by Brook Wilder
This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, events, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Revenge copyright @ 2018 by Brook Wilder and Scholae Palatina Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Previously, on RENEGADE
REVENGE
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
SAMPLE: Bought
SAMPLE: Taken
SAMPLE: Ruined
SAMPLE: Broken
SAMPLE: Claimed by the Don
SAMPLE: Ride Hard
OTHER BOOKS BY BROOK WILDER
INTRODUCTION
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Previously, on RENEGADE
Why had she even gone to him? Maddie swiped away at her tears as she hurried out into the alley. Why had she even told him about the baby?
Because it had been the right thing to do. Beth had told her that she needed to tell Jace about the baby because he would resent her if she didn’t. If she didn’t say anything and he heard about a baby being born, Jace would put two and two together. He wasn’t stupid. Maddie knew she had to tell him and give him a choice.
But why did it hurt so much? Why couldn’t she just send him a note instead of going in person?
Maddie hoped she wasn’t going soft. She couldn’t bear to go soft with regards to Jace Howard.
The drive home felt long and difficult. It was still light, but Maddie was struggling to see through her tears. They just wouldn’t stop.
She was already having problems with dehydration from the vomiting; she didn’t need any more problems with crying now. With everything that had gone on, Maddie was amazed she was still carrying a baby.
Her street was quiet when Maddie pulled in. A jeep was parked under a tree outside next door, but Maddie paid it no attention as she climbed out and went up to her front door. She was exhausted and wanted to have a long bath before she tried to sleep. Telling Jace that he was the father to their unborn child had completely drained her.
“Hey, princess. Where are you going?”
Maddie turned. Three men were coming across her neighbor’s lawn towards her. They were all big and burly, wearing sleeveless black jackets and beards. One of them had long hair down to his shoulders, another was bald and the third had a bandana. All of them had a logo of WL and a picture of a leopard’s head tattooed on their right arms.
The Wild Leopards. Maddie pulled up, eyeing them nervously. They were too close for her to run and could come in after her. She didn’t want to fight them because of the baby. She was stuck there.
And what were they doing here? They were way out of their territory.
She faced the one who had spoken, Long Hair.
“I’m going home. What does it look like?”
“Fancy some company?” asked Bandanna, leering at her with yellowing teeth.
Maddie scowled.
“Not really. I’ve got the flu.” She coughed hard to make a point. “You might just catch it.”
Bandanna chuckled and licked his lips.
“I’m willing to risk it.”
Long Hair glared at his companion and turned to Maddie. He was closer in age to her. Maddie had probably gone to school with him at some point. He scowled at her.
“One of your friends threatened one of us. He disrespected us. We don’t like that.”
This again. They had come all the way out there, to Maddie’s house on the far side of Tucson from their own territory, to threaten her.
“I don’t know who threatened you or if it even happened at all. I don’t pay attention to all that. And there is no point in taking it out on me.”
They looked at each other. Maddie wondered if she could get back into her car and find her gun in the glove box before they grabbed her.
“How about we use her to our advantage?” Baldie suggested, eyeing her in appreciation. “In more ways than one.”
“Sounds like an idea.” Long Hair agreed. “If we’ve got the president’s baby sister, then maybe we’ll get some answers.” He approached Maddie and reached for her. “Exchange you for the one who threatened us sounds like a good plan.”
Maddie tensed. She was not going to be used as bait.
“You can go straight to hell,” she snarled.
Bandanna laughed and took out a flick knife, sliding out the blade.
“It looks like our little lady here is a firecracker.” He blew her a kiss. “I love firecrackers.”
“And I suggest you leave this firecracker alone. She’s off-limits.”
Maddie jumped. The Wild Leopards men paused and turned. Jace was coming up the drive, carrying a long metal bar. He looked like he was barely holding in his fury.
What was he doing here? Had he followed her the whole way back? Maddie wondered how none of them had noticed he had arrived.
Long Hair hesitated. Baldie faltered. But Bandanna didn’t back down. He advanced on Jace.
“Who the fuck are you?” He snarled.
“I’m your worst nightmare.” Jace wielded the iron bar. “Fuck off out of here before I let the president know his sister is being harassed by the Wild Leopards.”
Bandanna sneered.
“You can’t get rid of us on your own.” He waved his knife in front of Jace’s face. “Make us leave.”
Jace knocked the knife away with the bar, spun and kicked Bandanna high in the chest. Bandanna gasped and staggered onto his knees. Jace then kicked him across the face, knocking the man onto the ground, where he lay with a loud moan.
Long Hair and Baldie hadn’t moved. They stared at their companion on the ground. Jace caught Long Hair’s eye and nodded at their vehicle.
“Good thing you brought the jeep and not your bikes. That would’ve been interesting, getting a riderless bike back to Casa Adobes. And I suggest you get out of here before I let both Lyman and Archer know what’s going on.”
They didn’t hesitate. Long Hair and Baldie hurried to Bandanna, who was still moaning. They dragged him towards the jeep and bundled the barely conscious man into the back. Baldie got into the back while Long Hair got behind the wheel. Then the jeep was squealing its tires from standing in its attempt to get away.
Maddie could feel herself shaking. She was still trying to take in what had happened. The bastards had gone out of their way to get something from her and, if Jace hadn’t turned up, they might have got away with it.
Maddie wasn’t risking her unborn child for anything.
“You okay?”
Maddie looked up. Jace was approaching her, dropping the iron bar. He looked at her warily, his eyes full of worry. He was worried about her? Maddie let out a slow breath.
“
I’m fine. It’s not the first time someone’s used me to get to Jeremy. And it certainly won’t be the last.”
When Jeremy had gone for the presidency, he had laid out what could be in store for Maddie should he get it. Maddie had understood that she could be in danger but actively encouraged Jeremy to go for it. She could take care of herself and word had got around quickly after the first couple attempts to kidnap her. Now, they mostly left her alone.
But, now she was pregnant, the game plan for her had changed.
Jace didn’t look happy about this. He glanced at her stomach, which was still flat.
“Now you’re carrying a baby. If they find out, you’ll be a bigger target.”
“Bigger how?” Maddie arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you mean by me getting bigger around the middle as the baby expands.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Jace said irritably. “They find out the president’s sister is pregnant, they’ll use that as his weakness. But if they find out I’m the father…” He swallowed. “Well, then you become a weakness for me.”
“For you?”
“Who else?” Jace pressed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently. “I want to protect you, Maddie, but you’re adamant that I shouldn’t.”
Maddie wished he wouldn’t touch her; she couldn’t concentrate when he did that. She shrugged him away.
“I’m not asking for protection, Jace. I’m asking for help with the baby. That’s all, nothing more.” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “You don’t make me a bigger target if you don’t say anything.”
Jace raised his eyebrows at her.
“You don’t think I’m capable of protecting you, do you?” he asked quietly.
Maddie’s throat tightened. That was the problem. She did think he could protect her. But Maddie knew that, if Jace was around her, things would happen where the chemistry would explode again and Maddie didn’t want to take that risk.
The spark was still there, much to her shock. And it was even brighter. She took a step back.
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
If Jace was insulted by her insinuation, he didn’t show it. He moved towards Maddie before she could react, cupped his hand against her jaw, and kissed her. It was very brief, and he pulled away quickly, but Maddie felt the kiss all the way down to her toes.
Jace was breathing heavily, his eyes burning brightly with desire. He still wanted her, even after all these months.
“I want to be in the baby’s life, Maddie,” he said huskily. “Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just let me have a chance.”
Maddie knew she should. And Jace was acknowledging the baby. That was something. She bit her lip and nodded.
“As long as you don’t beg me to get together with you again, we will be fine.”
The smile Jace gave her was one full of relief as he stepped back, his hand falling from her face.
“Thank you.”
Maddie couldn’t speak. She knew that, if she said something more, she would be one step closer to jumping on him. Turning around, Maddie hurried to her condo and let herself in. Her hands were still shaking as she shut the door and they didn’t stop until she leant against the door and heard Jace’s motorbike leaving.
And now, the searing hot sequel: REVENGE
REVENGE
Chapter One
“Wakey, wakey, Maddie.”
Maddie jumped when a hand waved very close to her face. It was then she realized she had been staring at the computer screen in front of her for five minutes and hadn’t read a thing on the email she had just been sent. The words had started running together and were now a complete blur.
Rubbing her eyes, she gave Beth a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, Beth. I was miles away.”
“I noticed.” Beth was looking at her in concern. “Are you sure you should be in today? You had a trying day yesterday and you’ve got that appointment later. Shouldn’t you be at home?”
Maddie grimaced. The thought of going home was tempting but that meant she would have her thoughts invading and that was the last thing Maddie wanted. She needed to keep herself busy and not think about damn Jace Howard and the way he made her stomach tie up in knots whenever he looked at her.
If only she had had enough sleep the night before. The vomiting hadn’t stopped and Maddie had spent half the night clutching the bowl and retching into it. Her stomach burned, her throat burned, and her eyes felt sore. All Maddie wanted to do was sleep.
The problem was that, every time she closed her eyes, Jace came into view. In every dream he appeared as a knight in shining armor, defending her against sworn enemies. And every time he seemed to disappear just when Maddie really needed the protection. It woke her up in a cold sweat.
Jace may have saved her from the Wild Leopards the night before but that didn’t mean he was going to rescue her all the time. Maddie couldn’t rely on him. She didn’t even want him in the baby’s life. But that train had passed, and Maddie knew she would have to put up with it.
“I need to be here to keep myself busy.” Maddie scanned the email quickly, which turned out to be spam, and deleted it. “Or I’m going to go crazy thinking about everything.”
“It doesn’t look like it’s working,” Beth grunted. “Do you want to do the front desk for a bit? We’re going to get a surge of patients in a few minutes.”
Maddie liked working the front desk. She was a people person and enjoyed greeting different faces, even though they were more worried about dying in the waiting room. It would be perfect to distract her as there was no let up working there. But she glanced at the clock and shook her head.
“Best not. Jeremy’s picking me up in ten minutes for my appointment. Mandy’s got me until then and she’s signed me off afterwards.”
Beth raised her eyebrows and whistled.
“That’s impressive, considering she’s not normally nice to you.”
Maddie snorted, absently rubbing at her still-flat tummy.
“I think now she knows there’s a baby coming she’s getting some baby rabies. Her son and daughter-in-law are childfree, and her two daughters have children but don’t speak to her.”
Maddie could guess why. Mandy was rude and overbearing. She thought she was the matriarch of her family and her children had suffered for her antics. After witnessing what looked like Mandy in competition with her daughter-in-law for her son’s affection, Maddie could understand why her daughters had cut contact. Beth had wondered if Mandy was diagnosed with something, but nothing had made itself clear.
Mandy was just a middle-aged woman who tried to control everything, which resulted in her being isolated. Maddie could understand why her son was childfree with her insistence that they started making babies as soon as they were married.
“Charming.” Beth rolled her eyes. “Nice to know you’re a surrogate for her insanity.”
Maddie shrugged. If it meant she could get to her appointment, which she had been lucky to get the day after calling her own doctor, she would take it for now. She didn’t want a mother-figure, but she would take Mandy’s momentary good mood.
“Beth? Maddie?”
Maddie looked up. Doctor Martin Roberts was in the doorway to the reception office, frowning at both of them. His eyes were on Maddie a little longer than they should have been.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be working?”
Beth and Maddie glanced at each other. At least it wasn’t Mandy catching them. Beth mumbled as apology and started tapping away. Maddie closed down her email and logged off, reaching for her bag.
“Sorry, Martin. I’ve got to take off in a minute.”
“Why?”
“Hospital appointment.” Maddie wasn’t about to divulge that she was pregnant until she had had her scan. Even then it wasn’t something she would be telling Martin Roberts before she had told her brother. “Mandy’s signed me off for the rest of the day.”
Martin raised his eyebrows. Maddie took
a moment to survey him. Tall, dark and very handsome, Martin was the poster boy for the surgery. He had only qualified two years before and had practically every female in the surgery drooling after him. Beth and Maddie were the only two who just shrugged and got on with it; Martin wasn’t anything special. There were several girls who also worked the desk who would have liked to see Martin out of his stiff shirts and suits, but Martin kept it purely professional.
Except when it came to Maddie. Now she was aware of it, Maddie could see that Martin kept looking at her more. He made a point of hanging around in the office when he knew she was going to be there, talking to her when she was trying to work. Maddie had brushed it off but now she wondered if Beth was right and he did have a fancy for her.
