Claiming London
Club Zodiac, Book Six
Becca Jameson
Copyright © 2019 by Becca Jameson
eBook ISBN: 978-1-9469116-1-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-9469116-2-9
Cover Artist: Scott Carpenter
Editor: Christa Soule
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Acknowledgments
About the Book
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Also by Becca Jameson
About the Author
Acknowledgments
I have to thank my amazing friends and family for ensuring I didn’t lose sight of what’s important in life while I moved halfway across the country during edits for this book. It wasn’t easy, but I got it done!
Thank to my editor, Christa, who worked around my insane schedule for the last few months without batting an eye.
I love you all. Now, let’s get back to the business of writing awesome books from my new home office in Houston, Texas!
About the Book
She’s living life on the edge… He’s hell-bent on taming her…
* * *
After five years in an abusive marriage, London wants nothing to do with men ever again. In fact, she’d rather spend her life doing everything she missed out on while she was married. Bungee jumping. Skydiving. Submission…
* * *
Pierce has already been married once. It didn’t work out. Undercover cops make horrible husbands. No wonder his ex-wife left him. So why the hell is he pursuing another woman?
* * *
London is determined to keep Pierce at arm’s length. Friends with benefits? Hell yes. The sex is great. The dominance is amazing. But Pierce wants more than he should, and when emotions start getting tangled up in what was meant to be a no-strings situation, London has to decide if it’s worth it to risk her heart again…
Chapter 1
London smiled as she stared at the intricate bird the tattoo artist had just finished inking on her upper arm. The gorgeous script underneath it read Hope is the thing with feathers; her favorite quote by Emily Dickinson. “I love it,” she murmured as the artist gently put a bandage over the fresh tattoo.
“I’m certainly glad,” he joked. “It’s part of you now.” He handed her a pamphlet that described the care instructions he’d already verbalized several times, and ten minutes later, she was standing outside, breathing deeply for what seemed like the first time in ages.
The past three months had flown by since her ex had gotten himself killed by the police. She still struggled to feel an ounce of remorse for his death. The reality was that she was finally free to live her life without worrying all the time if he was following her or might try to convince her to return to him.
After five years of hell living under his abusive control, her newfound freedom was something she was beginning to fully embrace. Her ex, Louis, never would have permitted her to get a tattoo.
As she glanced up and down the strip mall, noticing the doughnut shop two doors down, she smiled. He wouldn’t have permitted her to eat junk food either. In fact, she could still hear his voice ringing inside her head, muttering about her fat ass.
Fuck him. Her ass was fine. If anything, she was underweight, and she knew it. Years under his thumb had done that too.
With a pep in her step, she turned toward the doughnut shop and selected a dozen different doughnuts, everything from pink sprinkles to jelly-filled. She couldn’t possibly eat them all, but she didn’t care. That wasn’t the point. Maybe she would take a bite out of each one. Who would stop her?
As soon as London started driving, her phone pinged with an incoming text. The tenth such text she’d gotten in the last day. It would be from Pierce. She wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, though she suspected he would soon hunt her down and chew her out. He was probably standing outside her apartment now.
London gripped the steering wheel, trying hard to ignore the disturbing thoughts running through her head. She had mostly put aside her problems for the entire day while indulging in the new tattoo, but now they were seeping back in to torment her.
London could count all her friends on one hand without using her thumb. Her brother, Colin. His girlfriend, Rayne. Detective Pierce Titus, the officer who had been so kind to London since she’d left her ex. And Hope.
Hope was Aaron’s girlfriend, or at least she wanted to be. Aaron was Colin’s partner in opening the Denver location of Club Zodiac.
The truth was that London had been nervous and distracted for the past twenty-four hours since she had informed Aaron that Hope was hiding out at her apartment. After everything London had been through in the past five years, she hadn’t hesitated for a single second when Hope showed up at her doorstep needing a place to stay.
Hope had done more than just spend the night. She had drunk enough to pass out and spilled her guts to London. There were tears. Granted, nothing that had happened between Hope and Aaron could compare to London’s life, but nevertheless, Hope had needed a place to regroup.
Hell, Hope’s problems were the opposite of London’s past with Louis. Hope was head over heels for Aaron, who was treating her like she didn’t know her own mind. Of course, London could see Aaron’s side. Hope had fled her own wedding a week ago and made the cross-country trip with Aaron from Florida to Colorado. It wasn’t too far of a stretch for Aaron to insist she return to tie up loose ends. It didn’t mean he didn’t care about her.
Nevertheless, London had essentially harbored her new friend, Hope, who was surely pissed at her now for letting that cat out of the bag. Lost friend number one. And then there was Pierce, who was a police officer and had left several messages in the past twenty-four hours. London suspected he would ream her for worrying everyone also. Lost friend number two.
So, she’d spent the afternoon getting a tattoo. And now she would continue to ignore the incoming texts from Pierce and enjoy a few doughnuts for dinner. Perhaps tomorrow she would get a piercing or cut her hair off. After all, she was on a roll, engaging in any and all activities that came to mind. Why? Because she could.
In all honesty, she was avoiding Pierce for more than simply stressing over the loss of a second friend. The problem was that she hadn’t thought of him as a friend for weeks. The man made her heart race and her pulse beat faster every time she saw him. And she saw him often.
At first, she’d told herself he was just doing his job every time he called or came by to ask her a few more questions about Louis. After all, the man was doing his job. He needed to wrap up the loose ends and close the case. Right?
It was Rayne who eventually smirked at London, barely containing a laugh. “That man needs more information about that case about as badly as I need a Lamborghini,” she’d said.
; “What are you talking about?” London had responded before she could stop herself.
“Come on. He’s interested in you. Trust me. I’ve known him a long time. The case concerning your ex was wrapped up the same night it started. Louis came to Colin’s house to kill you, got into a shoot-out with the police, and got himself killed. It wasn’t that hard to close.”
That was the first time London had permitted herself to consider Pierce’s possible ulterior motives. It was also the first day she began to live again. She had hope. Her future looked much brighter. Not necessarily because she expected anything to actually materialize with Pierce, but because she began to believe someone could be attracted to her again.
That had been over a month ago. Pierce had been around plenty of times since then, and London had never pointed out that he stopped asking questions related to the “case.”
The man was hot. Six foot. Dark brown hair cut short. Muscular. Kind. Gentle. Funny. Hardworking. She knew he was the sort of man who would drop everything to help her if she called for any reason.
She didn’t dare let herself fall for him, however. Not beyond the superficial. It felt good for someone to flirt with her. It gave her confidence. Entering into a relationship, on the other hand, was out of the question. She wanted to experience life. Do everything she hadn’t been permitted to do while married to an abuser. She did not want to answer to another man. Ever.
Pierce was not hard on the eyes, though, and he was a good friend. For those reasons, she was reluctant to face him. She wasn’t in the mood to be reprimanded, nor was she ready to face the fact that he might be furious enough with her to tell her to take a hike.
It would hurt. So, she’d avoided him for more than a full day.
Shaking thoughts of Pierce from her mind, London used the hands-free connection to call Club Zodiac. It wasn’t open for business yet, but she’d agreed to help out at the front desk. It wouldn’t be many hours, and it wouldn’t be much money, but it was her first real job in five years. She went in several days a week already to help organize.
Rayne answered on the first ring. “Club Zodiac. How can I help you?”
“Rayne, it’s London.”
“Hey. What’s up?”
“I was just checking to see if Colin and Aaron needed me.”
“Nope. Colin said to tell you to come in Monday. By the way, have you heard from Pierce? He was looking for you.”
Of course he is. London sighed. “I know he is. I don’t feel like getting my ass chewed out today, so I’m ignoring him.”
“Yeah, he was a little pissed that you let Hope hide out at your apartment, but he’s not the sort of man who’s going to yell at you. You know him better than that by now,” Rayne pointed out. Rayne had been friends with Pierce for a year. She knew him well.
London also realized she was probably right, but the truth was, she didn’t want even the slightest reprimand. She wasn’t sorry she’d helped Hope out. She felt defiant. “Yeah, well, too bad if he’s pissed. I’m not interested in letting another man boss me around. Been there. Done that.”
Pierce stood outside London’s apartment, leaning against her door. He’d been there for an hour. She was either inside and refused to answer the door for him, or she was out running errands and would return soon. Since she hadn’t answered his calls or responded to his texts for over a day, he wasn’t about to budge until he’d spoken to her.
Over the past few months since he’d first met her, he’d found himself thinking about her more and more. At first, he’d kicked himself for being interested in a woman who’d just gotten free from an abusive relationship. It was crass of him.
But dammit, he liked her. A lot. She was cute and sweet and fun to be around. Even in the aftermath of her husband’s death, she’d proven herself to be a survivor. Strong. Independent. Resilient. Her long brown curls and brown eyes made her look younger than her thirty-one years.
He loved that she had bounced back and taken control of her life. Some women wouldn’t have been able to pull themselves together so quickly. Or ever. But London wasn’t like other women. She was a fighter. Perhaps more of a fighter than was necessary even. Lately, she’d gone overboard. It seemed she’d gotten reckless in her desire to experience everything she thought she’d missed out on in the past five years.
He was worried about her. He felt protective of her. After spending the past few months remaining in the background, letting her find her way as she came out of her shell, he was done keeping his mouth closed.
He wanted more. He’d been thinking about actually asking her out on a real date for weeks. He couldn’t be certain she felt the same way about him, but she always seemed glad to see him when he showed up, and she made time for him when he called. That had to count for something.
Today, however, probably wasn’t the day he was going to get the opportunity to ask her out. He knew she was avoiding him. Which meant she also knew he wasn’t pleased with her actions. Over the last day, he’d managed to convince himself to rein in a bit of his frustration, knowing London wouldn’t take too kindly to him reading her the riot act. But she needed to know how her actions had affected other people.
She should have at least let Rayne or someone know Hope was safe, instead of letting Aaron worry about her all night. The man had been beside himself by the morning, worried about where Hope might have gone. It wasn’t until Colin threatened to call the police—a.k.a. Pierce—that London piped up.
Chapter 2
London sighed as she arrived at her apartment. Finding Pierce on her doorstep wasn’t unexpected of course.
And sure enough, his eyes were narrowed, and his head was cocked to one side. Yeah, he was going to lecture her.
She forced herself to ignore him, unlocked the door, and left him standing in the entry. He would come in of his own accord. She didn’t need to invite him.
She passed through the small living room to the attached kitchen area to set the box of doughnuts on the table. It would probably be a while before she was able to enjoy them. After grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, she leaned against the counter, crossing her ankles in front of her. She didn’t offer him anything. In fact, she hadn’t even spoken. “Go ahead. Get it out of your system. I’ve got other things to do.” Things that don’t involve listening to yet another lecture from the men in my life.
“What other things?” he asked, his shoulders relaxing. Was he smirking at her?
“None of your business. Maybe I have book club or maybe I’m going to get a piercing or maybe I just plan to go make new friends at the local bar.”
He gave her a slight smile now. “Book club?”
“Yeah, you’ve heard of them. Where people get together to discuss something they all read. I do read, you know. After all, I have a bachelor’s in English.”
Now, he fought harder against the smile, which infuriated her a bit. Sure, she was lying through her teeth about belonging to a book club, but he didn’t have to make fun of her. “What book did you read?”
She threw up her free hand. “Maybe we’re reading Anna Karenina. Jesus, Pierce.”
“Tolstoy, huh?” He shook his head. “You have friends. Why do you need new ones?”
“I had four friends, and one of them is my brother. One of them is his girlfriend. She hardly has a choice either. I assume I’m down to those two now that I broke Hope’s trust by telling everyone she was hiding out in my apartment.”
“Do you realize how scared Aaron was while he didn’t know where she was?”
And here we go…
“He spent the entire night worried about her. You had to know that.”
She rolled her eyes. “She’s not twelve. She’s a grown woman. She can make her own choices.”
“Yes. She can.” His voice rose. “But a good friend would have convinced her to at least let the people who care about her know she was safe.” He stood taller, his voice rising again. “I’m just saying—”
“Stop shouting
at me.” She set her water down with a shaky hand and stomped past him to put some distance between them.
He spun toward her. “I’m not shouting.”
“Yes. You are. Don’t do it. If it makes you feel better to chew me out, go ahead. Get it out of your system. But don’t raise your voice. I don’t like it when men raise their voices.”
He sighed, stepping closer. “I’m sorry. That shitty excuse for a husband screamed at you, didn’t he?”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t have to. Pierce was perfectly aware of what her abusive husband did to her before he chased her down at Colin’s house, broke in, and fired enough rounds inside the room to get himself shot and killed by the police.
Pierce hadn’t been the one to shoot Louis. He’d been there as a detective, but outside. Really, he’d been there as a friend of Rayne. A friend who just conveniently happened to be on the police force.
“Hope isn’t mad at you. I spoke to Aaron. They worked things out. You’re not going to lose her as a friend.”
“She should be. I would be if I were her.”
“Chicks before dicks?” He grinned.
“Something like that.”
“Well, she’s a bigger person than that. She wouldn’t have wanted you to let Aaron call the police and file a missing person’s report while you were standing right next to him and knew perfectly well where she was. It’s understandable.”
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