Just Business (Aegis Group Dangerous Ladies Book 1)
Page 23
She hadn’t brought a man home to meet her family in ages. Maybe since high school. And here she was with not only a man, but a pre-teen girl.
Konstantin squeezed her hand, as if he could sense her thoughts.
He was annoyingly good at that sort of thing.
The problem was her.
Everything was just so damn perfect. She couldn’t get away from the feeling that it couldn’t last. That somehow or someway Konstantin and Zasha would be ripped away from her. But every morning she woke up and there they were.
“Here you are,” the driver of the SUV announced.
“Wow, hello suburban America. You sure your last name isn’t Cleaver?” Konstantin grinned at her.
“Hush.” She pushed his shoulder.
Secretly, she cherished moments like this. Konstantin was learning to relax and enjoy life more, and she loved getting to watch him finally live.
The next few hours were going to be a gauntlet of questions, starting with the new house, no doubt. Her family had taken the news of her relationship well enough. No one had seemed particularly surprised. In fact, they seemed to have been rooting for it all along, only she had no idea.
Haley had been forced to move their arrival back because they’d needed to finalize paperwork for the new house they were buying. Technically Konstantin was buying it, but he’d insisted she was there to sign everything right alongside him.
He thought he was cute, as if he needed to capture her in legalese to make sure she wasn’t going to leave him.
The joke was on him.
She wasn’t moving out and no legal piece of paper would budge her. He just didn’t know what he’d signed up for yet.
The front door burst open, but it wasn’t her parents or her siblings rushing to greet her.
It was Merida, Ivy, Jenifer, Lumen...
Haley gasped, threw open the door to the SUV right before Jennifer-of-the-long-legs reached her.
They were here.
Her blood family.
Her work family.
And her chosen family.
Life was pretty darn perfect.
She had the man of her dreams, the best daughter in the world, a garden she’d never have imagined, and in another year or two a wedding. Because two could play the legally binding game.
KONSTANTIN SANK ONTO the padded bench and let the noisy backyard get together wash over him.
He wasn’t used to this many people or smiling so much. It didn’t feel bad, just different.
Haley’s family was so very normal. So very suburban American. They didn’t have the same concerns he had growing up.
This was what he wanted for Zasha.
To have people surround her. To be loved.
He lifted his hand and waved. “Elijah? You coming to hang out with me, buddy?”
Elijah’s toothy grin was contagious.
Konstantin sat up a bit and pushed the cushions over to make room. Elijah was Haley’s special needs brother. Like her, he had a big heart. It was impossible to not like the guy.
Elijah wasn’t much of a talker. Haley had explained he had a sizeable vocabulary, but just didn’t like to use words very much.
“Taking my seat, son?”
Konstantin and Elijah glanced up at Mr. Griffin and his oldest son.
“Have my seat.” Konstantin got to his feet and gestured at the bench.
“No. My two legs are just fine.” Mr. Griffin stomped one foot then the other as if to prove his fitness.
Konstantin nodded, but remained standing.
Haley’s oldest brother watched Konstantin with narrowed eyes, whereas he’d slapped his shoulder and grinned not half an hour ago.
Konstantin tensed. Was this it? Was Haley’s family telling him to stay away?
“Heard you were getting a place with a yard,” Mr. Griffin said.
“Yes.” Konstantin latched onto that topic eagerly. “We should be moving soon. Did Haley show you pictures of her garden?”
“She did that.” Mr. Griffin nodded. His gaze went past Konstantin and he stilled.
Konstantin turned as Mr. Griffin chuckled.
Zasha grabbed the hands of an older boy who helped her to her feet. If the fall had hurt her, she didn’t show any signs of it. Not with the way she tore off after the boy laughing.
“Cute kid,” Mr. Griffin muttered.
“She is.” Konstantin’s heart swelled.
He was only here because of Zasha. If she hadn’t been born Konstantin would likely have never left Russia. He’d never have met Haley. None of this would have happened.
“Mom get you guys settled in the house?” Haley’s brother asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
Mr. Griffin shrugged. “It’s not very fancy.”
Konstantin watched Zasha make a wild leap out of the reach of another child. “Maybe not to you, but to us it is.”
“Well, you’ll always have a room here if you need it.”
He swallowed.
The Griffins had been nothing but kind and welcoming to him and Zasha. They treated the two of them like they belonged. Like they’d always been there.
“Mr. Griffin?” He turned his head. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Sure, son.”
Konstantin nodded. He hadn’t planned on doing this now, but it felt right. These days he was listening to his heart more.
Mr. Griffin led Konstantin toward the privacy fence by a birdfeeder.
“What’s on your mind, son?” Mr. Griffin gave the feeder a little shake.
“I realize we don’t know each other very well, sir—”
“Oh, don’t say that. We might just be seeing each other now, but we know you.”
Konstantin swallowed and had to take a breath to get control of himself. He glanced over his shoulder where Haley and the women had gathered.
She was so beautiful. She made his life better by simply being herself.
He felt a lightness come over him. A sense of right. This was the direction his life was going. “I want to marry your daughter. Maybe not tomorrow, or anytime soon, but... I’d like your permission.”
“Oh, come on now.” Mr. Griffin’s smile widened. “We both know Haley makes her own path. We’re proud of her whatever she wants to do. That includes marrying you.”
The simple statement hit Konstantin with a weight he wasn’t prepared for.
Acceptance. Belonging. Love.
He took a deep breath.
Mr. Griffin elbowed Konstantin. “Careful, those are the ones you’ll have to worry about winning over.”
“Hm?” He turned his head and saw Merida and Jennifer headed their way.
Bring it on.
Haley and their family’s future was worth it.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS next? Stay tuned for Just Friends and Just Casual!
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Explore the whole Aegis world in these series...
It all began with the Aegis Group.
Dangerous Attraction
Dangerous in Training
Dangerous Games
Dangerous Assignment
Dangerous Protector
Dangerous Secrets
Dangerous Betrayal
Dangerous Heat
Dangerous Connections
Dangerous Exposure (2020)
More Coming Soon!
Within Aegis Group, special teams take on special jobs, beginning with the Alpha Team.
Dangerous in Love
Dangerous in Action
Dangerous in Transit
Dangerous in Motion
Dangerous in Charge
Other specialized teams exist under the Aegis Group umbrella, including Lepta Team.
Dangerously Taken
Dangerously Involved
Dangerously Deceived
Dangerously Broken
Dangerously Entwined
Troy Team has signed on to work an ultra-
secret case in the Aegis Group Task Force series.
(prequel) First Risk: a newsletter exclusive serial
Stolen Risk
Forged Risk
Technical Risk
Necessary Risk
Intercepted Risk (2020)
Targeted Risk (TBA)
Hard Risk (TBA)
Burned Risk (TBA)
Final Risk (TBA)
The job is strong enough for a man, but made for a woman. The Dangerous Ladies series is here.
Just Business
Just Friends (TBA)
Just Casual (TBA)
Stay tuned for the appearance of the Omega Team and!
In Dangerous Games it continued with the Gone Geek girls.
Beauty and the Geek
Mr. Purr-fect and the Geek
The Jock and the Geek
The Gamer and the Geek
The Adorkable Girl and the Geek
The Fake Boyfriend and the Geek
When the Seattle office of Aegis Group opened the Twisted Royals took the stage.
The Origin Story
Alpha Prince
Her Prince
Bad Boy Prince
Noble Prince
For short reads, tune in this December for the Body of Danger novella series kick-off.
Heart of Danger
Spirit of Danger
Soul for Danger (2020)
The other Smith brother takes us to the Texas SWAT series, a small town suspense series.
Fighting Redemption
Stolen Redemption
Forbidden Redemption
Reckless Redemption (coming soon)
Thanks to the SWAT team, Ransom, Texas enjoys a slower pace of life beginning in The Love Barn.
Give Me Back My Man
Summer of Love
Party out of Bounds
Stolen Risk
Aegis Group Task Force #1
Jamie Silva helps lead a specialized team that works to tackle the difficult jobs. The ones the government can't be party to. When his team is recruited to join an off-the-books task force he knows the stakes are higher than ever before. He just didn't think the job would include seducing the CEO of a major tech company, or that he'd want her up against a wall, in bed or anywhere else.
Tabby Grissler is tired of waiting for Mr. Right, at least until tall, dark and handsome sits next to her at a charity event. He ticks all her boxes, except he's lying to her. Confronted with the reality that her dream guy is a government spy merely marks the beginning. Someone has stolen her tech with the intent to create a global blackout and in order to stop them, she'll have to work with Jamie. But she doesn't have to trust him.
Thrown together, Tabby and Jamie must put aside their differences and ignore their chemistry if they're going to get to the bottom of the international theft. But each clue leads them further down the rabbit hole and time is running out.
Forged Risk
Aegis Group Task Force #2
The only place Evan Ivanov has ever belonged is with his team. He takes it as a matter of pride when his team is recruited to join an off-the-books task force, but the job quickly becomes far more complicated than he could have imagined when he's sent back to his home city of Kiev. Instead of capturing an infamous criminal who makes bad guys disappear, he ends up releasing the criminal’s daughter, a beautiful young woman who has been a prisoner most of her life.
Felecia seizes on the opportunity to get away from her father. Though she tells herself not to trust Evan, he's there for her at every turn. But this rescue comes at a price. She must help the team even when that means putting herself in danger. The more she reveals, the closer she becomes to Evan and the harder it gets for her to want to be free of the team. Falling for her white knight isn't possible. Not when she has enemies circling.
Evan struggles to balance his relationship with Felecia with his duty to his team and finds them at odds. She must learn to go on trust and follow her heart as they follow her father's clues, only someone's hunting them.
Technical Risk
Aegis Group Task Force #3
Diha Balakrishnan knows she should be focused on the task force's latest objective, hunting down a notorious hacker. Ever since joining the team her career has been as exciting as she dreamed, but it's also lonely. Which is why she has a secret goal, one only her closest friend knows about. She wants to catch the eye of the sexy British spy.
Miles Green's career is on the ropes and he's not thrilled about being tapped to work with an American team. The chance to catch the hacker responsible for derailing two commuter trains is too good to pass up. But then he sees her. The woman with the sultry eyes, and Miles begins to wonder if she's what his life has been missing. He's always been a work first man, but she makes him want more.
After half the team is falsely arrested, it's up to Diha and Miles to work together and bring the hacker down. It's a job that requires them to work closely together, which makes ignoring the sparks that much more difficult. But while the flames burn hot between them another threat looms.
Necessary Risk
Aegis Group Task Force #4
Ivy Ashley is striking out. Fired from her gig as a live-in bodyguard, she's at the end of her rope when she is asked to join a special task force for a one-off undercover job. It's easy. All she has to do is infiltrate a harem. She even has back-up in the form of a lone-wolf spy with the sexiest lips she's ever kissed.
Piers Killam does not play well with others. Least of all an ill-prepared Army veteran in over her head with an undercover op who makes him remember why he started doing this job. Every day with Ivy revives his long-dead heart.
The race to locate the missing pieces of information for their team is on, and it's Ivy's life they're gambling with. Piers doesn't intend to share Ivy, not even with the prince she's contracted to. But when they find the digital time bomb the whole game changes. Piers will have to decide who to save and who to let go.
Dangerously Taken
Aegis Group Lepta Team #1
The mission: Rescue an executive translator being held hostage in Iraq without falling in love.
Erin Lopez never thought her life would be more dangerous as a civilian. She hoped she'd put her days dodging bullets behind her. Now, her only salvation is in the arms of a slow-talking man who makes her heart remember what it's like to love again.
Retired Army Ranger Riley Smith knows what it's like to fight the past every time he closes his eyes. Erin's dark, haunted eyes only tell a fraction of her story, and when she reaches for comfort, he can't tell her no. She makes this broken man want to be whole again.
The closer Erin and Riley get to the truth behind Erin's kidnapping the more dangerous their path becomes. Someone wants Erin silenced at any price. Riley can’t let that happen, but keeping her alive means facing that their no strings attached arrangement is a lie.
Dangerously Involved
Aegis Group Lepta Team #2
The mission: Protect his one-night stand from being kidnapped and tortured.
Nolan Thompson doesn't mix business with pleasure. Too bad his latest job has him protecting the sweetest body he's ever touched. There's nothing about the cool, calculated business woman that makes him think of the sensual, shy sex kitten he met in Vegas. It shouldn't be difficult to keep his hands to himself when she's sending him "get lost" signals, but the rules change when her brother is kidnapped.
Yvonne Krieger is hiding a ticking-time-bomb of a secret with a nine-month fuse. Her unforgettable Vegas night left her with a lot more than pleasure and a memorable walk of shame with only one shoe. The very man who charmed her into bed is now the man charged with keeping her body safe and getting her troublesome little brother home. Under the growing pressure from her family to help cover up the kidnapping, Yvonne finds that the only person she can trust is Nolan.
In the face of danger, Yvonne and Nolan become unlikely allies as they attempt to piece together the mystery surrounding her brother's kidna
pping. Every step brings their walls crumbling down until the line between their work and private lives is blurred. Nolan knows Yvonne is holding out on him, and he's determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and capture Yvonne's heart.
Dangerously Deceived
Aegis Group Lepta Team #3
The mission: Keep a hot-headed woman from getting them all killed.
Navy SEAL Vaughn Fernandez believes in maximizing every moment, and when it comes to the instant attraction between him and a maid, he's all in. Except the curvy beauty isn't a maid at all. She's the client's girlfriend, and that's a line he's never crossed.
Carla White lives a picture-perfect life. To the world, she is a rags-to-riches story on the coattails of her high school sweetheart. In private, it's a different story. Her relationship is fake, but her feelings for the tall, dark and handsome bodyguard are very real. She might not have the chance at a happy ending, but she can live in the moment.
A jet setting dash across the globe kicks off Vaughn and Carla's secret love affair as they race to rescue their target. However, sooner they complete their mission the shorter their time together is.
Dangerous Attraction
Aegis Group 1
Ex-Navy SEAL Travis Ration is an expert hunter. Whether his prey is criminal or victim, he always gets his mark. He's no hero, just a man doing his job. It’s all he has after a felony conviction after a bad judgment call. When the FBI call in a favor and ask him to look into a serial killer over the holiday break, he jumps at the opportunity to fill the long, cold days with something besides regret and bad movies. In Las Vegas, he's on the hunt for a prolific serial killer no one wants to admit exists. The leads are dry and the evidence gone, until she walks into his life. Bliss Giles—curvy, sassy and everything he can't have.
What’s worse, Travis knows Bliss’ sister is the killer's latest victim. She fits the profile. Time is running out and the fastest way to retrace the killer's path is with Bliss at Travis' side. In the seat of danger. He vows to keep Bliss safe and his hands to himself, after all, a nice girl like her doesn't need a guy like him in her life. Too bad no one told Bliss Travis was off-limits. She tests his boundaries and pushes his control every minute they're together until he can't remember why wanting her is a bad idea.