Stand & Deliver
By Rhenna Morgan
Live hard, f*ck harder and make their own rules. Those are the cornerstones the six Men of Haven bleed by, taking what they want, always watching each other’s backs and loving the women they claim with unyielding tenderness and fierce passion.
Security expert Beckett Tate has met his match in colleague Gia Sinclair. He longs to run his hands over each and every one of her lush curves. She’s wicked smart and wicked hot. He’s given her time to get used to the idea of “them,” but her time is up and he’s ready to go all in on claiming what’s his.
Despite her love of all things girlie, Gia’s no typical Southern belle. She’s built her skills and reputation in a field normally dominated by men, and now she has a kick-ass career she loves. She certainly doesn’t need a man to take care of her—especially not one who’s pure alpha. Still, Beckett’s the one man who can satisfy the desires she’s hidden under her tough exterior, and she’s hooked.
Letting Beckett take the lead in the bedroom comes naturally to Gia—not constantly proving herself to him professionally is more of a struggle. And when someone attacks her character and career, Gia and Beckett will have to find a balance: her willingness to let go just a little, with his trust in her abilities and his deep, primal need to protect his woman.
This book is approximately 98,000 words
Edited by Angela James
Dedication
For those of you who hold it all together for the many people in your life. I wish for you a special someone who can take the reins and simply allow you to let go—even if only for a little while.
Contents
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
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Excerpt from Guardian’s Bond by Rhenna Morgan
About the Author
Also by Rhenna Morgan
Chapter One
Equal opportunity advocates wouldn’t know what fair meant if it bit them in the ass. At least not in the world of personal security. It didn’t matter how many accolades a person racked up, or how much of a badass they were. If the person in question had curves and boobs you could damned well bet a man would get the job before the woman would.
Not that Gia was bitter or anything.
Pushing open the scarred black door to one of Lower Greenville’s most understated yet popular pubs, she let out a heavy exhalation and forced the patent bored-yet-stern expression she used on security details into place. Hanging out at Trident with work associates on a Friday night was the last thing she wanted to endure after her afternoon’s turn of events. Yeah, Trident was a cool place. Like a hipster and biker had stacked hands and created the ultimate don’t-give-a-damn environment complete with plain concrete floors, black woodwork and brushed chrome everything else. Even the bar was made of concrete. Perfect for withstanding even the nastiest of bar brawls while still coming off über cool. And at 5:30 on a Friday night, the place was packed where the other pubs on Greenville had plenty of parking spaces out front.
Up front by the wide windows, a horde of worker-bees dressed predominately in khakis and polos were elbow-to-elbow around a string of four-tops they’d pushed together. All the other tables and the bar were populated by straight-up bikers who could’ve cared less about the August heat so long as they got to ride, hang with their friends and knock back a few cold ones.
No signs of agitation or trouble. At least not yet. But in another hour or two, that could turn on a dime.
Clocking every detail as she wound her way through the bar was pure instinct. Habit born from years clawing her way up in a profession that insisted she didn’t belong. Right about now, she’d give a lot to forgo it all, pour a glass of chardonnay and take a long hot soak in her tub. But hell would freeze over before she left her best friend high and dry with the lot of testosterone-laden meatheads she often worked with.
Strolling through the arched entrance to the back room, a wave of mostly masculine laughter hit her right about the time her gaze locked onto the sole woman in the room—Darya Volkova. Or Darya Torren, now that she’d married Knox. With winter-white hair and the body of a runway model, most people assumed she was as soft on the inside as she was on the eyes.
Nothing could be further from the truth. From the day Gia met her a little under a year ago, Darya had demonstrated a level of tenacity and bravery some of the most hardened military men couldn’t have managed. An angel with a deceptively solid coat of armor beneath her porcelain skin.
“Hey, Gia.” The perky brunette who’d served their table during last Friday night’s happy hour popped into Gia’s path out of nowhere. The fact that Gia hadn’t even seen her coming and couldn’t remember her name was a testament to how off her game today had thrown her. “I’m about to make a fresh round for the table. You want the usual?”
Another round of laughter swelled loud enough Gia could barely hear her own answer. “No Scotch tonight.” For a second, she paused and considered going with the chardonnay she really wanted, but the last time she’d ordered wine around these goons, they’d mocked her the rest of the night by drinking their beers with their pinkies lifted. “How about a Corona?”
“You got it.”
The waitress hustled off just in time for Gia to catch Darya beaming one of those sappy love-story-perfect smiles at her new husband. One that earned her a hungry look back from her man.
Okay, so maybe Knox wasn’t a meathead like the other security professionals gathered round the table. A techno junkie maybe, but not a meathead. Come to think of it, none of the men Knox and Beckett called their brothers fell into that category, which made it too damned bad Knox was the only one of the brothers in attendance tonight. They were a whole different brand of males. Confident. Brash when they needed to be, but loyal to a fault.
And those who’d fallen had an insanely huge soft spot for their women.
Now the ones without women? Well, Axel she pegged as a wild man with a dirty streak a mile wide and Danny was too soon to call, but Beckett...he was the one she couldn’t figure out. Though God knew, she’d tried. Endlessly. And the bulk of those musings tended to kick in at night when her wishful thoughts and sex-starved body entertained a host of fantasies that could never, ever happen.
“Well, helllooo, gorgeous.” The scrape of Decker’s wooden chair legs against the concrete floor blended with his booming voice, effectively halting conversation and turning all heads her way. Compared to the rest of her business acquaintances, Decker was fairly new to security, scraping and clawing his way into whatever gigs he could find and working on certifications. He was also the muscled teddy-bear type that loved to cuddle any gorgeous and willing woman.
He held out his arms, head cocked to one
side to match his goofy grin. “What’s got the infamous Gia Sinclair all dolled up today? Had a rough day covering the socialites at the Galleria? Or was it romper room duty at the elementary school?”
The taunt hit a little too close to home considering she’d spent the afternoon dressed like a stylish mom and guarding twin teenage girls hell-bent on finding the limit on their daddy’s black AmEx. She rolled her eyes to cover it and pulled out a chair beside Darya, completely bypassing the friendly hug Decker offered. “Can it, big guy. My curled hair and lipstick just earned me an easy paycheck.” She dipped her head toward Decker’s generic black T-shirt with SECURITY emblazoned along the back. “I see you’ve spent another day manning the doors for a bunch of roadies again.”
It was a low blow. One she hated throwing. Especially with Decker, who was really a nice guy with a lot of muscle and a killer right hook. Still, with these guys there was no such thing as letting down her guard. Ever.
Another of her colleagues, Judd Rainier, grinned and raised his beer bottle in salute from his seat near the end of the table. “You could learn a lot from her, Decker. Perps always underestimate her. Draws ’em in nice and close so she can cut their nuts off before they even know she’s drawn a weapon.”
Decker grumbled and settled back into his seat. “Shit, Gia. I was only razzin’ ya. I kinda like it when you get all gussied up.”
Yep. A total teddy bear. All brawn and heart. “It’s all good.” Eager to redirect everyone’s attention back to whatever topics had kept the conversation going before she got there, Gia zeroed in on Knox. “Where’s your other half tonight?”
Knox slid the arm resting on the back of Darya’s chair up to her shoulders and hugged her tight to his side. “Kind of hard to miss my other half when she looks like this.”
“Not that other half,” Gia said, “the other, more obnoxious one.”
“You get I’ve got six brothers and that describes the lot of them.”
“You know who I mean. Where the hell is Beckett? He’s the one that set this shindig up.”
With a quick and dirty rock-star smile, Knox chuckled, checked his watch then snagged his beer. “He’s on his way. Said he had to pick someone up on the way here. Why? You two planning another verbal sparring match?”
“We don’t spar.”
“Um, yeah, you do. It’s practically an Olympic event.”
Darya giggled, but interjected with a playful shoulder nudge to her husband. “Leave her alone, Knox.” She poked the lime floating in her vodka with a red cocktail straw and turned her ice-blue eyes on Gia. “And Beckett’s not obnoxious. He’s cute.”
Cute? No. Not even close. Cute was bunnies, balloons and a baby’s butt. Beckett Tate was pure predator, all muscle, keen intellect and intoxicating male confidence. At six foot four he had a full foot on her heightwise, but it was the way he carried himself that made him seem like a giant. A mix of feline grace and unrepentant swagger. It’d been bad enough keeping her wits around him when they first met, his dark hair and blue eye combo striking enough she’d stammered with introductions. Then he’d aimed his shit-eating grin at her and struck her stupid. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same guy? Bullheaded? Lives for the next debate and has control issues?”
Waggling her eyebrows, Darya sipped on her straw in a flirty way that would have made Knox whisk her out of the bar for a quickie if he’d caught the action. “Hello, pot. Talking about the kettle, I see?”
Gia harrumphed and took the Corona from the waitress. Even with the AC cranked, the bottle was already damp from the humidity, but nothing combatted August in Texas better than a beer. “You know, for a woman who speaks English as a second language, you know a scary number of idioms.”
Darya’s grin turned devious. “I gained a husband, two mothers, six brothers, three sisters and a best friend in less than six months. To say I’ve got a lot of teachers to draw from would be an understatement.”
She wasn’t wrong on that score. Beckett and Knox’s family took the word family to a whole new level. Gia was only on the outskirts of their tightly knit group, but she’d been close enough a time or two to understand its impact was heady stuff.
Darya set her drink aside, glanced over her shoulder and made sure Knox was deeply engaged in conversation with their new computer tech. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with it?”
For a second, Gia thought maybe she’d missed something and scanned the table for some clue as to what it might be. “Wrong with what?”
Lowering her voice to just above a whisper, Darya leaned in closer. “You know—having a thing for Beckett.”
Well, hell. Talk about your surprise attacks out of left field. Gia frowned in that overblown way she always used when trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to fix her up with a nice Southern boy. “You’re out of your mind. I don’t have a thing for Beckett.”
“Mmm.” Darya paired the smug sound with a purse of her lips and crossed her legs as if she’d solidly proven her point. “Okay. Play it that way if you want.”
“I’m not playing anything.”
“Sure, you are.” Darya dipped her head toward the men at the far end of the table and cocked an eyebrow. “But just so we’re clear. Just because they don’t see it, I do.”
“You’re seriously overthinking—”
Darya cut her off with a playful wave of her hand. “Nope. Not listening to it. Not that you have to explain it to me, anyway. I love Beckett. A lot. And personally, I think you’re exactly the kind of woman he needs.”
“I’m exactly the kind of woman he doesn’t need. For crying out loud, we work together. And you already pointed out how bullheaded we both are. Can you imagine what would happen if the two of us went head-to-head in a relationship?”
Darya plucked the straw out of her nearly empty drink and popped it in her mouth, the sly way she grinned around it promising a whole bundle of trouble. “Oh, yes. A huge explosion. One I’d say is very much overdue.”
Now that part she agreed with. At least when it came to her being overdue. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d even been tempted to take a man home. Those who didn’t shy away from her strong personality always ended up showing their ass before dinner or the first round of drinks were over. The nicer guys she’d been fixed up with seemed too hesitant to do so much as move in for a first kiss.
Somehow, she had a feeling Beckett wouldn’t hesitate. “First, it’s a bad idea to get involved with people you work with. Second, he’d have to actually notice me before anything could happen, and odds are good hell will freeze over first.”
As if the mere conversation had conjured him, Beckett picked that exact moment to stroll through the archway. Per usual, he was decked out in a pair of Levi’s that looked like they’d served a solid ten years and one of those high-end T-shirts that molded to every defined muscle. This one was just a shade darker than ice-blue and made his killer blue eyes pop from his striking dark face. No doubt the cotton was the finest money could buy, a fact that made her fist clench with the need to sample it for herself and feel the hard warmth beneath it.
Unfortunately, the statuesque blonde at his side with her arm wrapped around his waist doused that idea as soon as it popped up. “And there, my Russian friend, is reason number three. When was the last time you saw him with the same woman twice?”
Darya sighed and aimed a sad look at Beckett. One that spoke of secrets and empathy. “Yes, but have you ever considered why you never see anyone a second time?”
She had. Countless times. But broaching that topic with anyone but Beckett reeked of high school, and she’d be foolish to bring it up with him one-on-one. It was too intimate. A first step toward a conversation that would only breed more intimacy, and God knew she didn’t need any more gravitational pull where he was concerned. “Well, the Smart Girl’s Handbook says men who can’t get past date number one aren’t t
ypically inclined to settle down. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not up for being a stop on his never-ending bed hop. Even if I am overdue for an enthusiastic hop of my own.”
Rather than laugh at the quip like she usually would, Darya turned her soulful blue eyes on Gia and studied her for long, considering seconds. When she spoke, her voice was low and thick with emotion out of place in such a boisterous venue. “I’ve learned a lot about Knox and his brothers in the past year. About what it means to have a family. One thing you can absolutely be sure of—there’s a lot more to them than what’s on the surface.”
Without considering her actions, Gia’s gaze slanted back to Beckett and his date. The woman was truly beautiful. Someone you’d expect to find showcased in a Town & Country article right down to the willowy sundress and understated makeup.
She was everything Gia wasn’t. The complete opposite. And yet, somehow Darya’s statement felt like a key to Pandora’s box.
At the far end of the table, Beckett slapped one of the guys on the shoulder, turned and locked eyes with her. “Hey, G. I wondered if you’d make it.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to leave Darya alone with the lot of you.” How her brain managed to wrangle up a response in the middle of its latest puzzle was a mystery. Much as it pained her, she dipped her head toward the woman next to him. “Good to see you brought someone else to even out the balance. On an IQ scale, it would’ve been close with just two of us against the rest of you, but with three against ten it’s a cinch.”
His quick smile paired with the way he hugged the woman tighter dug like a dull blade between her ribs, but she kept her smile pasted in place.
An introduction to a woman she wouldn’t remember, a whole lot of polite banter and thirty minutes of trying not to look at Beckett later, Gia sat her empty longneck aside and stood. “I’m making a run to the bar. Anyone want anything?”
Beckett stopped in the middle of whatever he was saying to Decker and focused on Gia. “Why? Tiffany’s on the way back with another round.”
Tiffany. Right. That was the waitress’s name. “Because I decided to switch to something stronger and don’t want her running two trips when I can get off my ass and handle it myself.”
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