Shameful (The Shameless Trilogy Book 2)

by M. Malone

  "You’re telling me, some fool got the jump on you? You’re out of practice, my man." The thought seemed to amuse Ian.

  "No. I'm not. He was that good. Never seen anyone like that. You got any new guys that are fast? Like you used to be?” He hid his smile at Ian’s reaction to the dig. Nothing like hearing about how fast you ‘used’ to be. They were badasses, but they had their egos just like everyone.

  Ian put out a hand. "No man. I already told you. Roland just took the job. Today, in fact. He's going to make an attempt soon, very likely tonight. I assume you have your guys on her. The kid is eager to please, so I hope you make his life difficult. Never did like that kid if I’m being honest. We didn't send anyone to you before."

  Noah’s whole fucking world turned upside down. One, somebody was coming for Lucia. Two, ORUS hadn't sent someone before. That meant all kinds of crazy shit, and he was in no mood to deal with that yet. Right now, he had to see Lucia.

  "You're sure he’ll try tonight?"

  "I would. So probably. I thought you'd be smart and get the fuck out of town. Not sit there playing house with ORUS agents about to crawl up your ass."

  Oh shit. He’d left her alone. Not alone, the guys were there. All of them. And the penthouse was a fortress. Thank fuck, but he should be there. Protecting her. He spun and hopped back in his Range Rover, gunning the engine.

  Right now one thing really scared him. If ORUS was only coming after her today, then why was the other player trying to kill her? Why the fuck did he want Lucia? Trouble was coming and he had to get to her.

  "Okay, one of you needs to explain the timeline of these movies to me. So did the series reboot and they just went back in time to show progression? Or is this a brand-new timeline because they sent Logan back to stop Mystique and Tyrion Lannister. Now they can do whatever the hell they want? I'm confused."

  From the opposite couch and the massive lounge area, Oskar groaned and rolled his eyes before hitting pause on the DVD player.

  "Jonas, please explain to her again how the X-Men movies work. Because if I have to try and explain the back-in-time thing, and the Logan thing, and the Phoenix thing, my head is gonna explode."

  Next to her, Jonas chuckled. "Lucia, you know you're driving him insane, right? He loves all things X-men."

  She bit back a laugh. "Yes, I know. But I'm just trying to figure out how everything works together. And then what does this mean for the whole Marvel universe? The whole Avengers situation and Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage? Because I'm confused. It's like they don't even know about each other, but they sort of do.”

  She gave Oskar her best wide-eyed innocent look. The dude looked like he was gonna pop that vein on his forehead.

  “Lucia,” Jonas warned, “You keep this up and he will eat all the chocolate in this house just to spite you.”

  She narrowed her gaze on Oskar. “You wouldn’t.”

  The big German nodded and gave her an evil smile. “You better believe it sweetheart.”

  Lucia could only blink. Jesus. He was gorgeous enough when he was all stoic and stern. But when he smiled … Jesus H. Christ. He should do that more. Not that he in any way compared to Noah. Though, she was probably biased. She squared her shoulders and called his bluff.

  “And then the guy that's like super fast on the X-Men, isn’t that the exact same character who was one of the twins who died in Sokovia?"

  She knew she was driving Oskar crazy. For someone who was so buttoned up, whenever he was watching one of these movies, he became a total comic book geek.

  He threw himself back on the couch and cursed under his breath in German. His accent was almost unintelligible most of the time unless he was irritated like now.

  She giggled. “So, you’re not going to hold my chocolate hostage?”

  “You and I both know that would make you a raving lunatic who would make Noah pay. Then Noah would make all of us pay,” he grumbled.

  On the other couch, Matthias said nothing. The two of them still hadn't gotten back on an even keel. When he headed to the kitchen for popcorn, she waved at Oskar to turn the movie back on and followed him.

  "Hey, Matthias?"

  He didn't turn as he pulled a beer from the fridge. "What do you need?" His voice was arctic. Not a hint of warmth.

  Okay, so he wasn't going to make this easy. "Can we talk?"

  Now he did turn. Gone was the affable, always smiling Matthias. This guy was harder. Sure, she'd seen him smile since that day at the fashion show. But it was as though those smiles never reached his eyes.

  "We don't need to talk. We're cool." He moved to brush past her, and Lucia reached for his arm. He immediately flinched away, and she held her hands up.

  "I’m sorry. I just thought—we were friends. And then everything changed. I know, I didn't say it that day. I was way too freaked out. But thank you. What you did. I don't know where I'd be or if I’d even still be alive."

  He shook his head. "I was doing my job, Lucia. That's the end of that."

  "Yes. You were. And I'm sorry if I've been distant. We were friends before that day. And we've both sort of tried to pretend like everything is fine. But I saw a part of you that I have never seen before, and I have to tell you it scared me. Then you shut down. I’m trying to figure out how we get back to being friends again."

  He sucked in a deep breath and then set his beer on the counter. "It's fine, Lucia. It's because I care about you that I dug into the part of myself I never look at. I’m not that guy. That sweet funny guy. I’m this guy. Cold, calculating. A killer. That other guy was a mask I used to put on like a suit every day. I don't have to do that now. The job was to look after you. There was no way in hell anyone was going to hurt you on my watch. Even if it meant letting out a part of me that's hard to shut back in the bottle."

  She studied him closely. "I'm sorry you had to dig into that part of yourself for me. Sorry any of you—" Before she could even get the thought out, his arms wound around her like a vice and he dragged her to the ground. Something ricocheted off of the granite countertop, sending shards everywhere.

  From the living room, Jonas and Oskar cursed and there were more loud pops of gunfire.

  Matthias reached above him and grabbed a gun that was stored underneath the countertop, pulling her with him to the other side of the island. Shots rang around them and all Lucia could do was curl herself into a ball.

  Matthias tucked her firmly in front of him where the bullets wouldn’t hit her, and he stood firing off two rounds. The loud bang bang pop pop sounds echoed in her ears.

  From the other room, Jonas shouted, “Motherfucker. Oskar!”

  Then there was silence. Wait, not entirely silent. She kept hearing the pffft, pfft sound, but couldn't identify it.

  Usually the sound was quickly followed by what sounded like things breaking or being hit, or shattering. And then she heard the real gunshots, their booming noise echoing all around her in the penthouse.

  There was a moment of silence then she heard a whistle. Somewhere to the left of the kitchen. Two short whistles, then Matthias whistled back.

  When he turned his attention to her, he whispered, "Listen, we’re going to get you to the panic room okay? I need you to do exactly what I tell you. I'm trying to keep you safe."

  Lucia nodded then took the hand that he proffered. And then they were running. Her feet were bare, and the shards of glass and marble shredded her soles but she didn't even stop to think. But they didn't make it far.

  Suddenly there was a loud oomph, and Matthias was flying forward. She was forced to let go of his hand, and she stumbled backward on her hands and feet. Gunfire rained around her, and all she could do was duck and tuck her head.

  In front of her they were fighting; Matthias, Jonas, Oskar. All of them fought a man in all black, complete with black mask. But Oskar only seemed to be able to use one arm. She watched in horror as the man in black grabbed Oskar by the hair then aggressively assisted him to the ground … headfirst. The
resounding crack made her stomach lurch.

  Fear and anguish took hold of her frontal cortex. All this was for her. They're all going to get hurt. She had to do something.

  Anything.

  Matthias and Jonas traded shots with the guy. Somehow Matthias was better at blocking the blows and Jonas took a hard kick to the head.

  Lucia wanted to scream, “Leave Matthias alone. Take me. Do whatever it was that you want with me.” But she sat frozen. She didn't want to see Matthias hurt.

  But Matthias wasn't getting hurt. He was on his feet and going hand-to-hand with the guy. Trading punches and elbows and kicks in a flurry of moving arms and legs. And then she saw it. This wasn’t her friend Matthias. He wasn't affable and lovable. That was his Matthias suit like he’d said. Matthias, like Noah, was a killer.

  She’d seen a hint of it at the fashion show. But this … this was the real him. The guy procured a knife, and instead of showing fear, she was pretty sure Matthias smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. It was a smile that said he was going to enjoy killing him.

  Behind them, Jonas shoved himself to standing and went after the guy, then it was two-on-one again. Jonas and Matthias, bearing down on the guy. Backing him off.

  The guy in black reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and threw it straight into Jonas’s face. The next thing she knew, Jonas was wheezing and coughing, clutching at his throat. Lucia ran over, trying help. Trying to do something. But her movements must've alerted the attacker to her position because his attention drifted to her for just a split-econd.

  Just long enough for Matthias to get a good hit. The attacker’s head snapped to the side, and Matthias kept hitting him. His handsome features a mask of rage and ... joy. He was enjoying himself. The man in black started to go down.

  She tried to grab Jonas by the shoulders and drag him back into the kitchen. To get something that could wash whatever it was that was hurting him off his face.

  Matthias was going for the guy, sitting over him. Pop. Pop. He got him twice before the assailant managed to deflect one of the punches. In a split second they rolled and fought over the knife.

  Shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Matthias was going to die. They all were. Because of her. No way was she letting that happen. She searched for a weapon. Anything.

  And then she noted the recycling that hadn’t been taken out. There were some wine bottles in there. She left Jonas where he was and ran into the kitchen, well aware now of the cuts she was getting on the bottom of her feet.

  Her first stop was one of the towels. She wet it and then snagged one of the wine bottles out of the recycling bin. Running back to Jonas, she wiped his face. And he was able to blink up at her. At least that was something. What the hell was he mouthing? Oh. Run. He was saying run. Her gaze slid to the door. And flickered back at her friends. Oskar was down, unconscious. Jonas was also incapacitated. And Matthias, if she didn’t do something, he’d die. Hell no. She wasn’t leaving her friends.

  She wiped Jonas’s face and shook her head. "I'm not running."

  And then she went straight for Matthias and the asshole in black. As they tumbled and fought for the knife, she raised the wine bottle. Matthias shook his head. She ignored him, trying to bring the bottle cracking down on the guy’s head, but it was as if he sensed the movement and deftly rolled out of the way. Putting him on top of Matthias and giving him the leverage with the knife. Hell no.

  She ran right up to him and wrapped an arm around his neck, trying to drag him off Matthias. And then she remembered all the things that Noah had taught her. Eyes, nose, throat. She tightened her arm around his trachea. But she didn't have enough strength to pull him off Matthias. Switching tactics, she took her thumbs and pushed them straight to the guy’s eyeballs and he howled, but he didn't let go of Matthias.

  Instead, he delivered a straight shot to Matthias's nose. She could hear Matthias’s head ricochet off the wood floor before he groaned. He reached out for the guy, but the other guy just shoved at his chest and stood, then he came straight for her. She scrambled for her wine bottle again, raising it like a weapon. All he did was shrug his shoulders, rolling them back. Preparing for her assault.

  Jonas pushed himself to standing as he blinked rapidly. He held his hands out in front of himself. He couldn’t see. Shit. Now was a good time to run. Spinning around, she bolted, her bare feet crunching on the glass and the shards of marble. She just needed to get to the stairs or in one of the halls and scream bloody murder. Someone would come to help her. To die? What if this guy had brought friends?

  She could hear his heavy footfalls behind her. And then the blood on her feet must have made her slip because next thing she knew she was ass over teakettle, and she had barely made it around the foyer.

  But she didn't hit the ground with a crack. Instead he lifted her and threw her over his shoulder. As he positioned her, he wrapped something around her waist, like a belt. She used the wine bottle to hit him in the kidneys. She kicked. No way in hell she’d go quietly. But his grip was too tight.

  "Relax, Lulu. You only hurt yourself doing this.” He was carrying her back toward the spare bedrooms.

  Oh fuck no. No way in hell.

  They passed Jonas who was now back on his knees as he blindly tried to get to Matthias. Matthias was also getting back up. But Oskar didn’t move. Fuck. She fought as hard as she could.

  Because no one was coming for her. Noah was out looking for answers. He wouldn’t be back for God knows how long. She couldn’t let him take her in there.

  "Lulu, I told you to stop it.”

  And then it filtered in. That voice. The way he said her name. Oh my God.

  "Rafe?"

  His hands stilled. But he didn't say anything. Nor did he remove his mask.

  Her voice was hoarse, and she asked again, "Rafe?"

  The crack of gunfire fire hit the doorjamb just as they passed through it. The guy tossed her to the bed and looked around, and then Lucia saw him pull a knife and throw it toward the door. All she heard was a grunt of pain and then another crack of gunfire. The guy looked from her, to the door, then back to her again, cursed, and went for the window. He took something from his hip and attached it to the edge of the windowsill. Then he hopped up and was out the window.

  Coughing, the shock still flooding her body, she stumbled to the window. They were in the freaking penthouse, where was he going to go? Then she saw what was on the windowsill. A grappling hook. He rappelled down the building to the wide balcony several floors down then he dashed inside.

  Oh God. That voice. Could it be? Behind her, she heard the one voice that could break through her terror and her anguish and her … hope.

  "Lucia. Oh my God. You're okay?"

  She turned to find Noah in the doorway. He stumbled and reached for her as though she were his lifeline. She limped and met him halfway. He snapped his arms around her and let the cocoon of his warmth calm her as she sank into him.

  "Where is he? Did he hurt you?"

  All she could do was shake her head and point to the window and the grappling hook still attached to the sill. “He went out the window." It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Noah that she thought it was Rafe. But she knew how that would sound. Her brother was gone.

  So then who the hell was it that just used her nickname?

  THANK YOU for reading Shameful, the second book of the exciting new romantic misadventure trilogy, Shameless. Read the last book, Unashamed, HERE

  - PLEASE AVOID SPOILERS IN REVIEWS -

  Did you leave a review for the previous books? If you’ve already reviewed Shameless and Shameful, you might qualify for a FREE review copy of Book 3 Unashamed! Apply to get a review copy here -> www.malonesquared.com/unashamed-openARCcall

  NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY Bestselling author M. MALONE lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with her three favorite guys: her husband and their two sons. She holds a Master's degree in Business from a prestigious college that would no doubt be scandalized at how she
's using her expensive education.

  Independently published, she has sold more than 1/2 million ebooks in her two series THE ALEXANDERS and BLUE-COLLAR BILLIONAIRES. Since starting her indie journey in 2011 with the runaway bestselling novella "Teasing Trent", her work has appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than a dozen times.

  She's now a full-time writer and spends 99.8% of her time in her pajamas.

  minxmalone.com

  USA Today Bestselling Author, NANA MALONE’s love of all things romance and adventure started with a tattered romantic suspense she borrowed from her cousin on a sultry summer afternoon in Ghana at a precocious thirteen. She’s been in love with kick butt heroines ever since.

  With her overactive imagination, and channeling her inner Buffy, it was only a matter a time before she started creating her own characters. Waiting for her chance at a job as a ninja assassin, Nana, meantime works out her drama, passion and sass with fictional characters every bit as sassy and kick butt as she thinks she is.

  nanamaloneromance.net

  SHAMEFUL © JUNE 2017 M. Malone and Nana Malone

  MALONE SQUARED

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address MALONE SQUARED, 340 S Lemon Ave #9016, Walnut , CA 91789