Shaw: Gray Wolf Security Back Home, #2

By Glenna Sinclair

This is the second book of the Gray Wolf Security Back Home series, with over 50,000 words of romantic suspense. 

 

Joss Matthews was a badass, and I wanted nothing more than to prove myself to be just as good as she was.

 

Fresh out of the Marines, I thought I had it in the bag when Ash Grayson hired me. It didn't matter that my first operation turned out to be babysitting a drunk. It was still a chance to prove myself. And it allowed me to have a little downtime with the hot housekeeping manager at our hotel. Talk about hot!

 

But then everything went to hell, and we were suddenly on the run, trying to save my ass, not to mention my job. And Mr. Hot Housekeeper wouldn't take "no" for an answer. But would he stick around for the long haul?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Glenna Sinclair
• Release date: Jun 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9798223849001

Glenna Sinclair

Experience the heart-racing novels of Glenna Sinclair, the master of romantic suspense. Sinclair's books feature strong male protagonists, many with a military background, who face real-world challenges that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Books2read.com/GlennaSinclair Facebook.com/AuthorGlennaSinclair GlennaSinclairAuthor at Gmail dot com

Book preview

Prologue

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Shaw

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This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. I didn’t know how I got myself here—actually I did, but it shouldn’t have gone that way—but I was here and it was time to fix my mistakes.

I was an operative for Gray Wolf. That meant there was a certain standard I had to live up to. Joss Matthews set that standard years ago and I wasn’t going to be the first to fail.

I walked down the hall, my back to the wall and gun raised. The silence was eerie, playing tricks with my mind. I was sure one of these doors would open at any moment, men with firepower as impressive as my own flying out at me like zombies in a video game. But the doors remained closed.

Another scream could be heard behind one of the doors. I closed my eyes, forcing my breathing to slow. I knew that voice, knew what was happening behind that door. At least I knew she was still alive.

I pressed my ear to the door to verify and was satisfied when I heard her beg him not to hurt her anymore. I was surprised to find the door unlocked; this seemed sloppy to me.

My target was on the bed, her body and face completely unrecognizable. But he couldn’t change that voice that had become so familiar to me over the past few weeks.

It was her.

She was sobbing, her body twisting as she tried to protect herself from him. But her hands were tied, one of her ankles shackled to the frame of the bed. He had her tied up like an animal, like she deserved nothing better than cattle at a slaughterhouse. He was looking down at her with glee in his eyes until my small movement alerted him to my presence. He looked up, crazy shining in his eyes.

Who the fuck are you?

Let her go!

He stared at me for a moment and then began to laugh. Are you the bitch who was supposed to be protecting her back at that hotel? He looked me over, his laughter growing. My guys told me about you. Brave fucking bitch!

Was it a compliment? Or just a reminder of how badly I’d failed the woman on the bed?

I aimed the gun at the center of his chest, knowing a fresh round of bullets were in the chamber. Let her go! I repeated firmly.

His expression turned serious for a moment, and then he suddenly charged at me, swerving around the bed so quickly that I froze for a second. If I’d fired just then, I might have hit him, might have slowed him down. But I’d hesitated and that gave him the time he needed to cross the room and come too close for the bullet I fired to touch him. It flew over his shoulder, shattering the window behind him. I fired again, but he grabbed the barrel of the gun and used it to shove me back into the wall.

He hit me, openhanded, smacking my head back hard enough against the plaster that it broke under the sudden motion, raining dust and debris over my face. My gun useless on the floor, I gripped my hands around his throat, shoving him backward, but he was strong. He pushed back, slamming me against the wall hard enough to knock the air out of my lungs. I raised a knee, just missing his family jewels as he got his cold hands around my throat. We struggled there silently, both trying to choke the other, waiting to see who would be the first to lose consciousness. I tried lifting my knee again, but I was quickly growing weak.

I squeezed harder, aware that my only hope right now was breaking his hyoid bone. But there was insanity in his eyes, a clear understanding that he was too far gone to lose. I’d known I was walking into a fight I probably wouldn’t win, but this was not the way I saw myself going out.

My vision was beginning to darken around the edges.

I’m sorry, Malik...

Chapter 1

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Joss

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Why were you at Carrington Matthews’ house?

James Conway looked straight at the one-way mirror behind which I was standing. It almost felt as though he was looking right at me even though I knew it was impossible for him to even know I was there. But the heat of that stare was unnerving.

Were you there to kill him?

Conway didn’t respond to any of the questions. He might have crossed his arms over his chest to block himself off from what was happening to him if he wasn’t shackled to the table. I had my arms wrapped around my body, not to close myself off but in a vain attempt to comfort myself. It was my home this man had been sneaking around, my husband he’d been attempting to kill. Not only was he there to kill my husband, but it appeared he had every intention to do it in front of my daughters. They were all there together, washing the dishes in the kitchen. What if he’d fired his silencer-equipped gun and hit my seven-year-old daughter, Aidan? Or McKelty, our fourteen-year-old?

A shiver of fear raced up my spine now that I was actually allowing myself to think about it, now that the reality of it all was settling in.

Did Jack Mahoney order you to kill Carrington Matthews so that he couldn’t testify against him?

Conway actually laughed at that, sending another chill down my spine.

Do you really think Mahoney would sit back and let someone like Matthews take him down?

His laughter grew until I had to turn away and walk out of the room. Special Agent Mike Spencer followed, taking my arm and leading the way into an empty, dark office down the hall. When the door was closed and we were alone, he touched my shoulder, but nothing more. He just stood close and waited for me to either regain control of myself or fall apart, whichever I chose to do.

It was nice to know he was there for me no matter what I did.

I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.

I looked up at him, at the compassion on his face. Are you married?

Divorced.

Kids?

Three. All boys.

That cut through me a little. When people asked me how many kids I had, I was never sure if I should say two or three. It felt wrong to leave out my little boy, but it was awkward when I was forced to tell people he’d died. Isaac would be thirteen now, just six months younger than McKelty. She would have loved him.

I turned away from Spencer, pacing the length of the small office.

I should go home.

Let me drive you. You shouldn’t be alone tonight.

I snorted, a light, indelicate sound. Why? Just because someone tried to murder my husband and my operative all on the same night?

How is your operative?

Out of surgery. They say she’ll make a full recovery.

That’s good news.

The good news would have been if I hadn’t put her in the situation that got her kidnapped in the first place. They went to her home. They identified her and followed her to her private home—

It happens, Joss.

Not to me.

I lost an agent once. He tilted his head slightly, a dark light coming into his handsome face. She was working a case not unlike this one, undercover in a massage parlor in Seattle. I was supposed to be keeping her safe, watching every moment, but my wife and I were having issues at the time. I went home for five minutes, just long enough to drop off some things my wife needed. In that time, some asshole snatched my agent out of the parlor. By the time we found her, she was in pieces, scattered in a landfill.

I paled at the image. He saw that and waved a finger at me.

Nothing you can say can take away the guilt and the anger and the... He sighed. I’ve been beating myself up over it for nearly ten years. Next month will be the anniversary of the day she was taken. He dragged his hands over his skull, his eyes never leaving mine. So I get it. But your agent is going to make it home safe. And you get to fight another day with the lessons you’ve learned from this.

You’re right. I just... I keep telling myself it could have been so much worse, but a part of me keeps asserting the fact that this is about as bad as it can possibly get. You know?

I do. He came to me, his hands outstretched, but he never actually touched me. He buried his fingers in the pockets of his slacks as he studied my face. This job we’re doing... it can be so terrible sometimes that you want to quit. But then we have victories like we did today. We stopped Mahoney in his tracks. Again. And we’ll keep doing it until he’s convicted and serving a life sentence in federal prison somewhere.

And if he doesn’t stop, even then?

Then we’ll keep fighting him. He touched my arm then, a kind, comforting gesture. Let me drive you home.

I inclined my head, smiling gratefully.

***

Carrington was in the master bedroom. I was a little surprised since he’d been sleeping in the spare room a lot lately. He wasn’t in bed, but sitting on the little love seat we had in front of the French doors to the balcony, a stack of paperwork in his lap. He didn’t look up when I walked in, but I hadn’t really expected a warm welcome.

Long day?

I sighed heavily. You have no idea.

I pulled a T-shirt and pair of shorts from my drawers in the closet, shedding my clothing as I moved around the room and headed toward the bathroom. I could feel him watching me. I wondered what he was thinking, if he still felt the sort of overwhelming attraction he’d felt when we were first together. Sometimes I wondered if all that had died when we failed to conceive a year and a half ago after months and months of infertility treatments. There was something about having sex on a schedule that tends to kill passion and attraction.

McKelty thinks you’re the one cheating now.

I paused in the bathroom doorway, holding my blouse against my chest to cover my nudity. Why would she think that?

You’ve been coming home awfully late recently.

I’ve been on a case.

The one about Mahoney and his goons?

I studied his familiar face for a moment with an ache burning in my chest. I missed him, I really did. But there was this chasm between us that I couldn’t find a way to breach.

It’s over now, if that’s what you’re asking. The case broke this afternoon.

Then why are you only now getting home?

It crossed my mind to tell him of the danger that had lurked right outside the back door, but I decided that would probably be a mistake. We’d already fought about this case. I didn’t want to fight anymore.

One of my operatives was shot. I was at the hospital, waiting to find out how she was doing.

That was the truth. Sort of. I hadn’t gone to the hospital yet, but I’d been in constant contact with Jules, my assistant, who was there. We now had three operatives in the hospital: Audra, who’d been shot, and the two men who’d been tasked with watching over her during her undercover assignment. They were both well on the road to recovery now, thank goodness. They were all supposed to be out of the hospital by the end of the week.

Carrington put down his papers and stood, coming toward me as though he wanted to comfort me. My heart swelled as I watched him, my flesh already anticipating his touch. But he wasn’t walking toward me. He was headed to the closet to grab a change of clothes of his own.

We should get to bed, then. McKelty has an early cheerleading practice in the morning and I have meetings scheduled all day tomorrow.

I turned away, trying to hide my disappointment. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face, crawling into bed where he was already lying on his side, ready to sleep. Facing away from me.

Good night, Carrington, I said almost breathlessly.

He grunted.

After seven years of marriage, that was all I got.

Chapter 2

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Joss

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A week later, I was at the office, standing at the reception desk to pick up my mail, when Audra walked through the door. From the look of her fit, strong form, I would never have known she’d been shot. There was a glow about her that I could guess had more to do with her relationship with Xavier Damico than it did with her glee at being back at work.

Look at you! When I had surgery a while back, I was in the hospital for nearly two weeks. Here you are, less than a week later, looking better than when you went in!

She smiled brightly. What can I say? The last few days have been... really good.

I laughed, remembering when my days had been that kind of good.

I missed those days.

I’m glad I ran into you, actually, she said, touching my arm lightly. I wanted to talk to you about something.

My eyebrows rose. You’re not quitting on me, are you?

Of course not.

In that case...

I gestured for her to follow me into my office. I dropped the mail on my desk and settled in a chair close to the one Audra chose to take. She really was glowing, though I did see a twinge of pain on her face when she moved her shoulder a certain way. I remembered what it was like to recover from a gunshot wound. I’d been shot twice in the stretch of just a week or so. It hadn’t been fun.

But that was nearly eight years ago.

She ran her hands over her thighs, wiping away excess moisture on her jeans. Then she looked me in the eye and forced a little smile.

I think I have a case for Gray Wolf.

Yeah? Is this about you?

No. She tilted her head slightly. But it’s related to the case we just finished working together.

She watched my face like she was worried I’d outright refuse or get angry, but I was just curious.

I heard about what happened at your house, how that man went to kill your husband. I had no idea!

It’s fine. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, a little annoyed that she’d found out at all. I’d thought we’d kept that little bit of drama under wraps. Apparently not.

If you don’t want to take this case, I understand.

"Tell me what it is and