Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(18)

“Okay.”

He turned to leave.

“Ryder?”

He craned his neck around to see her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“You don’t have to thank me, love. I’m doing this for me as much as I am you.”

Her brows came down in confusion. “You are?”

He smiled them. “Yup. The sooner I get this taken care of, the sooner I can get you to agree to marry me.” And with that bomb, he spun around and left the gym with a huge smile on his face.



Joseph Waters walked slowly on the treadmill in the back corner of Rock Hard Gym. He’d learned a lot from his father and uncles over the years. How to track people, how to intimidate and use threats to get what he wanted, but most important, how to blend in and not be seen. He’d perfected the art of makeup and disguises to go almost anywhere undetected. As long as he looked like he belonged, he could go anywhere. Be anyone.

Disguised as a much older man, he kept his head down, but his eyes were up as he watched Megan. He needed to gather as much information as possible before he made his move.

His father had told him time and time again to forget about her, but he couldn’t. He’d waited too long to find her, wasted too much time and money tracking her down. He should’ve gotten rid of her stupid mother years ago. It had been so easy to stake out the old bitch’s funeral. He knew Megan would show up. It was easy to spot her, despite the tattoos and black hair. He was a master of disguises—hers didn’t even give him a second’s pause. He’d been waiting too long to get his hands on her for a simple disguise to work.

Joseph watched as Megan warily glanced around the room, and he grinned. Yeah, he’d spooked her with the little note and newspaper article he’d left her. Good. She should be spooked. When someone dropped a weight and she jumped, he couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping. Making her miserable was so much fun.

His grin disappeared when she stalked out of the room to the front reception area and began to talk to two men there. He knew who Cole Johnson was, and he didn’t even register on his give-a-shit meter, but he didn’t know who the other man was. At first glance, Joseph knew he was going to be a problem, though. As a man who dealt with violence on a daily basis, Joseph recognized a kindred spirit when he saw one.

When the man leaned in and kissed Megan, Joseph actually growled.

“Are you all right?” a man in his twenties asked from nearby.

Joseph forced himself to smile and waved at the concerned bystander. “Just caught something in my throat, young man. I’m good. Thanks.”

“Sure thing.”

Joseph looked through the windows on the other side of the room once more. He saw how Megan clung to the mystery man. How she looked up at him, trusting him to keep her safe. Oh hell no. She wasn’t safe. Not even close. Joseph turned off the treadmill and picked up the small towel. He carefully dabbed at his face as if he was perspiring, making sure not to smear his makeup while hiding his smile. Maybe he’d fuck with this man first. Fucking with him would mean fucking with Megan. Two birds with one stone.

He liked that. Liked it a lot.





Chapter Six

Ryder sat at the table in the back of Ace Security and looked around at his half brothers. He didn’t exactly have a lot of information to share with them about Felicity’s situation, but he was hoping they’d agree with him that she needed watching over. As much as he wanted to be with Felicity twenty-four/seven, he knew that simply wasn’t going to be possible. She’d hate it, and the last thing he wanted was to make her feel as if she was suffocating.

“Tell us what you found out about Felicity,” Logan ordered, getting right to it.

For the next fifteen minutes, Ryder went over what he knew about her situation, which admittedly wasn’t a lot. He told them Cole was watching her at the moment and was briefed on the basics of her situation as well.

When he was done speaking, Logan asked, “Are you sure about all this?”

“Absolutely.”

“Why?” Blake asked. “I mean, you don’t know her. You’ve only been here a little over a week. What makes you think you know Felicity better than we do?”

Ryder did his best to keep his anger in check. The question was valid, but it was the defensive way Blake delivered it that made his hackles rise. “I know I’m younger than you guys, but I’ve seen way more in my twenty-eight and a half years than you ever will in your entire lives.”

“Me and Logan were in the Army. We were deployed,” Blake barked out. “Don’t treat us like we’re innocent little boys who don’t know anything about the world.”

Ryder fixed his gaze on his brother. “Have you ever broken the lock on a CONEX container to find fifty-three naked women inside, locked in cages stacked on top of each other? Have you ever had to kill a woman by breaking her neck because it was more humane than letting her bleed to death from the rusty coat hanger that had been shoved between her legs by the so-called abortion doctor she’d been forced to go to? Have you ever raided a Korean brothel and had to carry out bleeding and traumatized little girls age five to ten who had been raped every day, several times a day, for as long as they could remember?” Ryder leaned forward over the table, not taking his eyes from Blake. “Have you ever had to tell a mother that you found her kidnapped twelve-year-old daughter—dead from a bullet to the head after a rescue attempt went bad?”