Chapter 1 #2
All that long, thick blonde hair shined under the bright sunlight like spun gold, and I couldn’t drag my eyes away from her as she headed back to the picnic table.
I didn’t have the first clue what it was about the woman that pulled me in, but whatever it was, the hold sure as hell wouldn’t let go.
She was sexy, no doubt about that. Outstanding curves led to some of the best legs I’d ever seen, legs that would make a man fight until his knuckles bled just for the chance to feel them wrapped around his waist. Then there was all that hair.
Christ, Gypsy Bradbury was a walking pin-up girl, but that wasn’t what captured my attention the first time I saw her. What lured me in and piqued my interest the most were her eyes. And I wasn’t just talking about the hypnotizing golden brown color.
There was a hardness in her eyes that couldn’t be missed. It spoke clear as day to anyone to stay the hell away unless she gave you an invitation.
I didn’t know much about the woman, but what I did know was she remained closed off to those who weren’t in her inner circle. I’d also noticed that once you made it in, she was extremely generous with her loyalty. It was clear to see that was why her girls adored her as much as they did.
I couldn’t deny that I was curious to find out what it would be like to breach those walls of hers, and that curiosity only grew stronger the more our paths crossed.
But when I’d uprooted my life and moved across the continent to Hope Valley, I’d done it with one thing in mind—living a nice, simple life.
I’d been through more than my fair share of ups and downs, to say the least. A shitty life had turned me into a dysfunctional teenager.
I’d started myself down a path that was leading to one of two places, behind bars or in a grave.
I’d decided to enlist in the military as soon as I graduated high school in the hopes of becoming a better man, but even still, the past wouldn’t let go.
My mistakes led to something I could never, ever make right no matter how much I tried to repent.
The guilt and self-hatred I felt became too much to bear, and I’d eventually given up my old life in the hopes of starting over.
I’d seen more darkness in my thirty-five years than most people saw in an entire lifetime, things that would stay with me for as long as I lived.
The shadows I’d grown up with were made darker by what I saw during my time in the military, but I’d be forever grateful for that time I’d spent serving my country.
It gave me the opportunity to become the man I’d wanted to be, not the one my bad choices were leading me to.
But when I finally left that all behind, I’d made a promise that the road would be easy from there on out.
And something in my gut told me the girl with the guarded eyes was anything but easy.
But in spite of the warning signs, I couldn’t shake my fascination with her.
“I’ve had Xander tracking Black’s financials the past couple months,” Linc said, pulling me from my thoughts of a certain brown-eyed girl and back into the present, “and something hit the other day that drew our attention.”
“Christ, Linc,” Hayes Walker, a detective on the police force and a longtime friend of Lincoln’s, said with a grunt.
“I get you’re just as anxious to see this asshole locked up as we are, but we need everything to be above board.
You need to leave this to the cops, brother.
No DA in his right mind’ll be willin’ to go to court if the evidence against Malachi Black was obtained questionably. ”
Lincoln Sheppard was the owner of Alpha Omega Investigations, a private security and investigations firm set up here in Hope Valley.
Having served himself, he knew firsthand how difficult it was to reacclimate to civilian life, so all of us who worked for him were former military.
I hadn’t been sure what to expect when I first started, but it turned out I didn’t have anything to worry about.
Not only was he a great boss, but he came to be one of the best men I knew.
I respected the hell out of him, and it wasn’t a surprise that Lincoln hadn’t backed off this particular case.
Malachi Black was the scum of the earth.
He’d set up shop somewhere in the mountains around Hope Valley, cooking meth and having his crew sell it through at least three counties that we knew of.
The department’s hands had been tied back when he was keeping clear of us, but there’d been a string of overdoses within the town limits lately, two of which ended fatally, so everyone was itching to put this asshole out of commission.
Problem was, no one had been able to find his cookhouses, and he did too good a job keeping himself clean of the dealing.
Half the guys he had working for him had never actually seen him face-to-face, and they had no idea where the operation was set up.
He’d been pulled in for questioning at least half a dozen times, but with no evidence to go on and no probable cause, he’d been cut loose every single time.
To make matters worse, it appeared the prick was gearing up to set down roots in our town, getting off on snubbing his nose at the cops who couldn’t touch him.
Something had to be done, and since Linc wasn’t restricted by the same rules as the police department, he’d taken the task on himself.
“This isn’t exactly my first rodeo, Walker,” Linc replied, his tone low and ominous. “You think I’d do anything to fuck up a case against this guy, you’re wrong.”
“We know you’re good, man,” Hayes’s partner, Patrick “Trick” Wanderly, chimed in, “but what are we supposed to do with illegally obtained financial records?”
“You use them to your advantage,” Xander replied.
He was the only other guy in on this private conversation Lincoln had requested, and one of Linc’s most trusted men.
Xander mostly handled the tech side of Alpha Omega and wasn’t much of a people person.
He was quiet and brooding most of the time, and when he did speak, he said what he needed to say in as few words as possible, and if you didn’t get him, he couldn’t be bothered to give a fuck.
It was actually a shock to find him here today.
“So what did you find?” Hayes asked, clearly coming around to Lincoln’s way of thinking.
“Black’s bought up Pink Palace,” he declared. All of a sudden my senses went on red alert.
“You’re fuckin’ shitting me,” Trick growled.
Lincoln’s face was like granite as he continued. “Wish I was. Don’t know what the hell that guy wants with a titty bar, but I do know that whatever the reason, it isn’t good. And I really don’t fucking like this asshole having a tie so close to one of our own.”
We all turned toward the picnic table beneath the tree at the same time. I knew what all four men were thinking before any of them said a word. Because I was thinking the same goddamn thing. Gypsy worked at Pink Palace.
“I’m putting a guy in that club,” Linc stated definitively. “Hopefully we can get something on Black and, at the same time, look out for her.”
“I’m on it,” I clipped, shifting my focus back to our huddle.
Lincoln examined me closely. “You sure, man? I’ve kept you out of this shit with Black for a reason. Thought it might hit a little too close to home, you know. Dig up some skeletons you’d like to keep buried.”
My jaw ticked with annoyance as I answered, “That was a long time ago. It’s not gonna be a problem.”
“You sure?”
I didn’t bother to answer verbally, choosing instead to nod. I was positive, because my decision to take this case had nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the woman I couldn’t seem to keep my mind off of.
So much for easy.