Rising (Anderson Special Ops Book 2)

by Melody Anne

  “. . . so excited to see you again. And Mary Beth has been reading all of your articles and says you have such a gift. Of course, I’ve known this all of your life . . .” Her gramps kept on talking, but Daisy tuned him out. How could she tell her gramps she’d failed at saving yet another historic place and that no one wanted to hear about history, or how important it was. Yes, she kept on writing about her adventures, but even her articles weren’t getting much traction. What was she going to do? Should she give it all up?

  As her gramp’s voice continued speaking in her ear buds, she looked at the sea of people surrounding her. There were some leery looking travelers, but most people seemed happy and festive as if they’d had a great vacation. But this was a long flight, and no one in the airport would be doing anything but sleeping for the next fifteen hours. With all of the delays, though, who knew what actual time they’d make it to the states.

  “Are you listening to me?” That question came through loud and clear. Daisy must’ve forgotten to murmur or agree with something her gramps had said. She looked at the floor.

  “Sorry, gramps, they were making an announcement,” she said a bit sheepishly. She’d definitely been taught to respect her grandfather, and all of her elders, no matter what the situation. It didn’t matter how old Daisy got. She had no doubt whatsoever, that her grandpa would still give her hair a good yank if she wasn’t behaving. That thought made her smile . . . finally.

  “I guess you’re pretty busy. It’s just been too long since I’ve seen you, and I’m very excited to have you home. This time, I hope it’s for longer than a few days,” her grandfather chastised.

  Daisy had lived with her grandfather most of her life. She’d been an only child, and hadn’t realized growing up, what a blessing that had been. It meant she’d gotten the full attention of her grandpa, if not her parents. Sure, he’d had a life outside of her, but he’d also supported her in everything she’d ever done.

  Her grandpa had attended all of her sporting events, school activities, and had been there for every special moment in her life. From all of the people she’d met since leaving home, she realized what a true blessing that was. A lot of parents had no idea what their children did outside of the home. She’d always been able to tell her grandpa anything. She should be able to now. But this time, she was failing — it wasn’t something she was used to.

  Daisy had graduated college at the age of twenty, taking so many credits in high school she’d been halfway finished when she’d entered as a sophomore. Then she’d taken brutal course loads and gone on through the summers.

  A lot of kids liked their time at school. She’d actually loved schoolwork, she’d just been ready to move on in life. She’d wanted a career, and had always carried visions of saving the world one building, one historic area, and one town at a time. The real world hadn’t been as kind as she’d imagined it would be.

  She’d made enough with her writing over the past seven years to not need help from anyone, but just barely. She’d even managed to publish some great material as she’d traveled the world. But she still wasn’t making a difference.

  Tired of pacing the terminal, Daisy found an empty chair between a man and woman who sort of appeared to be together, but didn’t look too happy with each other. She thought about reconsidering and just standing, but she was bone tired.

  She sat and faced forward as her grandpa continued speaking.

  “The Anderson’s are building a new housing area in town for seniors that’s going to have a recreation center, a coffee house and an indoor swimming pool. I’m so excited. I already put my name on the list. I just love the Anderson’s. They’re such good people, and they have new nephews who just happen to be single . . .” Her grandfather kept on going, but Daisy’s spidey senses were instantly tingling.

  She knew all about the Andersons as her grandfather had been friends with Joseph Anderson for as long as she could remember. She’d rarely seen her grandfather’s friend, but her grandfather spoke kindly about him and that was all she needed to know about him. Joseph was practically royalty in the Seattle area, but she’d learned long ago that money didn’t make someone better.

  She wasn’t worried about her grandfather moving. The land he’d been on had been in their family for three generations. She’d one day do something beautiful with the property, helping others, possibly making a community center. But that would come years down the road.

  “Gramps, absolutely positively don’t even begin to think about playing matchmaker. I’ve had one disastrous relationship after another, and I’m tired of men thinking they’re the alpha and omega. I just want to figure out my path and do it without any men holding my hand. And there’s no way I’d want to date an Anderson with all of their money and egos that are bigger than their wallets.”

  Her grandpa kept on going as if she hadn’t said anything. “Can’t wait for you to be home. You missed the holidays. But none of that matters now because you’ll be home for this year’s festivities. I’m so glad I’ll have you back. Your parents wanted to travel the world, too, and they had a passion for it, but I love that you appreciate home. You know, I’m an old man and only have so much time left.”

  Her grandfather had used that line on her before, and though it did fill her with guilt to think of being gone and something happening to him, her grandpa was in excellent health. She’d always known she’d one day settle back at home, but she’d been hoping it wouldn’t be quite so soon.

  However, she might be coming home to a small town, but it was also near Seattle. It shouldn’t be too hard to find work. She had to earn money so she could focus on her true passion of saving the world. What was she going to do next, though? What could she do to make people care?

  She sat there feeling uninspired. No matter how much she shouted at the top of her lungs, no one seemed to listen. That wasn’t a good place to go in her mind. If she gave up on herself she wouldn’t be able to convince anyone of anything. So what could she do?

  What if she wrote a book? What if she turned an article into a work of fiction that would draw people in? What if she gave a story to these historic places? Would that make people care more?

  She heard nothing of what her grandfather said as that idea popped into her brain. She’d authored many articles that had put money into her account, and sure, they didn’t get national attention, but they paid her bills. She knew how to put words on paper, and make them flow. How hard could it be to go from writing articles to writing an entire book? It seemed like an impossible feat, but she loved writing, and she more than loved research, so couldn’t she come up with a good enough story to make it novel length — to make people love a place as much as she did?

  She wasn’t sure.

  It was an intimidating thought. She wouldn’t be able to go months or a year without any income, so maybe she’d work a part time job, just enough to pay her bills while she worked on a great American Novel. What would she call it? What place would she write about? What would people be inspired by? She didn’t know where to begin.

  “It’s been raining here a lot, but this is the wet season. Soon, it’ll be nothing but sunshine and summer breezes. I’m truly grateful not to live in a place that gets piles of snow all winter. Some of those towns don’t get unburied until June. Can you imagine how awful that would be? No way. I’m not interested,” her grandpa said.

  Daisy wondered if her grandpa just needed someone to talk to. Maybe since it was the end of spring everyone was hunkering down. She should be more grateful she got to talk to her grandpa at all considering there were so many people in the world who didn’t have family left.

  “Grandpa, I have to get off the phone. They’re starting to make announcements and I need to make sure I don’t miss this flight. We can talk for days when I get home,” Daisy said.

  Her grandpa finally paused. She could hear the smile in his voice. “I can’t wait for you to get here, Sweet Pea. Stay safe and don’t go off with strangers. I know you hav
e a long layover in San Francisco. I’ll worry about you.”

  “I won’t go off with strangers. I promise,” Daisy said. She had to admit it was great to be loved so much.

  After she hung up, she came back to her Siri question and pressed her button, then spoke. “Siri, how long would it take to say a sentence one million times?”

  “Here’s what I found on the web,” Siri said back to her. Daisy clicked a link.

  “Well, I guess it would take just over nineteen days without a break to count to a million, so I don’t think anyone is going to repeat a sentence one million times,” she muttered beneath her breath.” Why did she have to look up such strange facts? Maybe because that’s just who she was.

  She sat back and the couple between her had begun to fight, so she decided if there wasn’t a seat, she’d stand for however long it took. She stood, then moved across the gate area where she spotted a quiet corner with a couple of vacant seats. Her semiprivate haven didn’t last long before someone sat next to her.

  She was gazing at her phone, checking her Instagram account, and trying to stay awake. She refused to fall asleep and somehow miss her flight. All she wanted was to get home. She would listen to her audiobook and play a game on her phone, but her battery was low and she didn’t see an outlet anywhere in sight. She hoped they had one in the coach section of the plane.

  There was a commotion over at the boarding gate, making Daisy look up. But her eyes never made it to the counter. They got stopped at the man sitting one seat away from her — and he certainly got her full attention. He was so handsome it should be sinful. And there was something vaguely familiar about him, making her wonder if he was a male model, or possibly a B-rate actor. She searched her mind, trying to place him.

  He had dark, course hair that was mussed and sexy as hell as if he’d been running his fingers through it for hours, or possibly had someone else doing that for him. It made her own fingers twitch the slightest bit at the thought of doing just that, which shocked the heck out of her.

  She couldn’t see the color of his eyes as he was looking down at the laptop he was holding, but his straight nose and square jaw with a five-o-clock shadow gave him a look of sophisticated ruggedness that did something to her insides. He was wearing dark jeans with a crisp white polo, the top two buttons undone, showing a tanned chest with just the right amount of hair peeking through. This was a man’s man for dang sure.

  She watched as a tick flared in his jaw, and his eyebrows dented. There was something he wasn’t liking on his computer screen, and it took all of her willpower not to glance down and see what that was. But gazing at another person’s laptop was wrong on every level. People’s lives were held in a laptop. She knew hers always had been as she’d been researching her next building, or writing her latest article.

  Taking a deep breath to try to calm her racing heart, she inhaled the scent of spice that reminded her of the woods. There was something else there too she couldn’t quite put her finger, or in this case, her nose, on. Maybe ginger and some sort of maple or cedar. Whatever the smell, it was very fitting for this man. It had sex appeal written all over it.

  “Dammit!” The man’s thunderous whisper was accompanied by his clenched fist. Daisy found herself jumping at his quiet word filled with fury.

  Daisy was confused because the way the man carried himself screamed of success, but his clothes didn’t quite match that image. The computer he was working on was top of the line. But the clothes he wore, though fitting him to perfection and certainly not box store knockoffs, weren’t exactly business class attire.

  Her first assessment was that he was a man who went after what he wanted, and she had a feeling he was rarely denied. The researcher in her knew there was a story to this man, and she was curious to find out what it was. The woman in her knew he was exactly the type of man she wanted nothing to do with.

  But as she slipped cautious glances his way, hoping he wasn’t paying attention, she found herself not thinking about her own worries as he dealt with whatever it was he was having to take care of.

  It reminded her that no matter how bad her life seemed to be at times, it was always worse for someone else. She might not always get everything she wanted, but she got enough in life to have no reason to feel sorry for herself.

  A friend had once told her that it was okay to be sorrowful and angry with your own circumstances. That didn’t mean you didn’t care about others, it just meant you were human, and you had human problems. You couldn’t take on the world, but you could take on one thing at a time. She’d always wanted to help people when they were in trouble. But she didn’t think this man would appreciate help from her.

  She hated being judgmental as she was being right now, but she gave herself an exception. She’d been in the real world for several years and had seen the best and worst in people. It had made her cautious.

  Suddenly, the man’s coffee began to slip from the tray on his lap, and he reached out to grab it before it could destroy the very expensive device he was working on. Daisy saw too late what was about to happen. She tried to move . . . but she didn’t have a chance.

  His elbow connected with her jaw, and for a second she saw stars. That was definitely going to leave a mark.

  Note From Author Including Anderson World Read Order

  If you enjoyed this new spin-off from Melody Anne’s first series, The Billionaire Bachelors, then you can catch up on all of these characters you’re going to see in and out of the series in the books listed below. Any of these series can be read alone, but it’s also a lot of fun to read them in somewhat of an order. Each family has their own unique dynamic, and Joseph is the key character that pulls them all together. His meddling knows no bounds.

  Also a side not from me. The Andersons originally began as a three-book series when I started my writing career. But I fell in love with Joseph and the Anderson dynamic. I went on to write other series, but I found I was bringing Joseph along, wanting to take him with me to all of the worlds I was creating. So in came his twin brother George, who just happens to be one of my favorite uncles. He lived in Cordova, AK, where I spent a summer when I was sixteen, which is why I sent my couple there in Blackmailing the Billionaire. I loved that town. He moved to Anchorage, and I can’t wait to go there again and do some fishing which I’ve become addicted to.

  Well, at the end of book seven of the Andersons, I thought it was all finished once again, and then a fan wrote me an email and said they’d had a dream that Joseph and George were staring at a newspaper, and they saw a man who looked just like them. And I was in love with the idea of a stolen baby plot. So in came Richard, who is another favorite uncle of mine. Richard was stolen at birth as their triplet. Back when Joseph’s mother had her babies, fathers weren’t often in the delivery room, and the doctor just figured she already had two babies, and wouldn’t miss a third. So in came five more kids for Joseph and George to play cupid with.

  At the end of that story, Joseph would go on to meddle in the lives of his friends children, and so his legacy has continued to grow. I left openings in many of my books because I can never truly say those magical words of “the end” and so a new branch of Andersons were found in my Montlake series, Anderson Billionaires.

  Then I with friends, and we were storyboarding about possible ideas, and that’s how this newest spin-off happened with Anderson Black Ops. This series has been so much fun, because I’m co-writing it. I have a friend who knows the world of black ops, so he’s been giving strong outlines, and chapters for these new men we’ve created in this fun new world. We have a lot of ideas of where this will all lead.

  Now, I’m getting a lot of emails, asking about the order to read. I’ve created so many stories at this point, that even I’m a little lost on the order, but I’m going to list it as best I can with staying in the right timeframe. The newest, of course, are easiest to keep track of, but since I bring in so many other series in the middle of writing these books, it does get a bit con
fusing.

  So here we go. And as always, I love to hear feedback from you. After all, I can’t do this job, can’t write these fantastic stories, and can’t live in my dream world, without your support. You make the magic happen. You give me a voice to put onto paper, and you make my dreams come true. If the order is at all messed up, then please let me know and we’ll adjust.

  I have a fantastic team I work with, and we’re constantly changing and fixing things. It’s amazing this digital world we now have, that we can fix things so easily. Before the world of epublishing, if there was a mistake, it couldn’t get fixed until the next set of books were printed. Now, it’s just a few hits on the keyboard, and woola, we’re good to go again.

  Thank you so much for your support. And I hope you are well, are enjoying these stories, and are making magic happen in this crazy world we’ve found ourselves in in the parallel universe that some call 2020.

  Read Order for The Anderson Empire

  Billionaire Bachelors

  The Billionaire Wins the Game

  The Billionaire’s Dance

  The Billionaire Falls

  The Billionaire’s Marriage Proposal

  Blackmailing the Billionaire

  Runaway Heiress

  The Billionaire’s Final Stand

  Unexpected Treasure

  Hidden Treasure

  Holiday Treasure

  Priceless Treasure

  The Ultimate Treasure

  Now, you can read the Tycoon Series, which Joseph’s in, but only one of the books is truly relevant to the continuation of the Andersons. I’ll list all of the Tycoon books here, but highlight Damien’s story, which will come up later on in a twist for The Billionaire Andersons listed below.