It Takes Two

by Allie K. Adams

  Table of Contents

  IT TAKES TWO

  Summary

  TREX’S MISSION STATEMENT

  PROLOGUE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  EPILOGUE

  THE END

  About the Author

  Books by Allie K. Adams

  IT TAKES TWO

  A TREX Adventure

  By Allie K. Adams

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Newsletter – Become an Allie Cat

  Also in the TREX Adventures Series

  First Response (TREX 1 Brief – FREE Read)

  Rescue Me (TREX 2)

  At Any Cost (TREX 3)

  No Way Out (TREX 4 Special Edition Brief)

  Seek and Destroy (TREX 5)

  Under the Covers (TREX 6)

  TREX Boxed Set – ONE (TREX 1-3)

  Out of Time (TREX 7)

  It Takes Two (TREX 8)

  Merry TREXmas (TREX 9 Special Edition Brief)

  Copyright © 2015 by Allie K. Adams

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  LICENSE NOTES: This Ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Ebook may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book with others, please purchase an additional copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Allie K. Adams

  www.alliekadams.com

  Summary

  3 friends…

  A near-fatal attack left TREX Agent Jeremy Bowman permanently scarred—both physically and emotionally. His brother Jason is worried he won’t be able to bring him back from the shell of a man he’s become, so he enlists the help of Jeremy’s best friend, Breanne Harrington. Granted, they haven’t seen each other in ten years, but a bond like theirs never fades. It will take both Bree and Jason to rescue Jeremy from the darkness slowly consuming him. A chance reunion brings the three together again—courtesy of TREX uncovering a deadly plot involving a contract killer, a million dollars, and Bree’s life.

  2 lovers…

  The twins share more than good looks—as Bree soon discovers. They seduce her and take her to new heights as together the three slowly peel away the layers Jeremy hides behind. As the threats close in, it’s up to the twin TREX agents to keep the beautiful, determined woman out of danger.

  1 chance…

  Bree has never stopped loving Jeremy. Walking away all those years ago nearly destroyed her. Seeing him so tormented, she can’t walk away this time. He needs her now more than ever—they both do. And she needs them. It’s her chance to make up for the past ten years. It could be her salvation… or ultimately destroy them all.

  When one isn’t enough.

  It Takes Two brothers to keep Bree safe.

  It Takes Two to make Jeremy whole again.

  It Takes Two confronting their past before they can have a future together… if they make it out of this alive.

  TREX’S MISSION STATEMENT

  Tactical Retrieval Experts (TREX) is a privately funded agency independent of law enforcement, military, or any governmental restrictions. Our focus is on tracking and retrieving anything or anyone. Simply put: we find things. Employing highly trained agents with unlimited resources and extensive experience in covert operations, we will find anything and with guaranteed confidentiality. No matter the circumstances. No matter the danger. Call on TREX—we find what’s been lost.

  PROLOGUE

  Ten Years Ago

  Jeremy Bowman stood off to the side, tipping back tasteless beer and leaning against the side of his truck bed. The heat of the June night warmed the bottle in his hand and sank into his skin. Giving up, he tossed the bottle into the back of his truck and stayed on the sidelines as his fellow graduates laughed and staggered around in celebration of the end of their K-12 education.

  Boys flirted with girls. Girls flirted back. Some had already hooked up and found a secluded spot in the dry pasture. After all, high school was over and this would be the last night all of them were together. Might as well make the most of it.

  Jason, his meathead jock of a twin, didn’t hesitate to make this night one to remember. He’d already lost his shirt and now danced to the music blaring out of the speakers someone had set in the bed of a truck. Girls flocked to Jason like horny lost puppies, following him around for just a taste of that temporary Bowman attention. Captain of the football team, prom king, and practically royalty at Fidalgo High School, Jason ate up the attention and came back for more.

  Not Jeremy. He preferred control and isolation to Jason’s chaos and constant need to be the center of attention. They couldn’t be any more opposite. They may have the same blue eyes and wild blond hair, but the similarities ended there. Jason, with his natural-born athletic abilities and charm oozing from every pore, had colleges standing in line to recruit him.

  Again, not Jeremy.

  Oh, he’d received his fair share of scholarships as well, but not for anything as glamorous as football. His scholarships for academic achievement didn’t have colleges from all over the nation knocking on the Bowman’s door. No one would hear the name Jeremy Bowman and equate it with one of the top picks for the next draft.

  He preferred it that way. There was more to life than playing sports and getting laid. Jason could have the fortune and fame. Jeremy would be happy if he got the girl. Speaking of…

  Where was she? He came in the hopes of seeing her one last time. She wasn’t in any of the flocks following Jason around. Most of the other girls not getting enough of Jason’s attention had already hooked up with someone else. Jeremy’s heart pinched at the thought of Breanne Willows out there, hidden in the darkness of the night, allowing some drunk guy to touch her, to love her.

  “You look mad enough to spit nails.”

  He didn’t see her come around his rig until she leaned against the truck with him. When she tilted her head, her long dark curls slid off her creamy shoulder and landed at the swell of her breasts. Jeremy swallowed and changed his stance before he embarrassed himself just by the sight of her. God, what he wouldn’t do to bury his hands in her long raven curls, fist them, and kiss her like he’d wanted to since the seventh grade.

  She glanced into the bed of the truck. “Are all of these yours?”

  He shrugged. So he had a little buzz going. So what? It didn’t dull the ache burning inside him for wasting so many years in the friend zone with her. She pinned him with those smoky gray eyes she kept hidden behind heavily rimmed glasses. He loved her eyes, her hair, the way she curled those sexy lips into a grin as she studied him, waiting for him to say something.

  No one saw Bree the way he did. She wasn’t on the cheer squad or in any spor
ts. She kept to herself, just like him. Although she didn’t have a sibling stealing the limelight every chance he got, that didn’t make her any less invisible.

  Not to him.

  “Why’re you over here drowning your sorrows in cheap beer when you could be over there dancing like that?” She nodded as Jason did the bump and grind with a cheerleader. The honor society president marched up and, instead of lecturing them for practically having sex right there in front of everyone, she joined in.

  Jeremy rolled his eyes and looked away. “Because I’m not an idiot like my brother.”

  “True.” She smiled. The gesture lit up the night. She moved to the tailgate, grabbed two beers from the cooler, and offered one to him. “Are the rumors true? Are you going to the University of Washington in the fall?”

  He took it and twisted off the top, but didn’t take a drink. Instead he stared at the bottle, trying to drum up the nerve to tell her how he really felt about her. This could be the last time he ever saw her. That thought, and the alcohol mixing with his blood, gave him just enough courage to talk to her. Before he changed his mind, he drew in a breath. “Bree, I have something to tell you.”

  “Go on,” she barely whispered and licked her lips. Those laughing eyes did more than captivate him. They bore into his soul, slid under his skin and imbedded themselves into his very core. She waited patiently, running a slim finger along the rim of her beer bottle.

  He studied the way her fingertip seemed to almost caress the neck of the bottle and nearly swallowed his tongue. Forcing his nerves back down, he dropped his gaze to his hands. “I, um…”

  “Yes?”

  “Never mind.” He was such a chicken shit.

  “Oh,” she said, almost sadly, and lowered her gaze as well. He hated how awkward this was. They’d known each other for seven years. He’d loved her for six of those years. It had never been awkward.

  Until now.

  “Well, I have something to tell you, then.” She drew in a breath. “I’m moving to California.”

  “What’s in California?” His heart skipped. That was like a thousand miles away.

  “Peter.”

  Shit. His heart seized. Of course it had something to do with him. Peter Harrington had swept Bree off her feet the instant they’d met. She had no reason to look for someone else, not when she had Jeremy.

  Not that he’d ever told her how he felt. And now it was too late. “You’re moving to another state to be closer to your boyfriend?”

  “No, I’m moving to another state to be with my fiancé. He asked me to marry him over spring break.”

  “You’re getting married?” He pushed away from the truck and faced her, gripping the side in case his knees gave out.

  She laughed. The sound lifted into the air, then slammed into his chest, twisted and threatened to detonate inside him. “It still sounds so weird to say that. I’m getting married. Me. Queen of the nerds.”

  Jeremy pinpointed the exact moment his world shattered. Breanne Willows, the girl he contemplated asking if she’d run away with him. Breanne Willows, the girl who, for a split second, had him debating whether to give up his scholarship to the UW and follow her to the ends of the earth. Breanne Willows, the only girl he’d ever loved or wanted to love, and now would never have.

  He swallowed down the pain clawing inside him like a feral beast and forced a smile. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d suffered a loss. When she’d originally told him about Peter, he had close to the same reaction. “Congratulations.”

  Again, she seemed sad. Her brilliant eyes didn’t shine like they usually did. A woman in love, about to move to be with the man she loved, should glow. Breanne didn’t even sparkle. “Thanks.”

  “What is it?” Jeremy stiffened. Something was wrong. He held his breath, the churning in his gut adding to the dread already pulsing through his veins. He didn’t want to know the answer. Why the hell would he ask a question he didn’t want her to answer?

  “This is a party, Jeremy. I don’t want to bring you down. Let’s have fun.”

  He narrowed his gaze, his heart in his throat. He didn’t know whether to laugh that he’d never have to admit his feelings, or to cry for the same reason. “What kind of fun?”

  The sadness in her expression faded, replaced by something Jeremy had never seen when a woman looked at him. Hunger. Lust. Desperation.

  “Kiss me.” Her breath hitched, almost as if her request surprised her as much as it did him.

  He shouldn’t. She was promised to another man. But that look in her eyes, that regret in her tone, fueled his decision. He brushed his thumb across her lower lip. She parted those soft lips, and he lost control.

  Leaning in, he captured her lips with his. Her taste consumed him. He licked her lips open to really kiss her. Shock stiffened her body, but only for a second, before she kissed him back with equal fervor. Her tongue thrust out and danced with his. When he cupped her neck to hold her to him, she moaned into his mouth.

  “All right, dude. It’s about time you two hooked up,” Jason hollered above the music.

  The partygoers all whooped and clapped, and Jeremy jerked back. He couldn’t pull himself from looking away from her, from the way her eyes had darkened as a result of his kiss. Heat colored her beautiful cheeks. That same heat burned into his.

  “Don’t stop on my account.” Jason laughed and draped his arm around one of the girls following him everywhere. At least he’d found his shirt—on the girl.

  “I’m sorry,” Jeremy snapped, pissed his brother stole what little attention he’d gotten with Bree.

  “I should go.” Bree, her pretty face flushed, pushed away from the truck.

  “No. Don’t.” He took her hand. She stopped and lifted her gaze. When he spotted the tears, the rage consuming him had him close to ending his brother. “Bree, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “I love you,” she told him in a voice so faint he wasn’t sure whether he’d imagined it or not. “I’ve always loved you. I always will.”

  “I, uh…” What could he say to that? She was about to leave him forever and marry another man. What right did she have to say those three little words he’d never had the courage to say to her?

  “Goodbye, Jeremy.” Her hand slipped from his.

  “No, wait. Don’t go.”

  Her sad smile returned as she rested her hand on his cheek. He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. This was killing him. He wanted to scream. Roar with rage. It was so unfair. The woman he loved, that he’d always love, was about to marry someone else.

  He was a man now. Men didn’t cry. Men didn’t let a goddamn emotion show. But losing Bree destroyed him. He couldn’t breathe, the emotional restraint strangling him too much to hold back. He swallowed over and over, forcing his control to the surface.

  “I’ll never forget you.” And then she was gone.

  ONE

  Present day

  TREX Agent Jeremy Bowman held the invitation both he and his brother had received back in May. Had it already been ten years since they’d graduated and left that island behind them? It seemed like yesterday, yet a million years ago.

  “I don’t see why you won’t come with me.” Jason Bowman put the finishing touches on his tie in the living room mirror while Jeremy looked on. It was either watch his brother or die from boredom. He’d already watched all the Netflix he could stand.

  “Because I hated high school.”

  “It’s better than sitting around here on forced leave feeling sorry for yourself.” He adjusted the tie and folded down his collar.

  A bullshit forced leave. Jeremy wasn’t too tightly wound. Since when did smiling and cracking jokes become a requirement? He didn’t need to socialize. He needed to do his job before anyone else got hurt.

  Ever since being jumped by a tango and left for dead, he’d made it his life’s work to track each and every last one of the bastards. He refused to put another TREX agent in danger, present company included.


  But then that damn tango playing a live-action game got him to unintentionally release a virus at HQ that locked him in the lab with the director, the assistant director, and the lead agent on the op, giving the rest of tangos the opportunity to escape. Granted, he was a forensic analyst specializing in following the money, not cracking code. As an intel agent, he should have been able to disable the virus. Instead, he’d caused the first breach in TREX’s history. Now he ate, slept, and breathed TREX. He’d never let another tango get the drop on him.

  “Why are you so dressed up?” He nodded at the tan blazer as Jason slipped it over his shoulders. His were a little broader than Jeremy’s due to all the physical strain he’d put his body through, first as a football player, and now as a frontline field agent in TREX’s personal security division.

  “It’s a bit snug.” The jacket looked ready to split at the seams.

  Wait. Jason didn’t own a tan blazer. “Isn’t that mine?”

  “Yep. So is the tie.” He moved from the mirror and took a seat at the dining table to put on his shoes. “I figured one of us should get some use out of them. Are you avoiding the reunion for a reason? Or maybe I should ask the bigger question.”

  “Which is?” Dropping his attention to the itinerary, he adjusted his glasses and browsed the schedule, not reading a single word. His mind refused to focus on anything other than the fact she’d be there. He’d tracked her through social media instead of using his connections within TREX to keep tabs. For ten years, he’d watched her blossom from Bree Willows, the awkward teenage girl with thick glasses and wild hair, to Breanne Harrington, the beautiful widow running her late husband’s global software company.

  “Is she still as hung up on you as you are her?”

  Jeremy’s gut twisted. Was it that obvious? “I’m not hung up on her.”