by Dale Mayer
He sat up, smiled at her, and said, “I would absolutely love that.”
“You know what?” she said, as she leaned against the door, completely at home in her nudity. “I’m afraid I’m falling in love with you.”
“Is that a problem?” he asked, his dark gaze on her.
She wasn’t sure how to say it, but she decided to toss it out there anyway. “Did you know that Levi sent me your photo one year ago, around the same time he wanted to send you out here?”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“He did, and that’s something I’ve kept just in the back of my mind. For maybe one day.”
“Wow,” he said, “that is a complete shock.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Hell no,” he said. “I wasn’t nearly ready a year ago,” he said, “but I’m more than ready now.” He smiled, threw off the covers, then hopped up and came toward her. “How about that swim?”
“Sure,” she said. “Sounds like a perfect idea.”
“You don’t expect anybody to come out there while we’re skinny-dipping?”
“Not unless you’ve got Stone on the way.”
He checked his jeans, pulled his phone from the pocket, and checked his messages. “Dang. Stone is on his way.”
She looked at him and rolled her eyes. Walking to her dresser she pulled out a pair of panties. Then, on to her closet, she pulled out a sundress and said, “Clothes it is then.” As soon as she was dressed, she said, “You better get something on too.”
“He’ll still know.”
She looked at him and smiled. “I don’t care. Do you?”
“Are you kidding? I’d be happy to show the rest of the world what we have.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure,” he whispered. Then he leaned forward and said, “And the sooner they find out, the better, because we are together. Hopefully, for the rest of our lives.”
She reached up and kissed him gently on the lips. “That sounds perfect for me.” As they separated, she heard a vehicle honking at the driveway gate. “And here’s Stone,” she said. “Time to start the day.”
And she raced down the stairs, laughing, unsure if she had ever seen such a great day before. The morning was bright. The birds were singing, and her body hummed with joy. As she flung open the front door to welcome Stone, she realized she’d never been happier. It was a perfect day.
Epilogue
Noah Wilkerson walked into Levi’s kitchen and sat down.
“Hey, Noah. Even your buddy Bonaparte is hooked up now, isn’t he?” Levi asked.
Just then Bonaparte walked into the kitchen. “What’s this? I heard my name, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, how is Angela doing?”
“She’s doing amazing,” he said, with a big grin.
Noah stared at him. “I haven’t seen that smile on your face before.”
“Hey,” he said, “you haven’t met Angela.”
Noah laughed. “Nope, but I do hear that you were pretty resistant to the idea before you went out there.”
“I sure was, but she changed my mind pretty damn fast.”
Noah looked over at Levi, just as Ice appeared. “So, you guys are running quite the matchmaking service, it seems.”
“Sometimes it works out that way,” Ice said, with a smile. “You interested?”
He thought about it, shrugged, and said, “Well, if you can find me a partner like the ones you’ve found for these guys, maybe,” he said. “I can’t say I’ve really been thinking about it though.”
“Of course not,” Ice said, her smile growing bigger. “Nobody really thinks about it, unless they’ve been trying for a long time.”
“Nope, not me. I broke up about a year ago from a long-term relationship and haven’t really found anybody interesting since.”
“What broke it up, Noah?” Bonaparte asked.
“She wanted a family, and, in the four years we were together, apparently she couldn’t conceive. So she decided she wanted to change the herd sire.” They all just stared at him, and finally he shrugged, picked up his cup of coffee and had a sip. It was the first time he’d really told the truth about it.
“Wow,” Ice said. “I’m sorry. Did you ever get tested? Or did she?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. Don’t know about her. Maybe she did and didn’t tell me. I don’t really know. But that was the reason she gave for the breakup.”
Just then a phone call came in.
“What’s going on?” Levi asked Ice, when her expression changed.
“Remember Di?” Ice asked Levi, while trying to listen to the caller on the other end too.
“Which one? Diamond?”
“No, Dyanne from Australia.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. What about her?”
“She’s in Houston, and she said—wait. Dyanne, I’m putting the phone on Speaker.”
“Okay,” she said, and they heard her taking several deep breaths.
“Are you okay?” Ice asked.
“I’m not sure I am,” she said, with a tearful tone. “I was just attacked in my car.”
“Uh-oh,” Ice said. “Did you call the cops?”
“I would have,” she said, “but he, the guy, had a strange message.”
“What message?” Levi asked.
“Oh, good. Levi, I’m glad you’re there,” she said in relief.
“Dyanne, are you hurt?”
“No,” she said. “Well, yes, but not badly.”
“Take it easy,” Ice said calmly, her tone measured and comforting. “You’re safe now.”
“Well, I am now that he’s gone,” she said, with a hysterical laugh. “Unfortunately he didn’t leave fast enough. He cut me.”
“How bad?” Levi asked sharply.
“My arm, my shoulder, and a slice across my belly,” she said. “None of them look bad. They’re just stinging and painful. I’ll have to get them checked.”
“So tell me again, why call us and not the police?” Levi asked curiously.
“Because the attacker, he had a message for you.”
“For me?” Levi asked, standing straight up and walking closer to Ice. “What did he say?”
“He said, it was for—for past sins.” Then she started to cry.
“Jesus,” he said, staring at Ice. “Did you recognize him, Dyanne?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “It was Maxwell.”
“Maxwell? Maxwell who?”
“Do you remember the guy in Australia, who lost his son on that subway track?”
“That Maxwell?” he said.
“Yes.”
“But that makes no sense,” he said.
“No,” she said. “None of it makes any sense. But it was him. He was right here, attacking me, and something about past sins was your message.”
“But we didn’t have anything to do with the death of his son.”
“No,” she said, “but remember? He wanted to come work for you.”
“And you really think that’s why he’s after us?”
She started to cry again.
Noah stared at the three of them in shock. “Hey, Dyanne. This is Noah.”
“Noah? Do I know you?”
“I work for Levi,” he said. “I’m not sure if we’ve met before or not, but do you want me to come help you?”
There was silence as Levi looked at Noah in surprise.
Noah shrugged. “I don’t want to see her alone right now.”
“Where are you?” Levi asked Dyanne.
“Just give me an address,” Noah said to her, “and I’ll head your way. What are you doing there anyway?”
“I was at a conference,” she said, “and, when I went to the underground parking lot for my rental, that’s when he attacked me.”
“Sit tight. I’m coming.” Noah turned to Ice and said, “Can you get me as much information as you can, then hook me into the conversation while I’m driving there?”
She nodded. “On
it,” she said. “Dyanne, I’ll call you right back. Noah is on his way.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice small, her tone teary. “I just don’t know why he used me to get to you.”
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Levi said.
“I don’t think so,” she said, her voice getting stronger. “The way he cut me, it felt like so much more than that.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of it. Noah is headed your way.”
This concludes Book 24 of Heroes for Hire: Bonaparte’s Belle.
Read about Noah’s Nemesis: Heroes for Hire, Book 25
Heroes for Hire: Noah’s Nemesis (Book #25)
Noah heard the woman’s cry for help through Levi’s phone, and he was already in the car and moving before anyone could stop him. He hated for any woman to be in distress, and this one sounded devastated. Having helped her once, he was determined to keep her safe, while the team tracked down her attacker.
Dianne was looking forward to her upcoming weekend seminar and even more to the few days with her friend, Ice, at the compound. Dianne wanted to talk over a business idea she was ready to put into place. Being attacked wasn’t part of the plan. Neither was Noah. Still she was happy to have him as a babysitter, given the circumstances.
Only someone has a grudge against Levi and sees Dianne as a way to get back at him.
Find Book 25 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Ryland’s Reach: Bullard’s Battle (Book #1)
Welcome to a new stand-alone but interconnected series from Dale Mayer. This is Bullard’s story—and that of his team’s. All raw, rough, incredibly capable men who have one goal: to find out who was behind the attack on their leader, before the attacker, or attackers, return to finish the job.
Stay tuned for more nonstop action as the men narrow down their suspects … and find a way to let love back into their own empty lives.
His rescue from the ocean after a horrible plane explosion was his top priority, in any way, shape, or form. A small sailboat and a nurse to do the job was more than Ryland hoped for.
When Tabi somehow drags him and his buddy Garret onboard and surprisingly gets them to a naval ship close by, Ryland figures he’d used up all his luck and his friend’s too. Sure enough, those who attacked the plane they were in weren’t content to let him slowly die in the ocean. No. Surviving had made him a target all over again.
Tabi isn’t expecting her sailing holiday to include the rescue of two badly injured men and then to end with the loss of her beloved sailboat. Her instincts save them, but now she finds it tough to let them go—even as more of Bullard’s team members come to them—until it becomes apparent that not only are Bullard and his men still targets … but she is too.
Bullard checked that the helicopter was loaded with their bags and that his men were ready to leave.
He walked back one more time, his gaze on Ice. She’d never looked happier, never looked more perfect. His heart ached, but he knew she remained a caring friend and always would. He opened his arms. She ran into them, and he held her close, whispering, “The offer still stands.”
She leaned back and smiled up at him. “Maybe if and when Levi’s been gone for a long enough time for me to forget,” she said in all seriousness.
“That’s not happening. You two, now three, will live long and happy lives together,” he said, smiling down at the woman he knew to be the most beautiful, inside and out. She would never be his, but he always kept a little corner of his heart open and available, in case she wanted to surprise him and to slide inside.
Then he realized she’d already been a part of his heart all this time. A good ten or fifteen years by now. But she kept herself in the friend category, and he understood because she and Levi, partners and now parents, were perfect together.
Bullard reached out and shook Levi’s hand. “It was a hell of a blast,” he said. “When you guys do a big splash, you really do a big splash.”
Ice laughed. “A few days at home sounds perfect for me now.”
“It looks great,” Bullard said, his hands on his hips as he surveyed the people in the massive pool surrounded by the palm trees, all designed and decked out by Ice. Right beside all the war machines that he heartily approved of. He grinned at her. “When are you coming to visit?” His gaze went to Levi, raising his eyebrows, then back at her. “You guys should come over for a week or two or three.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Levi said. “We could use a long holiday, just not yet.”
“That sounds familiar.” Bullard grinned. “Anyway, I’m off. We’ll hit the airport and then pick up the plane and head home.” He added, “As always, call if you need me.”
Everybody raised a hand as Bullard boarded the chopper to the Houston airport. The chopper was Ice’s, and one of her men would ride with Bullard in the copilot’s seat, just to fly the helo back to the compound. Ice had volunteered to shuttle him there, but he didn’t want to take her away from her family or to prolong the goodbye. He hopped inside, waving at everybody as the helicopter lifted. Two of his men, Ryland and Garret, were in the back seats. They always traveled with him.
Bullard would pick up the rest of his men in Australia. He stared down at the compound as he flew overhead. He preferred his compound at home, but, damn, they’d done a nice job here.
With everybody on the ground shouting their goodbyes, Bullard sailed over Houston, heading toward the airport. His two men never said a word. They all knew how he felt about Ice. But none of them would cross that line and say anything. At least not if they expected to still have jobs … and jaws.
It was one thing to fall in love with another man’s woman, but another thing to fall in love with a woman who was so unique, so different, and so absolutely perfect that you knew, just knew, you had no hope of finding anybody else like her. But Ice and Levi had been together long before Bullard had ever met her, which made it that much more heartbreaking.
Still, he’d turned from his view of Ice and looked forward. He had a full roster of jobs to focus on when he got home. Part of him was tired of the life; another part of him couldn’t wait to head out on the next adventure. He managed to run everything from his command centers in one of two locations. He’d spent a lot of time and effort at the second one and kept a full team at both locations, yet preferred to spend most of his time at the old one. It felt more like home to him, and he’d like to be there now but still had many more days before that could happen.
The helicopter lowered to the tarmac, and he stepped out and walked across to where his private plane waited. It was one of the things that he loved, being a pilot of both helicopters and airplanes, owning some of both birds himself.
That again was another way he and Ice were part of the same team, of the same mind-set. He’d been looking for another woman like Ice for himself—but no such luck. Sure, plenty were around for short-term relationships, but most of them couldn’t handle his lifestyle or the violence of the world that he lived in. He understood that.
The ones who did mostly had a hard edge to them, which he found difficult to live with. Bullard appreciated everybody being alert and aware, but, if some softness wasn’t in the women, they seemed to turn cold all the way through.
As he greeted some of the ground crew, Ryland and Garret hanging back, Bullard finally turned to board his small plane and called out in his loud voice, “Let’s go, slowpokes. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
The men grinned, confident Bullard was teasing, as was his usual routine during their off-hours.
“Well, we’re ready. Not sure about you though,” Ryland said, smirking.
“We were waiting on you this time to leave,” Garret added with a chuckle. “Good thing you’re the boss.”
Bullard grinned at his two right-hand men. “Isn’t that the truth?” He dropped his bags and said, “Stow all this stuff, will you? I want to get our flight path cleared and to get the hell out of here.”
Ryland joined him in the cockpit and sat in the copilot’s spot, buckled in, then asked, “You ready?”
Bullard laughed. “When have you ever known me not to be?” At that, he taxied down the runway. Before long he was up in the air, at cruising level, pointed toward Hawaii. “Gotta love the view from up here,” Bullard said. “This place is magical.”
“It is once you get up above all the smog,” Ryland said. “Why Australia again?”
“Checking out that newest compound that I’ve had my eye on. Besides, the alpha team is coming off that ugly job in Perth. No one left there to deal with. So we’ll give them a day or two of R&R, then head home.”
“Right. We could have some equally ugly payback on that job.”
Bullard shrugged. “That goes for most of our jobs. It’s the life.”
“Don’t you already have enough compounds to look after?” Garret asked.
“Yes, I do, but that kid in me still looks to take over the world. Just remember that.”
“Better you go home to Africa and look after your first two compounds,” Ryland said.
“Maybe so,” Bullard admitted, “but it seems hard to not continue expanding.”
“You need a partner,” Ryland said abruptly. “That might ease the savage beast inside and keep you at home more.”
“Well, the only one I like,” he said, “is married to my best friend.”
“Sorry,” Ryland said quietly. “What a shit deal.”
“No,” Bullard said. “I came on the scene last. Clearly they were always meant to be together. Especially now that they’re a family.”
“If you say so,” Ryland said.
Bullard nodded. “Damn right, I say so. Now to change the subject. Terkel contacted me.”