by M. Malone
I’ve always loved you in red.
The memory slammed into her as crisp and clear as if it had just happened. David loved for her to wear lip color but he had particularly loved it when she wore red lipstick.
JJ turned to Jonas, clutching the macabre doll to her chest. “He was never really gone, was he?”
Jonas pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Who, sweetheart?”
“David,” she murmured.
“We’ve had all our contacts watching out for Chamaeleon. You don’t need to worry. You’re safe,” he promised.
But JJ had gotten the message. Loud and clear. She wasn’t safe and she never had been.
And neither were the people she loved.
THANK YOU for reading the first book of the FORCE duet. The next book, Enforce, releases on 8/29/17. PREORDER NOW at malonesquared.com/enforce
While you’re waiting for Enforce, catch up on Noah and Lucia's thrilling trilogy SHAMELESS! Keep reading for an excerpt.
I am the thing that goes bump in the night. I am a liar, a protector ... a killer ... I am Noah Blake.
There is only one light in my darkness, one bright ray in the storm of my life. Lucia DeMarco. And I’ll do anything for her. Anything except show her who I really am: an assassin. Well, former assassin. I don’t really do that anymore ... usually.
It would be easier if she didn’t call me names. Asshole, control freak … shameless. It would also be easier if she didn’t look at me with those trusting gray eyes. If I didn’t dream about the perfect curve of her — Never mind all that. The point is she’s digging into my world, my secrets, and it’s going to get her killed.
But first, we have another more immediate concern. Lucia is going on a date—with someone else ...
And I’m not allowed to kill this one.
Excerpt of Shameless © May 2017 M. Malone and Nana Malone
Noah watched the date from the comfort of his SUV. All the while silently fuming.
What the hell did Lucia think she was doing? His team hadn't vetted the guy. They didn't know anything about him. So far, she'd broken all of the dating rules he'd given her.
For the first date, always meet your date at your designated location. And of course, she'd let this doofus pick her up for their date. As if he hadn't told her a million times to do the exact opposite.
He'd also been very clear not to get in the car with her date. So that was rule one and rule two broken right off the bat. As if he hadn't trained her on how to be careful and what to watch out for. But oh no, Lucia didn't listen to shit. Every time he turned around, there she was, careening headfirst into trouble.
Maybe she didn't see her date as a potential threat, but dammit she needed to be more careful. What the hell did she even know about this guy?
"What the hell kind of name is Brent anyway?"
Noah hadn't even realized that he'd spoken out loud, until the voice in his comm unit laughed. "Last I checked, Brent is a perfectly normal name. Lots of guys have it."
Noah barely restrained a growl. "Matthias, when I want your input, I'll give it to you."
There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. Noah made a mental note to give Matthias some really horrible surveillance duty for the next month. This wasn't funny. This was Lucia. They all cared about her well-being.
Maybe you more than the others.
Yeah, so what? He cared about her. And maybe it wasn't the easiest thing in the world watching her date loser after loser. But it was his job, no strike that, it was his responsibility to look after her. He owed Rafe that much. But how the hell was he supposed to look out for her when she kept making it so damn difficult? Lucia was obstinate, infuriating, pigheaded, and—
Beautiful.
No. She was like a little sister to him. Yet somehow his dick couldn't seem to get with that program lately. More and more frequently, some very unsisterly thoughts wormed their way into his consciousness.
"Matthias, give me something on this Brent guy. Aren't you supposed to be some kind of super-hacker?"
"You better believe it. But, there's nothing on him. Everything is normal. Boring. Most interesting thing about this guy is he likes adventure sports. He skydives, bungee jumps, that sort of thing. Does some triathlons. Maybe he's some kind of adrenaline junkie. But there's nothing else on him. No flags. He lives here in New York in the East Village. No roommates, rent isn't exorbitant. Works for the city. No large withdrawals of cash, good credit. As far as I can tell, he's clean. But that's just his electronic trail. Maybe you're right on this one and he's a little too clean. I mean, there's not even an online dating profile on him. To me, that's weird. Who doesn't have an online dating profile?"
Noah chuckled and then lifted his binoculars again. Lucia was laughing at something. So Brent thought he was a comedian, huh? What the hell was so damn funny? There was too much interference to use the boom mic, otherwise he'd know.
Brent reached across the table and took Lucia's hand, and Noah nearly chipped a tooth from grinding his teeth so hard. He could see Lucia's eyes go wide. Was that surprise? He hoped it was disgust.
Did she actually like this guy?
His gut clenched at the thought. Perfect, just what he needed. Lucia liking this fucking idiot.
It wasn't that she hadn't dated before. She had. Mostly in college. Most of those guys had merely needed a strong reminder to mind their Ps & Qs with her. But this guy, this guy was random—unknown. Which meant it would take more work to scare him off. But Noah was up for the challenge.
Lucia deserved to be happy, just with somebody vetted and approved. After the shit she had survived in her life? The girl needed some happy endings.
Fuck. Not happy endings.
He groaned and turned his attention back to the restaurant. Brent raised a hand and signaled their server. Shit, they were leaving. The real trick was guessing where they were going. He'd put a tracker on her phone, so if he guessed wrong, he could always follow. But what if something happened to her before he could get there?
"Matthias, turn on the listening device on her phone. I'm heading to the house in case that's where they go."
There was a beat of silence. He could almost hear Matthias's silent condemnation. "The thing is, Noah, she's not going to like that."
"The thing is, Matthias, I don't care," he muttered using the same singsong tone.
Yeah, he knew he sounded like an asshole. But this was Lucia. If she wasn't going to take care of herself, that left it to him to do it for her. They had one simple rule: He vetted all her dates. And sometimes, without her knowing, he'd scare them off. But that was really beside the point. It wasn't his fault she couldn't pick a decent guy.
He made a left turn on 10th Ave, right near the USB Theater, then he sped through Chelsea before making a left on 28th Street, heading toward Chelsea Piers. He made a right at the stop sign, turning onto her quiet street. The street was lined with lofts and new apartment high-rises, all boasting a name with Arms, or Manor.
Before she'd moved, Noah and his team researched the building's owners and the neighborhood crime rate. Everything to make sure she would be safe. Well as safe as she could be in Manhattan. It also didn't hurt that he watched her every move. And not in some creepy, stalkery way, but more like a big brother way. Sort of ...
Never mind that. He drove past her building and around the back to the lot he paid for specifically for these kinds of situations. Yeah, so maybe he also paid most of her rent. She thought she’d gotten extremely lucky with a rent-controlled apartment in the heart of the city. In reality, he paid most of the tab. He also paid for two parking spots. Not that Lucia had a car. But in case she ever got one, she’d have somewhere safe to park it. Somewhere right next to the damn elevator. He paid almost as much to secure that spot as he paid for the apartment. His spot was in the darkened shadows somewhere she’d never think to look. He didn’t mind though, because in most scenarios, he was the thing that went bump in the night.
"
Matthias, talk to me. Where are they headed?"
"They're stopping for ice cream at Benny's then he's going to take her home."
Okay, so Noah had about ten minutes. Benny's was a local mom-and-pop ice-cream place about five blocks away. He jogged along the parking garage to the side stairs. While he'd insisted that she get a building with a doorman, there was no accounting for the additional exits and entrances into the building. Luckily, this one was exit only. Only confirmed residents had keys. Unfortunately, even your average guy could pick these locks, and he happened to be better than average.
In less than a minute, he was through the door and took the back stairway up to her apartment. She'd listened to him and employed the deadbolt. Problem for her was he had a key.
In seconds he turned off her security alarm. Well, at least there was that. Lucia had been so against it in the first place. At least she realized that a woman living alone needed some security. He glanced around and noted that she'd changed a few things. Was that a new pillow?
Matthias spoke into his earpiece. "You've got about five, boss. They've stopped outside the apartment. I'm going to go ahead and turn off the mic on her phone now if that's okay with you."
More judgment from the youngest member of the team. Whatever. He'd deal with that later. Now, the real question was where to wait for her.
What if she brought the guy in here?
Oh hell no. The mere idea of it had him gripping the edge of the countertop. She had better be coming in alone.
Didn't she know the first thing about dating? Damn it, this was their first date. She was supposed to make the guy twist in the wind for a bit first.
How many one-night stands have you had?
No. He was not going to think about that. It was different. That's all. Besides, Lucia was a good kid. And there was no way Nonna DeMarco would approve.
He'd give her a few minutes to run the guy off herself, and then the two of them were going to have another conversation about dating and personal safety.
She couldn't really be interested in this guy, right? He was boring. Unlike you? Noah grimaced. Yeah well, she didn't need to date anyone like him either. If she did, Noah would have to employ more drastic measures to keep her safe.
No. Lucia needed a nice guy, but someone more interesting than a records keeper.
Okay, if he was going to give her the chance to send Brent packing by herself, he needed to wait somewhere other than the living room. If she caught sight of Noah first, and if she was carrying that Taser he'd given her for Christmas, he might end up as fried toast. He jogged down the hallway and turned left into her bedroom, gently closing the door behind himself.
He hopped onto her bed, bouncing slightly and leaned back against the pillows. I’ve always loved how girly she is, he thought, enjoying the scent of her perfume in the room and looking around at the four-poster bed, the soft colors, and all the ruffled pillows. He also loved that when she completely lost her temper her curls went flying and her eyes snapped with anger.
It was probably why he enjoyed pissing her off so much.
Something caught his eye as he lay back against the pillows, readjusting them for his comfort. Her bottom drawer was open.
Do not open it. Leave it be. She won't appreciate — Oh fuck it.
He pulled it open and took out his phone, shining the flashlight directly inside.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Read Shameless now at malonesquared.com/shameless
about the authors
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
Force © August 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
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ISBN-13: 978-1-946961-06-8
Print ISBN: 978-1-946961-07-5