Reed (A Redemption Romance Book 5)
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Reed
A Redemption Romance
Book 5
The Series Finale
Anna Scott
He wants her, is desperate for her, but will his job take her away from him too?
When this ATF Agent's past comes back, it's the worst possible time for him to lose his way.
Reed Allen may put his life on the line everyday for the country he loves, but he's willing to do anything for the amazing woman he's fallen for.
Gillian Young may be young and inexperienced, but she's got a backbone of steel. Regardless of her past, she's willing to fall for the first man to turn her head, if only he would stop giving her mixed signals.
When out of the blue, Gillian's world crumbles around her feet, she's desolate and lost. With no where to turn, she pulls up her boots and faces it all head on - until another unexpected demon rears its ugly head and everything she's worked so hard for is threatened.
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Table of contents
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
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Reed
"Where the fuck are they?" I shouted at everyone and no one. They were gone, they were fucking gone. It had been fourteen hours and there was no sign. It was like they just up and vanished.
"Calm your shit, bud. I know you're freaked, but losing it now won't help."
I shrugged Jake's hand off my shoulder and glared at the other man, the venom dripping from my words as I spoke. "Don't give me that bullshit, if this was your fucking family you would have already lost it."
Jake's mouth tightened and I knew I had hit my mark. None of these guys, not fucking one of them could stand in my shoes right now and keep it together. When the shit had gone down almost a year before with Hope and she was beat to shit by her stalker ex boyfriend, Jake was out of his mind too, and it wasn't fucking fourteen hours of nothing - fourteen hours of the worst nightmare of his life that he had to live through.
Tyler, my partner at the ATF office, my best friends Luke, Jake, Gavin, and Trent, as well as some other guys Justin, Dan, Frank and Bobby formed a loose huddle around me and I knew they were about to lock me down. They either had something, or were preparing for me to go off on one.
The chill of fear crawled down my spine, dread coursed through me and as I stared each of the men in the face, I waited. I fucking waited for something.
Months Earlier...
Reed
Drumming music blasted through my wireless earbuds as my feet pounded the pavement. The sun was just beginning to rise over the streets of my hometown, McKinney, Texas. Fortunately for me and my daily run, the citizens of this once small town weren't out in droves yet. Random and disjointed thoughts flitted through my mind each time the song changed. Gillian, my mom, DeMarco the fucked up case that just hit my desk and Gillian - Gillian - Gillian.
When Master of Puppets came on, I blanked my mind of everything and focused on each pounding step. A quick look down at my watch told me it was already five-forty-five, which meant that if I wanted to have time to take my dog out, I had better pick up the pace.
I used to take Blazer, my six-year-old Irish Setter with me on my morning run, but about eight months ago, he started limping. After taking him to the vet and paying through the ass to find out what was wrong with him, I was informed that he had hip dysplasia. Thankfully, we caught it before the arthritis set in, so I was able to adjust his lifestyle and add in a shit load of healthy food and vitamins. Unfortunately, he couldn't run eight miles a day with me anymore.
Turning the corner that would take me around the block and back toward my house, I saw the reason for my chosen route up ahead. Gillian Cathleen Young, age twenty-three, born June 9, 1993. I met Gillian over a year ago at Indulgence, a woman's shop owned by my good friend Aurora, who was the sister of one of my Marine Corps brothers. Nolan had struggled with PTSD and after a few years, committed suicide. Since Nolan's suicide Aurora had hooked up with Luke who was Nolan's best friend and another Corps brother. The couple married just about a year later.
Gillian ran the cafe down the street from Aurora's store, she was shy and young. Too young for me. She was the woman I couldn't get out of my mind. I didn't see her often, almost never during my daily run, but now she appeared to be pacing on the sidewalk next to her car. The small gray SUV was parked on the street, in front of the cafe with the hood up. As I approached, I heard the soft melodic tones of her voice. She sounded more agitated than I had ever heard before. As I got closer, I slowed my pace and stopped just a few feet behind her. She hadn't noticed me yet, so I was able to hear her conversation.
"Can't you get anyone here sooner?" She pleaded into the phone. When she turned to walk back to the front of the car, she noticed me. Stopping mid-step, she stared at me in shock. It must have seemed that I had appeared out of thin air.
She acquiesced with the person on the other end of the line and pushed the button to disconnect her call. Several seconds passed, as we looked at one another before I finally broke the silence.
"Gilli, what's up?"
Shaking her head as if to clear it, she broke eye contact and looked toward the open hood of the car and huffed. "It won't start."
Stepping toward the vehicle, I asked, "Want me to take a look?"
"Sure," she replied with a shrug of her delicate shoulders.
After a few questions to unearth the problem, I fiddled with the battery connection.
"Do you have baking soda and vinegar?" With a puzzled look my way, she nodded and walked into the cafe, which wasn't open for business yet.
After about twenty minutes, I'd cleaned the corrosion from her battery and tightened the connections. She was able to get it going again. Thankfully the battery hadn't been dead since I was a good distance from my truck and it sounded like the roadside assistance company was going to be quite a while.
"Thank you so much, Reed. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up when you did." With the issue resolved, she relaxed and even graced me with one of her beautiful smiles.
"Glad I was able to help."
Her eyes seemed to be trained on my chest. Confused, I glanced down and realized that my tight moisture wicking tee was sticking to my sweat-dampened skin, clearly outlining the muscles that lay underneath. Gillian's gaze moved slightly taking in the size of my pecs, my shoulders and finally to the ink clearly visible from under the fabric. My shirt was old, and I had cut the sleeves off years ago, so the eagle wings that curled up and over my shoulders from my back, poked out. She could also easily see the USMC insignia on my left bicep, along with random other tattoos I had gotten over the years.
"Um, yeah. Thanks." She stammered quietly, her fo
cus still on my body.
My cock decided to stand up and take notice of the beautiful young woman eyeing me. The prick probably would start waving around to get her to look down at him soon. I had a feeling that wouldn't give him the result, he hoped for. I was a big man - everywhere. More than one woman had expressed reservations with me when it came to naked time. I wondered if Gillian would be afraid of it, would I ever get the chance to find out? With her car running, I lowered the hood and tried to hide my growing excitement and wondered how the fuck I was going to run home in this state.
"Come in anytime and have coffee and something to eat, on the house." She offered, finally dragging her stare to my face.
"Thank you. You know I love your...,"
"Bear Claws," she answered for me, then she giggled. Damn, that was sweet. Sweet? Fuck, she was young. YOUNG damn it. She was young. Right? I mean, twenty-three was young, but was twenty-nine too old?
Gillian's face was gentle, her appearance naturally beautiful. When she looked up at me like she was doing right then, I felt like I could do anything.
"Hey, Gilli?" I asked, nervous as hell, but knowing that if I didn't do that shit immediately, I would regret it forever.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to go out with me this weekend?"
I watched closely for her reaction. I saw surprise, a little bit of wariness, but overall I saw excitement.
"Um, sure. I could go out Saturday. The cafe is closed on Sunday, so I don't have to get up this early." She was nervous, so she rattled on all in a rush, but she said yes.
A smile spread huge across my mouth, and I noticed her eyes dip to it and linger there just before she licked her lips. Well, damn, that didn't help my dick.
We talked for another couple of minutes setting up the time, and I used her phone to text myself so she had my number and I had hers. She texted me her home address, which was just down the street from me. I actually knew that already, but decided that I shouldn't mention it. I didn't want her to know just how creepy I was. Hell, I had been lusting after that woman from the first moment I saw her. It hadn't taken much to find out everything I wanted to know about her.
As an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or ATF I had access to plenty of information, but since I wasn't a total douchebag, I hadn't utilized any federal databases to glean information on Gilli. Nope, I did it the old fashioned way - Google search.
Chapter 2
Gillian
Present Day...
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, II will fear no evil," I chanted, repeating the twenty-third Psalm over and over again, the verse I memorized in kindergarten, the one I called on. I prayed, I pleaded with God to remember us, to see us, to lead the men who were most definitely searching to find us.
"The Lord is my Shepard, I shall now want," I whispered into the barely lit room, not knowing if anyone was out there, if anyone could hear me. I wiped the hair away from the sleeping child that I held cradled in my lap and let my mind wander.
Months Earlier...
"Hey," opening the door to my tiny yellow house, I looked up into the striking azure eyes of Reed Allen. His soft grin lit his eyes with a light like nothing I had ever seen before. A timid smile shone on my lips, and I glanced down shyly before he saw the eagerness that most assuredly was shining in my eyes.
"Hey," he responded, placing a single gentle finger under my chin. When my eyes met his once more, I knew the same excitement was as clear on my face as it was on his.
Clearing his throat, Reed glanced away, then back with a slightly nervous and timid smile. Tilting my head to the right, I wondered at the change in his expression.
"These are for you," Reed stated, pulling something from behind his back.
Reluctantly, my eyes broke from his and I saw the pretty bunch of wild flowers he held in his huge hand. The beautiful blooms were dwarfed by the sheer mammoth size of his fist.
"Thank you." I felt unsure, but elated. My smile had grown huge as I reached out to take them from his outstretched hand. No man had ever brought me flowers before. Taking the bouquet, I motioned for him to come inside.
As the southern gentleman stepped inside, he wiped his feet on the doormat and removed the ball cap from his head. Both actions were done seamlessly, almost without thought. It was clear that it was a behavior that had been trained in him since childhood.
After offering him a seat on the sofa, I excused myself to the kitchen. Not finding a vase, since I didn't own one, I pulled down my cream colored ceramic milk pitcher and arranged the flowers, then gently caressed several of the stems before placing them in the water. I took the time alone to pull myself together and enjoy the fragrance of the buds.
"These are beautiful, Reed. Thank you."
Standing to his feet, he approached me just as I placed the simple old pitcher onto my battered farm table. My house and most of its furnishings were old. My grandparents had lived in the house before their passing two years before. They had left it all to me.
"Not nearly as beautiful as you are." Reed's quietly spoken words took me by surprise. I blushed slightly, as my cheeks had a tendency to do, I nodded my thanks and looked away.
"I'll just grab my bag."
Before I could escape to the solace of my bedroom, Reed caught my hand in his and brushed his lips over my knuckles. A tingle swept down my spine at the contact, and I knew that Reed was like no man I'd ever met before.
Dinner was a relaxed affair, something for which I was very happy. Reed took me to a local steak house that had tons of great options. I wasn't a particularly picky eater but I had a few food allergies that sometimes made things awkward. I hated standing out or making a spectacle of myself. It was a nice place, but not fussy like so many of the places closer to Dallas.
With the early heat wave that had taken over McKinney, I had opted for a pair of cuffed navy shorts and a silver ruffled top with matching silver strappy sandals. When choosing an outfit from my small and limited closet, I had assumed that we were staying local. Around here, that meant casual. Thankfully, I hadn't been wrong. Even at formal events, some of the attendees would be in jeans.
"You grew up here too?" Reed asked after the pretty young waitress took our drink orders. She was eyeing Reed the entire time she stood by our table and I wondered if he got that kind of thing a lot. I wasn't jealous, well, maybe a little bit, but I didn't have any claim on him. Reed was polite but didn't even seem to notice that she was female. His focus was solely on me since the moment he arrived at my house.
"I did. Well, not in town. We didn't leave the farm until I was older." I frowned, remembering how hard it had been on my family when we were forced to move to town.
"Me too. I was twelve when we left the ranch." Reed shared, seeming to have regrets of his own.
Only a few moments of silence enveloped us as we each struggled with our own inward reflections. Breaking the quiet, I asked, "How old were you when you joined the Marine Corps?"
Relieved eyes met my own. I didn't know what he felt relief from, but I didn't press. My question broke the stillness and our once easy conversation began again.
"I was seventeen when I climbed on that bus, taking me away from everything I knew. It was probably the most frightening thing I had ever done up until that point."
"Why so young?"
"I graduated at seventeen. I didn't turn eighteen until August, and I couldn't sit around the house all summer doing nothing while mama worked. I was able to convince her to sign the form allowing me to join as a minor. She didn't want to, but understood my need to begin my life." I sensed that there was more to that story.
"What about you?" Reed inquired.
Offering him a raised brow and a slightly sarcastic smile, I reminded him that I hadn't ever gone into the military.
"Yeah, you're definitely one to watch, aren't you?"
"What on earth do you mean?" Offering the picture of innocence, I batted my hazel eyes up at him.
"Okay, seriously. What did you do after high school?"
I began my tale, leaving out most of the sad parts. I glossed over the difficulty of my father's heart attack the year before, the loss of my aunt and uncle and all the other crap going on in my life.
"How old are you?" I asked abruptly.
Reed seemed taken aback. He pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and seemed reluctant to answer. Wondering why I sat patiently and waited for his response. I wasn't going to let him off the hook. Was he like thirty-five or something? I didn't think so. I knew most of the other guys were in their late twenties, someone might have been thirty, but I couldn't remember.
"Why don't you want to tell me?" I pressed.
"I'm so much older than you are. I don't want you to tell me to take you home." He admitted, reaching across the table to clasp my hand in his. Squeezing it gently, he explained. "I'm enjoying our date. I want to have a lot more of them."
Feeling the color rise to my face again, I ducked my head. "I'm having a good time too," I whispered, feeling overly exposed. "But, I still want to know how old you are," I encouraged.
"Twenty-nine. Please don't toss me out because I'm too old for you." He seemed to be begging me, which I found cute.
"No, you're not too old. I thought you were going to say something like thirty-nine. That might be a stretch."
Reed's eyebrows lifted so fast, his eyes wide in shock at my statement. I had to think fast about what I had said, to figure out what was so shocking.
Laughing to myself, I thought it funny that such a handsome man would worry about what I thought.