Always - Iris Johansen [0]
I’ve always loved Clancy Donahue. He seems like an old friend because I’ve used him as a continuing secondary character in many of the Sedikhan series books. As a security chief it also seemed natural that he flowed into the Clanad series. He was always a strong force to be reckoned with, but he stayed in the background.
As you know, my heroes are usually larger than life and tend to be dashing. Clancy seemed a great contrast to them because he was both mature and steady. Then I took a good look at Clancy and started wondering … What was he really like? He was tough, experienced, and he’d had to have had a pretty rough life. Maybe that quiet strength hid elements I hadn’t seen before.
I started to write and suddenly I discovered Clancy Donahue was definitely larger than life himself. Oh yes, and very dashing. Particularly when faced with his own romantic destiny in Lisa Landon. Throw in suspense, passion, and a hunt for terrorists, and Clancy began to take my breath away.
I hope you enjoy getting to really know him as much as I did.
Iris Johansen
PRAISE FOR IRIS JOHANSEN
“Iris Johansen knows how to win instant fans.” —Associated Press
“Iris Johansen is a powerful writer.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“[Iris Johansen is] one of the romance genre’s finest treasures.” —Romantic Times
“A master among master storytellers.” —Affaire de Coeur
“Johansen serves up a diverting romance and plot twists worthy of a mystery novel.” —Publishers Weekly
“[Iris] Johansen has … a magical quality.” —Library Journal
“[Johansen is] a consummate artist who wields her pen with extraordinary power and grace.” —Rave Reviews
“Iris Johansen is a bestselling author for the best reason—she’s a wonderful storyteller.” —Catherine Coulter
“Iris Johansen is incomparable.” —Tami Hoag
BOOKS BY IRIS JOHANSEN
White Satin Magnificent Folly
Tender Savage No One to Trust
Notorious Body of Lies
One Touch of Topaz Final Target
Everlasting The Search
And the Desert Blooms The Killing Game
The Treasure The Face of Deception
Lion’s Bride And Then You Die
Golden Valkyrie Long After Midnight
Capture the Rainbow The Ugly Duckling
A Summer Smile Dark Rider
Stormy Vows/Tempest at Sea Midnight Warrior
Stalemate The Beloved Scoundrel
An Unexpected Song The Magnificent Rogue
Killer Dreams The Tiger Prince
On the Run Last Bridge Home
Countdown The Golden Barbarian
Blind Alley Reap the Wind
Firestorm The Golden Barbarian
Fatal Tide Storm Winds
Dead Aim The Wind Dancer
If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as “unsold or destroyed” and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.
Always is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1986 by Iris Johansen
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BANTAM BOOKS and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in paperback in the United States by Bantam Loveswept, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1986.
eISBN: 978-0-553-90815-2
Cover art copyright: © Eileen Carey
www.bantamdell.com
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
CLANCY DONAHUE LEANED back in the plush visitor’s chair and stretched his long legs out before him. “So she arrived four days ago in Paradise Cay,” he commented. His eyes narrowed as Len Berthold nodded, then nervously shifted papers on the desk before him. “And what the hell’s wrong with you, Len? You’re acting skittish as the devil.”
“I am skittish.” Berthold grimaced. “I don’t like being part of one of your games,