DEDICATION





To Anna Lamonica for asking me to write a wounded hero novel. Here it is, Anna. This one’s for you. :-)





Broken Lion





Bestselling author Devon Hartford brings you another scorching hot and scandalous standalone romance.





SOME SECRETS ARE TOO HARD TO KEEP





The night the EMTs wheeled Lion Maxwell into my Emergency Room turned my life upside down. Although he was bloody and battered from defending his title as the reigning cruiserweight champion of Mixed Martial Arts, his cocky grin lit up the room.

And every cell in my body.

Our fiery chemistry was off the charts.

The ER staff sensed it.

Lion’s entourage and his drooling groupies sensed it too.

If the two of us had been alone, I might have done something entirely unprofessional and completely unethical right there in the exam room. But I was his attending physician. A sexual or romantic relationship with him was grounds for my termination or worse, revoking my medical license. I wouldn’t risk my career on a moment of passion. It didn’t stop that arrogant caveman from doing everything he could to get me into his hospital bed.

After denying his advances for weeks, the last thing I expected were the wild nights he would be spending in my bed.

It was supposed to be nothing more than a secret fling.

I knew it couldn’t last.

He was still my patient.

What we were doing was wrong.

If anyone found out, it could ruin my life.

But we couldn’t let go.

We were bound to each other on some primal level that consumed us.

Sometimes love is tragic.

Sometimes two people aren’t meant to be together.

But sometimes, two people overcome all adversity and build a love that lasts forever.

Deep in my heart I knew that Lion Maxwell could be my forever love.

As long as we kept our love a secret.

I wish I’d known beforehand that some secrets are too hard to keep…





Due to sexual content and adult language, BROKEN LION is recommended for ages 18+





Chapter 1





BRIGID





I didn’t have time for men.

As an attending physician at the busy Los Angeles Central Hospital, I had too many responsibilities. Caring for my patients was always my top priority. For me, dating was an afterthought.

But I wasn’t a robot.

I noticed men all the time.

For example, several of the EMTs who wheeled patients into the Emergency Care Unit every night were to die for. The boys in blue were just as yummy, ember-eyed Officer Noah Murdock being the yummiest.

The firemen from the LAFD were even more gorgeous. My favorites were Troy and Rick from Station 10. Both were regulars here in the ECU. Both were also smoking hot and known not only for saving lives and putting out fires, but for starting fires—in women’s panties, and not just mine. Ask any of the women on the ECU team (and some of the men). Troy and Rick were also known for appearing topless in the LAFD Firefighter’s calendar hanging in our team break room. In it, both men sported oiled-up abs and bulging shoulders while looking rugged and sweaty and deadly sexy in their suspiciously low hanging firemen’s pants. Troy was Mother’s Day May and Rick was I wish me a Merry Christmas December. Yes, I skipped ahead to check. Several times a week.

Like I said, I noticed men all the time.

But I was too busy doing my job to date any.

When I wasn’t here at the hospital, I was the on call physician and had to come in at the most unexpected times. Not ideal for dating. Most weeks it seemed like I lived here.

After setting a broken arm in exam room 102, I walked out to fill out the relevant paperwork before taking my next patient.

Latisha Brown, the charge nurse, fell into step beside me and said, “Girl, you gonna wet yourself when you get a look at the fine man in 109. Mmm, mmm, mmm.” She muttered it in a low voice as we walked toward the nurses station. Latisha and I gossiped about hot men all the time. It helped keep things light when they got too serious. “Man brought a whole entourage with him.”

I glanced over at the door to 109. A dozen people crowded the entrance. More were packed inside the room. “Is he somebody famous?”

“Not that I know. But he oughta be a model, the way he looks. Or an actor. Or my next hookup. Mmm, mmm, I’m telling you, girl.” Her eyes glimmered with desire. “I had to change my drawers after helping Allison check his vitals.”