J.R. Ward the Black Dagger Brotherhood Novels 5-8 - J. R. Ward [1]
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First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
ISBN: 1-101-12856-9
Copyright © Jessica Bird, 2007
All rights reserved
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Dedicated to: You.
I got you wrong in the beginning
and you have my apologies.
It’s just so like you that you stepped in anyway,
and saved not only him,
but also me in this endeavor.
With immense gratitude to the readers
of the Black Dagger Brotherhood,
and a shout-out to the Cellies!
I’m not even going to bring up the couch.
I can’t count that high.
Thank you so very much:
Karen Solem, Kara Cesare, Claire Zion, Kara Welsh.
Thank you, Dorine and Angie,
for taking such very good care of me—
and thanks also to S-Byte and Ventrue for everything
you do out of the goodness of your hearts!
As always with gratitude to my executive committee:
Sue Grafton, Dr. Jessica Andersen, Betsey Vaughan,
and my Partner.
And with much respect to the incomparable
Suzanne Brockmann.
To DLB—guess what? ya mummy still loves ya xxx
To NTM—as always, with love and gratitude.
As you well know.
And I have to say,
none of this would be possible without:
my loving husband, who sticks by me always;
my wonderful mother, who’s been with me since…
well, hey, the very beginning;
my family (both those of blood and those by choice);
and my dearest friends.
Contents
Glossary of Terms and Proper Nouns
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one