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  GUARDING HER BOOK 5

  ANNA BROOKS

  They will risk it all to protect what’s theirs.

  Nobody gets in their way and nothing will stop them.

  These are the men of Royal Ace Security.

  Copyright © 2019 Anna Brooks

  Published by Anna Brooks

  Cover design by Cover Couture

  Editing by Editing4Indies

  Proofreading by Kimberly Holm

  Formatting by Champagne Book Design

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Prologue

  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

  Notes and stuff.

  Other Books by Anna

  Preview of the Pleasant Valley series

  Preview of Bulletproof Butterfly

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  About the Book

  She was my daughter’s best friend. She stood next to me and held my hand while my little girl’s pink casket was lowered into the ground.

  The last time I saw her she was chasing me down the street as I left the town that was slowly suffocating me to death.

  But now she’s a woman and she needs my help. So I’ll save her and ask for nothing in return. Except maybe one thing that I’m not sure she’s ready to lose.

  For bonus scenes, exclusive content, a freebie, and more, sign up for Anna’s mailing list.

  Dedication

  For my sweet friend, Nikki Belaire.

  Your friendship means the world to me. Thank you for always being there.

  Prologue

  Noble

  27 years old.

  My steps slow as I reach the side of my house; my black boots silent on the damp grass from the rain earlier today. She wasn’t across the street at the park, so that only leaves one place. Sighing, I walk to the large maple tree in our backyard and shine my flashlight up to see exactly where she is. “Dammit.” I put the light back in its holster and step closer.

  “Hey, Katie Kat.”

  She sniffles but doesn’t respond to my greeting.

  “You okay, sweet pea?” How the hell did she get up there again? “Can you come down for me?”

  With no answer, I jump and grab a branch, then climb my way up until I’m just below her. She shies away from me, so I keep my distance because I know she’s upset. Not at me, but her mother.

  She turns her head, and gray eyes just like mine look back at me. “Hi,” I whisper.

  Still no response, but at least she’s acknowledging me. “Why are you up here? You know it’s dangerous, Katherine.”

  A tear rolls down her cheek at my harsh tone, and every time she blinks, another one falls. It kills me to see my daughter so upset. “Let’s get you down from here, okay?”

  I reach for her, but she leans away. “No.” That’s not what I wanted to hear, but at least she’s talking.

  “Okay. You just wanna hang out here for a little while?”

  She nods, and as she does, a sob wracks her body.

  I don’t move or try to comfort her, but allow her to do what she needs to. She doesn’t take her eyes off mine, and my fuckin’ heart cracks as I watch her fall apart. When I left my house earlier, she was running around with our chocolate lab, Macy, and her best friend, Brinley.

  Not only does the situation make me mad, but the fact that it happened in just the few short hours I’ve been gone pisses me off, too.

  Dispatch signals a call, and I reach up to my shoulder and turn the volume down on my radio, giving her my attention even though I should be at work. I’m in the middle of my shift right now, but when my wife called to tell me Katie had run away, I dropped everything to get to her. This isn’t the first time she’s done this, and I know her definition of running away is hiding somewhere in our yard or at the park, but since it’s late and dark, I didn’t want her to hurt herself. “I want you to let me help you down because I don’t want to admit it, but I’m kind of scared of heights, and pretty soon, we’re going to have to call the fire department to come and get both of us. And you know they’ll make fun of me, so what do you say? Wanna save your old man some embarrassment?”

  Instead of creases between her eyes, a dimple forms from a smile. She ignores my question but looks at me again.

  “Do I have something on my face?” I ask her. “A booger hanging out of my nose?”

  When she finally giggles, I lean against the trunk, my legs still hanging over the side of the branch.

  We sit in silence for a little while longer and just as I’m about to give up being nice and use the Dad Voice I hate so much, she talks. “Is she mad?”

  I pause before I give her the news she already knows. “You know she is, Katie. But how many times have we told you no makeup? You’re only nine.”

  “I’ll be ten next week, and me and Brinley were just practicing. I wasn’t wearing it to school.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s not yours to touch.”

  “Mom’s always mad anyway…”

  That she is. “There is no excuse to deliberately break the rules, and you know it. If you wanted to play dress up-”

  “Dad, we’re not babies. We don’t play dress up anymore.”

  “No?” I asked amused. “What do you play then?”

  “We don’t play. We hang out.”

  I try not to roll my eyes at the pre-teen attitude that I know is only going to get worse. The thought of her being a teenager … dating. Driving. It makes me crazy. “Well, when you two hang out, and you know your mom doesn’t want you to use her makeup—don’t. It’s pretty simple.”

  “I know. But Brinley wears lipstick, and she was showing me how to use it because Mom wouldn’t. That’s all.”

  “Brinley is too young to be wearing lipstick, too, but that’s not my problem. You are. Brinley’s a sweet girl, but if she’s going to continue to get you into trouble, then she won’t be allowed in our house.”

  “No! She’s my best friend.”

  I nod, but then tilt my head. “I understand that, but this isn’t the first time she’s gotten you into trouble.”

  “But Daddy, she doesn’t even have a mom and a dad. Her foster family doesn’t care where she even is; that’s why she’s with us so much. If she couldn’t come here, then she’d have nowhere to go with people who care about her.”

  It’s really a sad situation, but I’ve inspected where she lives down the street, and although her foster parents
aren’t the most loving people, she’s still given a roof over her head and food in her belly. Her social worker and I have had a few conversations as well, but when she’s not at my house, there’s nothing else I can do for her even though I’d like to. We take care of her whenever we can, and I look out for her as much as possible because if I don’t, I know nobody else will, and bottom line, I care about her. It’s hard not to ’cause she’s a cool kid. But as she’s getting older, she’s becoming more rebellious, and I won’t allow her to be a bad influence on my daughter. “I stand by what I say. You need to make good choices and not let someone else make them for you, understand?”

  She nods.

  “I didn’t hear you, Katherine. I said, do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Now let’s get down from here. I need to get back to work.”

  After I help her down, we walk inside, hand in hand, and before anybody can even open their mouth to say anything, she tears away from me and runs down the hall to her room. Her door slams, and my wife rolls her eyes. “Did you ground her?”

  “No.”

  “Noble,” she snaps and crosses her arms.

  “Cora.”

  “That’s bullshit. Make me out to be the bad guy.”

  I look at the ceiling, so sick of this shit. I swear my wife likes to argue just for the sake of arguing. She used to be so easygoing and a completely different person. I still remember the first time we met at a house party thrown by a mutual friend. We were young, both of us only seventeen, and from day one, we had fun. She was down for anything. Even when she got pregnant, she found ways to have a good time, and when Katie was a baby, she still made time for me.

  Even though I know exactly where that woman went, it still burns that I didn’t see it happening before it was too late to stop it. So now I live with those consequences, but truth be told, I don’t know how much longer I can put my daughter through it. “You already punished her, and that’s why she ran, Cora. I don’t think she needs more.”

  “For running away? Yes, she does. You’re in the middle of a shift at work and had to leave to get her from a fucking tree, Noble. But fine. I’ll do it.” She throws her hands in the air, then runs her fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair. “I’ll ground her for even longer, and she can hate me even more than she already does.”

  “Jesus Christ, Cora. You’re her mom. She doesn’t hate you.”

  “She does. She hates me, and she looooves you.”

  Not this again. She’s jealous of her own kid. “It’s not a goddamn competition. We’re her parents; she loves us both.”

  “Whatever. Go to work. Vanish and then come back the hero like you always do.”

  “I’m working overtime to pay the fuckin’ bills. It’s not like I enjoy never being home with my family.”

  She huffs and rolls her eyes like a bratty teenager, more immature than when I first met her.

  I shouldn’t do it, but I ask anyway. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means whenever you are home, you’d much rather spend time with your little Katie Kat than your own wife.”

  “Lower your voice, or she’ll hear you acting like a lunatic.”

  Cora narrows her blue eyes at me. “Fuck you, Noble.”

  We stand here, the low murmur of the TV from the living room drowned out by the blood rushing in my ears. Her face that used to be so soft and sweet is now harsh with anger all the time. It’s a damn shame. “I’m leaving. I’ll be back after my shift.” Without another word to her, I go to my daughter’s room and find her huddled on her bed with our chocolate lab. “Go to sleep, Katie Kat. I’ll come give you a kiss good night when I get back, okay?”

  “Okay, Daddy.”

  “Love you, sweet pea.”

  “Love you too, Daddy.”

  It pains me to have to leave, but we have a shit ton of medical bills that need to be paid, so I have no choice. I close her door and walk past my wife without saying goodbye. It’s pointless to try to talk to her when she’s being irrational like this, which is practically always these days.

  Things have gone from bad to worse over the past few years, and I’m at the end of my rope. Cora is a recovering addict whose journey has brought our family so much struggle it’s a wonder I can even muster up a smile for Katie some days.

  I hate that it has to be this way, but I don’t even know what else to do. And the way she’s been lately with the jealousy and pettiness over her own daughter is just plain weird. There’s nothing I can do about it right now, though. Katie’s safe, and I need to get back to work, so I go to my squad car and count down the minutes until I can get back home again.

  * * *

  Five and a half hours later, the first thing I do when I get back home is check on Katie. Tonight was rough, and for more than one reason, I want to see her. I always do, regardless.

  I sneak into her room and stop at the side of her bed. Macy lifts her head off Katie’s legs and sniffs the air before putting it back down and groaning as she closes her eyes. Katie’s blond curls spring all around her, and the pink blanket pulled up to her face almost hides everything but them. I gently run my finger across her cheek, kiss her nose, and then close the door behind me.

  I do a round, making sure everything is locked up before I go to my bedroom where Cora is sleeping. Out of habit, I check to make sure she’s breathing and then go grab a quick shower down the hall. When I return, I lift the covers and look at every inch of Cora’s skin that I can.

  Checking for track marks.

  She’s been acting really strange lately, and she’s hidden it from me before, so I try to look for signs. There hasn’t been money missing or anything like that, just the irrational behavior. She’s still attending meetings and talks to her sponsor, so I’m baffled.

  I think maybe I need to just accept the fact that there’s no love between us anymore and end it even though that’s the last thing I want to do. It would probably be better for Katie in the long run anyway. But I also feel like that’s a bitch way out, and I’d be a pussy for not sticking with her. But what’s a marriage without trust? Christ, I have to check my wife secretly for track marks…

  There are little scars everywhere on her once flawless skin, but when I don’t see any fresh marks tonight, I lie in bed beside her and try to remember the good times so I have something to hold onto because I’m on the verge of letting go.

  What I don’t do is wrap my arms around her like I used to.

  I don’t pull her close.

  I don’t wake her up with a kiss.

  I don’t slide my hand down her shorts and play with her pussy until she can’t take it anymore.

  I don’t let her think she won when she pushes me to my back and rides my dick until we both explode.

  I don’t sneak down the hall to get a towel to clean her up.

  I don’t link our fingers together and tangle my legs with hers and go to sleep with a smile on my face knowing I have the love of a good woman in my arms.

  No, I haven’t done any of those things for years.

  What I do is stare at the ceiling for hours until I’m finally able to doze off.

  * * *

  “Daddy!” Katie jumps on the bed, waking me up, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Morning, sweet pea.” I grab her and pull her to me, giving her a bear hug and kissing the top of her head.

  She squeals and giggles before she hops off the bed. I’m so happy that she’s put last night behind her. “Momma has to drive me to school because I missed the bus.”

  I push up and see the clock on the dresser reads 7:49. The bus normally picks her up at seven forty. “I can take you.”

  “No, no. Sleep. Katie, I told you not to wake him.” Cora walks into the room and holds her hand out for Katie.

  “And I told her to wake me, Cora. I want to see her before she leaves for the day. You know that.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, I just…” She takes a bre
ath. “I know yesterday was a long night for you since it was an extra shift, and I wanted to make sure you got your sleep. You’ve been working so much… so hard lately.” Her voice lowers, and she almost sounds ashamed about it, but appreciative at the same time.

  That’s the woman I fell in love with. That’s all it takes to tighten my grip. I grab any little thing she’ll give me so I can hold on a while longer. “It’s okay, but I never mind being woken by either one of you to say goodbye in the morning.”

  “Okay. Well, still. We’re late, so let’s go.”

  I give my daughter a raspberry on her cheek, and she laughs. The most beautiful sound in the world. “Love you, Daddy.”

  “Love you more, sweet pea.”

  She runs past Cora and hollers for Macy to go for a ride.

  Cora watches with a soft smile before she turns back to me. “I have to run to the grocery store today, so I figured I’d just do it after I drop her off. Is there anything you need?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  “Hey.”

  She blinks. “Yeah?”

  “You gonna give me a kiss before you go?”

  Her face lights up. “Do you want one?”

  Sitting up in bed, I hold my arms out, glad I read that she needed that from me. “Of course, I do.”

  She rushes to me and tentatively presses her soft lips to mine. I sink my fingers in her hair and pull her closer, deepening the kiss. My cock stirs, months of abandonment making him greedier than normal. It pains me, but I pull away from my wife’s mouth.

  Her eyes fill with tears.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I just… it’s been a while since you’ve looked at me like that.”

  I smile. “How am I looking at you?”

  “Like you love me.”

  “Don’t think I could ever stop.” I don’t think I could ever let go no matter how hard it got. And that’s just the truth.