by C. M. Steele
Caught in a Lie
Book 3 in the Caught Series
C.M. Steele
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Prologue
Why was I here? I asked myself over and over again. How could I’ve been so blind? I looked out the window just watching the rain cascade down the glass. I could hear the sound of the low hush on the TV that I refused to watch and the beeping of the monitoring device on the right side of my bed. I was told I would be in here for another week. At this point, I didn’t even care. I knew it was going to be harder to beat the emotional pain I was feeling than it was going to be to walk again.
I’d been in the hospital for five days now. I didn’t have any family except my brother Mike, but he was in the Special Forces and more than likely on assignment. I didn’t know if he was notified, but I hoped to hell that he wasn’t told before he went on assignment. He needed to be focused on the job, not me.
I didn’t want any visitors anyway. I felt like I belonged here for being a fucking fool. If I’d followed my gut instead of trusting my supposed friend, things would have been very different. My whole team would have still been alive and bullshitting like always.
I heard a commotion in the hallway and actually laughed, more like coughed roughly, but I laughed.
“Where is he?” I heard him roar. Mike was an asshole when he was worried. He must be really fucking worried.
“Sir, visiting hours are over for the day,” I heard the floor nurse say. Uh-oh, she poked the bear.
Mike roared, “I don’t give a fuck what time visiting hours are. I want to see him.”
“Yes, sir. This way.” I heard her sputter. I couldn’t laugh or I’d pop the stitches, but that shit was funny as fuck.
I watched as the door to my room slammed open. “Sir, there is no need to slam doors.”
He turned to her with a screwed up face and knitted brows. “Woman, don’t you have work to do?” he barked.
“Ass,” the nurse mumbled under her breath as she left the room.
“Still a prick, I see,” I said with a weak grin.
“Damn, Milo.” I heard my brother’s pain as he looked at me. I knew he was fucking stressing. I’d be too if it had been in reverse.
“You’re not looking much better, bro,” I countered. I could tell he didn’t come back unscathed from his mission.
He took a seat on the side of my bed and chuckled, “Yeah, well someone had to go and get hurt. Just as I was dealing with some militants, I got a message from my CO.”
I was pissed that they were stupid enough to tell him before he’d finished his mission. “God, what the hell is wrong with them. Why would they contact you like that? Are they freaking stupid?”
Mike looked at me like I was fucking nuts. I would want to know too. “No. They just know that if there was something about you going on and they didn’t tell me ASAP, they’d pay for it.”
“Hmm…” I groaned when I tried to sit up a little more.
Mike looked franticly at me before he asked, “How are you feeling, Milo?”
“Like a bloody fool,” I grumbled. Being played for a fool was never cool, especially when the person was supposed to be your friend. That was a hell of a lot worse.
Mike gave me a stern look and said, “Don’t let that shit get to you. I met Markham several times over the past seven years, I never would have thought he could turn on anyone let alone you.”
“Well, I guess we never really know anyone, do we?” I asked myself.
“You know that’s not true. You just need time. I’m here for you. As of this morning, I’m your permanent tail.” He tapped my leg to placate me.
“Don’t you have to return?” I asked. He never took time off unless he was in between assignments.
“No. I quit,” he revealed.
My eyes bugged out. “Why? You love it!” Part of me was shocked, but a bigger part of me wasn’t. He would do anything for me, including quitting his career.
He frowned and looked out the window before turning back to me. “They weren’t too happy with me scrapping the mission to get to you, so they gave me a choice. I could go and see you and retire, or I could finish my mission. You’re my brother. Of course, I chose you, but I’m not the only one. Duke came with me.”
“Duke quit, too?” I couldn’t believe that massive and dedicated Duke would give up the career he loved.
“Yeah. He’d been hanging on just for me, so when I dropped off so did Duke. He wanted more in his life and wants to find it. After all that he’s been through, risking his life for people he doesn’t know doesn’t work for him anymore.”
I laid back against the pillow, then asked, “What do you plan to do now? You can’t just follow me around forever.”
“Well, once you’re on your feet, I think it’s time to open up that security company we’ve always talked about. We’ve got all the experience we need. Duke knows computers and is down with being a part of the crew.”
“I don’t know.” I was skeptical about taking anyone but Mike into confidence, even someone as honest and loyal as Duke.
“Don’t think about it now. Besides, I know you’re going to do it anyway. I know you don’t want to take orders for the rest of your life,” Mike suggested.
“Being the boss does sound good.” I smiled in agreement.
Chapter 1
Mike and I were at the Blake Estate in Maine working for our friend and current client, Jackson Blake. He asked us to accompany him because there was someone out to get him, but he needed to attend his sister’s eighteenth birthday. We were to keep an eye on his wife and to see if the threats were coming from not only in Seattle, where he built his new office, but here as well.
We’d arrived the day before and Mike noticed someone who was suspicious immediately. He asked me to look into the new security girl at the Blake compound who had only been working there for roughly a month or two. According to Mike, her name was April Monroe, and she was a total bitch. I told him she had to be Irish with that red hair and temper. I trusted my brother when he said something wasn’t right about her.
I looked at the woman, and she was pretty. Miss April Monroe was medium height, red hair, pale skin, and just a hair thicker than thin. She did have some curves on her slender body. I felt like tugging on my clothes because suddenly they felt too constricting. My physical reaction to her appearance was immediate, and a huge complication I didn’t need. Luckily, my brother hadn’t noticed my reaction, or he would’ve taken the matter into his own hands.
I’d just gotten done talking to my brother when I walked up to Jackson, who’d just come in from the outside. “Hey, Jackson. So what is with the redhead?” I asked as I tilted my head out the window to the woman patrolling around the front gate.
“Why?” he asked curiously.
“I don’t know what it is, but Mike doesn’t buy her story,” I replied.
“Do you think she’s trouble?” He had great cause for concern considering someone had been out to get him and his wife, Elizabeth. That’s why he hired us to help with his personal security.
I squinted as I looked out the window at her and saw something wasn’t right about April Monroe. I turned back to Jackson and said, “I don’t know. All I can see is that she’s hiding something. Her body language speaks nervousness.” And it’s shouting out to me to take it and lick every inch of her.
“She’s a security guard on high al
ert. Nerves are part of the job,” he explained. To Jackson, she didn’t seem like a threat.
She didn’t fit in. Most couldn’t see it, but Mike and I could. It was something we did for a living. “Why is someone so young and fragile-looking working at your security booth?”
He shrugged and looked back out the window at her. His main priority was protecting his wife. All else didn’t matter to him. “I don’t know. This is my parent’s place and they screened the security agency. If you’ve got a problem take it up with my father. Maybe something is really wrong with her. I trust you guys. Do what you have to do.”
Something about her put me on alert. I don’t know if it was because she was too pretty to be working here. That might sound sexist, but I didn’t care. She could be doing a lot of other professions, using her beauty to her advantage. Instead, she was in a plain, standard uniform. “I’ll check with your dad. You never know who’s working for whom.”
“Let me know as soon as you find out something,” Jackson said anxiously.
“I will.” I nodded.
Since Mr. Blake was at his corporate office, I couldn’t have a heart to heart, but that didn’t stop me from examining the redheaded beauty harder than I did earlier. I watched her from the vantage point of my bedroom window. She had her hair slicked back in a tight ponytail that didn’t look out of place. I wanted to see if I could screw it up as I pulled it while I rode her from behind. There was no doubt in my mind that if she weren’t playing the Blakes, I’d be buried deep in her sweet snatch, absolutely no doubt. The attraction I had for her was irrationally strong, considering I’d only seen her from a distance. My pulse was pumping with the thought of our skin meeting as I fucked on any fucking surface I could nail her on.
As the day wore on my need to see her up close grew. Mike asked for a report to be run on her, but I wasn’t going to be put off until it came in. I was going to go talk to her. Once I’d made my way out to the front gate, she was gone. By the time I went to bed that night, I’d had every dirty fantasy of Miss Monroe running through my mind. Several times, Mike had to remind me to focus on our game plan for Jackson and Elizabeth, but I’d had a change in plans and that was all Mike’s fault. Damn Mike and his intuition.
The next morning, I was off in search of Mr. Blake. Getting answers about her was a must. I didn’t catch him at breakfast, so I hunted him down in his study after I grabbed a bite to eat.
“Come in,” he called out. I was really desperate for answers. I shook it off and entered the office.
“Hey Milo, what brings you to see me?” he asked nervously. I knew he had a concern when seeing me. I was hired by Jackson, not him, so it must have to do with his home.
“I wanted to ask you about one of your security guards,” I said as I took a seat in the front of his desk.
“Which one?” he inquired.
“The young redhead,” I stated.
“Her?” he questioned with an interested grin.
“Yes, Miss Monroe,” I said with a straight face.
“What do you want to know?”
I wanted to know everything I could, but I’d settle for the reason I was in here. “Why is someone so skittish working here?”
He stood up and straightened his suit as he took a deep breath. “Normally, I don’t have threats on my family. She’s new and is getting her general training here. Given the issues with Jackson, it isn’t wise to have her working outdoors, but I planned to bring her in for Zoey’s party tonight. I’m hoping with all the young boys here that some will focus on her and leave my daughter alone.”
I tried to ignore the need to snarl and roar that she wouldn’t be with anyone else. “So she’s just training. That explains her uncomfortable stance. This profession might not be for her.”
“Did you speak with her?” he asked me.
“No, but Mike did.” I actually grumbled as I said that, which was silly. I was acting jealous because my brother actually spoke to her first.
His tone changed. I guessed he thought I was being overzealous in my interest. “Well, she was recommended, and I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. Like we’re only picking on her because she’s a woman,” he warned. I wasn’t trying to step on his toes in his own home, but I wasn’t going to let a strange woman work here who could be a part of the whole setup without researching her background.
“I’m just going by my brother’s conversation with her,” I answered.
“Talk to April. But Milo, don’t get crazy with her. I can pull her information from the company I use if you need it,” Mr. Blake offered.
“I think Mike’s already on it,” I added.
He shook his head with a smile. Jackson already let him know how we operated. “Just be nice to her. She’s a really good girl.”
“That’s the problem, sir. Good girls don’t belong in this business,” I said as I stood up to leave and get situated for the party.
Chapter 2
I’d watched her the past day, and I couldn’t figure out what it was, but she was lying about something. It was hidden in the insanely bright Irish green eyes. I never followed someone around for work and wanted to know more about their personal life, but the redhead, I wanted to know what she did for fun. I made my rounds around the perimeter of the house before I joined the party, hoping to catch her outside in a darker hidden corner of the estate and kiss her like a fucking teen. I was crushing, something I hadn’t done before. Groaning, I shook off my desire and ran into the house to watch the guests.
She was at the party dressed in a finely tailored pantsuit matching the rest of the security team and some of the wait staff, too. She was in a dark corner just observing, doing her job. Yet, for some reason, she stood out like a sore thumb. It had to be because of her beauty. The luscious red hair tied in those messy bun things that I didn’t find attractive until that moment was sexy. I didn’t like my women to be a sloppy mess until after I was done with them, and I was walking out the door.
I saw my brother across the room attempting not to kill the punk kid that was talking to Zoey, but he had more restraint that I did; he was good. Besides, the boss man himself gave me the order to check Miss Monroe out. I walked over to where she stood and some little punk beat me there. Anger was getting me in the chest. What the fuck? No teenager was going to out-man me; so game on.
I looked at the blond, overly tanned, preppy little pussy and shook my head as I walked up slowly and listened to his line. “Do you know what thousand dollar sheets feel like?” he said with a cocky smile.
She indulged him with just a shake of her head. “Well, you will tonight.”
I felt the low rumble of a growl about to erupt from my chest. I was about to intervene, but she responded, “Little boy, move along. You may have thousand dollar sheets, but I bet they are full of stains from your mother’s lotion and your jerk-off juice.” I started laughing in his face as I stood next to her.
“Damn, I think I’m in love!” I stated as I grabbed my chest. I gave the pipsqueak a look, and he split. I turned to her and took a deep breath; she didn’t wear perfume. I could smell her natural scent, and it was making me hard.
“With him or me?” she asked, with a wry smile.
“Definitely not with the jerk-off king! I’m Milo Mancini,” I said as I stuck out my hand, but she didn’t shake it.
She just responded with attitude. “I know who you are, I already met you brother. I’m surprised it took this long for you to speak with me since you’ve been keeping tabs on me all day. Have you run a background check, yet?”
“No. Afraid I’ll find something?” I asked suspiciously. My brother was on the money; something about her didn’t fit. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but I’d find it out.
“No, it’s that your brother doesn’t trust me, so I knew he’d check up on me.” Her attitude didn’t improve, and I wanted to spank her for it.
“Yeah, well sweetheart, between the two of us, he’s the trusting one. So tell me why h
e doesn’t trust you,” I hissed at her. I hated that she was hiding something. Something about her made me want to know more, and not just for the job, but I hated liars.
“You’re a real charmer, aren’t you? Well, big boy, there isn’t anything to tell. So go away,” she said sternly.
“No,” I replied.
“No?” she asked with a “you wish” attitude. I was getting to her now.
“That’s right. You aren’t going to get away that easy. You are a beautiful woman and unlike the kid, my sheets are clean—for now.”
I could tell she was attracted. Even through all those clothes she had on, I could still see her nipples pebble with excitement. The strangest thing was that it pissed me off. What if another one of these fucks noticed them? They were mine to look at, I thought. Where the fuck did that thought come from? I just wanted to fuck her attitude out of her.
I turned to look around to check out who was looking at her and that was when I saw my brother. I knew he needed my help to calm his ass down.
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” I winked at her and walked up to my brother. My brother wasn’t in the talking mood and followed angrily after Zoey Blake, the birthday girl. Something was going on there, but I had my own problems with the redhead.
I came back to my beautiful security girl, and she had just sent another boy packing. Damn, I couldn’t leave her alone for a minute. I might have to make this happen soon before she got someone who she was actually interested in. That wasn’t something I could let happen.
“Wow, you know how to handle them, but I’m not sure you can handle me,” I boasted as I stood at her side.
“I could handle you and then some, but I don’t want to even bother,” she hissed. Her words didn’t match her body language for shit. She had learned to master her facial expressions, but her body sung like a church choir, begging me to get on my knees and worship. With my thoughts about her pussy, I glanced down and knew for sure I was right about one thing, she was full of shit. Her thighs were clenched tight.
