Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(62)

That had been the first and last time she’d ever hit anyone.

The box had pictures too. Of her when she was little, of her and Mike, of her and Jackson.

But the most precious thing she’d found was a letter her dads had written to the man she’d eventually marry.

As far as she could tell, they’d written it when she was in high school sometime and had probably planned to read it at her wedding rehearsal or something.

To the man who wants to marry our Sarah,

You are not good enough for our daughter.

But then again, no one is.

However, for some reason, she loves you, and you love her back.

Sarah has always been special. She sees the best in everyone and never the worst. It’s both her best quality as well as the scariest.

As her dads, we’ve tried to encourage her to spread love in the world instead of hate. There’s too much hate already. We’ve lived it our entire lives.

Protect her from that hate. Be her shield as we’ve tried to be.

In return, you will never know love as pure and unconditional as Sarah’s.

We wish you a long and beautiful life together . . . but if you so much as hurt one hair on her head, or make her cry with careless words or deeds, or in any way make her think she’s not good enough for you, there will be nowhere you can hide from us.

Be good to our baby girl.

Love her.

Keep her safe.

Give her babies of her own.

Let her bright light shine.

She’s an angel in disguise, and we are blessed to call her our daughter.

Just as you are blessed to have her as your wife.

~Mike & Jackson Butler



She’d cried for several minutes. Her dads would’ve loved Cole. Mike would’ve swooned over his protectiveness, and Jackson would’ve just nodded his head in approval.

But she couldn’t get over the last part of their letter.

Angel in disguise . . . and Cole called her angel.

Give her babies . . . and Cole was doing his best to do that exact thing already.

Lifting her head to look upward, she whispered, “Thank you.”

Then she folded the letter, placed it reverently back on top of the other memorabilia in the shoebox, and closed the lid. This was one of her most prized possessions, and she hoped like hell she’d get the chance to share Mike and Jackson’s letter with Cole at some point. It was too early in their relationship, but if things went as she hoped, she’d read it to him the night before they got married.

Yes, she wanted to marry Cole. Wanted to become Sarah Butler-Johnson. She hoped he wouldn’t have a problem with her hyphenating her name. She wanted to honor the men who’d taken her in, loved her, and given her a home and a family.

Her mind was on the letter, Cole, babies, and dreading finding out how much stuff there was going to be in the attic as she reached up and grabbed the cord that would pull the stairs down out of the ceiling.

She’d only been up in the attic a few times, not liking how hot and cramped it felt up there. She pulled the stairs down and started to climb. They were rickety and definitely didn’t feel safe, but Sarah reassured herself that once this was done, she’d never have to go up into the attic again.

She was thinking that there was no way Cole would ever let her go up and down a ladder like this if he were around, especially not if she were pregnant, when her head reached the top of the ladder and she could see into the attic for the first time.

When a man’s face suddenly appeared in front of hers, Sarah let out a screech and instinctively took a step backward.

Of course, since she was on a ladder, her foot landed on nothing but air. Her arms flailed, and a scream tore from her throat as she fell.

Everything happened so fast. Sarah couldn’t stop herself from succumbing to gravity, until her foot got caught in a rung of the ladder, slowing down her fall, but wrenching her ankle painfully in the process.

She landed hard on her ass, then her head bounced on the hardwood floor with a chilling crack.

As she lay there, dazed, and in an extreme amount of pain, she watched as Owen Montrone clambered down the ladder that led into her attic. He looked concerned, but also excited.

And that was what scared her the most.

Blackness began creeping in from the sides of her eyes, and Sarah knew she was going to pass out. Right before things went dark, Owen leaned over her on the floor and patted her chest like a kid might pat a dog.

“It’s okay. Owen will take care of you, and you will take care of him.”

The large man bending over her was the last thing Sarah saw before she blacked out.





Chapter Fourteen

Cole was concerned.

It was ten o’clock in the morning, and he hadn’t heard from Sarah.

They’d agreed that she would contact him before she left for work, but he hadn’t heard a word from her.

He knew it couldn’t be because she was mad at him for something; they’d left on very good terms. The days they’d spent together had been perfect. Besides, she wasn’t the kind of woman to just leave him hanging like this. If she said she’d call or text, she’d call or text. It wasn’t in her makeup to ghost him.

He’d already called the hospital, but the person he’d finally been connected to wasn’t allowed to give out any information on patients or employees.