Salvation (The Protectors, Book 2)

by Sloane Kennedy

  Rage went through me at the momentary pang of pity and that had me striding out of the stairwell as the guy turned to go into his apartment. I reached the door just as he was closing it. His startled eyes lifted to mine just before I used my booted foot to kick the door open, knocking him on his ass. I pulled my gun from my waistband as I strode into the apartment and slammed the door behind me.

  “Please-” the man whispered but his words dropped off when I pointed my gun at him.

  “Where is he?” I snarled.

  The man put both his hands up. “Wh…Who?” he stammered.

  I leaned down and grabbed the man by the hair and yanked his head back until he cried out in pain. “Don’t fuck with me,” I ground out.

  “Please…please,” he bit out as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

  I released my hold on him and pressed my gun against his forehead. He let out a choked sob, but I didn’t care. I wanted so badly just to pull the trigger. But I couldn’t. Because I didn’t want to spend another day knowing that even one of the two men who’d raped my wife and left her for dead was still breathing.

  “You want to play it that way?” I said calmly as I finally felt the familiar emptiness creep back into my veins.

  I hauled the man up so that he was on his knees and then pressed the gun back against his head. “If the next words out of your mouth aren’t his location” – I removed the gun from his head and pressed it against his groin – “this is where the first bullet goes.”

  The man was crying silent tears but he didn’t say anything. He was shaking uncontrollably, but despite his fear, he remained silent and I noticed that even though he was crying, his eyes looked blank, like he was somewhere else. I ground my jaw in frustration and began searching for anything I could use as a gag. I didn’t have a silencer but I could come up with creative ways to make the guy talk that didn’t require a gun.

  Before I could decide what to do next, I heard a knock on the door behind me.

  I slammed my hand down over the man’s mouth and yanked him to his feet. The move seemed to finally snap him out of his daze. “One word…” I warned quietly as I jammed the gun against his temple.

  “Mr. Travers,” came a woman’s voice on the other side of the door. She began knocking harder. “Mr. Travers, I know you’re in there. I saw you pull up out front a few minutes ago!” she shouted in irritation.

  The man was frozen in place so I shoved him towards the door. I moved to the other side of the door jamb so that the person on the other side wouldn’t see me when he opened it. But I kept my gun pointed at his head.

  “Answer it,” I ordered.

  He shook his head violently.

  “Do it!” I snapped.

  “No!” he said in a harsh whisper.

  The woman continued knocking. “Mr. Travers, we agreed to nine o’clock, no exceptions!”

  “Answer it or I’ll kill her,” I threatened. “Get rid of her or you both die.”

  The man finally reached for the door and opened it a crack. “Mrs. Parks, I’m sorry-”

  I nearly pulled the trigger when the door suddenly opened wider but it wasn’t the woman who entered. A little boy no more than five or six years old squeezed through the narrow crack in the door. My instincts kicked in and I grabbed him and dragged him to me, covering his mouth with my hand before he could scream. The man at the door gasped, but the woman he was talking to didn’t seem to notice that his attention was no longer on her.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Travers. We had a deal. You want me to watch him longer, you have to pay me for longer!”

  I heard footsteps hurry off but the man staring at me in horror didn’t move or even shut the door. “Please don’t,” he whispered as his eyes fell on the kid who was squirming in my grasp. And that was when I knew I had him.

  I kicked the door shut and stepped forward. The man automatically stepped back.

  “Where is he?”

  “I swear to God; I don’t know who you’re talking about!”

  “Your father!” I shouted.

  The man was so caught off guard that he lowered his hands. “My father?” he stuttered.

  The kid was furiously trying to escape me and it was a struggle to maintain my hold on him without hurting him. I also didn’t know what the fuck to do with him – he hadn’t been part of my plan. I hadn’t even once considered the possibility that the younger of my wife’s murderers might be a father. And no way in hell was I hurting a kid…I’d use him to get what I wanted, but I wasn’t so far gone in my hatred that I’d actually follow through with my threats.

  “I…I haven’t seen my father in years,” the guy said desperately. His eyes shifted back to the little boy. “It’s okay, Matty. Daddy’s here. Just be real quiet for a few minutes, okay,” he said gently, his voice surprisingly even.

  The boy quieted in my hold.

  “No loyalty among murderers, huh?” I said.

  “Murder?” the man whispered.

  My fury was so intense that I released my grip on the boy and he ran to his father. “Get him here now!” I ordered.

  “Jesus,” the man cried as he grabbed his son and put him behind him. “You’re looking for Denny!” he said.

  “What?”

  “I’m Tate. You’re looking for my father and Denny, my brother.”

  Connect with Sloane Kennedy

  Thank you for reading Salvation!

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed Ronan and Seth’s story. They will be back in Hawke’s story.

  As a new author, I am always grateful for feedback so if you have the time and desire, please leave a review, good or bad, so I can continue to find out what my readers like and don’t like. You can also send me feedback via email at sloane@sloanekennedy.com

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  Other books by Sloane Kennedy

  (Note: Not all titles will be available on all retail sites)

  The Protectors Series

  Absolution (Book 1, The Protectors) (M/M/M)

  After four years abroad, artist Jonas Davenport has come home to start building his dream of owning his own art studio and gallery. But just as he’s ready to put the darkness of his past behind him forever, it comes roaring back with a vengeance.

  The only thing keeping ex-cop Mace Calhoun from eating his own gun after an unthinkable loss is his role in an underground syndicate that seeks to get justice for the innocent by taking the lives of the guilty. Ending the life of the young artist who committed unspeakable crimes against the most vulnerable of victims should have been the easiest thing in the world. So why can’t he bring himself to pull the trigger?

  After years of fighting in an endless, soul-sucking war, Navy SEAL Cole Bridgerton has come home to fight another battle – dealing with the discovery that the younger sister who ran away from home eight years earlier is lost to him forever. He needs answers and the only person who can give them to him is a young man struggling to put his life back together. But he never expected to feel something more for the haunted artist.

  Cole and Mace. One lives by the rules, the other makes his own. One seeks justice through the law while the other seeks it with his gun. Two men, one light, one dark, will find themselves and each other when they’re forced to stand side by side to protect Jonas from an unseen evil that will stop at nothing to silence the young artist forever.

  But each man’s scars run deep and even the strength of three may not be enough to save them…

  The Escort Series

  Gabriel’s Rule (Book 1, The Escort Series) (M/F)

  After nearly ten years of moonlighting as a professional escort, Gabriel Maddox is good at giving women the forbidden pleasures they crave. They don’t need to know t
hat something inside of him dies a little each time he does it or that his desperate need for cash is the only reason he can’t walk away. They just need to know that to get what they want, they have to play by his rules.

  Riley Sinclair is starting over. She’s left dry, dusty Texas and her ultra conservative, fanatically religious parents and cheating, mean-spirited fiancé behind for a new life in Seattle. But one look at her stunningly gorgeous new neighbor Gabe brings back all the insecurities she’s trying to escape.

  Gabe can only offer Riley pleasure, but when she discovers that his perfect outside hides something terribly broken on the inside, will she risk her heart to give him what he needs?

  Shane’s Fall (Book 2, The Escort Series) (M/F)

  Shane Matthews loves women, sex and money and as a professional escort, he gets to have all three whenever he wants. So what if he’s not the same, naive person he was when he started – it’s what he’s good at. But life is catching up with Shane and he’s losing the battle against an addiction that has haunted him for years. He’s managed to keep the truth from his friends and family, but the pressure of pretending to be perfect may just be too much.

  Savannah Bradshaw needs to get her life back under control before the fear and pain consume her. A brutal assault from someone she trusted has left her fearing sex and men and the dangerous method she uses to cope is stealing her life. She needs Shane to show her how to escape the pain, but as his best friend’s little sister, he’s keeping her at arm’s length.

  Savannah’s desperate plan to bring them together for one night has Shane agreeing to show her the pleasure her body can experience, but she has to agree to his terms. Giving her what she needs should be easy, as long as he doesn’t do something stupid like fall in love with her…

  Logan’s Need (Book 3, The Escort Series) (M/M)

  After Logan Bradshaw's dreams go up in smoke, he's left broken and haunted by a cruel betrayal from his former business partner, a man he once thought of as a friend. His life as a professional escort helped pay for his future once, so maybe a few more jobs can give him back what he's lost. And if that means being a third for one night for a wealthy couple living out a ménage fantasy, then so be it. It might just be the final payout he needs to get his life back on track.

  Dominic Barretti has everything money can buy, but it can't save his beautiful young wife as cancer steals her away from him. He also can't deny her one last request - a ménage encounter with another man. It's the perfect excuse to meet the man who's been haunting his dreams. On paper, Logan is the perfect choice to give his wife what she needs, but he doesn't expect his own fierce desires to flare up when the young man enters their lives.

  Dom and Logan don't know it, but Sylvie Barretti has decided to play matchmaker from beyond the grave. Unfortunately, getting two broken men to find each other makes dying seem like the easy part.

  Logan can't deny his attraction to Dom, but the surprise desire for another man has left him reeling and questioning everything he's ever known about himself. But when a threat from the past surfaces, will Logan be able to let go of the life he knew and embrace the one he needs?

  Barretti Security Series

  Loving Vin (Book 1, Barretti Security Series) (M/F)

  She was the daughter of a serial killer and she was living in his house...

  After years of searching war torn Afghanistan for his MIA brother, Vincenzo Barretti has finally come home and now he's ready to settle back into life as co-founder of Barretti Security Group. But his home is no longer cold and empty the way he likes it.

  Mia Hamilton needs a quiet place to hide from the press to try to rebuild her life. Being the daughter of a notorious serial killer is bad enough, but being the one who killed him has made her a target for every news agency in the world. She wants nothing more than to be left alone, but the reporters are relentless and will stop at nothing to get their story. With no place to go, she accepts an offer from Dominic Barretti to stay at his older brother's home until she can figure out what to do next. But she didn't expect the homeowner to return so soon or to feel something she's never felt when he's around.

  Vin doesn't need or want a woman in his life and certainly not one that comes with so much baggage. So what if Mia evokes feelings in him he thought were long dead? She's a liability and he wants her gone. But forcing the quiet, strong-willed young woman from his life turns out to be a lot harder than he thought...

  Redeeming Rafe (Book 2, Barretti Security Series) (M/M)

  He wants revenge against the brothers who betrayed him but first he has to get past the one man he can't resist...

  At the tender age of eight, Rafe Barretti lost everything. His parents, his childhood, his innocence. And the brothers who were supposed to protect him let him go instead. Twenty years later and he's finally ready to exact his revenge by taking away everything they hold dear - their company, their reputations, their futures. But even that isn't enough - their loved ones will have to pay too and all their precious secrets are fair game.

  Former mercenary Cade Gamble's only job is to take down the hacker stealing sensitive, private information from Barretti Security Group and Cade is damn good at his job. But there's more at stake because the co-founders of BSG, Dom and Vin Barretti, are like family and no one touches Cade's family. The fact that the vengeful young man turns out to be the youngest of the Barretti clan doesn't matter. But when their tumultuous encounters turn into something more, Cade will have to decide between protecting the only family he has and giving in to his need to save Rafe from himself.

  Can Cade help Rafe find redemption so he can forgive the sins of the past or will Rafe's quest for vengeance destroy them both?

  Saving Ren (Book 3, Barretti Security Series) (M/M/M)

  Three men brought together by circumstance who found something none of them knew they needed…

  Ren Barretti has finally come home after a year of being held captive by the terrorists who slaughtered his entire Special Forces team. But he can’t escape the nightmares that torment him or the guilt that he was the only one to walk away. The life his older brothers have brought him home to doesn’t exist for him anymore and to keep them and their loved ones safe from the rage and pain that consume him, Ren needs to disappear.

  Police Detective Declan Hale has felt an undeniable pull towards the very straight Ren Barretti since the day Ren’s brother married Declan’s younger sister almost a dozen years earlier. But even though the Ren who has come home isn’t the one who left, all of Declan’s feelings come rushing back to the surface and he steps in to help the only man he’s ever truly wanted. And even though there’s no future for them, keeping Ren safe is all that matters and Declan will risk anything to make that happen.

  Tough as nails former soldier and mercenary Jagger Varos has returned to Seattle after years of running from his past and he’s hoping that joining Barretti Security Group will help him finally call the city he left behind home. But within weeks, his new beginning is tested after multiple run-ins with the gruff, infuriating Detective Hale. When he inadvertently discovers that Declan is hiding Ren from the very brothers offering Jagger a new start, Jagger finds himself torn between his newfound loyalty to Vin and Dom Barretti and the need to protect the young man he himself helped rescue from his captors.

  For Declan and Jagger, it’s hate at first sight but they soon realize that they will need each other if they have any hope of saving Ren from himself. And neither of them expects their mutual distrust in one another to grow into something else entirely or that Ren himself will find in both of them what he needs to rebuild his life and come to terms with who he really is.

  Can the fierce attraction between three men become something more or will the demands of the real world tear them apart?

  Freeing Zane (Book 4, Barretti Security Series) (M/M)

  Zane doesn't do relationships and Connor is definitely the kind of guy who does...

  Criminal defense attorney Zane Devereaux is on the verg
e of having everything he's worked his entire life for. He's on track to become his firm's youngest managing partner and he has enough money in the bank to ensure he'll never have to be at the mercy of anyone ever again. He's left his past exactly where it belongs and refuses to look back. And he sure as hell isn't going to risk a repeat of his former mistakes by letting someone as sweet, sexy and endearingly vulnerable as Connor Talbot into his life. His bed maybe, but not his life.

  Connor Talbot has no regrets about serving his country, even if it did cost him more then he'd imagined. Two years after an IED took his leg and left him with permanent brain damage, Connor is still struggling to put his life back together, but he's managed to find a makeshift family in Seattle that helps ease the pain of losing his own at a young age. Unfortunately, a string of bad relationships and an abusive ex have taken their toll on Connor and he's given up on finding the lifelong partner he'd always envisioned he'd have. But a chance encounter with a man he has absolutely nothing in common with except for an intense, white-hot chemistry has him thinking that maybe a no strings, physical relationship is exactly what's called for.

  What begins as two men meeting each other's needs between the sheets turns into something neither one was prepared for but the wounds of the past run deep and both men will have to decide if a future together will cost them too much or if what they could have together is worth fighting for.