by Susan Stoker
DISCOVER OTHER TITLES BY SUSAN STOKER
Ace Security Series
Claiming Grace
Claiming Alexis (July 2017)
Claiming Bailey (TBA)
Unsung Heroes: Delta Force
Rescuing Rayne
Assisting Aimee (novella) losely tied to DF
Rescuing Emily
Rescuing Harley
Marrying Emily
Rescuing Kassie (May 2017)
Rescuing Bryn (Nov 2017)
Rescuing Casey (TBA)
Rescuing Wendy (TBA)
Rescuing Mary (TBA)
Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series
Justice for Mackenzie
Justice for Mickie
Justice for Corrie
Justice for Laine (novella)
Shelter for Elizabeth
Justice for Boone
Shelter for Adeline
Shelter for Sophie (Aug 2017)
Justice for Erin (Oct 2017)
Justice for Milena (TBA)
Shelter for Blythe (TBA)
Justice for Hope (TBA)
Shelter for Quinn (TBA)
Shelter for Koren (TBA)
Shelter for Penelope (TBA)
SEAL of Protection Series:
Protecting Caroline
Protecting Alabama
Protecting Alabama’s Kids (novella)
Protecting Fiona
Marrying Caroline (novella)
Protecting Summer
Protecting Cheyenne
Protecting Jessyka
Protecting Julie (novella)
Protecting Melody
Protecting the Future
Beyond Reality Series:
Outback Hearts
Flaming Hearts
Frozen Hearts
Stand-Alone Novels:
The Guardian Mist
Writing as Annie George:
Stepbrother Virgin (erotic novella)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2017 Susan Stoker
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake Romance are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781503942431
ISBN-10: 1503942430
Cover design by Eileen Carey
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Connect with Susan Online:
Prologue
The three brothers gathered around the coffin, huddled into their jackets as the cold spring wind blew around them. A cemetery worker stood nearby, at a respectable distance, patiently waiting for the men to say their good-byes.
Logan Anderson shifted uncomfortably. It had been years since he’d seen his brothers, and standing at their father’s grave wasn’t exactly how he wanted to reconnect. It was difficult, if not impossible, to settle on one emotion. Anger at his mother, grief for the father he’d grown distant from, shame that he hadn’t reached out to his brothers before now, and frustration at the entire situation sat heavily on his shoulders. He kept his hands in his pockets, hunched forward under the weight of his emotions and the chilly air.
“We should’ve been here,” Logan declared in a low voice, his lips drawn down in a slight frown, his hands fisting inside his pockets.
“Don’t do that,” Blake warned his brother. “We didn’t know she’d do this.”
“Bullshit,” Logan said. “We knew this might happen sooner or later. We wouldn’t have left town the second we graduated from high school if we weren’t afraid she might totally lose it one day.” He continued, his voice tight and hard, cracking with his grief. “I didn’t think it’d be Dad, though.”
“There wasn’t anything we could’ve done. If he didn’t want to leave her, there’s nothing we could’ve said to convince him otherwise,” Nathan argued.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But what if there was?”
“What do you mean, Logan?”
Logan turned to his brothers, who he hadn’t seen more than a handful of times since he’d joined the Army at eighteen. Too many painful memories of dodging their mother’s fists, and the fear of all the negative emotions rushing back, had kept them from being close. But standing with them now, he regretted that. These were his brothers, his flesh and blood. Yes, they had bad memories, but they also had good ones. They’d always been “Those Anderson triplets.” He wanted that back. They were fraternal triplets and had been born minutes apart, but they didn’t look much like each other beyond a typical family resemblance.
They were all the same height and all had the same sandy-brown hair, but that’s where the similarities ended. Nathan, the youngest, was tall and slender. He’d spent most of his time indoors behind a computer, which kept him out of their mother’s crosshairs. He was a fast learner and sailed through school. Numbers were his passion, and he made no excuses for it. He went to college on an academic scholarship when he’d left town and eventually got a job as an accountant. Logan figured he probably preferred to use his brain instead of his brawn as a direct result of how they were brought up and because of his introverted nature. From what Logan had heard, Nathan was good at what he did, damn good.
Like Logan, Blake had joined the Army right out of high school, but he had done his four years and gotten out. He joined a private investigation company and worked security for large events and concerts on the side. He still had the muscles from his time in the service but not the super macho attitude his oldest brother sometimes displayed. Logan sensed that Blake had often felt lost growing up, as if he didn’t have a place in his family. Nathan was the smart one, Logan was the tough one, Blake was just Blake. As a result, he often went out of his way to get attention, picking fights with his brothers. This meant his mother constantly attempted to discipline him, but Logan usually protected him from her wrath.
Logan was the oldest, and the one who looked like he’d cut your throat if you were caught with him in a dark alley. Tattoos, muscles, and an attitude that came across with only a look. No one messed with Logan. It had been that way ever since middle school. Any time anyone had threatened either of his brothers, Logan had been there to protect them. Whether it was a bully at school or their mom at home, Logan always had stood between his brothers and danger. As a result, both Blake and Nathan had looked up to him as a leader, depending on him to keep the
m safe from their mom’s fists.
“Blake, if you’d known how bad things had gotten between our parents in the last few years, would you have done something about it?” Logan asked.
“Yes,” Blake answered without hesitation.
“And Nathan, if Dad had called you and said that Mom was out of control, and he was scared she was going to do something crazy, would you have come home?”
“You know I would’ve,” his brother answered, without even thinking about it.
“Me too. Why then do you think he didn’t tell us?” Logan wasn’t exactly asking. He was more musing about how unfair life was sometimes. “I only talked to him once every couple of months, but it was enough for him to say something about his situation. Every time we talked, he seemed so proud of me, of all of us. That we were out in the world making a difference. All it would’ve taken is one word, and any of us would’ve been there to get him out of the situation.”
“He was embarrassed,” Nathan concluded. “He was embarrassed that his wife was beating him up. Who would believe him? If he went to the police, they’d look at him as less of a man. He was probably afraid we’d look at him the same way. There aren’t any men’s shelters he could’ve gone to around here. He was stuck.”
“Yeah. Exactly.” Logan took his eyes away from his brothers to look at the coffin in front of them. “Not to mention he didn’t want to suck us back into the life we’d left. But why aren’t there any shelters? Why doesn’t anyone think it’s possible that a man could be abused?”
They looked at each other, but they were all at a loss for an answer.
“What if we do something about it?” Logan asked.
“Like what?” Blake asked, his head cocking to the side and his eyebrows going up. “What can we do?”
“How invested in your job are you?” Logan asked his younger brother instead of directly answering his question.
Blake shrugged. “I could take it or leave it.”
“And you?” Blake turned to Nathan. “You like being a bean counter out there in Missouri?”
“Not particularly.”
“I’ve got another two months, then I’m out of the Army,” Logan told his brothers.
“What are you proposing?” Nathan asked, a glint in his eyes showing his interest.
“We’ve got skills,” Logan proclaimed. “I’ve been in the Army for ten years. Done two tours over in the Middle East. I’ve been trained in close-quarters combat, and I’ve already got my concealed-handgun license. Blake, you were in for four years as an MP. Not only that, you got your associate’s degree in computer science. You’re a tech whiz and would be great at research. Nathan, you might not be the fighter we are, but your accounting skills are just what we need to get a business going and keep it running in the black.
“Mom killing herself after murdering Dad was cowardly, and I wouldn’t have expected it of her, but she’s gone, and so is our main reason for leaving our hometown in the first place.” Logan’s fists clenched at his side, and every muscle in his body tensed in frustration and anger. “I’m saying, let’s move back here and start our own company. Ace Security. Named after Dad. We all know this isn’t the first time a woman has killed her husband or boyfriend after abusing him for years. We can provide a safe, nonjudgmental place for men to go to get help when they’re at the end of their ropes. Not a shelter, but a place where they can get nonjudgmental assistance and figure out what their next steps should be. We can do anything from providing them new identities to helping them start their lives over, to hooking them up with a lawyer. Restraining orders, finding them safe houses, even serving as bodyguards, if that’s what’s needed.”
Logan paused and tried to gauge his brothers’ reactions to his proposal. Nathan nodded immediately, the expression on his face eager. Blake, on the other hand, was closed off. His arms were crossed and not one emotion was showing on his face. Surprisingly, it seemed as though Blake was going to be a harder sell.
“You guys know it’s not just the men who need help,” Logan said. “What about the kids who are stuck in the same situation? You know how it was with us. If the men are afraid to speak up, how do you think the children feel? Getting knocked around every day and not being able to say anything about it for fear they’ll be made fun of or make their home situation worse. We can do something about it. Mom might have kept us cowed and scared for most of our lives, but we can do our best to try to make sure that others don’t get bullied and abused by the women in their lives . . . or by anyone for that matter.”
The wind whistled in the trees over their heads. Logan stepped away from his brothers and put a hand on top of his dad’s coffin.
“Dad didn’t deserve this. We didn’t deserve this.” Logan’s voice had dropped to merely a whisper as his head bowed. He croaked out, “I’m sorry we didn’t come home sooner, Ace.”
“I’m in.” There was a thread of steel in Nathan’s voice that Logan had never heard before. “You’re right, Logan. I talked to Dad every couple of months too, and he never said anything. If he’d reached out, we would’ve done something. He suffered in silence, just like we used to do. Back then, we didn’t say anything to anyone either, and maybe if we had, if there had been someone we could’ve gone to, things would’ve turned out differently. My job is crap. I hate St. Louis. It’s dirty and dangerous. The summers are hell on earth, with floods and the humidity. I’ve got some money saved up. We can use it to get us started and help with getting a loan. I can do the legwork on that end.”
“Thanks, Nate.”
The two brothers looked toward Blake. Their middle brother had always been the more cautious among them. He was chewing his bottom lip and looking above their heads as if contemplating something.
“What are you worried about?” Logan asked, stepping forward and putting a hand on Blake’s shoulder.
“This isn’t going to be easy. It’s not like men who have been abused for years are gonna want to reach out and get help. Everything you said earlier still stands. It’s about the shame they feel, not necessarily about whether they’ll be believed. How in the hell can we make this work, if we can’t get any clients?”
“We’ll make it work,” Logan said confidently. “With you at the keyboard doing your thing, Nathan doing the paperwork, and me providing the bulk of the security, it’ll work.”
“I can help with the physical security stuff too,” Blake grumbled. “It’s not like I sit on my ass every day. I still have my certifications from when I was a police officer in the Army.”
Logan grinned, knowing he’d gotten to his brother. “Then you’re in?”
Blake sighed, but nodded. “Yeah, I’m in. Like I’d leave you two on your own. You’d probably be arrested within a month without me.”
Everyone chuckled, knowing he was probably right.
The smile faded from Blake’s face, and he took a deep breath. “For Dad,” Blake stated firmly. “We’ll do this for Dad.”
“Ace Security. I like it,” Nathan stated.
Logan put his hand back on the center of the mahogany coffin in front of them. “For Dad,” he repeated.
“Ace.” Blake echoed, placing his hand over his brother’s.
“For abused families everywhere,” Nathan vowed, adding his own hand to the stack.
The three brothers looked at each other for a long moment, seeing the shared pain of their adolescence, their resolve, and the determination to make their new venture a success.
Knowing they were on a path to a new life, a new purpose, the three men stepped away from their father’s coffin. They turned as one and headed up the slight rise to Logan’s pickup.
“I’ll get the ball rolling on the finances and the legal paperwork to get the company started,” Nathan told his brothers.
“I’ll see if I can find an appropriate place for an office,” Blake chimed in.
“And I’ll find us places to live. This is gonna work,” Logan vowed.
Blake and Nathan nodded t
heir heads in agreement.
And with that, Ace Security was born. Logan might not have been able to save his father, but maybe he could save someone else.
Chapter One
Six Months Later
“What the hell happened between you two?”
Logan ignored his friend Cole as he concentrated on lifting the weight bar. He hadn’t seen Cole in the ten years since he’d left town, but the moment he’d entered Rock Hard Gym, they’d reconnected as if no time had passed. Of course, Cole being Cole, he wouldn’t let the current subject drop.
“You two were thick as thieves in high school. Everyone figured you and Grace would end up married or some shit. But she stayed here and you never came back. And now,” Cole threw his hand up, indicating the attractive woman who walked by the gym on her way to the coffee shop across the street, “the two of you won’t even look at each other. It doesn’t make sense.”
Logan huffed out an annoyed breath and put the weight bar back on the floor and faced his friend. “We grew up.”
“Bullshit.”
“Look, Cole, it doesn’t matter. We’re both older and wiser. What we had in high school was just teenage shit. She stayed here and I wanted out. End of story.”
Cole eyeballed his friend shrewdly. “So you saying what we had was just teenage shit?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then why are you dismissing what you had with her?”
Logan ran a frustrated hand through his sweaty hair and sighed. “I just am. Now, can you drop it?”
“You know Felicity and Grace are best friends, right?”
“So?”
“So Felicity is co-owner of this joint and a good friend of mine. Felicity told me that Grace was glad you were back in town, but because of the history between you two, she wasn’t all that thrilled about talking to you. You guys have managed to avoid each other so far, but there’ll come a time when you’ll run into each other again. I just don’t want it to be awkward.”
“It won’t be,” Logan said firmly.
Cole didn’t say anything for several moments, but eyed Logan with a piercing gaze. Finally, he confessed in a quiet voice, so none of the other patrons working out could hear, “She hasn’t had an easy time since high school, she—”
