The Professional (47 page)
Authors: Kresley Cole
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Suspense, #Contemporary Women
F
or this story, I envisioned the clockmaker/repair shop that Natalie’s grandparents owned as one of the many underground enterprises that flourished in Russia outside of State control in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.
While researching Russian organized crime—facets of which grew apace with the underground economy in those decades—I dug into the backgrounds of various crime bosses. They ran the gamut. Some had advanced degrees; others were political activists. One had even become a TV producer. With such real-life variety, I felt comfortable portraying a gentleman clockmaker (one with a violent and dark past, which he specifically glossed over for his newfound daughter).
Lastly, I can’t take credit for Sevastyan’s vodka/wiper-fluid import idea. This scheme was based on true events.
I hope you enjoyed
The Professional
. Thank you all so much for your readership! And play on . . .
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY DEANNA MEREDITH STUDIOS
KRESLEY COLE
is the #1
New York Times
bestselling author of the Immortals After Dark series, an intensely sexy paranormal collection that has won three RITA awards and been translated into seventeen languages. In 2013, Kresley was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Visit her website at
KresleyCole.com
.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
authors.simonandschuster.com/Kresley-Cole
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Books by Kresley Cole
The Game Maker Series
The Professional
The Immortals After Dark Series
The Warlord Wants Forever
A Hunger Like No Other
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
Dark Desires After Dusk
Kiss of a Demon King
Deep Kiss of Winter
Pleasure of a Dark Prince
Demon from the Dark
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
Lothaire
Shadow’s Claim
MacRieve
The Arcana Chronicles
Poison Princess
Endless Knight
The MacCarrick Brothers Series
If You Dare
If You Desire
If You Deceive
The Sutherland Series
The Captain of All Pleasures
The Price of Pleasure
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Gallery Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Professional: Part 1
copyright © 2013 by Kresley Cole
The Professional: Part 2
copyright © 2014 by Kresley Cole
The Professional: Part 3
copyright © 2014 by Kresley Cole
These titles were previously published individually as ebooks.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department,
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First Gallery Books trade paperback edition May 2014
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Interior design by Jaime Putorti
Cover design by Lisa Litwack
Cover photograph by Cevdet Gokhan Palas/Vetta
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cole, Kresley.
The professional / by Kresley Cole.—First Gallery Books trade paperback edition.
pages ; cm
1. Romantic suspense fiction. I. Title.
PS3603.O4287P76 2014
813'.6—dc23 2014008869
ISBN 978-1-4767-6231-9
ISBN 978-1-4767-8249-2 (ebook)