Read Surrender (The Command Series Book 3) for Free Online Page A

last time. Her gaze burned into Ethan.
    Fuck.
    This distraction, the one with green eyes and an unnerving ability to see through his lies, was going to end up a major complication if he wasn’t careful.

    Olivia wasn’t sure she wanted to risk another encounter with Giovanni’s wandering hands, but she let petty revenge get the better of her when she saw Nathan about to climb into the Land Cruiser. His annoying comment about not coming along echoed in her ears. The rejection last night had pissed her off, so she wanted to repay the feeling.
    They drove for a long while, and tension eased as she took in the African landscape. God, it was beautiful. Cape buffalo grazed in the rolling hills near a watering hole that zebras drank at. Her reasons for coming on the drive were stupid, but she was glad she’d made the decision. The man behind her radiated disapproval. Was she distracting him?
    The sun was low when the Land Cruiser crawled toward the gray mass of animal, nibbling on the grass.
    Phillip’s voice was hushed, but she got the feeling it was out of respect and not necessity. “This is a white rhino. Young, male. He’s left his mother not long ago, I remember him wandering off from her and her following. Mom had a tough time letting go.” The South African pulled out a sophisticated camera with a long lens. “The light is best right now, and he’s a great looking fellow.”
    “Is that your favorite? Rhinos?” she asked.
    “They’re magnificent animals, and if things continue, they won’t be around much longer.”
    Her focus remained on the enormous animal whose foraging brought it slowly closer to them.
    “There’s a saying,” the South African continued, “that the only good poacher is a dead one, and when I look at this fellow here . . . it’s hard to disagree.”
    She could understand Phillip’s disgust. He’d spent his life around these animals and his livelihood depended on them.
    For a long time they sat in silence and watched the rhino graze. Giovanni finally had his rhino, and appeared transfixed by the lumbering animal. It reminded her of a cow in a strangely sweet way. It was serene, peaceful. Olivia wasn’t one to get sentimental or melodramatic, but for the first time in a long while, she felt okay.
    But things were not okay.
    Nathan put one of his long legs over the seatback and then the other, sliding down so he was now seated between her and Giovanni, and leaned forward.
    “Phillip,” his voice was almost inaudible, “what other languages do you speak?”
    “French, some Spanish—”
    The quiet and hurried French that spilled from Nathan’s mouth made Phillip’s face fill with shock.
    “What is it?” she asked, matching Nathan’s quiet tone. His face gave nothing away, but something was clearly wrong. He was speaking in French specifically so she wouldn’t understand. What the hell was he saying that made the South African so nervous?
    That was when Giovanni reached for the rifle on the dashboard.

-4-
    During the van ride to the lodge, she’d heard Nathan translate that Giovanni hadn’t purchased any hunting permits. That was because you couldn’t get permits for what Giovanni wanted to hunt. He was going to shoot the rhino calf. The barrel of the rifle swung toward the gray, moving mountain where an oxpecker bird hitched a ride.
    Nathan and Phillip were statues as Giovanni prepared to fire. There was no way she was going to let that happen, even with the intimidating American man seated beside her.
    She was so focused on what she was about to do that the movement in the bushes didn’t register. Her hand shot out and she knocked the barrel up to the sky. Either he was a second before firing or her action startled him enough to pull the trigger, because the long gun went off with a tremendous retort.
    The rhino snorted, turned, and galloped the opposite direction from the vehicle, crashed through the brush and disappeared. All three men spoke at once in their native