by Tory Baker
Claiming Her
Nighthawk Security Book 1
Tory Baker
Contents
Synopsis
1. Slade
2. Taylor
3. Slade
4. Taylor
5. Slade
6. Taylor
7. Slade
8. Taylor
9. Slade
10. Taylor
11. Slade
12. Taylor
13. Slade
14. Taylor
15. Slade
16. Taylor
17. Slade
18. Taylor
19. Slade
20. Taylor
Epilogue
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Tory Baker
Copyright © 2020 by Tory Baker
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.
Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Created with Vellum
To the two brightest lights in my life, Adrienne and Andrew. You two are my biggest fans and always seem to help me name these crazy characters.
<3
Synopsis
As owner of Nighthawk Security, Slade Chavez had created a company whose services were in high demand.
He had his pick of cases, but some cases pick you.
When Travis Daniels contacted him, it was to call in an old favor.
Someone was after his sister and Travis was overseas unable to help.
Slade stepped up to the plate, despite his misgivings.
It was meant to be simple. Get the girl and get her the hell out of the line of fire.
She was meant to be a job, but she became so much more.
This girl has me thinking of forever.
Each book can be read as a standalone and is chopped full of steamy heat, suspense and a no holds barred happily ever after.
One
Slade
I fist my hair at the back of my head. This is not how I wanted to start my Monday morning. “Fuck,” I grunt, pacing back and forth in my office. I knew her from the pictures Travis carried with him. It was one where she was hugging her older brother, but proud as she could be of him too. Hell, if they skyped while we were overseas, I caught a few glimpses of her, and sometimes she’d say hello while a blush appeared on her cheeks. She even sent a package to all of us with a note attached that there was something just for me, something Travis grumbled about; he didn’t like it one bit. I couldn’t blame him. His sister, shit, she was beyond gorgeous. Yet, she was way the fuck out of my league. Getting those glimpses, though left a lasting impression.
That’s why when I came into Nighthawk Security, a place where me and my brothers built it from the ground up. Easton, Bridger, and Drake, they may not have the same blood running through their veins as mine, but they’re more of a family than anyone could ever ask for. Through thick and thin, we’re brothers ‘til the motherfucking end. Travis Daniels, though, that insane son of a bitch is still over there. It causes a chill to run down my spine to think of what he’s doing and the shit that still goes on that no one hears about.
I sit back in my desk chair, returning to the e-mail I received, and shake my head. This is not going to be a good start to the week. Not to mention for Taylor one of the things I remember about her vividly is how strong-willed she is. There were times when Travis was ready to wring her neck over the phone, and she refused to take hand-outs. That’s why I know I’ll be returning his message. I made a promise to Travis when I came back stateside while he decided to continue on with even more tours. Knowing him, he’ll get his full twenty years in and retire after that. It leaves me to look after his sister, Taylor, which is something I’ve already been doing without anyone knowing, especially her. If she ever found out, she’d probably kick me in the balls, and I like them too much to let that happen. So, I kept my distance and watched her from afar, even when I wanted to be right there with her.
Now all bets are off. Taylor Daniels doesn’t have a choice; I’ll drag her into my office kicking and screaming her cute little ass off.
Once I reply to Travis, I walk out of my office. I may as well let Bridger and Drake know what’s going on. I’d have Easton doing the lead on anything he can find, but the asshole up and moved from Virginia to hot as hell Alabama. Why he chose that state, I’ll never understand. Though he and Cam seem to be happier than ever, something he always rubs in our faces.
I make my way into the conference room, where we have our weekly Monday meetings. “Ready to rock and roll?” Bridger asks as I walk in.
“It’s Monday. Who had rainbows and glitter for breakfast this morning?” I question, my eyebrow shooting up in response.
“More like who pissed in your Cheerios?” Bridger grumbles back before taking a seat. I go to the coffee maker we have set up in here, make a steaming cup of the strong black magic.
“Please tell me that’s not the stack we need to go over?” Drake comes in, draping himself in a chair.
“Afraid so. Not only that, but I’ll be taking on a personal assignment.” I sit down in a chair, doling out the cases we need to get sorted and taken care of. For the most part, we can pick and choose.
“Who might that be?” Bridger asks.
“Taylor Daniels.”
I hear a whistle come from Drake. “Like we didn’t see that coming from miles away. Travis has had you on her six for three damn years. What’s wrong that we’ll be bringing her in?”
“That’s the kicker. I have no idea except he sent an email to my private email account saying Taylor needs help as soon as possible. I’ll be heading out after our meeting. I may need to see what Easton can do if you two boneheads are busy.” I feel my age a little more every day, but taking this case, it’s not going to be easy in the least, it may push me to my limits.
“We can work on hacking into her accounts while you’re with her. It looks like we have an easy caseload, and we can hand off some of these to Leo,” Bridger says.
“That works for me.” We finish wrapping up our meeting in a short amount of time.
“I’ll get you the details while you do a little breaking and entering.” I roll my eyes at the shit starter Bridger says as we head our separate ways.
I already know where I’m going. I need to get into Taylor’s house while she’s working at the courthouse. Travis was vague about why she needed help, so this will give me the time to get to her place and scope it out before I come in contact with the woman that sets my blood on fire.
As for the two clowns I’m leaving at our office, I hope they get stuck with desk work today. Especially since I know how much they hate it.
I head for Taylor’s house, not needing the GPS to tell me how to get there. I’ve been here so many times in the past few years, I should change my driver’s license to her address. I feel like I’m here more often than at my own home.
Her condo is in an older community, Travis tried to set her up in his empty house, Taylor wouldn’t have it though. So, it’s rented out instead of sitting empty. Even though it would be a huge step up from this place. It’s clean, but you can see the age on it
in the way nothing has been updated. The cars in the parking lot are older, and you can see some of the tenants are sitting on their front porches while they read the newspapers as I walk up to Taylor’s door.
The last time I was here to scope her place out when she first moved in, I snagged her spare key, made my own copy, and then promptly returned it all before she knew about it. Call me a psychopath all you want, you can’t ever be too careful when her brother is in a war-torn area and she has no family to fall back on while he’s there. Not to mention the enemies that would use Taylor against him. Fuck, for that matter, anyone in my past could do the same if they catch wind of me looking after her. That’s why I’ve stayed away from her for so long. Not to mention Travis would kick my ass if he thought I was sniffing around Taylor.
When I walk into her place, the scent of lemon permeates the air. It’s not until I see the wax melting in a ceramic pot by the front door that I realize she’s left it on all day. “Damn fire hazard,” I say, shaking my head. If I turn it off she’ll know for sure someone was in here, and who knows what’s really going on and why she wouldn’t want Travis to worry over her. Walking around her place doesn’t give me a whole lot of clues about what’s really going on or why Travis wants me to watch her. I even walk through her home office, bypassing her bedroom completely. If I go in there, I might do something stupid like look through every drawer in there.
My phone ringing has me going back toward the kitchen to see if she has a stack of mail there like most people do. I pull my phone out of my pocket and answer, “Yo.” It’s Bridger on the other line.
“Did a search on Taylor. Not much of a lead. She sticks to herself, has one social media page that’s on private. I’m hacking into it now, but other than that, she lives a solitary life. Works at the courthouse. She goes to the gym, the grocery store, and has an online shopping addiction. Though, if Easton were here, he’d know what she ate for breakfast, what time she goes to bed, and everything in between,” Bridger says, and he’s not wrong. I hate that Easton branched off, but there’s nothing that would lure him back to Virginia and away from Cam.
“I’m not finding anything here, and I don’t really want to stay that much longer. Her neighbors are older and like to people watch.” I take a look on the counter and see a stack of letters. Bridger is rattling on which gym she works out at, what places she likes to shop at. “Damn, who knew Travis’ little sister likes the finer things in life?” he says with a whistle.
“Don’t fucking go there,” I grunt while moving the letters a little bit. I see they are all addressed to Taylor with no return address.
“I’m just saying, man. The girl has a healthy obsession with La Senza.”
“Shut up, and how do you even know what that place is?” I question. I put the letters back, already getting a sinking feeling in my gut.
“Do your own research and come back to me,” he grunts out, and then we disconnect. I’m already heading out her front door. I need to get back to the office, go through what Bridger found, and message Travis back to get the full details, especially if he wants me to protect her. Half-assed answers won’t work when it comes to Taylor.
Two
Taylor
I walk out of the courthouse with the need to get to the gym. It’s not even to be healthy; it literally clears my mind to get on a treadmill and run. I shouldn’t be this stressed out. I’m a twenty-five-year-old single female, no dogs, and for sure no cats. Don’t get me wrong; cats are cute and cuddly, but I like to breathe and not die from anaphylactic shock.
The sun is shining, so I grab my sunglasses from my bag, not paying attention to my surroundings when I’m jostled from behind.
“Sorry about that,” I hear a murmured as the person who hit me scurries away.
“Everyone is always in a rush,” I say under my breath. I secure my bag on my shoulder and head toward the parking lot. It’s time to head home, change for the gym, and get in my hour of a mental health break. I grab my keys and phone, frowning when I see a text from my brother, Travis.
Travis: Get to Nighthawk Security now. Slade is waiting for you.
Me: Cryptic much?
I totally regret telling him about the two random letters I received in the mail last week.
Travis: I don’t have time for this shit. Go now.
Me: Fine, I’m going. Be safe, love you, brother bear.
Travis: Thanks. Always, little sis.
Now that my evening plans are ruined, I head for Nighthawk Security instead of my house, and I really wanted to hit the gym up tonight too. Knowing Slade and all of the other guys that work with him, I’ll be lucky to get home at midnight. This Friday really is shaping up to be garbage.
It takes me no time to get to Slade’s office, and at least traffic is minimal, especially with it being the five o’clock hour. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself to see Slade for the first time in over three years. Even back then he would take my breath away, and it was usually through a grainy video call. The man who Travis said barely smiled, would smile for me. It caused me to blush every time our weekly calls happened.
I flip down my visor mirror, reapply some lip gloss that is gone from this morning, and then step out of my car with my purse in hand. “It’s now or never, Taylor Marie Daniels. Time to suck it up, buttercup,” I mutter. I should have never said anything to Travis. He’s a worry wart. The two letters are nothing, I figured maybe it was someone playing a prank. It’s not like my job is high security. I literally document what is said in a court of law the entire time the session is in progress. Even if I wanted to mess something up, it’s not even a possibility with the way everything is recorded now. So, I know it couldn’t have come from a disgruntled case.
“Taylor, get your cute ass in here already,” Bridger says as he holds the door open.
“Well, well, well. Don’t you clean up well,” I say with sass. Last time I saw him, he was overseas and had dirt caked all over his face.
“Don’t tell Slade that. He’ll likely kick my ass.” Bridger envelops me in a hug, something I haven’t had since the last time my brother was home from leave. I swear he takes the minimal amount of time off and then goes back. Even when he’s eligible for retirement, he’ll likely stay right where he is.
“Yeah, right.” What he said can’t possibly be true. I’ve lived here for years now. Slade has had plenty of opportunity to make his move; it’s been his choice not to. Of course, Travis did always tell me to stay away from him. I always assumed it was stupid macho man crap, but maybe there’s something more to his reasoning.
“How have you been? You couldn’t have stopped by and brought some cookies after all these years?” he fires off. His hair is haphazardly over his forehead. He has the boy next door look, yet you know he’s not. To me, though he’s more of a brother.
When he lets go of our hug, I step back, place my hand on my hip, and tell him, “I’m pretty sure that can work both ways.”
“You’re not wrong, but I wasn’t about to wake a sleeping bear.” He winks as he uses his arm to tell me to move my butt and stop letting the bought air out.
“We’ll just agree to disagree on that,” I tell him as I walk inside. A hard chest is what I run into, and that’s what I get for smoothing down my skirt and not watching where I’m going. Today is not my day.
“Oomph,” I grunt. The hands that are holding me by my upper arms leave me with goosebumps pebbling my flesh.
“Taylor.” I’d know that voice anywhere. It’s a deep baritone with a hint of rasp to it. It’s one that had me clenching my legs together anytime I heard him, just to soothe an ache that always formed when he was around.
And I’m not ashamed to admit, Slade has been the center of my fantasies for a while now. He doesn’t even know that while my hands were being used to bring me to orgasm after orgasm, it was him I envisioned, his name I gasped out loud when I came each and every single time.
“Slade,” I all put purr out, like a cat rubbing agai
nst its owner. I need to snap out of the fog before he realizes what he does to me in front of his whole office.
“Follow me.” His tone is less than welcoming. If it wasn’t for Travis being adamant that I be here, I wouldn’t be. Hell, at this rate, I’ll need a shot of whiskey to calm my nerves.
I mock salute him, only following his orders. It seems like these men could use some fun in their lives, and maybe I’ll be just the person to deliver it. The whole way to Slade’s office, I try to come up with a plan.
Slade walks around to his desk. “Have a seat, please.” He’s wearing a pair of dark charcoal slacks and a white dress shirt that has the sleeves folded back, showing off the muscles in his forearms and the deep tan that I know is more heritage than from the sun itself. Rich hair falls to his forehead, and he has a five o’clock shadow. His soulful eyes are as dark as the midnight sky.
“I don’t mind if I do.” I smooth my skirt down before taking my seat, ready to get this conversation over and done with.
“Travis didn’t tell me a whole lot about what’s going on, just about some letters that were sent to you. Do you happen to have them with you?”
“Um… no, but I’m pretty sure those were nothing. I shouldn’t have even told Travis. He has more than enough to worry about,” I say honestly.
“Just the same, I’ll take a look at them. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Where are they now? When did you receive the first one? What did it say?” He volleys the conversation, continuing with questions. “Travis would want to know whether he was home or not.”
