Brave Enough to Love: Heart of a Hero

By EmKay Connor

S.W.A.T. team member Lou Quinn makes a living taking risks and rushing into danger. Courage is one of the requirements for the job, and he has it in buckets. He's an everyday hero in every way…except to the one person who matters most.

 

With his marriage in peril, Lou needs to face his fears and entrust Katie with his vulnerabilities. He's a man of action who refuses to walk away, even when the odds aren't promising, so he'll do whatever it takes to make things right with his wife.

 

When Lou finds himself in the middle of a robbery gone bad, he realizes he may have missed his chance to tell Katie what's really in his heart. Can he protect the other hostages and make it out alive for a second chance with the love of his life?

 

Brave Enough to Love is a Heart of the Hero short romance.

 

Originally released as part of Heroes with Heat and Heart Vol 1.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EmKay Connor
• Release date: Sep 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201401825

Book preview

1

A ppointment with the therapist at three today. My wife’s voice—the husky, intimate tone she reserved for me—sounded flat and cold on the voice mail she’d left. Please be there.

I deleted the message, letting anger override my guilt at what she left unsaid, yet I heard clear as day. Please be there instead of cancelling at the last minute like you’ve already done twice.

She made it sound like I called off to have beer and wings with the guys from my S.W.A.T. team when she knew my schedule could change on a dime if our unit was deployed. It wasn’t like I could turn in my sniper rifle and body armor in the middle of a hostage situation. My lieutenant didn’t give a rat’s ass I was paying Dr. Harding $150 an hour to figure out why my marriage was falling apart.

The job came first.

I warned Katie about marrying a first responder. Shifts are long, and hours are unpredictable. I’m as much married to my teammates as to my wife. Danger and risk are a fact of life. There are parts of my job that I can’t—and won’t—share with her.

Four years ago, so deep in love with Katie that anything seemed possible, I allowed her to convince me that none of those things mattered, that together, we could overcome the obstacles and create a family together. She sacrificed so much, and all for me. For my career.

Holidays spent alone or celebrations delayed because the team was out on a call. Making friends with the other police spouses and embracing her blue family. Developing restraint and not blowing up my phone every time the local news media announced a standoff with some desperate guy hellbent on ending his problems by committing suicide by cop.

Katie only wanted one thing from me…and I couldn’t give it to her.

I fought with the padlock on my locker, swearing under my breath when I twisted the dial too far. My stomach roiled like I’d eaten bad sushi and my hands shook. Not good for a guy who needed rock-steady nerves to avoid making fatal mistakes in life-and-death situations. I leaned my forehead against the cool metal and sucked air between my teeth.

We’d been trying for a baby for eighteen