“Maya Banks writes the kind of books I love to read!”
—Lora Leigh, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Secret Sins
Praise for the novels of Maya Banks
“Incredibly awesome . . . I love Maya Banks and I love her books.”
—Jaci Burton, New York Times bestselling author
“Maya Banks . . . really dragged me through the gamut of emotions. From . . . ‘Is it hot in here?’ to ‘Oh my GOD’ . . . I’m ready for the next ride now!”
—USA Today
“[A] one-two punch of entertainment that will leave readers eager for the next book.”
—Publishers Weekly
“For those who like it naughty, dirty, and do-me-on-the-desk HAWT!”
—Examiner.com
“A cross between the Bared to You or Fifty Shades series and the Wicked Lovers series by Shayla Black.”
—Book Savvy Babe
“Hot enough to make even the coolest reader sweat!”
—Fresh Fiction
“You’ll be on the edge of your seat with this one.”
—Night Owl Reviews
“Definitely a recommended read.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“[For] fans of Sylvia Day’s Bared to You.”
—Under the Covers
“Grabbed me from page one and refused to let go until I read the last word.”
—Joyfully Reviewed
“An excellent read that I simply did not put down . . . Covers all the emotional range.”
—The Road to Romance
Titles by Maya Banks
FOR HER PLEASURE
BE WITH ME
The Sweet Series
SWEET SURRENDER
SWEET PERSUASION
SWEET SEDUCTION
SWEET TEMPTATION
SWEET POSSESSION
SWEET ADDICTION
The Kelly/KGI Series
THE DARKEST HOUR
NO PLACE TO RUN
HIDDEN AWAY
WHISPERS IN THE DARK
ECHOES AT DAWN
SHADES OF GRAY
FORGED IN STEELE
AFTER THE STORM
WHEN DAY BREAKS
Colters’ Legacy
COLTERS’ PROMISE
COLTERS’ GIFT
The Breathless Trilogy
RUSH
FEVER
BURN
The Surrender Trilogy
LETTING GO
GIVING IN
Anthologies
FOUR PLAY
(with Shayla Black)
MEN OUT OF UNIFORM
(with Karin Tabke and Sylvia Day)
CHERISHED
(with Lauren Dane)
Specials
PILLOW TALK
EXILED
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
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A Penguin Random House Company
WHEN DAY BREAKS
A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2014 by Maya Banks.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-60261-4
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley mass-market edition / July 2014
Cover art by Craig White.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF MAYA BANKS
TITLES BY MAYA BANKS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
EPILOGUE
In loving memory of Pat Pattarozzi.
She was a true “Mama Kelly” and will be missed by many. I hope you enjoy your angel’s wings as you lovingly look after your family from heaven.
CHAPTER 1
BIG Eddie Sinclair sat behind his aged wooden desk in his big empty house—a house that had once been filled with love and laughter—his gnarled, callused hands shaking.
Sweat beaded his forehead and ran in thin rivulets down his temples, tracing a line over grooved, aged, weather-beaten skin. His hands shook so badly that the papers he’d been holding fell, scattering on the desk, some sliding onto the floor.
He stared up, his gaze unconsciously seeking out the mantel over the fireplace his wife had insisted on having installed in his working space. She hadn’t wanted him to ever get cold. The idea that Big Eddie Sinclair’s gentle wife had been concerned that he’d get cold would have gotten him laughed out of the barracks. His badass buddies would never let him hear the end of it.
Eddie was a big man. A killer. Trained by the best. And in turn he had trained the best. But right now he felt as helpless as a newborn babe. Fear, an emotion that until the day his first child was born had been completely alien to him, gripped him by the balls, freezing his insides. He rubbed at his chest in an effort to alleviate the discomfort and closed his eyes, trying to rid himself of the images the threat had invoked.
He’d lived his life knowing that he was invincible. He wasn’t egotistical. Men who served with the men he served with didn’t think they were good. They knew they were good.
And none of that ability had been able to save his precious wife.