The Billionaire's Dare (Book 4 - Billionaire Bodyguard Series) (20 page)

The air was suffocatingly hot inside the prison. His boots crunched on flaked stucco and chunks of cement. He dodged exposed steel rods jutting into the deteriorated hallway. Vandals had trashed what remained of the structure’s dubious integrity. Graffiti depicted gang-like script some bored teenagers had spray painted on the walls, along with anarchy symbols and lame demonic warnings. These kids had no idea what real evil was—unless Butcher returned to reign over this town. Adam refused to let that happen.

He followed the dark, narrow passages without coming on a single guy from Butcher’s crew. How irritating.

Then he saw light streaming into the hallway from an open space. He went straight for it, and decided to kick off this confrontation by launching verbal warfare.

“You hiding, Butcher? Scared I’m going to do to you what I did to the guys you sent after me yesterday?” His booming voice rebounded through the corridors.

A dark laugh echoed from the room with the light.

Picking up his pace, he stormed into the room and held the deed up. “Is this what your bullshit threats are about? A piece of paper?”

Once he entered the four-story former common area, he calculated where every one of Butcher’s men stood. Shafts of sunlight from windows, high above, cut sharp angles of brightness through the dense dust.

In front of all of them, he spit on the deed, wadded it in his hands and chucked it at Butcher. “There. It’s yours, asshole. Now give me my girl.”

A crewmember stepped forward and patted him down, checking to see if he was packing heat. “He’s clean,” the guy confirmed.

Butcher nodded at the floor where the balled up paper landed, and the guy retrieved it for him. “You signed it over to me?”

“Your name’s Paul Butcher, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then there you go. All yours. Where is she?”

From an adjoining room, a crewmember dragged Marissa’s limp body into the light. She fell to her knees, barely able to stay upright. Blindfolded, gagged, bruised, but okay. He wanted to run to her but stood his ground.
You’re going to be okay, baby. I swear to you.

“This could’ve been avoided if you’d stepped aside, Trust Fund. And let me have the property from the start.”

“Funny thing. I suck at rolling over for white trash gang-wannabes.”

Three guys unfurled from the shadows and came toward him. “Now this is a fair fight,” Adam snarked. “You finally stopped underestimating me.”

Like he had with the douche bags yesterday, Adam dropped all three henchmen to the ground within seconds. “Are we done playing?” he bellowed, his chest heaving from his efforts. “Because I have better things to do than entertain you.”

Butcher sneered. “I’d like to see you dodge this.”

Light flashed on the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun, Butcher at the trigger. “You need to crawl back into the hole you came out of, boy. Leave this town, don’t look back, and I’ll forget you exist.”

“If you do the same, I’ll consider it.”

A grating chuckle came from Butcher, like rusty metal churning through a wood chipper. “You’re in no position to barter, boy.”

With a single dip of his chin, Butcher gave a signal. The guy beside Marissa dragged her up by her hair,
then backhanded her so hard she knocked against the wall, cried out behind her gag, and crumpled to the ground.

Rage poured like lighter fluid through Adam’s veins, the need for violence striking the match. He lunged. “You gutless mother-fu—”

The harrowing click of a gun cocking stopped him in his tracks. Butcher’s beady eyes glared. “Negotiations are over.” The barrel pointed at Adam. “You take her and leave town. Now. Or I put you both in body bags and you go out that way.”

The sound of a helicopter drew close. It came into view, riding low to the ground, the noise drowning out any further discussion or threats. As it passed overhead, Adam caught nervous glances bouncing between the henchmen and their leader.

Throwing his head back, Adam released a maniacal laugh. “No, Butcher. You’re the one leaving town. In FBI custody.”

“What the hell is this?” Butcher growled.

“Surprised? Yeah, now who’s in no position to make demands?” Adam jeered.

“You don’t have jack on me—”

“What do you think the girls were doing in Tate’s yard when you took Marissa? Searching for buried treasure?” Adam folded his arms casually and chuckled. “I guess they kind of were. And they found it. They found the body of that girl you messed up ten years ago.”

Butcher sucked in a sharp breath. “How do you know about that?”

“I told you to quit underestimating me, old man. You’ll lose. Every time.”

“Not this time.” Butcher leveled his gun at Adam’s chest and pulled the trigger.

Muscle memory activated his bounty hunter reflexes. He dove and skidding across the floor on his stomach. Another shot rang out, clipping Butcher’s shoulder, knocking the man back. The sawed-off shotgun slid out of reach.

Thank you, Cam.

Army-crawling to Marissa a few feet away, he scooped her into his arms, covering her as he turned to face the room. “Get your sorry asses out of here,” Adam yelled at the men. “The FBI is here for Butcher. Stick around and you’ll be hauled in with him.”

They scattered like leaves in the hot wind. So much for loyalty.

“C’mon, baby. Time to go.”

When she didn’t respond, panic beat like vulture wings against his ribs.

Holding her firmly in his arms, he ran out of the prison the way he’d come. Cam met him at the SUV. They jumped in and Cam drove like a demon back toward town.

First Adam tested her limp body, feeling for broken bones. None, thank God. Cradling her, he removed the blindfold, eased the tape from her mouth, and gently traced the gash on her lower lip. They’d roughed her up, and he burned for retaliation. “The FBI better hunt down every last one of them.”

Then her lashes flickered. Her swollen eyes opened. He bent over her, blocking the sun from her face.

“Adam?”

The way she said his name turned him inside out, laid him bare. “I’m here, baby. It’s all right. You’ll be okay.”
Please let her be okay.

Gaze unfocused, she spoke in delirium. “I knew you’d come for me. I knew…” She licked her cracked lips. “I knew I would fall in love with you that first night you stepped onto my porch.”

Choked up, his gut churning, his heart a raw mess, he swallowed several times before the words came out. “I love you, too, baby.”

He wasn’t sure when he’d hit the point of no return, but she’d led him to the threshold. And in that moment, he stepped across it. He gripped her as if he could fold her inside him. “You’re safe now. We’ll be home soon. We’re going to make it through this.”

“Okay…” Her voice trailed off, and he saw she’d gone unconscious again.

Wetness came from the backs of his eyes. He clenched his jaw against the rush of emotion. “I’m such a fucking liar.”

Cam sent him a startled glance.

“I can’t promise her anything. I couldn’t even keep her safe today.”

“You got her out of a dangerous situation. That looks like a win to me,” Cam said.

“I can’t protect her twenty-four-seven.” His throat went tight. “I’m a screw up. I’ll disappoint her eventually. And I’ll end up losing her anyway.”

“You can’t break up with an unconscious woman,” Cam pointed out. “I think you need take to take a minute and see what you have. Instead of what you might lose.”

“That’s what I do, man. I mess up everything decent I touch.”

“I think she’s stronger than that. She’s a tough girl. And you’re a manic who’ll walk through the fires of hell for her. Seems like a good match to me.”

Adam felt his chest caving in, knowing she was better off without him. “I couldn’t stand looking into her eyes knowing I failed her. That would be worse than just walking away now, before it happens.”

“I’m no expert,” Cam admitted, as they approached Tate’s Bar. Police lights flashed. A
dozen dark, unmarked cars clustered in the parking lot. An ambulance awaited them. “But if you two made it through this, you can make it through whatever life throws your way. Besides, you don’t fail when you try, you fail when you quit.”

Recognizing the solid ring of truth in Cam’s words, Adam pushed beyond the layers of doubt, self-disgust and fear that had built inside him over the years.

A rush of gratitude filled him.

He could do this.

With Marissa by his side, he could do anything.

“God, I love Denver.”

Closing his eyes, Adam turned his face to the sky. He listened to birds chirping in the trees, felt the sunlight bathe his cheeks, and inhaled a deep breath of mountain air.

This place was good for the soul. Good for second chances. Two things he didn’t know he had until he came here. And met Marissa.

The temperate seemed a touch cool for Labor Day weekend, first week of September, but he couldn’t complain. He had everything a man could ask for—and then some.

Opening the lid of his shiny new grill, he turned the hot dogs and bratwurst over and set the lid back down. What kind of guy buys a house, then doesn’t make his first purchase a damn fine grill to put on the back patio?

Yeah, he and Marissa had gone kind of fast on the moving-in-together thing. But he wasn’t about to wait on a place long enough to let her change her mind. He hadn’t waited to buy her a ring either.

No one had known about his plans to ask her to marry him. He’d chosen the ring himself—flashy and way too big, just his style; though he’d chosen the setting with her tastes in mind.

Back in July, he’d taken the stage at the security conference that Soren Security Bodyguard’s had hosted. He’d made that teleprompter his bitch, owned that speech. Then he’d gone off script, revealing how his new career had given him purpose, the SOS drive he’d created had boosted his confidence, and Marissa had provided the meaning behind
all of it. Then he’d jogged down the steps of the stage, veered through the audience, went down on one knee and proposed. In front of everyone.

Marissa had looked like she might pass out. His girl wasn’t good in public places with huge crowds. But he did things on a grand scale. Nothing about him was halfway, including the way he asked the love of his life to marry him.

Thankfully, she’d said yes instead of fainting. With his proposal, he’d kind of stolen the show, which had irritated his cousin Trey a little. But Trey got over it quick enough. Adam had walked around the rest of the conference to cheers, back slaps, and requests to hear how the happy couple met and fell in love. It was like revisiting his old bounty hunter days, when he and all the guys who worked with them told tall tales of their heroics, each story more unrealistic than the last.

Though he’d been painstakingly careful never to mention anything about the marshal, the FBI, Marissa’s stake in the town, or the document he’d signed—with Greenberg as witness and notary—stating that he’d never tell a soul about Marissa’s status in witness protection. With the body in Tate’s yard as proof of foul play, the FBI had taken Butcher into custody, along with most of the members of the gang, leaving Marissa a free woman, no further testimony required. Marissa had done the hard work ten years ago. Now she could live her life in peace. With him.
Happily ever after, and all that good stuff.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Bones’s number came up on the caller ID. He answered. “Hey, man. What’s up?”

“The city inspector is up my ass again. The construction manager gave him the required permits and stamped architectural plans, but there’s more red tape.”

Adam frowned. “We’re supposed to break ground tomorrow.”

“You think I don’t know that?” The stress from Bones practically seeped through the phone. “The equipment is onsite, demolition ready to go.”

“Then what’s an extra day?” Adam turned the dogs and brats again. “It’s not like a strip mall goes up in a week.”

“But I already sent the payroll company the information to cut checks to the construction guys.”

“Then tell them while they wait, it’s buy-one-get-one-free drinks, on the house, until we have what the building inspector needs to get off our backs.”

Bones paused. “Not a bad idea.”

Adam almost heard the mental
ca-
ching
of a cash register in Bones’s mind, his jar filling with tips. “Yeah, we’ll go with that. It’s not like our
workers are going anywhere.”

Putting Bones in charge as Operations Overseer, Adam had asked him to hire people from town to assist with all phases of the construction process. Marissa had seemed pleased with that arrangement, not minding her childhood home demolished to give people in Rogerstown a chance at jobs and a better life.

Speaking of Marissa…

“Catch up with you later, Bones.”

He opened the French doors and shouted, “Baby? You coming?”

“Be right there!” Her voice echoed in their gigantic house. They’d chosen a place not far from Trey. Adam wasn’t a suburbs guy, so he’d agreed to a great place Marissa had chosen with some property and a stellar view. And a five-car garage with room for his motorcycle collection. A craftsman-style house, it had more character than Liam’s McMansion in the burbs, with all the room, plus acreage, for when they expanded their family.

Someday.

Honestly, he was enjoying his time with Marissa, just the two of them. Turned out he was fiancée material, too. Even better than the boyfriend gig. Because she belonged to him now officially. No take backs.

He smiled and held the door open as Marissa strolled toward him from the kitchen, across the expanse of hardwood floors softened by area rugs. She held the platter of raw hamburgers, followed by Brittany balancing a plate of sliced cheeses. Tagging along behind Brittany like a smitten puppy was her new boyfriend, Daryl, a local landscaper, who carried the chips and buns for the feast.
Then out walked Cam, carting a cooler of beer. Cam had taken Adam’s old place above the bar, and Brittany had moved into Marissa’s bungalow after finding work in Denver.

Damn if life didn’t work out just right sometimes. He was starting to become a believer.

“Where’s my brother?” he asked.

“Still on the phone,” Brittany chirped.

“Huh.” He hollered inside, “Dude, you’re missing the party.”

Looking too serious for a long holiday weekend, Liam held up his finger. Not at all like his brother to miss out on food and fun. And free beer.

Adam handed Cam the tongs, set the plate of burgers on the serving station of the grill, and beckoned Marissa. “Come here, sugar. I need some sugar.”

They exchanged grins.

Capturing her in his arms, he hoisted her onto the flat top of the railing surrounding the patio. He stepped between her thighs, stuck his hands in her back pockets and sipped on her lips. “Mmm. Just what I needed.”

While making out with his fiancé, he vaguely heard Cam and Brittany exchanging digs about his public displays of happiness.

“My God, do they ever quit?” Brittany griped, crunching on a potato chip.

“Nope.” Cam plopped burgers on the two tiered grates. “Careful where you sit. They’ve probably done it in every room, on every surface of this house.”

“Twice,” Adam interjected, puffing his chest with pride. “At least.” Then he scratched his chin and glanced at Marissa, whose blue eyes sparkled with love and a touch of lust. “Though we haven’t tried the stairs yet.”

“TMI, dude,” Cam muttered. “Give it a rest.”

“No rest for the wicked, haven’t you heard?” He set Marissa back down on the stone pavers, and gave her backside a firm squeeze. “I know what we’ll be doing later, baby.”

“You’re terrible,” she insisted, but the glow in her cheeks told him otherwise.

He took a seat on a patio lounge chair and tugged her down to sit between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Shortly after, Liam finally stepped outside.

“Look who decided to join us,” Adam announced.

Liam reached into the cooler for a beer.

“I thought I told you, no work calls today. Whatever they need, it can wait.”

His little brother appeared distressed. “Not this time.”

“Okay. What’s up?”

“I just got off the phone with the Carringtons. Remember their son, Chase?”

“Sure.” Adam nodded. “Oh, man. That’s right.” Remorse tightened Adam’s gut. “Chase was in that accident last year. Damn, I forgot about that. I’m sorry, bro.” If Adam recalled correctly, Liam’s best friend since middle school, Chase, had been driving somewhere in the northern Midwest, when a truck jack-knifed and took Chase and his wife’s lives with it. Their nine-month-old son had lived, thank God, a small miracle couched in huge tragedy.

“They didn’t call to discuss Chase. It’s about Hope.”

“Was that the cute redheaded sister?” When Marissa elbowed him, he cinched her waist and scattered kisses along her neck. “Just trying to place her, baby. You’re my one and only. I can prove it to you all night,” he whispered in her ear.

She grinned over her shoulder at him. “That’s better.”

Popping the cap, Liam took a swig of his beer. “Hope is in some kind of trouble. I might need to take off for Vegas next week.”

“Yeah, man. Do what you need to do. We’ll hold down the fort.”

“Thanks,” Liam said in a distracted tone.

Cam finished cooking the burgers, brats and dogs. Then they all sat down to eat together around at the glass patio table.

While Brittany’s boyfriend, Daryl, tried to interest him in a conversation about his landscaping ideas for the property, Adam found Marissa a much more fascinating subject. To look at, to touch, to fantasize about.

Arousal stiffened the front of his jeans. He decided he couldn’t wait until later. Not even until tonight.

Setting down his half-eaten burger, he stood and hoisted Marissa up with him. “Excuse us. I need to talk to my fiancé in private.”

Marissa sent him a quizzical glance. Liam barely noticed. Brittany shrugged and turned to say something to Daryl. Cam rolled his eyes. “Seriously?” the bodyguard asked. “You can’t keep your hands off each other for ten minutes?”

Adam’s swift absence answered Cam’s question.

Marissa tried to loosen his grasp on her hand. “I know you aren’t pulling me away from hostess duties for selfish reasons,” she said sternly.

He dragged her into the study, closed the doors and trapped her against them. “What’s wrong with a quickie?”

“Nothing—when we aren’t entertaining guests in our backyard.”  She ducked beneath his arms.

He caught her before she went far, and they landed together on the leather sofa. “It’s not my fault you’re irresistible.”

“It’s not
my
fault
you
are insatiable.”

“Yeah, it is.” He quieted her protests with a thorough sweep of his tongue against hers. He kissed her voraciously, unfastening her jeans and tugging them below her knees. “I’m selfish when it comes to you.”

“Other people need me, too, Adam.” She gasped as he unbuttoned his fly and nudged his erection against her opening.

Finding her wet and ready, he stared down at her. “Not as much as I need you.”

Filled with possessive need, he slid into her sharply. He gave her several reasons to moan, and showed her exactly how much he needed her. It was so damn good with her, every time.

“I’m glad we have all these bedrooms,” she murmured, coming down from her second orgasm as he rocked with her.

With each surge, he went deeper. Their lips met, released, and met again. Each thrust drove him closer to climax.

“Why?” he asked, cradling her head in his hands.

“At this rate,” she smiled, “we’ll fill them with babies in no time.”

The image of her pregnant with his child humbled him, took his breath away. “However many you want. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

He watched pleasure wash over her features. They crested the peak of bliss together. He held her tight and came hard inside her.

While his heart rate leveled, her brilliant blue eyes sparkled up at him. “I have everything I’ve ever wanted. Right here with you.”

“Marissa.” He stroked her hair. “I love you.” He poured his heart and soul into the words, wondering how it could ever get better than this.

Marissa had made him a believer in all the things he’d never dared to hope for.

She’d stolen his bitter heart and transformed it into something worth giving her. She’d shown him that real love offered freedom, acceptance and grace.

And whatever the future held, he’d walk through it beside her. Each step along their journey.
Falling more in love with her every day.

She was his second chance.

His savior.
His lover.
His partner.

His always and forever.