by Luna, David
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Trademark
Dedication
Previously
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Custos Securities Series
Book 2
By
Luna David
Protecting Braden
Custos Securities Series 2
Copyright © 2016 Luna David
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
Cover design by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design
http://www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk
Custos Securities Series emblem designed by Kellie Dennis, property of Luna David
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without express written permission from the author, Luna David, [email protected]. The only exception is in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. While references may be made to actual places and events, the names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
Trademark and Copyright Acknowledgements
Luna David acknowledges the trademark status of the following trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Google, iPad, Walmart, Honda, Green Berets, SEALs, Special Forces, Imitrex, Pretty Woman, Ray LaMontagne’s “Hold You in My Arms”, Barry White, Velcro, Fleshlight, Kindle, MH-47G Chinook Helicopter, Fort Carson, Lers Ros, Peet’s Coffee, St. Regis Hotel, Starry Night, Mercedes G Class, Bradley vehicle, Cougar H vehicle, Stryker vehicle, Humvee, Growler vehicle, Pitocin
To my readers, for loving my guys as much as I do. Thank you for being patient while waiting for Braden and Z’s happy ever after.
Once more, to my husband…. forever and always. Your constant support means the world to me. Again, I’ve failed in my assignment of picking your chosen title for my second book, A Submariner’s Tale: Long, Hard, and Full of Seamen. It was a close call, but in the end, I had to go with Protecting Braden.
Cade
I remember the day Braden and I met like it was yesterday. My best friend and business partner, Cooper, and I were visiting San Francisco on a job, and some much needed R and R. After we’d both served together as Green Berets in the Army Special Forces, we’d both taken an honorable discharge in order to move into the private sector. We’re co-owners of a successful security business named Custos Securities. We’d come to Maya and Braden’s Café, Sugar n’ Spice, to surprise Cooper’s sister, Maya, with a visit. When we got there, we heard Maya arguing with her best friend and business partner, Braden Cross, and we immediately headed to the back to see what was going on.
I walked into Braden’s kitchen and saw him arguing with Maya. She’d just learned that he had a stalker and was keeping it a secret. She wanted him to get help and was doing her best to convince him to call the cops. His shoulder length, dark blond hair was pulled back in a queue, his alabaster skin was flawless, and his gorgeous green eyes flashed with anger as we all watched and waited for his reaction to her demands. He was wound up and feeling cornered. He made it clear that he didn’t want her interference, let alone Cooper’s and mine. I was a stranger to him and I could tell by the look in his eyes he wasn’t going to put up with feeling trapped for very long. He made quick work of his escape and headed off to take a much needed run.
While he was gone, Maya filled us in on the situation. When we read through a lot of the stalker’s notes, I realized immediately that we were dealing with a very serious situation. Cooper and I decided we would take on his case, with me as lead guardian. We ended up calling the SFPD and a young detective came to take Braden’s statement. When the detective was done, I helped Braden back to his place and ended up sleeping with him. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that at all. Braden’s a type 1 diabetic and had missed an insulin dose. His body didn’t react well and he ended up with a migraine. He’d taken a run and had answered all of the detective’s questions, and then he couldn’t take any more of the pain and I had to help him get back home.
I stayed with him that night to make sure he was OK and taken care of while he was in too much pain to take care of himself. If I’m honest with myself, and I always try to be, I’ll admit that was the night I fell in love with him. I’ve had lots of time to think about it and I didn’t know it at the time, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I don’t know if it was the way he needed me that night, like I’d never been needed by any man prior, or if it was the way his body felt against mine—maybe because I’d never found anyone as attractive as I found him—or even the way his smaller body fit so perfectly within the circle of my arms.
It was probably a combination of every single one of those reasons, and a myriad of other things, like the way his independence was reflected in his actions to take care of things himself, or his obvious love and deep connection with his best friend and his grandmother. Maybe it was the way he was so obviously a success at something he was so passionate about, or the intelligent way he handled the detective’s questions and some of the questions Cooper and I posed that night. It might have also been the surreptitious glances he couldn’t help but throw my way when he thought I wasn’t looking, or the way he licked his lips when he looked me up and down. It could have been the way his hair felt when I was finally able to get my hands in it, or the soft texture of his skin when I was lucky enough to be able to touch it.
Whatever it was, by the time I woke up in the morning, I had that man so deeply entrenched as mine in my subconscious that I allowed my instincts to take over and make all of my decisions regarding Braden and his protection. I’d always been able to trust my instincts, and this wasn’t any different. Cooper and I began to look into the stalker’s notes and investigate the situation in earnest.
I interviewed Braden about his past relationships, and had our computer guru start to build comprehensive dossiers on any and all possibilities for Braden’s stalker. When he finally got to the explanation of his abusive ex-boyfriend, I lost my shit. I was so angry at what Braden had endured, what he’d had to do to escape, and how that abusive relationship had shaped him and impacted his life. Regardless of his arguments to the contrary, I just had this feeling it was his ex that was terrorizing him. But without proof, we just had to keep digging.
We decided, with Braden’s approval, that he and I would pretend to be a couple so that for all outward appearances, we were in a relationship and had good reason for me to stick to him like glue. Though I have to admit, it never felt like we were feigning a relationship at all. It just felt like we weren’t trying to hide or slow
down the feelings that were growing between us naturally.
We updated all of the security systems in the café, Braden’s place and even Maya’s got an upgrade. As Custos did it’s best to find the man responsible for terrorizing Braden, I made it my mission to protect Braden with everything I had.
When he was baking, I was never far from him. When he was at home, I was right there beside him, doing my best to get to know the man I couldn’t see myself ever letting go. When he was running—he runs ultramarathons for shits and giggles, Maya’s words, not mine—I was by his side or right behind him, keeping an eye out for any threat and not letting him out of my sight. We were inseparable, Braden and I, and I remember feeling that I’d never been more frightened for someone in my entire life.
Once our relationship was made obvious, the stalker began escalating. Braden’s home was broken into and his car was vandalized. Custos continued to investigate and, with Braden’s help, we discovered that it was, in fact, his ex-boyfriend, Eric Pollard, that was stalking him. That realization nearly did Braden in, but we soon had a new lead on Eric and good news was welcome.
Tension was mounting and despite my best efforts to distract Braden with a weekend off, he’d apparently been holding off on telling me a lot of the abuse he lived through while he was with Eric. The pain and fear he’d had to endure was much more than I’d even imagined, but I could tell that just the act of sharing his story with me helped him. I vowed to myself, then and there, that I’d do everything in my power to ensure that not only would I keep Braden safe from Eric, but that I’d make sure Eric received the punishment he deserved for his abuse.
Despite my best efforts, however, Braden slipped through my fingers. The day he was taken was one of the worst days of my life. I second guessed everything that I’d done up to that point and I blamed myself completely. Eric had texted him, threatening my life, his grandmother’s life, and his best friend’s life. The only solution Braden thought he had was to go with him, to spare us. I’d never been so scared, never felt so paralyzed, and powerless. Eric had abducted him, and every single tracer I’d put on him, Braden had removed. He didn’t trust me to be able to keep us all safe. I’d never felt like such a failure.
When we discovered his diabetes testing kit had been left behind, I contacted my brother, a doctor, to find out what that meant for Braden’s health. He let us know the timeline we were under to get him safely back from Eric before he lapsed into a diabetic coma. Custos, Braden’s friends and family, and my family as well, worked round the clock to find him.
Ironically, it was a simple combination of a voicemail and text messages sent directly to Eric’s phone that brought Braden back to me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in time to keep him from lapsing into the coma that my brother had warned me about. We are still unsure of the outcome. He was beaten badly, has been tested for brain damage, but remains comatose.
This is the rest of our story…
Braden’s brain came back online slowly, like an old computer that took forever to boot, running through its programs, one by one. The very first thing he noticed was that he felt as if he was weighed down by something. He couldn’t move his arms or legs. He tried lifting his head and got even more frustrated. His head, his ribs, his wrist, all of it fucking hurt. Not being able to move and yet feeling so much pain filled him with a sense of foreboding that he couldn’t fully comprehend. Everything seemed fuzzy, muddled. He forced himself to calm down and tried to use his other senses to figure out what was going on.
He breathed in through his nose, trying his best to smell something, anything, but realized there was something stuck in his nose that felt strange and uncomfortable. He wasn’t able to smell much, but there were some lingering, familiar scents, though nothing he could put his finger on, and that irritated him. He kept trying, but nothing came to him, so he moved on.
Braden listened carefully and tried to pick up on any sounds, any clue; where he was, who he was with, how long he’d been out, what had happened, but again, nothing came through enough for him to answer those questions. That was until he quieted his mind, stopped the jumbled, panicked thoughts, and tried to still his breathing. There it was, music played softly in the background.
A song ended, another began; both he was very familiar with. His heart picked up speed. That was good, right? Wasn’t that good? He couldn’t even answer that, but those two songs, by different artists, came one right after the other on his long “Baking” playlist. The first stirrings of hope bloomed.
He wasn’t about to give up now that he’d recognized something, so he tried little things like moving his fingers, moving his toes, his lips, his eyelids, his nose. Then he tried everything all over again, found that it was working and figured some movement was better than none. His whole body felt weighed down and he sincerely hoped that a blanket was what gave him that feeling.
Again he tried to move his hand and flex his fingers but found them caught by something and tightened his grip trying to use it as a catalyst to keep going. Something, someone, next to him shifted. His heart rate ratcheted up, and he couldn’t figure out why someone being in the bed with him would freak him out, but it did. He concentrated on his eyes. He squeezed them tighter, moved them around and tried to open them. He couldn’t. Frustration filled him again and he shook his head, or tried to. He let out a soft moan and startled himself when he heard it. He tried again to open his eyes and this time he was somewhat successful, but everything was cast in shadow. His eyes felt tired and they drooped shut again, but he forced them back open.
He looked at the ceiling. He lowered his eyes and looked at the wall in front of him. There was a TV there and the walls were green, so he knew he wasn’t at home. He looked to his right and saw a curtain hanging from the ceiling, pulled halfway shut, blocking a door, and knew right away he was in a hospital. He moaned, scared all over again. How did he get here? What had happened to him?
Cade had finally succumbed to exhaustion. As he took stock, he realized he must have been asleep for several hours, because he felt much better, both mentally and physically. Remnants of a wonderful dream still flitting through his mind, he had no idea what had awoken him until he felt movement beside him. He heard Braden moan and his eyes sprang open. His heartbeat quickened when he saw that Braden was awake and looking around confused. He was so surprised, his breath caught and he only managed to whisper Braden’s name. When Braden finally turned his gorgeous green eyes on him, they were somewhat dazed. At first he looked confused, and then Cade saw realization dawn, and with it came abject sadness and guilt. Fuck. He shook his head and moved to clasp Braden’s face in his hands. Before he could utter a word, Braden had tears running unchecked down his face.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, brokenly, over and over again.
“Shhhh. Braden, no. Baby, stop, you have nothing to be sorry for. Shhhh.” Cade moved closer to Braden, wanting desperately to take him in his arms. Shudders wracked Braden’s body and there was such sorrow there that Cade did his best to wrap himself around Braden protectively, being careful of his wounds. Braden struggled to turn toward him, and Cade tried to stop him. “Sweetheart, don’t move. You’ve got a lot of injuries, and I don’t want you hurting yourself. Let me call the nurse. You’ve been in a diabetic coma for two days.”
Braden shook his head. “Not yet. Wait, please. Not yet.”
Cade acquiesced and continued to hold Braden, whispering to him, telling him he was going to be alright. Braden’s sobs finally ebbed, and they lay in each other’s arms. Braden placed his hand over Cade’s, which was cupping his cheek. Tears were still leaking steadily from his eyes as they looked at each other, Cade’s eyes moist as well.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I just reacted. In my head, I just had to save you guys from Eric and I went, I just went. As soon as I got in the car, I knew I’d made a mistake, but he sped off, and I didn’t have a chance to get away.”
“You’re here now, Braden, an
d you won’t make the same mistake twice. We can talk about everything later, but now, please, let me call the nurse. I can see you’re in pain. Can I raise the head of the bed, so you aren’t flat on your back?”
Braden nodded, and Cade fixed the bed. When he pressed the call button, a nurse’s voice came through the intercom and Cade told her Braden was awake. She said that the doctor happened to be at the nurse’s station and she would notify him.
Braden looked fearful and Cade reassured him. “You’re alright, you’re going to be just fine. I love you, Braden. I love you so damned much.”
Braden whispered, “I love you, too,” just as a doctor and a nurse walked through the door, flipping on the overhead lights. He walked up to Braden, who was cringing a bit, and smiled.
“Hello, Braden, I’m Dr. Himmel.” The doctor reached out to shake Braden’s hand. “Glad to see that the best scone maker in San Francisco is awake. You gave us quite a scare, young man. How are you feeling?”
Braden explained that he felt nauseous and was experiencing pain pretty much all over. Dr. Himmel used a penlight to check Braden’s pupils, which caused him to jerk his head back and moan. The doctor raised his eyebrows. “Braden, what is it?”
“The light shining in my eyes is like daggers to my skull, and the overheads aren’t much better.”
Cade sat up fully and Braden reached out and placed his casted hand on Cade’s leg, silently asking him not to leave. Before the doctor could inquire, Cade looked at Braden. “I’m not going anywhere, Bray. Is it a migraine?”
Braden closed his eyes and took stock of how he felt. The doctor asked the nurse to turn off the overhead lights. “Do you get migraines often?”
