The empress card

the long version

"Xana Bard has settled into a comfortable and contented life with Thorne Ardall, her 'thug swain, ' only to have that life disrupted by the 24/7 bodyguard duties he undertakes in order to protect the notorious but faded former siren Mona Raglan. Mona, Xana learns, is now a kinky boots manufacturer and compulsively adoptive mother. It seems everyone who knows Mona was once captivated by her compelling sexual charisma, or was touched by her taking on a worldwide brood of orphans. Unfortunately, now that the charisma has faded so has Mona's immunity from being hated by the throng of people she has offended by her predatory man-stealing and caustic tongue. In this fourth book in The Tarot Mysteries series, Xana and Thorne do their best to protect Mona from multiple attempts on her life-- attempts that recur with persistence and increasing effectiveness."--