King of Morgan Park

by Karen D Bradley

  “What are you thinking?” Cameron asked.

  “That we need to make a quiet exit, so I can not only show you my wing of The Castle, but also how much I’ve missed you.” Daron took her hand, slipping away to demonstrate that the beauty and splendor of The Castle paled in comparison to the love he had for her.

  You met Calvin and Mia in King of Morgan Park. They actually have their own story in The Confection Assignment where you’ll learn more about the making of the Emperor’s Suit.

  Mia’s head snapped up at a sound that wasn’t anything like the faint echoes of music from the other end of the lake. For some reason, her instinct was on high alert especially since the additional security team was missing in action.

  “Having dinner out here was a great idea,” Mia said for the sake of their nosy neighbor Patty, who was walking in their direction as Calvin approached the table.

  The older woman wasn’t any cause for concern.

  “You like me cooking for you.” He brought out the spaghetti and salad, slid it on the table, then leaned in, kissing Mia. He wrapped his arm around her waist, nuzzling her neck. “Maybe we should have dessert first.”

  “I’ll not be reheating dinner tonight.” Pushing him away, she turned him back toward the house, then swatted that gorgeous rear end of his to send him on his way. “You need to go grab those breadsticks. I’ll open the wine.”

  Calvin, who had never been married, enjoyed playing the role of husband a little too much. He winked before stepping off the planks and into the dining room. He paused at the door and glanced over his shoulder. “We need to do this more often.”

  Most often wouldn’t happen. Tonight was the last day of her assignment, then she’d be back to her regular life and that didn’t include being a high security detail protector to a top secret invention and its handsome creator.

  Several minutes later, she poured him a glass of red wine before fixing their plates. She scanned the area again and a tingle of suspicion ignited in her mind.

  What’s taking him so long?

  “Calvin, today would be nice,” Mia yelled. She perched on the chair, waiting for his smart response.

  None came.

  Mia placed the glass on the table and swept into the house. Calvin wasn’t in the kitchen. If he had slipped into his office to work instead of joining her outside, there was going to be a problem.

  Mia laid eyes on Calvin as she rounded the corner, but his voice halted her in her tracks.

  “Run, Mia. Run,” Calvin yelled, lunging for the stocky Asian man near the office door.

  A hefty Black guy slammed his weapon across the back of Calvin’s head.

  Mia sprinted down the hallway past the study and powder room, aiming to get her weapon. She kicked herself for not bringing it inside. They wouldn’t kill Calvin, but they could hurt him if he didn’t cooperate. She slid a cast iron skillet from the cooktop.

  “Go get her,” someone yelled from the office.

  Several things crashed to the office floor. Calvin put up one hell of a fight. Mere seconds had passed when Mia’s pursuer rounded the corner. She slammed the skillet into his chest, causing him to fly into the wall. He recovered and reached for her arm. The skillet crashed down onto his head with a backward swipe. This time, his body hit the ground, right on top of his gun.

  Damn.

  Her feet pounded on the hardwood floor as she raced for the front entrance, aiming to find some type of reinforcements. An armed man came off the path to the porch. She slammed the front door, locking it. Keys jiggled in the tumbler.

  Mia ran top speed toward the kitchen ahead of a spray of bullets that landed in the cabinets. She slid toward the island like a baseball player trying to reach the home plate. She scrambled around the counter, bolting to the deck and made it to the table.

  “Nowhere to run,” a man with an ivory complexion said as a Latino guy calmly stepped over the threshold onto the deck as though nothing out of the ordinary had transpired.

  “Don’t be so sure of that.” She snatched the Ruger, aimed, and pulled the trigger five times taking out the biggest threat. Mia didn’t wait for the Latino man’s advancing body to hit the ground. She hit the stairs. The ivory man took cover in the dining room and held up on a perfect vantage spot.

  Three armed men raced toward her. Damn, how many did they send?

  Her heart sank, but adrenaline kicked in as she turned back.

  She had to make it to the Lincoln.

  “Mrs. Atwood, don’t do it,” he yelled as she climbed from the patio chair to the railing.

  He aimed his Glock and fired.

  Mia took a flying leap from the banister and dove into the water.

  Daron and Cameron had an interesting life before The Castle. Their story is told in Transition of Power.

  Most days Cameron Stone was an upstanding citizen. Nights, not so much. She spent those reclaiming stolen items and returning them to their previous owners for a hefty fee. For owners who couldn’t make a police report for items from their private collection of stolen properties purchased off the black market. This, along with other things, was one of many assignments she and her team, Greg, Rob, and Trenton had when she worked for a man named Bishop who dabbled in all things illegal. Today she was doing recon in downtown Chicago, preparing for a job they would execute later that evening.

  People milled about on their lunch, soaking up the touch of warm weather before the Chicago chill returned. Cameron placed a manicured hand on top of her fake pregnant belly as she sat in the outdoor seating at Pub on Wabash Street. The view of a particular stony office building, not the food, had brought her there. She carefully scanned the area.

  “Need anything else?” the waitress asked, picking up the cash payment Cameron had left for the bill.

  “No. Thanks,” Cameron replied, shifting the wicker chair toward the black metal gate fencing around the seating area.

  Her gaze was focused on the door where the client would exit but her mind was on leaving the business. She wasn’t convinced it was the right time, especially given the latest incident of someone snatching their product before it was delivered to the client. She did a double take as a woman passed her who bore a striking resemblance to Kathleen Frost one of the few women Bishop allowed into their inner circle.

  Cameron’s cell vibrated. She slid the handsfree buds into her ears as her eyes shifted to the bald man with a beer belly hanging over his belt, stepping out of the dull brown office building. Her client, Mr. Arthur, was on the move. Being a creature of habit was dangerous. She already knew what restaurant he was heading to and what he’d order.

  She answered Rob’s call. “Hey hon, I’m sorry. Got your message. It’s okay to place the order.”

  “Greg is calling him now,” Rob replied.

  Cameron increased the volume to tune out the chatter of the older couple sitting nearby, the city sounds and the rumbling of the train overhead. The light changed and Mr. Arthur crossed the street. She could hear the client answer. A tall spiky-haired man walked past Mr. Arthur, blocking her view of his mouth. She watched chubby man continue his journey without a cell in his hand.

  “We may have a problem,” Cameron said as she rose to her feet, waddling down the street. She reached him before he made it to the building that housed Heaven on Seven. He had no hands-free set and Greg was still on the line with the client. Who was pretending to be him? “Track the caller’s location now.”

  The Gu, a 12th Century metal piece, was one of thirteen works stolen from the Gardner Museum in 1990, had been in Mr. Arthur’s possession from a black-market purchase. FBI offered a ten-million-dollar reward by for recovery the Museum’s thirteen pieces. They were worth more on the black market. Someone had stolen it from Mr. Arthur, killing his wife in the process. The police report corroborated the break-in and murder and Cameron had a feeling that old man missed his artwork more than his wife. She had let herself into his private museum which was hidden behind the bar in his basement. Picture
s with him standing next to the Gu were splayed in the vault, but barely any around of his deceased wife. The client, who stated he had located the Gu and wanted it retrieved, was clearly not Mr. Arthur.

  One thing she learned from her first failed job was expect to be double-crossed and be prepared for anything.

  is a national bestselling author for her contribution to the NKTCS Sugar anthology. English and Grammar were never her strongest subjects. As life would have it, her weakest link would become her saving grace. Writing fiction became one of her favorite forms of therapy and kept her sane through life’s ups and downs. She has penned several contemporary fiction and suspense novels. Venturing into film making, she wrote and produced a short film based on one of her novels. Visit Karen on the web at www.karendbradley.com or on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest @ms_kbradley.

  ABOUT THE KINGS OF THE CASTLE SERIES

  Books 2-9 are standalones, no cliffhangers, and can be read in any order.

  Book 1 – Kings of the Castle, the introduction to the series and story of King of Wilmette (Vikkas Germaine)

  USA TODAY, New York Times, and National Bestselling Authors work together to provide you with a world you’ll never want to leave. The Castle. Powerful men unexpectedly brought together by their pasts and current circumstances will become a force to be reckoned with. Their combined efforts to find the people responsible for the attempt on their mentor’s life, is the beginning of dangerous challenges that will alter the path of their lives forever. Not to mention, they will also draw the ire and deadly intent of current Castle members who wield major influence across the globe.

  Fate made them brothers, but protecting the Castle and the women they love, will make them Kings. www.thekingsofthecastle.com

  King of Chatham - Book 2 - Reno

  King of Evanston - Book 3 - Shaz

  King of Devon - Book 4 - Jai

  King of Morgan Park - Book 5 - Daron

  King of South Shore - Book 6 - Kaleb

  King of Lincoln Park - Book 7 - Grant

  King of Hyde Park - Book 8 - Dro

  King of Lawndale - Book 9 - Dwayne

  Cover design by J. L. Woodson - www.woodsonstudio.com

  ABOUT THE KINGS OF THE CASTLE SERIES

  Books 2-9 are standalones, no cliffhangers, and can be read in any order.

  Book 1 – Kings of the Castle, the introduction to the series and story of King of Wilmette (Vikkas Germaine)

  USA TODAY, New York Times, and National Bestselling Authors work together to provide you with a world you’ll never want to leave. The Castle. Powerful men unexpectedly brought together by their pasts and current circumstances will become a force to be reckoned with. Their combined efforts to find the people responsible for the attempt on their mentor’s life, is the beginning of dangerous challenges that will alter the path of their lives forever. Not to mention, they will also draw the ire and deadly intent of current Castle members who wield major influence across the globe.

  Fate made them brothers, but protecting the Castle and the women they love, will make them Kings.

  www.thekingsofthecastle.com

  King of Chatham - Book 2

  While Mariano “Reno” DeLuca uses his skills and resources to create safe havens for battered women, a surge in criminal activity within the Chatham area threatens the women’s anonymity and security. When Zuri, an exotic Tanzanian Princess, arrives seeking refuge from an arranged marriage and its deadly consequences, Reno is now forced to relocate the women in the shelter, fend off unforeseen enemies of The Castle, and endeavor not to lose his heart to the mysterious woman.

  King of Evanston - Book 3

  Raised as an immigrant, he knows the heartache of family separation firsthand. His personal goals and business ethics collide when a vulnerable woman stands to lose her baby in an underhanded and profitable scheme crafted by powerful, ruthless businessmen and politicians who have nefarious ties to The Castle. Shaz and the Kings of the Castle collaborate to uproot the dark forces intent on changing the balance of power within The Castle and destroying their mentor. National Bestselling Author, J.L. Campbell presents book 3 in the Kings of the Castle Series, featuring Shaz Bostwick.

  King of Devon - Book 4

  When a coma patient becomes pregnant, Jaidev Maharaj’s medical facility comes under a government microscope and media scrutiny. In the midst of the investigation, he receives a mysterious call from someone in his past that demands that more of him than he’s ever been willing to give and is made aware of a dark family secret that will destroy the people he loves most.

  King of Morgan Park - Book 5

  Two things threaten to destroy several areas of Daron Kincaid’s life— the tracking device he developed to locate victims of sex trafficking and an inherited membership in a mysterious outfit called The Castle. The new developments set the stage to dismantle the relationship with a woman who’s been trained to make men weak or put them on the other side of the grave. The secrets Daron keeps from Cameron and his inner circle only complicates an already tumultuous situation caused by an FBI sting that brought down his former enemies. Can Daron take on his enemies, manage his secrets and loyalty to the Castle without permanently losing the woman he loves?

  King of South Shore - Book 6

  Award-winning real estate developer, Kaleb Valentine, is known for turning failing communities into thriving havens in the Metro Detroit area. His plans to rebuild his hometown neighborhood are dereailed with one phone call that puts Kaleb deep in the middle of an intense criminal investigation led by a detective who has a personal vendetta. Now he will have to deal with the ghosts of his past before they kill him.

  King of Lincoln Park - Book 7

  Grant Khambrel is a sexy, successful architect with big plans to expand his Texas Company. Unfortunately, a dark secret from his past could destroy it all unless he’s willing to betray the man responsible for that success, and the woman who becomes the key to his salvation.

  King of Hyde Park - Book 8

  Alejandro “Dro” Reyes has been a “fixer” for as long as he could remember, which makes owning a crisis management company focused on repairing professional reputations the perfect fit. The same could be said of Lola Samuels, who is only vaguely aware of his “true” talents and seems to be oblivious to the growing attraction between them. His company, Vantage Point, is in high demand and business in the Windy City is booming. Until a mysterious call following an attempt on his mentor’s life forces him to drop everything and accept a fated position with The Castle. But there’s a hidden agenda and unexpected enemy that Alejandro doesn’t see coming who threatens his life, his woman, and his throne.

  King of Lawndale - Book 9

  Dwayne Harper’s passion is giving disadvantaged boys the tools to transform themselves into successful men. Unfortunately, the minute he steps up to take his place among the men he considers brothers, two things stand in his way: a political office that does not want the competition Dwayne’s new education system will bring, and a well-connected former member of The Castle who will use everything in his power—even those who Dwayne mentors—to shut him down.

  AUTHOR BIOS

  Naleighna Kai is the USA TODAY Bestselling Author of Every Woman Needs a Wife, Open Door Marriage, Loving Me for Me, Slaves of Heaven and several other controversial novels. She is founder of NK Tribe Called Success, The Cavalcade of Authors, and is a publishing and marketing consultant. www.naleighnakai.com

  S. L. Jennings is a military wife, mom of three, coffee addict, Willy Wonka enthusiast, and real-life unicorn. She’s also the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of Taint, Fear of Falling and the Se7en Sinners Series, along with a few other titles that she’s too lazy to type. She’s been with her high school sweetheart for almost twenty years, and he still can’t get her Subway sandwich order right. But he’s cute and brings her vodka, so she keeps him around. They currently reside in Spokane, WA with their three stinky boys and their equally stinky cat. www.sljenningsauth
or.com

  Martha Kennerson is the bestselling and award-winning author who’s love of reading and writing is a significant part of who she is. She uses both to create the kinds of stories that touch the heart. Martha lives with her family in League City, Texas. She believes her current blessings are only matched by the struggle it took to achieve such happiness. To find out more about Martha and her journey, visit her website at www.marthakennerson.com and you can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

  J. L. Campbell is an award-winning Jamaican author who has written over thirty books in several romance subgenres. Campbell, who features Jamaican culture in her stories, is a certified editor, and also writes non-fiction. Visit her on the web at www.joylcampbell.com.