Hunted Innocence (Alpha Nights: Unlikely Heroes #3)

Prologue

NADINE

I’m chewing on the corner of my thumb, and my leg shakes under my desk.

He’s coming for me.

I know he is.

There is absolutely nothing I can do to stop him.

He’s going to come and find me.

He has probably known exactly where I’ve been this entire time.

This is a man who enjoys playing games, even long ones.

He’s out there, watching me and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

My skin feels sensitive and itchy.

So itchy, in fact, that I have the deep desire to claw my actual flesh off.

My stomach clenches.

It twists and turns, and I’m seconds away from puking all over my desk.

I haven’t felt like this in a long time.

I was hoping I wouldn’t ever have to feel it again.

Because I know that with this sensation, memories will come barreling to the forefront of my mind, and honestly, I want to forget about that whole part of my life.

I want it to vanish from the recesses of my brain.

I never want to remember it again.

If I could figure out a way to have it erased permanently, I wouldn’t hesitate.

It doesn’t matter that I changed everything about my life and did it in a way where he shouldn’t have been able to find me in a million years…

or at least not yet.

But he has a lot of resources, so I should not be surprised.

He should be too scared to come and look for me, especially knowing exactly who and what my brother is.

But he doesn’t care.

Normal people would be terrified of Brody.

He’s the president of the Night Devils MC, but this man isn’t scared of anyone, not even the president of an MC.

It also doesn’t matter that I work for the best security firm in the country.

He will stop at nothing to get me, not out of love but out of hate and a desire for control.

And yet, I keep trying to run in some foolhardy attempt at saving myself.

I’m not sure why I’m fighting so hard for my freedom.

Nobody, except maybe Brody, would even care if I vanished.

Sure, the guys at Securus would miss me for a little while, but they would hire someone new, and life would go on just like it always has.

My life doesn’t matter, and if I did go to Brody, he’d get himself killed or thrown in prison over me.

That’s something I can’t allow.

He deserves a life without my shit mixed in the middle of it.

My brother may not be a Boy Scout in any form at all whatsoever, but that doesn’t mean I would ever want anything to happen to him.

My older brother protected me a lot over the years.

He tried his hardest, but our parents are who our parents are, and he wasn’t able to protect me from everything.

Closing my eyes, I slip my thumb from my mouth and let out a long sigh.

I wish I could truly make it so he could never find me again.

If there were some kind of way I could disappear into thin air, I would.

But I already tried erasing as much of my identity as possible.

And yet he found me.

He will always find me.

His connections are well beyond what I am able to manipulate.

About the only thing that I could do would be to hack into the dark web and add his damn name to a hit list, except I wouldn’t be able to pay the hit man, which would open a whole new can of worms.

So there’s that.

He hasn’t made himself known yet, but my body instinctively feels when Landon Tate is nearby—the biggest mistake of my young life.

I was forced to marry him in exchange for safety.

I thought I was doing the right thing.

I should have stuck both middle fingers in the air and told everyone to fuck off.

But I felt as if I was trapped.

I didn’t think I had a choice.

Every hair on the back of my neck stands at attention, interrupting my thoughts.

Landon is somewhere close.

He’s watching me, waiting for a moment of weakness.

That’s when he attacks, when his victims are at their weakest.

Because he’s a coward.

He’s in a position of power and gets off on that control, on that power trip.

He gets off on abusing said power and anyone he deems weaker than him to prove that he’s the big, strong man in control.

It seems that I’m his favorite weak target because he keeps coming back to me, keeps finding me, and keeps hurting me.

Over and over again.

When I hear a noise in the office hallway, my spine straightens, and my body stiffens as I wait for the inevitable.

I imagine Landon walking down that hall.

He’s made it into this secure building and is ready to drag me by my hair back to where he thinks I belong.

Back to hell.

He doesn’t appear the way my nightmares envision.

Letting out a sigh of relief and, at the same time, clenching my thighs, I watch as Grayson walks through the hallway and into the room.

Instantly, my leg stops shaking, and my stomach pain eases.

Then I feel little butterflies fluttering inside my belly, the way I always do anytime he’s nearby.

My entire mood and vibe have completely changed.

Sucking in a breath, I hold it as I watch him make his way over to my desk.

He stops directly in front of me.

He’s close enough that I can smell him.

It’s delicious, with a bourbon scent and something else that I can’t quite place.

Slowly, I tilt my head backward to look up into his eyes.

He smirks down at me.

He knows what he does to me, and I think he likes it, even if he doesn’t ever admit it.

His gaze dances as it moves across my face.

“Hey, Nadine.” His voice is smooth as honey.

I can’t help but wonder if his tongue would feel the same way…

against my clit or any other part of me, but especially my clit.

“Hey,” I breathe, and I know that my cheeks are bright red.

Anything about this man makes me nervous and hot.

I need him to go away or something because I cannot be trusted to act like a normal human around him.

I have never been attracted to any other man before, but with him, it’s different—I’m different.

Grayson always has an easy smile, and his eyes look directly into mine.

It’s almost like he can see into my soul.

And I want to bare it all to him, every part of me, inside and out.

The other men who are part of Securus are just as attractive, but there is something about Grayson.

My direct boss, Theron, is sexy as hell.

He’s also so intimidating that I find myself running away from him at any given moment—scurrying.

Now that he’s married and his wife, Lucille, is around here all the time, I see a different part of him.

I’m not as nervous around him.

But before her— scary .

I’m lost in thought about Theron and Lucille when Grayson grunts.

Blinking, I look up at him.

He’s on the phone, then he hisses and turns his head.

I follow his gaze and see Vaughn walk through the hallway and into the room, following the same path as Grayson.

“Merrick and Collette are on that list. A price has just been put on their heads.”

My whole body stiffens.

I know exactly what he’s talking about, and Vaughn must notice because his gaze flicks to me instantly, and his brows shoot up before he jerks his chin toward Theron’s office.

Vaughn is another one of the guys who intimidates and scares the shit out of me simultaneously.

He wouldn’t ever hurt me, but his eyes are dark, and I know he’s hiding massive secrets that I know I don’t want to know anything about.

Grayson’s eyes shift to meet mine, and he dips his chin before backing away from my desk.

I watch as they slip into Theron’s office without another word, and I use that moment to slip the burner phone out of my purse to call my brother.

“Brody, it’s me. There’s a problem, and I need your help.”

GRAYSON

I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that I don’t know Nadine at all.

I thought I knew the essentials, and there wasn’t much else to know.

I knew where her apartment was.

I knew her smile, her eyes, and the way her cheeks turned pink anytime she looked at me.

But I didn’t know shit.

Married.

She’s married .

Separated for years but still married, nonetheless.

I’ve been dreaming about fucking a married woman for months, and now I find out that not only is she married, but her ex is also part of the ATF.

Then there’s the major secret that her fucking brother is head of a one-percent motorcycle club.

What else?

Oh yeah, said ex is sniffing around and trying to get her back, which means that ATF is looking at us closely.

Something we don’t want any part of, especially with all the shit that’s happened as of late.

So, fucking shit, this is getting thick, and I’m not sure we want to wade into any part of it.

But we’re already in the goddamn thick of it, so we don’t have a fucking choice.

This is absolutely not what I want to be involved in.

Our connection to the Bellucci family and all that drama with Merrick’s woman, Colette, with Ravet and all of the above.

The last thing we need is more government heat on us.

I’m fairly positive they won’t find anything related to Securus.

We’re damn good at what we do, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to find if they dig deep enough.

There’s more to this story, and I aim to figure out what it is.

Standing at the edge of the sofa, I look down at her, watching her.

Nadine is fast asleep.

The safe house is the best place for her.

I know it is, which is why I’ve brought a bag of my own shit here because there is no way I’m letting her stay here alone.

Not until I know everything.

Every fucking detail.

But as I watch her sleep peacefully, I can’t help but think about being inside of her.

We’re going to have to do that sooner rather than later.

Because I can’t stop thinking about it, thinking about her.

But right now, I’m pissed off about this whole situation, and it would be an angry fuck.

As fun as those are, I’m not sure it would be good for the first time…

maybe the second.

I don’t want her to be tethered to some other man when I’m inside of her, either, so there are definitely things that need to be worked out.

When her eyes open, her breath hitches before she pushes herself upright.

Then her wide eyes meet mine, and we stare at one another for a long, silent moment.

“Why are you here?” she asks on a breath.

My lips twitch into a smirk.

“You’re not out of my sight, baby.”

“Grayson,” she exhales.

Leaning down, I pick up my bag and walk toward the bedroom.

I know there’s only one here that has a bed, and that’s where we’ll be sleeping— together .

Stopping at the mouth of the hallway, I look over my shoulder at Nadine sitting on the sofa, her eyes focused on me.

“When I get back in here, we’re going to have story time.”

“Story time?” she asks.

Shaking my head once, I clear my throat.

“You’re going to tell me everything I want to know— in detail .”