasn’t a sexy job: it would be time-consuming, tiring, and dirty. A sometimes-dangerous lifestyle. She didn’t care. For her, it was all passion.

Cami trained for this dream her
whole life—veterinarian and animal management classes, managing finances to
every dime, giving up college partying and football games. She’d long ago planned
every nuance of the sanctuary: how to make it bigger and better; how to ensure
the animals would be happy, healthy, and safe; how to keep the surrounding
community safe from the cats. She already had strict rules: never give the animals a chance to escape, never allow the public near the big cats, never allow either staff or volunteers to risk their lives by taking unnecessary
chances.

Preparing for even the most
unexpected occurrences and knowing she couldn’t plan for everything.

Now, after fifteen years and being this close to the realization of that dream, no one was going to stand
in her way. Especially not some office worker whose hands were probably as soft
as a baby’s bottom.

She was too close.

Cami clicked her tongue and gently kicked Nugget, driving her forward. Twenty-four hours was plenty of time. A
PowerPoint presentation was already prepared along with file folders full of documents and blueprints. If Paul Schotter wanted a fight, he would get one.

And he would lose.

Language: English

Number of Pages: 334 pages

Estimated Time to Read: 4 hours

Word Count: 51,908

Formats: ePub & Mobi

Devices: Kindle, Apple, & Android Devices, Nook & Kobo Readers, Computers

Delivery Time & Method: Instant delivery to domestic and international readers via the email address provided at check-out

Also available on:Amazon, Nook, Apple, Google Play, Smashwords