by M. S. Parker
Dangers of Love
The Scottish Billionaires
M. S. Parker
Belmonte Publishing, LLC
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 Belmonte Publishing LLC
Published by Belmonte Publishing LLC
Contents
Free Book
The Scottish Billionaires Reading order
1. Eoin
2. Aline
3. Eoin
4. Aline
5. Eoin
6. Aline
7. Aline
8. Eoin
9. Aline
10. Eoin
11. Aline
12. Aline
13. Eoin
14. Aline
15. Eoin
16. Aline
17. Eoin
18. Aline
19. Eoin
20. Aline
21. Eoin
22. Aline
23. Eoin
24. Aline
25. Eoin
26. Aline
27. Eoin
28. Aline
29. Eoin
30. Aline
31. Eoin
32. Aline
33. Aline
34. Eoin
35. Aline
36. Eoin
37. Aline
38. Eoin
39. Eoin
The Scottish Billionaires Reading order
Office romances by M. S. Parker
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The Scottish Billionaires Reading order
Alec’s Story:
Prequel
1. Off Limits
2. Breaking Rules
3. Mending Fate
Eoin’s Story:
1. Strangers in Love
2. Dangers of Love
Book Description
Eoin: I screwed up. Again. When I heard Aline’s secret, I ran like the coward I was. Now, I can’t think about anything other than how I much I miss her. I just don’t know if that is enough. Or if I deserve the happiness that being with her would bring.
When Aline Mercier walked out of her parents’ house the day after Thanksgiving, she had no plan, only the certainty that things needed to change. Now, as she struggles to decide what she wants her future to look like, a twist of fate will change everything again.
Aline: My time in Iran changed me but no one seems to want to see or accept it. I’m determined to prove to everyone that I can take care of myself. That I’m a responsible, independent woman who doesn’t need rescued by her sister. Or by a handsome, fierce soldier who broke her heart. Except something tells me that life isn’t done turning my life upside-down.
Pick up the conclusion of Eoin and Aline’s story, Dangers of Love, and find out what the universe has in store for them.
One
Eoin
My first official full week on the job was a lot slower than the two weeks before it, but I wasn’t complaining. I didn’t even mind the paperwork we’d spent all day Monday plowing through.
The rest of the week had been filled with preparation and organization. Getting up to speed on all the certifications I needed to allow me to use the skills I’d learned in the army legally in civilian life. An official background check for Cain’s files. Time on the gun range. Sparring with the guys.
The last one might sound odd, but due to the type of work we did, whether it was a simple bodyguard assignment or a ransom drop, the bond between team members was more important than pretty much anything else.
They were a good group of guys. I didn’t have the history with them that I’d had with Leo, or even with the other guys I’d served with, but I wouldn’t have that with anyone else. What I could have, though, was something new. I could have friends who understood what it was like to serve, what it was like to go from military to civilian, for any number of reasons.
I loved my family, but they couldn’t understand the same way these men could. Flashbacks. Following orders you didn’t agree with. A chain of command. The reliance on someone who could be right next to you in a firefight.
“Congratulations,” Cain said from the doorway of the office I shared with Bruce. Since Bruce was out on a job, Cain came in and plopped down in the other man’s seat. “The last of all your paperwork came in. You can officially start in the rotation on Monday. We have a bodyguard gig that you, Fever, and Dez are perfect for.”
“Who’s it for?” I doubted being a bodyguard was going to be my favorite type of job, but it was definitely better than any other civilian job I could’ve gotten, even in the security field. At least this would have variety and probably wouldn’t include dealing with drunks and sleazebags.
“Dana Stingley,” Cain said. “She’s a nurse at an assisted living facility and is going through a nasty divorce. She has a restraining order in place, but those things aren’t worth the paper they’re written on half the time.”
“So, this is going to be a long-term job?” I picked up the stress ball I’d gotten at the hospital in Germany. “I’m surprised she can afford it.”
“No, probably just a couple weeks,” Cain replied. “Apparently, the jackass she’s married to kept trying to intimidate her. Then, the day after the restraining order was filed, her car was vandalized. Graffitied, tires slashed, broken windows. Even though the cops believed that it was her soon-to-be-ex, they didn’t have any evidence. A couple days later, she started getting threatening letters, but again, no direct evidence.”
“Please tell me the police are at least looking into it and not treating it like it’s nothing.” I leaned forward, my fist tightening on the squishy blue ball.
“They are,” Cain said, “and they’re determined to put him away where he can’t hurt her, but they need evidence. They don’t want him to get off on some technicality, but they can’t guarantee her protection while they’re waiting to have enough to charge him, especially since they don’t want him to know that’s what they’re doing.”
“So, we’re keeping her safe while they work.”
“Exactly.”
Before I could ask about scheduling or anything like that, the bell over the front door dinged, alerting us that someone had come into the small lobby. Cain stood but didn’t even make it out of my office because Freedom appeared in the doorway.
“Good, you’re together, so I can yell at you both at the same time.” Her face was flushed, and there was no doubt at all about her tone.
She was furious.
Cain looked confused, and I didn’t blame him. Unfortunately, I had a sinking suspicion about why she was here.
“Did we have a misunderstanding about the invoice?”
Freedom looked at me and confirmed what I was thinking.
“It’s not about you, Cain,” I said. “She’s pissed at me.”
“Oh, I’m pissed at you both.” Her words were like ice as her gaze shifted from me to Cain. She jabbed a finger in his direction. “You’re the one who brought him and Aline together. Who put them together in Iran and then let them go off at the bar–”
“Hold on.” I stood, keeping my arms and hands loose. When you were as big as me, you learned the best way to stand without looking quite as threatening. “Yeah, I slept with Aline when we were in Iran, and I was on the job, but Cain had no way of knowing I’d do that. Hell, I didn’t know I was going to do it.”
“You’re my employee–” Cain began.
I cut him off too. “Aline’s an adult. Was it stupid? Yeah. But I didn’t force her or take advantage of her.”
I didn’t bother to mention the fact that she’d kissed me first or that the reason I’d given in was because she’d thought I didn’t want her. First of all, it wouldn’t do anything to make either of them think better of me, and second, it was none of her damn business.
“Nothing else has anything to do with the agency,” I continued. “That’s all between Aline and me.” I gave the snarling woman a moment to absorb what I’d said before saying the words that tore through me like a knife. “And it’s over. You know that.”
Cain shot me a glance but didn’t ask.
The expression on Freedom’s face slipped. “You mean she didn’t come to you? Didn’t ask if she could stay with you during her little temper tantrum?”
I felt like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped on me. “What are you talking about?”
Now, I saw the worry under the anger.
“Sunday morning, she threw a fit after I told her that I’d…” Freedom’s voice faltered, her eyes darting to the side, but not before I caught a flash of guilt. “She left. Took our car to the bus station and left it there. Our parents and I have tried to call her, but her phone’s off. We called the police, but she’s an adult, and there’s no evidence of foul play.”
My hands curled into fists as fear and fury fought in my chest. Freedom hadn’t said it, but I could guess what she’d told Aline on Sunday morning. No way was it a coincidence that they’d gotten into a fight only hours after Freedom had told me about Aline having been a virgin.
Yeah, I’d left, and I hadn’t talked to Aline since, so that was on me. Truth be told, I knew Aline well enough to know that, if Freedom had told her about the whole conversation, Aline would’ve been even angrier at her sister for the betrayal than she was at me for leaving.
“I tried calling the phone company to get her call and text history, but there’s nothing on it after Saturday night, nothing but our calls and texts to her. I went back to our apartment in Stanford, but she’s not there either. All her stuff is still there. She only took a few things from our parents’ house. Her credit cards haven’t been used either.”
The way Freedom was explaining the situation made me think this was how she’d tried to convince the cops as to why they should be looking for Aline. I was worried about Aline, but it honestly sounded to me like she’d been upset at her family and decided to take some time to cool off.
“Then, Monday, Aline took money from her trust fund. Cash.”
No surprise that Aline had a trust fund, but that was neither here nor there, as my mom liked to say. Sounded to me like she really didn’t want to be found and was smart enough to know how her family would try to track her down.
Again, I couldn’t really blame her, even if the logic wasn’t doing a damn thing to make me less anxious.
“None of her friends have seen her?” Cain asked.
Freedom gave him a dirty look. “If they had, do you think I’d be here, talking to him?”
“Would they tell you if she asked them not to?” I asked before I thought better of it.
Freedom glared at me. “Of course they would. They know how worried we all are and would’ve told us if they knew where she was. All of our friends know that Aline doesn’t always think things through.”
Freedom said ‘our friends,’ which made me wonder if Aline had any close connections that weren’t also close to her sister. I didn’t ask, though. Freedom already looked like she wanted to murder me for my question. Well, my question and everything else.
“Maybe she just needed some time to think,” Cain offered. “She had just gone through something pretty horrible.”
“Which is why she shouldn’t be out there on her own,” Freedom countered, jamming her fists on her hips. “On her best days, she can barely take care of herself. Right now, she needs us even more.”
I remembered thinking something similar about Aline when I’d first met her, but those circumstances had been crazy. Besides, I wasn’t her sister. I couldn’t imagine one of my siblings treating me that way. Or me treating any of them like that. My sisters would castrate me if I ever implied they weren’t completely competent adults.
Maybe that was why I felt the need to say something. “She’s twenty-two, not a child.”
“You know what,” Freedom took a step toward me, “if you’d just kept your dick in your pants, none of this would be happening. Aline would be at home with us where she belongs and not out doing who knows what.”
She was right…but I couldn’t take all the blame for it. Aline would probably still be at her parents’ house if Freedom had just minded her own business too.
But I wasn’t crazy enough to say it. Freedom had that ‘castrating the bastard’ look I’d seen in my sisters’ eyes at various times growing up. I liked my balls right where they were.
Fortunately, Cain intervened.
“We’ll look for her,” he said. “No charge, of course. We’ll make sure she’s okay.”
“Don’t bother.” She shook her head. “If you don’t know where she is now, then I don’t want anyone in this room near her.” She pointed at me. “Especially you.”
And then she was gone.
Two
Aline
Until I’d walked out of my parents’ house earlier this week, I hadn’t realized just how many of ‘my’ friends were actually Freedom’s or our parents’ friends who’d simply become mine by default. They liked me well enough, I didn’t doubt that, but their loyalty wasn’t to me.
In school, I’d been so much younger than everyone else that we hadn’t shared interests until my junior and senior years, and by then, everyone had already chosen their friends. Then I’d gotten to college, and Freedom already had a group of people for us both to spend time with.
Aside from the fact that I hadn’t wanted to put anyone in a position where they’d feel as if they’d need to take sides, I honestly hadn’t been sure if any of them would’ve chosen me. I’d only been able to think of one person who’d take me in and not feel obligated to tell my family.
Martina Chavez and I had grown up next to each other and had actually attended kindergarten and first grade together. Even after I skipped two grades, we’d stayed friends. Her mom had been the live-in nanny for our next-door neighbors, so they’d moved after the kids had grown up, and I hadn’t been able to see her as often as I once had, but we still kept in touch.
Between my move to Stanford and her going from high school to cosmetology school, our visits had been less and less frequent, but we had a unique bond that, whenever we were able to speak or spend time together, we picked up wherever we left off. I’d last seen her in June when we’d taken a trip to Vegas, but Sunday morning, I hadn’t hesitated to take a bus to the high-end boutique where she worked. She’d simply given me her apartment key and said I could fill her in later.
I’d been grateful for her help, but I hadn’t told her anything more than I was tired of being treated like a child. Each day, she’d asked what’d happened to finally motivate me into action, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to form the words. Twenty minutes ago, she texted to say that she was picking up Thai on her way home, and I knew that meant she wasn’t going to accept my succinct answer this time. She wanted to hear the whole thing.
Some women had ice cream or chocolate – or both – as their comfort food, but with Martina and me, it’d always been Thai. It was what she’d brought me when I was fourteen, and I’d overheard two senior boys making fun of the outfit I’d worn to school that day. Or, rather, they’d been making fun of the fact that I hadn’t been able to fill it out any better than a fourteen-year-old boy would have.
I’d called Martina in tears, and she’d come over with sesame chicken. A few months later, I’d taken the same dish to her when her boyfriend had dumped her two days before the big sp
ring dance.
I had to admit, she’d been beyond patient with me, letting me sleep in her guestroom and not giving an ultimatum about when I needed to either leave or start paying rent. Not that I intended to be a freeloader.
I’d gone to the bank on Monday to take money from my trust fund, and I had it in an envelope to give to her when I asked if I could stay a little longer. Just while I figured out what I wanted to do.
I’d barely had time to get my head together after everything that’d happened in the last few weeks. After her call, I decided that was the best time to ask, after I explained everything. With that plan in place, my nerves eased a bit.
She waited until we’d had a few minutes to eat before she said, “Spill.”
I swallowed a quick drink, ready to confide in my friend. “First, I have to thank you for letting me stay and not forcing me to talk.”
“You’re not getting out of it this time.” She pointed at me, her obsidian-colored eyes narrowing. “You need to deal with this stuff.”
I held up a hand. “You’re right, and I’m going to tell you what happened. I just wanted to thank you first for not trying to get it out of me sooner.”
