Kingston's Rival (Kingston Security 7)

By Carole Mortimer

Kingston’s Rival (Kingston Security 7) is the last book in USA Today and Amazon International #1 Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, Contemporary Romantic Suspense series, Kingston Security.

The last thing Casper wants is to be assigned round-the-clock bodyguards.

Yes, his car has had its tyres slashed on three separate occasions in the past two months, and more recently the paintwork scratched badly enough to need a respray. An escalation which Casper’s family believes could become a personal attack against him next.

Casper knew his family would be even more alarmed if they knew about the person who had hacked into his personal bank accounts several times in the past month. Just for fun of it, it seemed, because the money from those accounts was always only gone overnight and then returned the following morning.

As one of the top three hackers in the world Casper can’t help but admire someone he considers to be almost as good as he is. Even if their little games are starting to annoy the hell out of him.

Persy Jones is a highly trained soldier, having been in the English military and then Special Forces until resigning and joining the private sector, Kingston Security, four months ago.

She considers Casper Kingston to be nothing more than a charming rogue who believes a smile will get him whatever he wants or wherever he wishes to go.

Being assigned as lead on his team of four bodyguards, Persy is just as determined Casper isn’t going to get away with using that lethal brand of charm on her.

Strong wills are about to clash!

Other books by Carole Mortimer
Kingston Security:
Kingston’s Ransom (Kingston Security 1)
Kingston’s Captive (Kingston Security 2)
Kingston’s Redemption (Kingston Security 3) 275th Book
Kingston’s Enigma (Kingston Security 4)
Kingston’s Salvation (Kingston Security 5)
Kingston’s Obsession (Kingston Security 6)
Kingston’s Rival (Kingston Security 7)
This series is now complete

Ruthless Regency Dukes:
The Wager (Ruthless Regency Dukes 1)
The Mistress (Ruthless Regency Dukes 2)
The Widow (Ruthless Regency Dukes 3)
The Guardian (Ruthless Dukes 4)
The Hero (Ruthless Dukes 5)
The Ghost (Ruthless Dukes 6)
This series is now complete

Dance with the Devil – Contemporary Romance series:
Bks 1 – 5

Regency Scandal
Bks 1 – 4
Russian Dragon Heat
VLADIMIR (Russian Dragon Heat 1)
VAUGHN (Russian Dragon Heat 2)
VIKTOR (Russian Dragon Heat 3)

Regency Club Venus:
Bks 1-5

Steele Protectors contemporary romance Series:
Bks 1-6

Regency Men in Love – MM romance written as C A Mortimer
HIDDEN LOVER (Regency Men in Love 1)
HIDDEN DESIRE (Regency Men in Love 2)
HIDDEN PASSION (Regency Men in Love 3) Coming soon!

Regency Lovers Series:
Bks 1-6

Dragon Hearts: paranormal
Bks 1-8

Regency Sinners Series:
Bks 1-8

Regency Unlaced Series:
Books 1-9

Contemporary Romance Knight Security Series – spin-off to Alpha Series:
Books 0.5–6

Contemporary Romance Alpha Series:
Books 1-8

Carole Mortimer has written over 280 books, in contemporary romantic suspense, Regency romance, MM Regency romance & paranormal romance. She became an indie author in 2014. In May 2017 she received a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times. She is the Recipient of the 2015 Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Is an Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Romance Author—ever. Carole is a 2014 Romantic Times Pioneer of Romance. She was also recognized by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012, for her “outstanding service to literature”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carole Mortimer
• Release date: Mar 31, 2024
• ISBN: 9781914336157

Carole Mortimer

Carole Mortimer is a USA Today Bestselling author. She is the recipient of the 2015 Romance Writers of Amercia Lifetime Achievement Award, and 2017 Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. In 2012 she was recognized by Queen Elizabeth II for her ‘outstanding service to literature’. To date she has written 240 books, in contemporary, paranormal and Regency romance, 198 with a traditional publisher and 42 as a #1 Bestselling indie author.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Fuck! Casper muttered under his breath, his eyes wide as he stared out the front window of his car at the road before him. It was lit only by the beam of his vehicle’s headlights.

Inwardly, his brain was racing along as speedily as his car now hurtling swiftly along the narrow and winding lane.

Too speedily.

This was despite the fact he kept pressing his foot down on the brake pedal.

For whatever reason, and Casper had no time to get into that right now, those brakes weren’t responding.

Which meant his car wasn’t going to slow down or stop any time soon.

It was also true what people said: time did seem to go more slowly when death looked as if it could be imminent.

Casper continued to tightly grip the steering wheel even as he inwardly considered the only two possible scenarios open to him.

He could unfasten his seat belt, steer the car to the other side of the road, open the car door beside him, and simply throw himself out. Hoping he would land on the grass verge edging the lane. His car would have to take its chances of coming to a stop against the first available obstacle.

The problem with that was, if he missed landing on the grass, then he was going to hit the tarmacked lane with some speed. Hard.

He could try driving up onto the grass verge on this side of the road and into the low hedge running along the side of the road behind it. That way, the speeding car might have slowed slightly before it collided with the hedge and rather than going straight through it the car might slow down, maybe even come to a complete stop.

If it didn’t, then the car would, in all likelihood, go through the hedge and down the slope behind it. It might even roll over on its way down. With Casper still inside, which would cause considerable damage to both the car and him.

Despite that possibility, the latter of those options seemed like the best one to him. Even if, at six o’clock in the morning, the likelihood of anyone finding him for several hours along this countryside road was very unlikely.

Now all he had to decide was when would be the best time for him to veer the car off the road.

He knew this lane well, traveled on it two or three times a week, on his way to and from his family estate where he lived most of the time. Which was the reason he knew there was a sharp ninety-degree bend coming up soon, with an even steeper downward slope behind it than the one next to him if he didn’t manage to maneuver the car around that bend.

It was now or never, it seemed.

At least it would have been if he didn’t suddenly see another set of headlights coming toward him from the opposite direction!

A vehicle that, unfortunately, once it had completely turned the sharp corner ahead, proved to be a tractor, which was, as was usual with such a large vehicle, taking up two-thirds of the road. He doubted the farmer driving the tractor had expected to meet any traffic coming in the opposite direction this early in the morning either.

Casper quickly readjusted his options. They had now changed to hitting the tractor and bouncing off it, which would possibly injure the farmer in the process. Or Casper could turn the steering wheel to the left and veer the car off the road now and simply hope he avoided coming into contact with the tractor at all.

He didn’t hesitate to turn the steering wheel sharply to the nearside verge, hoping like hell he’d made the right choice.

That hope died an immediate death when he felt the front right-hand side of his car come into contact with the huge tractor wheel at the back of the vehicle. The impact easily spun his car so that it hit the hedge sideways on before plowing through it and then immediately rolling down the slope beyond.

The car tumbled over and over, throwing Casper from side to side so that his right side kept hitting the car door, although thankfully, the seat belt continued to hold, and the door remained closed.

Until one particularly vicious roll of the car caused Casper to hit his head painfully on the side window, and he was completely enfolded in darkness.

CHAPTER ONE

She recognized him the moment he walked into the spacious office on the top floor of the prestigious Kingston Security building.

Casper Kingston, the youngest member of that family.

The research she had done on all the members of the Kingston family had revealed this man was aged thirty-five and that he was the tech expert—read: hacker—in the family-run business. He was also reputed to be a charming and arrogantly self-confident rogue within a family of equally good-looking men. Their individual wealth also meant they were all millionaires several times over.

Casper’s handsome face was currently sporting the visible evidence of the cuts and bruises inflicted on him the previous week when, after the brakes had failed on his car, he’d had to drive it off the road at six o’clock in the morning to avoid colliding with the tractor coming in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, he’d then entered into an argument with a low hedge and the steep slope behind it.

The hedge and slope had won.

He’d spent the next three days in hospital, having suffered a concussion from hitting his head during the car’s roll down the slope. He’d also broken the ulna of his right arm, on top of those many visible injuries to his face from where the windscreen had shattered as it rolled over and over down the hill until coming to a halt, upside down, at the bottom of the slope.

He was lucky the farmer had been trying to make an early start on his day; otherwise, Casper might have remained upside down in his car at the bottom of that hill until a member of his family became alarmed when they hadn’t heard from and found they couldn’t reach him on his cell phone either. Even if Casper hadn’t been knocked unconscious, and so was unable to call for help, his cell phone had been smashed and was no longer capable of receiving or making calls.

Once he was discharged from hospital, he'd spent the next four days recuperating at the family estate in Surrey.

Unlike the other men in his family, several of whom had been in the military, Casper kept his dark hair in an overlong style, revealing several shades of red amongst that darkness. His dark brown eyes looked full of a barely suppressed impatience with his own less-than-autonomous situation. High cheekbones, chiseled lips, along with the slight scruff on his jaw, all added to his piratical appearance. He wore a black tailored suit, but instead of wearing a formal shirt and tie beneath it, he had on a black T-shirt.

None of which detracted from the obvious bruising and cuts to his face or the sling immobilizing his right arm as he threw himself down into the chair in front of his brother Sinclair’s desk.

Casper stretched his long legs out in front of him as he turned and began to survey the other people in the room, three of whom were members of his family, the others being her and the other three bodyguards that made up the rest of her team.

Why do I feel as if I’ve been ambushed? Casper growled as he scowled at his two brothers and cousin.

Possibly because you have, Sinclair confirmed mildly.

The scowl deepened. Why have I?

You know why.

Casper huffed. I seem to remember that I told you, when I was in the hospital and became aware enough to realize you had men standing guard outside my room day and night, that I won’t need a team of bodyguards going forward.

Sinclair nodded, unperturbed by the aggression. "And I remember informing you that I wasn’t asking for your opinion. I was telling you. For fuck’s sake, someone messed with the brake lines on your car, he snapped with uncharacteristic aggression when he obviously realized Casper was about to argue again. Just enough so that the car would slowly lose power and eventually, far from where the sabotage occurred, the brakes would cease working altogether."

His youngest brother shrugged. I’m still alive.

But you so easily might not have been, his brother Max put in harshly.

I—

Stop arguing, Casper, their cousin Adam rasped. Whether you like it or not—

I don’t.

Too bad, Adam dismissed. Because you’re having a team of bodyguards twenty-four-seven until we discover who was responsible for almost killing you. It might not have happened at all if you had told us about the deliberate slashing of your tires, not once but three times, during the past couple of months, along with several deep scratches that had to be repaired and resprayed. His glare was one of rebuke. The repercussion from that silence is that you now have a team of bodyguards. Live with it.

Instead of continuing to argue, Casper Kingston now fixed his narrowed and piercing gaze on her. He slowly straightened before sitting forward. Who are you? he challenged.

Not exactly an auspicious beginning!

Casper! Sinclair warned.

It’s fine, she assured him, not taking her gaze from Casper’s accusing one for a moment.

After all, she’d half been expecting Casper’s resentment toward anyone who agreed with his family’s assessment of him needing a bodyguard. As the youngest and only unmarried member of his family, Casper had always been something of a free spirit. At least he had been, which meant he wouldn’t easily accept having bodyguards not only protecting him but taking note of his every move.

His brows rose as he again demanded pointedly. Well?

I’m Persy Jones, she answered just as abruptly.

The three other members of the Kingston family were watching their exchange with varying emotions.

Sinclair looked mildly surprised at Casper’s aggression.

Max was frowning, possibly for the same reason.

Their cousin Adam looked both puzzled and curious.

She had worked with all three of these men during the four months she’d been employed at their family-owned firm, Kingston Security. She knew them all to be highly professional, but also friendly.

She didn’t feel that same warmth of welcome coming from Casper Kingston.

What sort of name is Persy? Casper derided as he continued to stare at the tall and stunningly beautiful redhead standing across the room.

Persephone, who prefers to be called Persy, is one of the new employees we took on four months ago because of the increase in clients, Sinclair explained pointedly, the reprimand still in his tone. She returned this morning from three days’ leave to be informed she’s now head of your new security detail.

Casper knew he was being rude, but he’d already guessed this woman’s reason for being here. She was a part of the ambush he’d referred to when he’d entered Sinclair’s office. The head of it, it now seemed.

Because the men in his family were presenting him with a fait accompli in the mistaken belief he wouldn’t react badly in front of four of their employees.

They were wrong.

He knew the three men in the room who weren’t part of his family, had worked with all of them in the past. He also remembered doing the usual security check on Persephone Jones five months ago, prior to her being offered a job with their family security company a month later. But he had never met her. Until now.

He went over in his mind what he knew about her. She lived in London and was aged twenty-four. She had spent five years in the military, one in Special Ops, before resigning