Page 1

Chapter

One

“I've hardly seen you in months. I've missed you.”

The words, softly spoken though they’d been, had Jake Holloway stiffening. If there was one thing the woman standing in front of him knew without a shadow of a doubt it was that for him, family would always come first.

No exceptions.

These last three months he’d barely had time to breathe, let alone make time for anything outside of protecting his family from threat after threat.

The blows just kept coming.

First, his stepbrother Cooper was almost killed in Egypt after chasing down a lead on who was involved in setting up Jake’s stepmother to look like a traitor.

Then his stepbrother Cole’s neighbor was targeted after someone wrongly assumed the two were a couple, although they were in fact now dating.

Then, his stepbrother Connor brought danger right to his ex-girlfriend’s door when he traveled to Cambodia to attempt a reconciliation.

Then finally, last month, his last stepbrother Cade’s four-year-old daughter and her nanny had been abducted.

With all that going on in his family, how could he possibly have time for anything other than keeping the people he loved safe?

More than just safe, this was literally a matter of life and death, he’d been focused on keeping his family alive.

In comparison to that, nothing else mattered.

Certainly not him taking time out of his day to do something fun that he actually enjoyed.

And spending time with Alannah Johansen was always something he enjoyed.

“Family first, Alannah. You know that,” he snapped a little harsher than he should have, then again, if anyone was used to his grumpy attitude, it was certainly his best friend since childhood.

“Course I know that, grumpypants,” Alannah shot back with a laugh that to anyone else would sound completely natural.

But he’d known this woman since they were small children.

In fact, he’d met her when he’d been five and playing in his backyard and heard someone crying.

When he squeezed himself through a hole in the fence, he’d found four-year-old Alannah curled up in a ball in the middle of a flower bush crying her little eyes out.

From then on, the two of them had been best friends.

Which, after almost thirty years, meant he knew how to read Alannah.

Knew that she was covering her hurt at not being included as a member of his family even though she technically wasn't. May as well be though, they’d grown up together, she’d been there for him when his mom died, and then his dad remarried out of the blue only to be accused of treason six months later and committed suicide.

She’d been his rock, and throughout the years he’d been her protector.

Making sure no one teased her on the playground because of her lisp when she was little, then making sure no boys took advantage of her as they got older and both started dating.

Truth was, Jake did consider Alannah family, but right now, it was pretty dangerous to be part of his family.

“I didn't mean it how it sounded, sunshine,” he assured her. “You're my best friend and have been since we were in kindergarten. It’s just this stuff with my family is messed up, and I don’t want you involved in it.”

Alannah’s golden-brown eyes softened, and she set down the dumbbell she’d been lifting as he gave himself an hour off to work out at the gym with his best friend, and stepped closer.

“Jake, I don’t know the details, and I'm not asking you to share.

You're right, I'm not family, but I am your best friend, and I care about you.

If you need help, I'll do anything I can to give it to you.”

That was absolutely true.

No one had as good a heart as Alannah. Despite an entire lifetime of constantly being put down and told she wasn't enough by her parents as they favored her older sister, the family’s golden child, she loved and cared about everybody she met.

She was bright, bubbly, and sunshiny, and it seemed like nobody but him realized that was just a shield she used to mask her pain and fears.

Reaching out, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I know you would, sunshine, but unfortunately this is one thing I can't bring you in on. Please understand, it’s not because I don’t respect the hell out of you, you have always had my back, I just don’t want you getting dragged into this and hurt. ”

Because he’d been keeping what was going on with his family quiet, Alannah had no idea the extent of the danger he and his family were in.

She’d been around when his dad remarried, and they’d both been upset when his dad made them move into his new stepmother’s house.

But their friendship had continued, and Alannah knew about his dad and stepmom getting arrested, knew that he and all his brothers believed the marriage was fake, knew that for the last almost twenty years he and his brothers had been searching for the truth.

She just didn't know how close they were to finding it, or the lengths the people responsible for framing his dad and stepmother would go to cover it up.

“Grumpy, are you in danger? Are you safe?” she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper because at least two dozen other people were inside the gym that Alannah owned and ran.

A familiar smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Grumpy and sunshine had been their nicknames since they were in middle school. The other kids always thought it was hilarious that the angriest kid in the class was best friends with the happiest.

Kids had always thought they were going to wind up a couple too.

But it had never happened, never would happen. They were best friends, and he had no intention of messing that up.

Because they were best friends, he couldn’t lie to her when she asked point blank. “No, sunshine, I'm not safe. No one in my family is.”

Fear filled her eyes. Although Alannah had a family, she’d been virtually no contact with them for years given the way they continued to treat her, and although she had plenty of friends, and was more often than not dating someone, he was the closest person in her life, and he knew he probably should have clued her in on what was going on.

Raking his fingers through his hair, he nodded to the stairs at the side of the large open space. “Can we go talk in your office?”

It was time to tell his best friend what was going on.

Jake realized this was exactly what he’d needed.

While it had felt selfish to take a little time to himself, everyone else was safe and being watched.

Cooper had Willow, Cole had Susanna, Connor had Becca, and now that he’d gotten his head on straight, Cade finally had both his five-year-old daughter, Esther, and the former nanny Gabriella.

This was what he needed.

“Of course we can,” Alannah readily agreed.

Without another word, they packed away the weights they’d been lifting and headed for the stairs.

Alannah’s gym was broken down into multiple floors.

Top floor was a men’s only space, then came a women’s only space, the unisex space they’d been using, then a seniors space, a teen space, a kid’s space, then the ground floor was used for classes, and the basement was office, storage, and a childcare area.

Since he knew this place like the back of his hand, had encouraged her to follow her passion and start the gym, Jake led the way down the several flights of stairs and past the playroom where there were a handful of toddlers building with blocks and banging on some instruments while the carer sat on the floor playing with them, down a hall, and into Alannah's office.

“I’m really worried about you, Jake,” she told him as soon as he closed the door behind them.

Like it always did when he was in Alannah's space, whether it be there or at her apartment, Jake felt peace and calm flood into his soul as he settled beside her on the couch. No wonder he’d caved and said yes today when she called and asked if he wanted to do a workout session with her.

His body and his mind knew what he needed, and it was a couple of hours recharging his batteries with his best friend.

“I didn't keep any of this from you to hurt you or shut you out, but these people are targeting anyone they even suspect of being connected to us,” he told her.

“What people?” Alannah asked. “Did you get a lead on the men who had your dad’s team killed and then set him and your stepmom up to take the fall?

Last I heard, Cooper was going to Egypt to try to get answers from some Egyptologist, but when I asked you about it after the news broke that he’d died, you told me it was nothing. ”

Of course, he didn't miss the tiny thread of hurt in her voice even though he was sure everyone else would have.

Before he could open his mouth to assure her once again that he hadn't shut her out on purpose, he smelled something that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

Smoke.

October 13 th

1:01 P.M.

Alannah Johansen was about to open her mouth to ask Jake what was going on with his family and why he kept talking about danger and not wanting to get her involved, when she froze.

Was that …?

Startled, her gaze snapped from Jake to the door to her office, which they’d walked through no more than two minutes ago, and then back to Jake again.

“Do you smell?—?”

“Smoke?” he inserted, saying exactly what she’d been about to.

Both jumped up off the small couch in her office where she’d spent more than the occasional night sleeping when she’d first been starting up her gym. It had taken a lot of time, a whole lot of hard work, and every cent of the inheritance she’d gotten from her grandparents.

Which she’d had to fight to maintain after her parents tried to have it taken away from her and given to her sister instead.

But that was not what she should be thinking about right now.

Smoke.