Betrayed: Club Decadence Book 8

Betrayed Club Decadence Book 8 By Maddie Taylor Copyright © 2023 Maddie Taylor All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. Betrayed, Club Decadence Book 8 Published by Maddie Taylor/Breathless Romance www.RomanceByMaddieTaylor.com –––––––– Cover Design by Fantasia Frog Designs Images by DepositPhotos.com Editing by Decadent Publishing –––––––– This book is intended for entertainment purposes only. Activities represented in this book are based on fantasy only, not real people or events. Recommended for adult audiences only. Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Follow Maddie Online Betrayed: Club Decadence Book 8 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 Club Decadence More Spicy Romance by Maddie Taylor Follow Maddie Online Follow Maddie Online Visit Maddie’s Author Page on Facebook Join Maddie’s Book Club on Facebook Follow Maddie on Twitter Follow Maddie on Instagram Visit Maddie’s Website Follow Maddie on BookBub Follow Maddie on TikTok *** Get a FREE Maddie Taylor Romance! Keep up with author news, get new release updates and cover reveals before anyone else, as well as sneak previews, and lots of giveaways. And, she won’t spam up your inbox. You’ll only get an issue of Maddie Taylor News when there is important information to share. Subscribe to Maddie’s newsletter ⇨ https://dl.bookfunnel.com/l2b0z0etex Betrayed: Club Decadence Book 8 WHEN DUTY AND DESIRE collide, will he choose loyalty or love? In the wake of tragedy, young widow and empty nester Marilee Hoffman vows never to open her heart again after losing her husband. While family and friends move on, she simply can't bring herself to do the same. Despite yearning for a dominant's touch, she can't let go of her past in order to connect with and fully submit to anyone new. On a special assignment for MI6, agent Arturo Durand finds himself halfway across the world in the backyard of his old friend and colleague, Tony Rossi. Securing the assistance of the Rossi Team in his ongoing investigation is all Arturo intends to do, but he can't resist the temptation of Club Decadence. When fate intervenes during play time and pairs him with a lovely but reserved young widow, their mutual attraction is impossible to ignore. One night at a time, Arturo breaks down the walls Mari has built around her broken heart. But when the ongoing investigation leads him straight to her dead husband, Arturo must choose between his lifetime of loyalty to the crown and the growing feelings he has for his new prime suspect. Though he's certain of her innocence, he's quickly running out of time to prove it. And once she discovers his true identity, how can he protect her from the crushing pain of a second betrayal? Will he find a way to prove to her she is more than just his mission, or must he sacrifice desire for duty? Publisher's Note: Betrayed is the eighth book in the Club Decadence series. Originally titled French Kiss from the Decadence Nights series, it has been incorporated into the original Club Decadence series. It has also been revised, re-edited, and given a beautiful new cover. All the books in the series are steamy, suspense-filled romances that contain power exchange, BDSM themes, and scenes with graphic violence, which may be disturbing to some Chapter 1 85 ALBERT EMBANKMENT, Vauxhall Cross, London A thunderous boom rattled the windows and shook the floor beneath Arturo’s feet. It was accompanied by a brilliant flash of light, which made the team gathered around the table shield their eyes and turn their heads. When their focus returned to the 70-inch screen, flames shot into the air and smoke billowed from what had moments ago been a late-model sedan. They were all experienced enough to know nothing could have survived the blast. But they leaned forward expectantly, waiting for the gray haze to dissipate and the rest of the horrific scene to unfold as if there was hope. Long, excruciating moments later, a mangled metal frame became visible, all that remained of the obliterated vehicle, except for charred, flaming debris that crashed to the ground all around it. Through the speakers came the sound of a woman’s mournful wail. As a seasoned MI6 agent, Arturo Durand had seen plenty of death. He’d watched enemy combatants killed, his own bullets often doing the deed. He’d seen suffering among the innocent bystanders who ended up as collateral damage simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In war, he’d watched helplessly as his countrymen fell, fellow soldiers in arms who had known the risks and accepted them as part of the job. And he’d witnessed car bombings like the one on the screen but in person, too close for comfort. But never in the course of twenty years of service had he watched a colleague, a man he called his friend, incinerated before his eyes. Any loss of life was tragic, but this was heart-rending because he knew William Cleese left a wife and two young sons behind. Retired three years earlier, the man had paid his dues and had earned his reward for the dangerous life he led while serving his country. For this to happen after leaving the SIS was appalling. What was worse, this was the third assassination of a former agent in the past year. Arturo’s thoughts turned to Will’s widow, made so in the blink of an eye and a flash fire of destruction, and the two now-fatherless children this heinous act had left behind. His heart ached for them. He wondered, not for the first time, how much more of this senseless violence, day