by Jill Sanders
Coming Home
Haven, Montana Series
Jill Sanders
Contents
coming home
Summary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Also by Jill Sanders
About the Author
coming home
The Haven, Montana Series
* * *
JILL
SANDERS
Summary
Brian Laster swore he’d never return to his hometown of Haven, Montana. After all, he’d been a total dick to everyone there before he’d left, including his mother. However, in the past ten years, things had changed. He had changed. Coming home wasn’t something he’d wanted to do, but this time it wasn’t his choice. It was his job.
* * *
Mia’s latest assignment brought her to the small town and directly into Brian’s bed. Not that she had any complaints about working with the dark, tall, and very sexy man. But as with everything else in her life, she knew it would only end in trouble.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Prologue
“Remember what I told you, boy?” Brian’s father stood over him. At more than three hundred pounds and well over six-foot-tall, the man hovered over him. Compared to Brian’s skinny underdeveloped eleven-year-old frame, his father was a giant.
“Yes.” Brian nodded as he looked down at his clenched fists.
Without warning, his father backhanded him, sending Brian falling sideways into the road. Now his hands and knees were scraped up and bloodied, in addition to his lip and nose from last night.
“Yes, sir,” his father growled out, correcting him.
“Sorry, sir,” Brian responded shakily, holding back the tears. Crying would only get him in more trouble. He stood again, ignoring the new cuts on his hands and knees, and shifted his shoulders until they were straight. He may have felt like shit on the inside, but that didn’t mean he had to look it on the outside.
“Now, hand me that rope.” His father nodded at it.
Brian did as he was asked. “What’s this for?” he asked, looking up and down the river. His father had promised to take him fishing, something he loved to do, since his old man usually just drank until he passed out. Then Brian could have the entire day to himself, sitting along the river, doing whatever he wanted.
“Noneya,” his father answered with a laugh at the old joke while he worked on the rope with his large fat fingers. Noneya stood for none of your damn business. But since Rea Laster, Brian’s mother, didn’t like cursing in her house, his father had learned to adapt.
Brian stood back as he watched his father tie off the thick rope that he normally used to corral his horse, Bucky. The fact that his father hadn’t put the fishing rods in the truck should have warned Brian that the fishing trip was just a ruse.
“Come here, boy.” His father stood up and took another sip from the large metal cup he had brought with him. His father had smelled of alcohol first thing that morning, and Brian had believed that it wouldn’t be long before he passed out. Actually, his old man looked as if he hadn’t slept at all. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for his father to be drunk all weekend long.
“What for?” Brian asked, backing up a little. His father had tied one end of the rope to the rung of the bridge on old Interstate 41. Brian knew that not a lot of cars traveled this way on a Sunday. Glancing around again, he took another step backwards.
“Boy!” His father tossed down his metal cup, sending it bouncing over the edge of the bridge as he started moving towards Brian. “You do what you’re told.” His father gripped his arm tight enough that Brian knew there would be bruises in the morning.
“No.” He fought back, kicking out and using his fists to pound against the bigger man’s sides, the first time he’d done so his entire life. Something told him this would be his last chance to defend himself.
His eyes moved to the rope and he realized that his father had tied a noose on the other end. Seeing that, Brian started to fight even harder, screaming at his father to stop. Begging for his life. Begging for help from someone but knowing there wasn’t anyone around.
His dad laughed harder as he pulled his skinny body towards the edge of the bridge and closer to the rope.
“Daddy!” he cried. “Stop!”
His father sneered down at him. “I’m not your father, you little shit.”
Brian stilled completely. His fists, which had been pounding against his father’s massive chest, now fell to his sides. His tears made it hard to see his father’s face to see if he was lying, but his little heart leaped for joy upon hearing the possibility that he really wasn’t related to the monster. He’d prayed for as long as he could remember that he wasn’t really his father.
“I’m going to teach that bitch what she gets when she crosses me.” His father continued to drag him towards the rope and the edge of the bridge.
When they reached the rope, Brian closed his eyes, waiting for it to slip over his neck. His father bent over to pick it up.
Brian waited, but when he didn’t feel the rope wrap around his neck, he opened his eyes.
It shocked him to see his father fighting with the rope as it twisted, keeping the noose part from opening wider. His beefy hand wrapped around Brian’s upper harm, holding him next to him. Then Brian saw it, a way to save himself.
Without thinking, Brian used all his weight and kicked out as hard as he could. He got the man directly in the shins and watched as he fumbled backwards towards the edge of the bridge.
When his father sailed over the edge of the low railing on the bridge, the rope wrapped wildly around his own neck, he cursed and screamed. Brian’s name was the last thing his bastard of a father had screamed before the sound of his neck breaking echoed along the riverbed.
Chapter 1
Brian woke with a start. His entire body tensed as the dream faded into the darkness of his mind. It had been years since he’d had that one. The last time he’d even thought about his old man was when he’d been… home.
“Damn,” he said in the darkness of the strange room. Wiping his hands over his face, he remembered that he was home—Haven, Montana.
“Shut up.” A sexy female voice came from across the massive bed. What little blankets were still covering him were tugged the rest of the way off his body.
He would have normally smiled, but his mind had cleared a little more and he knew full well who he was in bed with. Mia Dillon.
Not that the woman wasn’t a total knockout with her sexy hazel bedroom eyes, long jet-black hair, and her perfect legs, breasts, and ass.
But she was off-limits and trouble. Big trouble.
Their sharing a bed wasn’t anything new. Over the past year, since they’d been paired up, they had been shoved in all sorts of uncomfortable situations like this. It hadn’t been easy being so close and not doing anything about it.
He rolled out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom in
nothing but his boxer briefs. Taking his time, he washed his face, trying to clear his foggy mind of the image of his old man cursing him as he died.
When a knock sounded on the bathroom door, he flushed the toilet to cover a low curse. Damn, he wished he wasn’t back in Haven.
“Yeah?” He opened the door and stepped aside as Mia walked in. She was wearing a grey tank top and matching boxer briefs. Her long dark hair was tied back in a braid that reached all the way down to that perfect ass of hers.
“Do you mind?” She narrowed her sexy hazel eyes at him.
Turning, he left the bathroom, but not before throwing over his shoulder, “We leave in an hour.”
“Bite me,” she said, shutting the door behind him.
He smiled as he pulled on his black jeans and T-shirt. Mia wasn’t a morning person. He knew her foul mood would last until she’d had her first cup of black coffee. He couldn’t blame her. She’d driven all day yesterday to get them there shortly before midnight.
Strapping on his gun, he slipped his wallet with his badge in his back pocket.
A lot had changed since he’d left Haven. Hell, he didn’t even recognize the man that stared at him in the mirror anymore.
He’d left town a pudgy asshole. Now, he caught a glance of his reflection and smiled. There wasn’t an ounce of fat left on him. Oh, he was still an asshole, but now he was an asshole with a badge and gun.
For the past seven years he’d been hiding away in Helena, busting his ass to get through the Montana Law Enforcement Academy while attending night school. Shortly after graduating, he’d gotten a job with the DEA. Drug Enforcement hadn’t been his dream job, but hell, he was damn good at it.
Especially after he’d been teamed up with Mia. There was enough real sexual tension between them that they were perfect for what the DEA needed. Undercover, they had busted up most of the tougher drug rings in the state and had even taken on a few jobs in the Dakotas when needed.
But when he’d gotten the news that they were being shipped to Haven, he’d fought it. In the end, he’d lost the fight, and they had driven to his hometown in a compact rental with their orders.
Since Haven had been his home, he was the last one anyone would suspect of being DEA. Mia would catch anything he might miss by being too close to the subject. Of course, she also fit perfectly pretending to be his longtime girlfriend, since they had worked together for the last year and pretty much knew everything there was to know about one another.
His cell phone buzzed, and he groaned when he saw his mother’s name flash on the screen.
In the past seven years, he’d treated her much better than he had in the past, except for continuing to lie to her daily. He’d told her, and anyone he talked to from Haven, that he’d been going to school and working odd jobs. Which had been partially true.
“Hey, Mom.” He sat on the edge of the bed.
“Morning, sweetie. Tom and I were wondering if you and Mia were heading out yet?”
He glanced up as the bathroom door opened and Mia stepped out dressed in tight ripped jeans and a silver sweater that clung to her slim curves. Her hair was still a little damp, but she had on her face, as she liked to say about the makeup she donned each day. He’d always thought she was just as sexy without it, but there was no way in hell he was going to tell her that. He was a little afraid to.
“Yeah, we’re ready. Maybe a few more minutes…” he added when Mia started looking for her boots.
“Sure. We’re really excited to meet Mia,” his mom added.
His eyes met Mia’s as she sat on the floor and started pulling on one boot.
“She’s excited to meet you too.” He held in a chuckle when she stuck her tongue out at him. “See you in a few,” he said and hung up.
“Okay.” Mia sighed as she tugged on her other boot. “Any last-minute details I should know about?”
He leaned back on the bed slightly. “You already know what you need to. I don’t snore…” She rolled her eyes.
“The hell you don’t.” She quickly got up from the floor in a move that always had him wishing she would do it over his face.
“You know about my mom,” he continued. “How she married Tom last year.”
“Right, and Tom is local PD.” She walked over and pulled her small gun from the nightstand, then tucked it into the back of her jeans.
“Um…” He suddenly thought about the possibility of his mother hugging them. “Damn.” He pulled out his gun. “Hugs,” he warned her.
“Right.” She nodded and put the small gun in the massive bag she carted around. There was a small side compartment in the thing that she zipped the gun in.
Brian pulled on his leather jacket and tucked his own service weapon into the inside padded pocket.
“Anything else?” she asked, turning back to him.
“Nope, I think the briefing yesterday covered it all.”
“Nicknames?” she asked. “Should I call you sweetie?”
“Babe,” he corrected.
“Okay, babe.” She laughed.
“Oh.” He snapped his fingers. “There is one more thing…” He watched her hazel eyes track his movement as he stepped closer to her. When he put his hand on the curve of her narrow waist and pulled her closer to him, her eyes heated. Not with want, but with anger. Before she could respond, he bent down and kissed her, letting the kiss last until he felt her relax under his touch.
“There,” he added when he stepped back, “now we can easily convince everyone that we’ve done that before.” He yanked open the door and waited until she walked past him. Her eyes narrowed as she stopped in the doorway and looked up at him.
“If you do that again, in private…” she started.
“Relax, our affections are for public viewing from here on out,” he agreed with a chuckle. Not that he didn’t want to kiss her again. Hell, he wanted to do more, but he was a little afraid of what she’d do to him if he made a move on her for real.
The weather had turned late last night as they’d pulled into the hotel’s parking lot, but thankfully, none of the snow that had fallen had stuck.
When she started to get behind the wheel of the rental, he quickly steered her towards the passenger side instead.
“I’ll drive,” he said, opening the door for her.
“Laster,” she started to warn him by using his last name, but he smiled brightly over her shoulder.
“Morning, Mrs. Kimber.” He waved at an older woman walking her dog along the sidewalk.
“Morning, Brian. It’s good to have you back home,” the older woman called out.
“My seventh-grade teacher,” he said to Mia as she slid into the seat.
Mia turned on that killer smile of hers and waved at the woman as he moved around to get in the driver’s side.
“Is this entire trip going to be filled with you manipulating me to do things?” she asked, tossing her bag down on the floor of the rental.
“Maybe.” He smiled. “I kind of like being in charge for once.”
Her eyes narrowed at him. “Suck a…”
“Now, honey.” He tried the nickname out for her but didn’t like the feel of it. “My mother doesn’t like cursing.”
Mia glared at him all the way into town. By the time they parked in front of the Dancing Moose diner, she had pasted on her smile again.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Lead the way.” She started to get out, but he stopped her.
“My mom’s watching. She’ll kick my butt if I don’t open your door for you,” he warned. He smiled when she rested her hands back in her lap. He noticed that she’d replaced her normally black nail polish with a soft pink, which suited her as much as a tutu and dance shoes would have. She was more of a black leather and whips kind of woman. Which turned him on even more. Still, he liked the lighter color on her.
Jogging around the car, he opened her door and reached in to take her hand to help her out. She squeezed his hand hard, and he chuckled.
“Easy, darlin’.” He smiled even more when he realized he’d struck a nerve with the nickname and decided that it fit perfectly. “Everyone’s watching.”
He kept hold of her hand as they walked towards the front of the diner. His mother and Tom were waiting just inside the doors.
Rea had changed in the past seven years. His mother had been old when he’d left, but now… Her once jet-black hair, a product of her American Indian heritage, had turned all silver. Actually, it was even more beautiful than it had been when it had been dark.
“Mom.” He dropped Mia’s hand and hugged her small frame. He couldn’t explain it, but for the first time in his life, he wanted to hold on to her longer. To tell her everything. To beg her for her forgiveness for all of his fuckups.
“Oh, my boy.” He heard her sniffle. “You’re home.”
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being in the arms of the only person who had ever loved him. Not that he’d done anything to earn that love. Hell, at one point in his wild days, he’d held her at knife point. Shit.
That thought had him dropping his arms from around her and taking a step back. He swallowed the lump of distaste in his throat from the memory. “Mom, this is Mia. Mia, my mother.” He motioned between them.
His mother didn’t disappoint. She immediately hugged Mia as if she were a long-lost daughter.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Mia said.