Tormented by a Dangerous Man: By a Dangerous Man, #11

By Cleo Peitsche

(Author's note: While this book is part of a series, there is no cliffhanger.)

Bounty hunter Audrey Stroop is struggling to track a thief whose capture will save the family business. When the client offers the job to bad boy Corbin Lagos, Audrey finds herself in competition with the dominant man who shares her bed. 

She can’t believe he accepted the job. Corbin doesn’t even need the damned money; he’s already rich. By the time Audrey learns his true motivations, it’s too late… Corbin stands to gain the one thing she’s been afraid to give him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pouch Productions
• Release date: Mar 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524287795

Cleo Peitsche

If Cleo isn't writing (or reading!) erotica, she's probably sitting on her balcony, watching the wind blow through the trees. She loves snowstorms, piña coladas, horses, and pasta primavera. If she won the lottery, she would hire an assistant to take care of the technical side of e-publishing so that she could write all day. Some random facts about Cleo: 1. Thinks life's too short to forgo HEAs and HFNs. 2. Sprained an ankle joining the mile-high club. (Never again!) 3. Favorite writers include Cormac Mccarthy, Junot Diaz and Rachel Caine. 4. Gets weak-kneed for bookish guys who know how to fix things with their hands. *swoons*

Book preview

Chapter 1

As I pulled into the parking lot of the Stroop Finders temporary office building, my brother sent yet another text: I know you’re getting my messages.

I ignored it, just like I’d ignored the last five he’d written.

He sent another: If you don’t respond ASAP, I’m going to tell Corbin you’re missing.

Now that was a threat I couldn’t ignore. Corbin Lagos was 6’3" of dominant billionaire. He was lethal and overprotective, and I didn’t need him running to my rescue.

Immediately, I texted back: Waiting for the elevator. Calm down!

So much for hiding.

I entered the office and came to an immediate halt. The receptionist was away, but a twenty-something guy with orange-red hair and no chin was seated on one of the couches, fiddling with his phone.

What stopped me wasn’t merely the fact of his presence—bounty hunting companies don’t get a lot of walk-in business. And it wasn’t only because I was putting off facing my brother.

It was the tense way the stranger was sitting, like if he relaxed, someone might cuff him and deliver him to the county jail. I couldn’t be sure from where I was standing, but his face looked damp with perspiration.

He must have felt my stare because his head jerked up. Maybe he didn’t have a chin, but his nose more than made up for it, bringing the amount of real estate on his face up to average.

He gave me a close-mouthed smile and a wave of the fingers.

I tilted my head. Do I know you—

Rob seemed to appear out of nowhere to grab my arm. We need to talk. He began towing me toward his office.

Who the hell is that? I asked, looking over my shoulder.

No idea. Someone waiting to see Dad, he said dismissively as he pulled me into his office and closed the door behind us. "I’ll forgive you for ignoring my calls if you please, please, please tell me you were able—"

Maybe he’s your replacement, I whispered, my gaze darting to my twin brother’s red hair, which was much darker but red nonetheless.

Yeah, funny. I’m guessing from the stalling that you didn’t have any luck with Chaew.

And there it was. I sighed and slumped into one of Rob’s chairs. No. It’s an empty lot. Unless he’s living in the sewers, he’s not hiding there.

Damon Chaew wasn’t the biggest bounty we’d ever pursued, but he’d seemed like easy money when Rob had pitched the idea, and we needed cash. Badly. A man in his thirties with no criminal background should have been relatively easy to find, but Chaew owned a lot of real estate.

Then we have a problem, Rob announced.

When do we ever not have a problem?

I seem to recall smooth sailing up until a couple of months ago, he said, though the truth was that things had gotten difficult roughly a year ago. You didn’t find anything we can use?

Well, I learned a new curse in a language I don’t speak, was asked how much I charge for a blow job—

Ok, ok.

But I’m not done. I stepped on a rusty nail that didn’t quite go all the way through my sneaker. I kicked out my leg to show Rob the hole in my shoe. He didn’t look impressed.

Usually I was the one freaking out while Rob cracked jokes, but in the middle of an abandoned lot, stepping over used condoms and broken syringes, I’d decided I just didn’t give a fuck anymore.

And now Rob was ruining my zen calm. I knew what he was going to say. I knew what the stakes were.

Rob leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. I’ll just wait until you’re back to normal.

Fine, I’m normal, I said. What’s the problem?

I saw an interesting posting about twenty minutes ago.

No, I said, but Rob didn’t take it back.

Goddammit. Our exclusive contract for Chaew was now up for grabs. Tell me the information we dug up isn’t included in the case notes.

Rob’s lips turned down even more at the corners. They can’t have posted anything you found today…

I threw my hands up. Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t magically make leads appear out of thin air, and I don’t have a crystal ball to consult whenever I need to summon a vision of the future.

Audrey, it’s $300,000. I practically begged to get the account. We need that money.

I stared into my brother’s worried brown eyes, and just like that, the whole of reality came crashing back down around me. Suddenly I did give a shit again. I’d known it wouldn’t last, but I’d hoped for a longer respite.

There was one thing that could help Stroop Finders, and I’d been working my ass off trying to avoid doing it.

We can’t keep asking Corbin, I said flatly. It’s illegal, and it’s not doing us any favors in the long run. At some point we’re going to have to rebuild our network of contacts. Plus it wasn’t healthy for me to keep going to Corbin for favors. He never complained, but that sort of thing would put a strain on any relationship.

It was even trickier for the two of us. I now lived in his ridiculously expensive condo, but he wouldn’t accept a penny of rent. He paid for the food, the housekeepers… for everything. He bought me expensive clothes and jewelry. That was already enough to make me uncomfortable, but there was more.

In the bedroom, he spanked and teased me, tied me up and pushed my limits. The things that man had done… He was the best lover I’d ever had. For him I was not only submissive—I loved it.

But there had to be one place in my life where Corbin wasn’t the hero. I’d chosen my job.

Rob opened his mouth just as his office phone rang. He leaned back to pick up the receiver.

I should have left, gone to my own office to start in on the next round of work, but instead I waited.

Yeah, we’ll be right there, Rob said. He hung up. Dad wants us.

I groaned. The only thing that could make the day worse was to be on the receiving end of one of Dad’s lectures. You didn’t tell him when you saw the posting, did you?

Rob looked at me like I was insane. Of course not. I figure if we pull off a miracle, he never needs to know—

And if someone beats us to Chaew, Dad can find out then, I finished, pushing to my feet.

Dad had been getting a lot of bad news lately, all of it my fault. Minimizing that was a good idea.

Finding the chinless guy in Dad’s office shouldn’t have been a surprise, but Rob’s bad news had erased my short-term memory or something.

I took a closer look at the stranger. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a print of a running tree, but also a dark blazer, like he couldn’t decide between casual and formal and so had opted for a bit of both.

You’re replacing Rob, I said to Dad.

Rob shook his head. It wasn’t funny the first time.

I held my fingers apart an inch. Maybe a little?

Dad cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. This is Jasper Rand. He’s Smile’s nephew.

I felt myself bristling. Smile, aka Lester Smith, was a former private investigator and one of Dad’s closest friends. Even though I rarely saw him anymore, I’d thought of him fondly and considered him a friend… right up until Dad hired him to spy on me and Rob. But that was water under the bridge, right?

Dad gestured at us. Let me introduce you to my son Rob.

Nice to meet you, Rob said as they shook hands.

And my daughter Audrey, Dad said.

Of course he introduced Rob first. He always introduced Rob first, and it wasn’t because Rob was technically older.

I shook Jasper’s hand. He had a firm but clammy grip, and I surreptitiously wiped my palm on my jeans as soon as I could.

You two are brother and sister? Jasper asked. I never would have guessed that.

Twins, actually, Rob said.

Everyone learned in elementary school that fraternal twins could be as similar or dissimilar as any two siblings, but people were always shocked by our physical differences after learning we’d shared a womb for nine months.

Rob’s red hair was poker straight, and up until a couple of months ago he’d hidden his warm brown eyes behind glasses. I had dark, curly hair—frizzy, really—and green eyes. Rob was about five-ten, and I was barely five-four; certain ungenerous souls claimed I was shorter.

Jasper was still looking from me to Rob. Me to Rob. Me to Rob. Wow, he said, grinning like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever experienced.

I didn’t dare sneak a glance at my brother,