by Apryl Baker
Protecting What’s
Mine:
A Security Romance Collection
Protecting What’s Mine:
A Security Romance Collection
Copyright © 2020.
All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: August 2020
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Book Pages By Design
Cover Design: Deranged Doctor Design
ISBN-13: 978-1-64034-895-0
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Double Cross
by A. Gorman
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Fear Inc. Volume One
By Melinda Valentine
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Kade
By Apryl Baker
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
On Her Guard
By Skyla Madi
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Lead Security
By Evan Grace
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Double Cross
Their Sins ~ Book 2
By A. Gorman
Chapter One
Aedan
Shots ring out from the back of the tent, toward the stage. Burning pain radiates throughout my left bicep as two more shots hum past. I ignore the pain as I pull my .45 mm Glock from its holster and jump in front of Jesse’s lifeless body on the stage. Raising my hand, I aim to kill, freezing as our eyes meet.
Wade? No way. Why did he shoot at Pearse and Jesse? I blink and I’m in the crosshairs of his pistol.
I close my eyes, hoping this will play out differently, but my heart sinks to my stomach as I open my eyes and Wade stares back at me. There’s something different about his face. I can’t place it. Another blink and his finger moves to put pressure on the trigger, but instead releasing the firing pin, he stops mid-pull. My eyelids flutter in slow motion, and he takes off, running out the back opening of the tent. The hesitation costs me, but at least I know whom to look for now.
My attention darts around the tent at the quiet commotion inside, and I see the team taking control of the situation and calming the partygoers who are freaking out. I kneel by Jesse, who remains motionless on the stage, and I see blood spattered on her face. As my fingertips caress her cheeks, she comes to, shifting awkwardly as she composes herself.
“Jesse, can you hear me?” Her eyes open and she sluggishly nods. “Good. Stay down. I’m going to check you out, then your father.” With gentle touches, I move my hands all over her body, assessing her for any wounds, and she appears to be unharmed. I lower my arm and blood drips from my fingertips.
“Aedan, man, you’ve been shot,” Sam shouts as he emerges behind us, a little out of breath. “Someone called 911, but Craig intercepted the call. I checked McCoy, and he was shot, but the bullets didn’t go through his jacket. Dr. Monroe and his team are on their way.” His tone is tense, but he’s calm.
I look down to see the blood around the singed fabric of my suit jacket and dress shirt on my arm. “It’s nothing. I’m more concerned with McCoy and Jesse,” I tell him.
“You need to put pressure on it because you’re bleeding all over everything.”
I take off my jacket, sliding it carefully over the wound, roll up my shirt sleeve, and take off my tie to make a tourniquet above the gunshot laceration.
“That should hold until the doctor can look at it. Did you see who the shooter was?” I hope my vision’s off.
“Man, I don’t know if I’m right. I could have sworn it was Wade, but from where I was on the stage, I couldn’t see clearly.”
“That’s who I saw, but I wasn’t sure. I froze because I didn’t want to shoot him…and he got away.”
“He won’t be able to get far. He knows we will be looking for him.”
“I hope so. With the police out of it, we’ll be able to work fast keeping this in-house.”
“It was a close call. Glad Craig had everything in place just in case something went bad. When you’re dealing with sociopaths, you never know when they are going to make their move.” He pauses for a moment, taking in everything to see what needs to be attended to next.
“With McCoy wanting nothing leaked to the media until the papers were signed, giving the company to Jesse, scrambling signals was the easiest way to control Wi-Fi and data.” I look at my arm to make sure the bleeding slowed.
“True. Make sure you get checked out.”
I give him a nod knowing that everything will be handled exactly how I would handle it myself.
I walk
out around the crowd, but no one stands out as suspicious. A few moments later, a dark, unmarked ambulance and two dark colored SUVs pull through the gate. Dr. Monroe and his medics get out of their vehicles, and a quietness takes over the crowd.
The doctor and his crew look at McCoy, Jesse, and anyone else in need of assistance. After about fifteen minutes, a medic comes over to me.
“Mr. Johnson said you need attention, Mr. Hughes.”
“I’m fine.”
The medic looks at me like he wants to throttle me. “Remove your shirt, sir.”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“I was told if you gave me any shit to ask for Ms. McCoy. Do I need to get her?”
“No.” We walk over to the ambulance, and I remove my bloody shirt. As the material rubs the wound, my knees buckle. The medic’s hands fly out to catch me, and he helps me to the bumper of the ambulance to examine the wound.
“Mr. Hughes, we need to take you to the clinic. You need x-rays and you need stitches.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
He pulls a package of gauze from his kit and places it on the wound. He removes the tie, letting blood flow back through my arm. “You could have caused damage to your muscle and arm if the tie was on there much longer.” He replaces the blood-soaked gauze with the fresh one in his hand, then presses the bandage into my wound with heavy pressure. My body tenses under the pain, and I stop breathing for a moment. Fuck, that hurts.
“I have to stop the bleeding since you insist on not going to the clinic right now.”
“Give me twenty minutes max and I’ll go. This situation needs to be handled.”
“Aedan, you need to listen to him,” Jesse interrupts from behind me.
“I am, but I need to make sure everything is good here.”
“The team can handle it, that’s why we have them.”
“I know.” I look back at the medic. “Twenty minutes, okay?”
“Fine. Let me tape you up and you can go.” He readies his supplies.
“Thank you.”
He repeats the process of changing out the gauze again, and I think he’s pressing too hard on purpose. Asshole. He roughly tapes the gauze to my arm and lets me put my blood-soaked shirt back on.
“Twenty minutes. Don’t make me come looking for you,” he mutters.
“She will make sure I’m back here.”
I search in the crowd for Sam and as soon as I see him, I make my way over to him.
“I have twenty minutes to hear everything you know.”
“At eighteen-twenty-two, the first shot was fired. A total of seven shots were discharged—three at McCoy and one in Jesse’s direction, and three at you. The shooter has been identified as Paul Wade. He arrived at fifteen hundred with Mrs. McCoy. We’ve recovered the bullet fragments and casings, and I have them bagged for Craig. You were the only one injured.”
“Good. Do we have a motive?”
“Not at this time. I’ve sent Bar over to his place to see if there is any sign of him or information about where he is now.”
“You know how to handle everything. We’ll debrief when I get home later. Make sure all this shit is cleaned up once the doctor and his crew are done checking everyone. My mom and sister will know who to contact to remove the tents and such.”
“Will do. Most of the non-family guests were cleared to leave. We told them it was an ill-timed training exercise that got out of hand.”
“That should be believable enough.”
“Right.”
“Time to go, Aedan.” Jesse taps me on my shoulder.
“Call if you need anything.”
“Get out of here already.”
Jesse follows me to the unmarked ambulance as the gruff medic waits on me. “Hop on in.” I sit down on the white sheeted stretcher, the medic follows me, and he grabs the straps on the sides to fasten me in. He smirks as he pulls the black material so tight I can’t move. Jesse follows behind him and sits down before the driver closes the back doors.
The ambulance speeds away from the house, but guilt weighs on me as the medic places an IV in my non-wounded arm. I shouldn’t be in this heap of metal. I should be back at the house working on finding Wade or looking for who he’s working with. He can’t be doing this alone. That’s a lot of planning for one person to handle.
The back doors open and I’m quickly loaded off the ambulance and wheeled into a nondescript building. The medics talk to the nurses as I’m wheeled through a hallway into a bay and placed on a bed. They ignore my complaints as they cut my shirt off and tend to the wound in my arm.
I struggle with them as I try to get their attention. “I’m fine. I just need to be bandaged up and I’ll be on my way.”
“Mr. Hughes, as educated as you are in security, you should know that it’s best to let someone who knows medicine make that diagnosis,” Dr. Alvin Monroe states as he walks into the bay. “I’ll make sure we take good care of you and get you out of here as quickly as I can. Please let my staff work on you.”
I huff, because I know he is right. “Okay.” I relax into the bed and let them poke and prod me. I close my eyes, replaying the events that have me questioning how I’ve handled everything up until now. Where did I lose control?
***
Jesse
“I’m working when I get home,” Aedan mutters after walking out of the hospital in a clean scrub top with his left arm bandaged and in a sling.
“As if I didn’t expect you not to—you’re a workaholic.” I roll my eyes, knowing that everything the doctor told him went in one ear and out the other.
Arriving at the SUV, Kevin barely opens the front door before Aedan is up and in the vehicle. I follow suit and get in the back door. Moments later, the door closes. Letting out a breath, I’m glad to be pulling away from the clinic, which looks more like an office building to the unknowing public.
After the excitement of the day, I’m ready for something to eat before I go to sleep. Bed sounds wonderful. As soon as I address everything at home and Aedan goes to his office, I’m taking a bath and then going to bed.
The smell of alcohol assaults my nose as I roll over in bed.
“Jesse, dear sweet, Jesse. I need you to make me feel good.”
“You’re drunk. Go to sleep and we will have fun in the morning.”
“No, now. I just landed a big contract and I want to thank you for sweet talking my boss. Roll over.”
“No, sleep.”
“Submit yourself now, Jesse, like a wife should. We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way.”
“We are not having sex. You’re drunk,” I say, sitting up in the bed and turning on the lamp beside the bed. He is nude and so good looking, but drunk sex isn’t good sex with Chet.
“Five, four, three, two, one. Time is up. Rough sex it is.” He reaches over and rips off my tank top.
Stunned, I’m unable to move, to talk. He’s never been this aggressive. “Shorts, or I’ll rip them off, too.
I stand and remove my shorts, unsure where this is going to go, but I know better than to make him angry. He’s scary angry.
“Back in bed. Time for me to give it to you good, Jes—”
“—se…wake up, we’re home. As much as I would love to carry you, I can’t…” Aedan’s gentle voice pulls me from the hell replaying in my head.
I open my eyes to focus on my surroundings. We’re sitting in the garage at Aedan’s house. I’m not in Indiana…not with Chet. Why he has been in my thoughts lately bothers me. I inhale deeply and exhale slowly before responding.
“I can manage, thank you.” I get out. Standing on my tiptoes, I give Aedan a kiss on his cheek.
“You need to sleep.” His eyes burn through me…through the cover I’ve put up to hide my emotions from everyone. Aedan wins this time.
“And you need the same. I plan to rest once I make sure you have everything you need and that everything here is taken care of after the craziness of this afternoon
.” He kisses my forehead.
I pull my purse out of the SUV and turn around. “Aed—oh, never mind.” He’s gone, and only Lyndsay remains in the garage with me. She holds her arm out to signal “after you.” I can’t believe he left me out here, but I guess this would be the time to get to know Lyndsay.
“Ms. James, I’ve been trying to place your accent since I met you. Where are you from?”
“South Carolina, ma’am. I was in the Marines and chose not to reenlist. I wanted to give the private sector a chance. Four years later, here we are.”
“Wow, thank you for your service. Do you mind if I call you Lyndsay?”
“Welcome, ma’am. That’s fine, ma’am.”
“I better get inside to make sure Aedan is following the doctor’s orders. I have a feeling he is going to take those orders as a suggestion only.”
“I would have to agree with you, ma’am. He’s going to do what he thinks is right given the situation. You’re going to see a different side of Hughes from what you’re used to since you will be taking the company over. I hope you’re prepared.” She gives me a smile as I try to decipher her words. What happened that I don’t know about?
We walk into the hallway from the garage. The aroma of Italian food greets my nose, causing my stomach to growl, sidetracking my train of thought. I could recognize that smell anywhere. Laney’s in the kitchen cooking, and it explains why she didn’t trample me in the garage. As I make my way into the kitchen, I notice she is listening to music on her iPhone while cooking. She couldn’t hear a bomb; well, she couldn’t hear anything until she removes the ear buds.
I walk up behind her and tap her on the shoulder, and she screams, dropping the mixing bowl in her hands. Three security guards come running in the kitchen with Aedan pulling up the rear.
“We are fine. I just scared the shit out of Laney. Sorry.”
“Sorry, I’m so jumpy,” she says as she gives everyone a small grin. “Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes. I made two lasagnas—one with beef, the other with chicken—breadsticks, and salad. I expect you all to eat since I made it,” she orders, regaining her composure.