Ice: A Reed Security Romance Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Who's who

  Who's who

  Chapter One - Lindsay

  Chapter Two - Ice

  Chapter Three - Lindsey

  Chapter Four - Ice

  Chapter Five - Lindsey

  Chapter Six - Ice

  Chapter Seven - Lindsey

  Chapter Eight - Ice

  Chapter Nine - Lindsey

  Chapter Ten - Ice

  Chapter Eleven - Lindsey and Ice

  Chapter Twelve - Ice

  Chapter Thirteen - Lindsey

  Chapter Fourteen - Ice

  Chapter Fifteen - Lindsey

  Chapter Sixteen - Ice

  Chapter Seventeen - Lindsey and Ice

  Chapter Eighteen - Lindsey

  Chapter Nineteen - Ice and Lindsey

  Chapter Twenty - Lindsey

  Chapter Twenty-One - Ice

  Chapter Twenty-Two - Lindsey

  Chapter Twenty-Three - Ice

  Chapter Twenty-Four - Lindsey

  Chapter Twenty-Five - Ice

  Chapter Twenty-Six - Lindsey

  Chapter Twenty-Seven - Ice

  Chapter Twenty-Eight - Sebastian

  Chapter Twenty-Nine - Ice

  Chapter Thirty - Ice and Lindsey

  Chapter Thirty-One - Lindsey

  Chapter Thirty-Two - Ice

  More To Come

  Ice A Reed Security Romance

  by Giulia Lagomarsino

  Ice A Reed Security Romance

  Copyright @ 2018 Giulia Lagomarsino All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2018 ASIN: B07KMNHFW1 ISBN: Self published through Kindle Direct Publishing

  Thank you to all my dedicated readers. Your enthusiasm and excitement over my books pushes me to write faster and do better. I never want to let you down.

  Who’s who at Reed Security

  Sebastian “Cap” Reed- owner of Reed Security Maggie “Freckles” Reed- Sebastian’s wife Caitlin Reed- Sebastian and Maggie’s daughter

  Training: Hudson Knight Kate Whittemore- love interest

  Team 1: Derek “Irish” Cortell- team leader and part owner of Reed Security Claire Grant- love interest

  Lola “Brave” Pruitt

  Hunter "Pappy" Papacosta

  Lucy Grant- love interest

  Team 2: Sam “Cazzo” Galmacci- part owner of Reed Security and team leader Vanessa Adams- love interest

  Mark “Sinner” Sinn Cara Donnelly- love interest

  Blake “Burg” Reasenburg

  Team 3: John “Ice” Peters- team leader Lindsey- love interest

  Julius “Jules” Siegrist

  Chris “Jack” McKay Ali- love interest Axel- Ali’s son

  Team 4: Chance “Sniper” Newman- team leader

  Gabe Moore

  Jackson “Huey” Lewis Team 5: Alec “Wes” Wesley- team leader

  Craig “Dev” Devereux

  Florrie Younge

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lindsay

  “I TOLD YOU to fucking leave,” the sexy Val Kilmer look-alike shouted. He said his name was Ice, probably in reference to Iceman from Top Gun. “I didn’t think you were serious! Who actually has a gun fight anymore? This isn’t the OK Corral.” I was well on my way to truly flipping the fuck out. My place of business, the one thing that I had poured my heart and soul into after my grandma passed away was now in ruins. How did this even happen? Since when did people go shoot up someone else’s house? And why did they have to choose my place? I had just gotten it fixed up exactly how I wanted. I had a mountain of debt that I had to pay back for all the repairs on the old, Victorian style house. “Look, now you’re fucking stuck with us. We could have handled this more discretely if you would have listened, but you didn’t. Now we’re going to have every single fucking gang member coming here for answers and they’re going to be looking for you.” “Why me?” I asked incredulously. “Because this is your fucking business,” Ice shouted. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t even know you,” I said defiantly. For all I knew, they were some kind of mafia and I would slip into their clutches, never to be returned to my normal life again. There was no way I was going anywhere with them. Even if he was completely gorgeous and made me want to strip my clothes right now for him. Ice pulled me out from behind the counter and pointed at the two men on the floor that were dead. “Is that how you want to end up? Because if we leave you here, you’ll be joining them in the ground very shortly.” I swayed on my feet as I stared at the dead bodies on the floor. I wasn’t the best with a small paper cut that bled, so this…this was like my worst nightmare. I felt my eyes starting to roll back in my head and my knees went weak. “Is that…blood?” I was out before I heard myself finish that thought. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a moving vehicle surrounded by some of the most fierce men I had ever seen. I laid there, pretending to sleep, not knowing how to handle this situation. Did I fight back and try to get away from them or did I pretend that I was still asleep and go along with whatever was going on? Against my better judgment, I decided that I needed to find out what was going on. I sat up in my seat, my head pounding from passing out earlier and shuffled forward in my seat. “Where are we?” I asked hesitantly. “On the road,” Ice grumbled. “No shit,” I said, feeling my anger rise. “I know we’re on the fucking road, but where are you taking me?” “To a safe house.” “My house was safe,” I snapped. “At least it was before you came and brought all your shit to me.” “Look, we’ll pay for the damages, but right now, we have to get somewhere we can keep you safe. So, why don’t you sit back and keep your mouth shut?” I turned to the other man that almost looked like he was trying not to laugh. “Is he always this pissy?” “Nope.” “Oh, good. So, it’s just me that brings it out in him.” “Well, usually women fall at his feet. I think you’ve bruised his ego,” the man said. “My ego is just fine.” “I’m Lindsey, by the way. Just in case, you know, you were interested in who you kidnapped.” “Saved,” Ice snapped. “Well, I guess we have a slight difference of opinion. Since I didn’t actually want to go anywhere with you, forgive me if I see that as a kidnapping!” “If we had left you, you would have been dead by tomorrow,” he growled. “What? Are you a dog or something?” “Excuse me?” “You just growled at me. Like, seriously, it sounded like a dog was in the front seat.” “Listen, lady-” “Lindsey. I’m pretty sure I’ve already told you my name.” “Whatever. Can’t you just sit back like a good little girl-” “Hostage!” “-and shut your yap until we get to the safe house? It’s a long drive and it’s only going to be longer if you don’t shut the fuck up.” I sat back, crossing my arms over my chest. I tried. I really did, but this man just irritated me so much. “You know-” Ice groaned in the front seat, cutting off what I was going to say. I just spoke louder. “As I was saying, if you would just try to be a little more friendly, you know, give me a bottle of water or something to eat, I might not be so hangry.” The man in the passenger seat leaned forward and then turned around, handing me a Snickers bar and a bottle of water. “I’m Jules, by the way.” I smiled and took his proffered gifts. “Thank you, Jules. It’s nice to know that somebody around here has some manners.” I quickly unwrapped the chocolate bar and shoved it in my mouth, barely chewing it as I swallowed it down. After chugging half the water, I sat back, only slightly satisfied. “Fuck,” Ice swore. I sat forward immediately on alert for whatever was going to happen. “What? What’s
going on?” “It didn’t work, Jules. She’s still the same person we picked up. You gotta another Snickers bar?” I glared at him and sank back into the seat, hating that I was just along for the ride with none of my stuff and- Oh. Shit. “Um, any chance we can stop at a restroom soon?” “What’s the matter, Princess? Can’t hold it that long?” “As a matter of fact, no, I can’t hold it. Could we just find a gas station to stop at?” “Sorry, doll. Not yet. We just got on the road. We’ll have to wait a few hours.” A few hours? Shit. That wasn’t going to work for me. I calculated how long it had been since I used the restroom and winced. I was going to need one soon. At the very most an hour. I held my legs together, hoping that it would ease the flow. God, this was so mortifying. I didn’t even have any cash on me to buy supplies. I was going to have to ask one of them. Most likely Jules because he seemed to be the only nice one in the vehicle. Glancing ahead of us, I saw that there was a vehicle ahead of us that we seemed to be keeping pace with and several more behind us. “Are we in some kind of caravan? Are all these vehicles yours?” “Reed Security,” Jules responded. “At your service.” “What does that mean?” “It means we protect people, keeping them from falling into the arms of those that would slice them open and feed them to the fishes. And we install security systems.” “Um…okay. So, who were the women that were at my B&B? Were those women that you were protecting? Because they didn’t look too good.” “Those were some wives of some of our guys,” Ice responded harshly. “So, you protect other people, just not your own spouses? Nice,” I muttered. “It wasn’t like that,” Ice growled. “And if you had left when I told you to, you wouldn’t be in the position you’re in right now.” “Right, because every girl listens to a man that tells her she needs to leave her home because bad men are coming to get her.” “I never said they were coming to get you.” “It doesn’t matter. Who actually would have believed you? Do you know how often something even remotely dangerous happens in that town? I think the last time was when someone escaped prison when I was in the sixth grade and they were suspected of being in the area.” Jules turned around in his seat to see me. “So, you’re saying that you don’t get a lot of action there. That sucks. I bet it makes life pretty dull.” “Better dull than being dragged off by ruthless killers in the middle of the night,” I snapped. “Hey, now,” Jules frowned. “There’s no need to be cruel. We’re not ruthless. I mean, we probably will be after this, but at your house, we were just protecting everyone.” “It looked more like you were getting my house destroyed. Out of all the places you could have gone to, why did you have to come to mine?” “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine,” Jules said, looking past me into the darkness. “What?” I said after a moment of stunned silence. “Casablanca.” “Who?” “You know, that’s the problem with kids nowadays. They don’t know crap about good movies,” he muttered. “I’m not a kid. I’m twenty-eight.” “Like I said. You’re one of those millennials.” “I can’t help when I was born.” Jules turned to the window and muttered something and I crossed my arms over my chest, rolling my eyes at the ridiculous conversation. We drove for another twenty minutes before I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. We were coming up on an exit and I needed a bathroom. “Can we pull over to the gas station, please?” “No,” Ice snapped. “I really need to use the bathroom.” Jules handed me an empty coffee cup. “No unscheduled stops. We have too many other people that we have to think about.” “I didn’t ask to come along. I’m telling you I need a bathroom and this little coffee cup isn’t gonna cut it for me.” “Look, Princess. You’re just going to have to hold it until we get to where our next stop is,” Ice said. “I have my period,” I shouted. Embarrassment flooded my cheeks, but they obviously weren’t going to stop unless they got the picture. “Unless you want a big mess in the back seat, I suggest you pull over at the next exit so that I can use the bathroom. And you’re going to have to give me money so that I can buy some tampons since you dragged me out of my home without so much as my purse.” Dead silence filled the car and then a turn signal flipped on as Ice flashed his lights at the vehicle in front of us. When we pulled up to the gas station, I watched as the other women got out and hurried into the bathroom along with me, except for the woman with a bandage around her hand. She was slowly limping along with a man helping her. Jules handed me some cash and I quickly made my way inside to purchase my tampons. When I got to the bathroom, two of the women were talking. “Thank God they pulled over. I was about to pee my pants,” a blonde woman said. “They wouldn’t even stop for me, so I don’t know what convinced them to do it,” a strawberry blonde agreed. “They did it for me,” I jumped in. The women just stared at me. “I’m riding with Ice and Jules. They sort of kidnapped me from my B&B.” They continued to stare at me. “I have my period and since they took me without my purse or anything, I really needed to go. Believe me, I didn’t want to tell them that I had my period, but they weren’t going to stop.” “Men. I’m Maggie, by the way.” “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.” She was pale and looked like she was in a lot of pain. “I’ll get by. I’m just glad you got your period so that we could stop.” “Well, you just tell me how often you want to stop and I’ll tell them I need to use the bathroom again. I get really heavy periods anyway, so it’s not a lie.” “Just tell them every two hours. Is that too much?” she asked. “Not at all.” I went and used the bathroom and got evil glares when I made it back outside to the SUV. None of the men were happy about having to stop, but none of them said anything to me. When we got back in the SUV, I informed Jules and Ice that I would need to be stopping every two hours. I got the silent treatment the rest of the trip.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Ice

  “PLEASE, MAN. I’M begging you to take her back for me. I can’t stand another minute with that woman,” I begged Chance. “Sorry, man. You dragged her into this, you can take her home.” “She hates me.” “No woman hates you,” he laughed. “She probably has the hots for you, but doesn’t want you to know it.” “No, I’m pretty sure if she could put a bullet in me, she would.” “Look, just drop her off and have a nice day. It’s only one more day,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I glared at him and he held up his hands as he took a step back. “See you back at home,” he grinned as he walked away. I ran my hand down my face and sighed as I walked back into the safe house. I was the last one here with Jules and Lindsey. At least he hadn’t abandoned me. Everyone else had left earlier in the day and I had spent the whole day trying to convince other people to take her back to her small, podunk town. Everyone had shot me down flat. I was pretty sure it was some kind of conspiracy to get the two of us together. What they didn’t understand was that she hated me. Like, way more than any person could hate another. One look from her and I felt like I was being burned in hell. “Let’s get on the road,” I said to Jules as I walked inside. The princess was still wandering around the house somewhere, probably avoiding me. I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t exactly been nice to her, but she pissed me off when she refused to listen to me. And if I was being honest, I was pissed that she immediately didn’t like me. Women always liked me and I needed to know what it was about me that instantly made me unlikeable. “Lindsey!” I shouted. “We’re leaving. Get your ass down here in two shakes if you don’t want to be left behind.” “Wow, such a gentleman,” she said from behind me. “I was already outside waiting for you. In fact, I’ve been waiting all morning as you tried to pawn me off on other people.” She crossed her arms over her chest and it pushed her breasts up, making me want to strip her naked and fuck her beautiful tits. I growled to cover the moan that almost slipped out. Fuck, I wanted that woman. I stormed outside and climbed into the driver’s seat, determined to get her back to her small town and drop her ass off before my dick fell off from straining against my zipper. We drove back with hardly any commentary on Lindsey’s part, which I was extremely grateful for. Jules kept trying to drag her into more conversation, but lucki
ly, she seemed all out of things to say. When we pulled up to her B&B later that night, I knew she was fucked. Nothing was left standing. Whoever went looking for the Blood Devils' missing guys must have seen the bullets in the building and decided to get rid of all the evidence. Lindsey stumbled from the SUV and stood staring at the wreckage of her home. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “What am I going to do now?” “Do you have any family you can go stay with?” Jules asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She shook her head and sniffled. “No. My parents died when I was little and my grandmother died last year. This house was her last gift to me.” Shit. Now I felt like a total asshole. “Look,” I said, taking off my ball cap and running my fingers through my short hair. “I’m really sorry about all of this. Why don’t you come back with us? You can stay with me until you figure out your next move.” Her shoulders shook and Jules jerked his head at me to come closer. I placed my hand gingerly on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “There, there. It’ll be okay.” I patted her shoulder like I had a fucking clue how to comfort a crying woman. Usually I ran in the other direction. A snort followed by a laugh burst out of her mouth and I looked at her funny. This woman had a hell of a way of processing her emotions. She wiped at her face and spun around laughing at me. I took a step back, not sure what to think about this change of events. “Gotcha.” She laughed again and covered her mouth as she continued to giggle. “You really believed all that?” “All what?” “All that bullshit about my parents and my grandmother leaving me this house. I mean, my grandmother did die last year, but this wasn’t her house.” “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you pull shit like that? Do you know how fucked up that is?” “I’m sorry, but it was hilarious. I only wish I could have seen your face.” I looked at Jules who just shrugged. I stormed away from her, pissed that I had been trying to be nice and she was messing with me. “Hey, come on.” She ran up behind me, still fucking laughing. “Don’t be like that.” “Like what? Pissed because I was trying to be nice and you made a joke out of it?” “Well, you kind of deserved it. I mean, first of all, you dragged me out of my house and now it and my source of income has gone up in flames. Second, if that was you trying to be nice, I feel really sorry for any woman you’ve ever had contact with. That was a really sad attempt at feeling actual emotions.” “Is this some game to you? Because what happened affected people’s lives and you’re acting like it’s fucking hilarious.” “I know it affected people.” She swiped a hand behind herself, pointing at her burnt house. “Do you see my house? Excuse me for trying to lighten the mood and not break down in a complete mess.” She turned around and walked back to the house, stepping into the wreckage and looking around. I watched as she started digging through burnt pieces of the building and shoving shit around. “What are you doing?” I shouted. “Are you trying to get fucking hurt?” She didn’t answer, just kept digging. I stomped over to her and grabbed onto her arm. “You’re gonna get hurt if you keep shoving shit around. This building isn’t stable.” “I’m looking for something.” I rolled my eyes skyward and prayed for the patience to deal with this woman. “What are you looking for?” “My fire-proof box. It had all my important documents.” I helped her dig through the rubble, mostly because I wanted to get on the road, but partly because I didn’t want to give her one more reason to hate me. Her burnt house falling on her would probably be a reason to hate me. When I found it and pulled it out, she quickly yanked it from my arms and glared at me. “Thanks. You can leave now.” “Excuse me? Are you fucking dismissing me?” “Yes. Goodbye.” She turned to leave, but I grabbed onto her arm. “And just where the hell are you going to go?” “Well, considering that I don’t have a place to sleep, I guess I’ll go stay at the hotel in town.” “I already told you that you could come back with me.” “And deal with your grumpy ass? No thank you.” “Do you even have any fucking money? Your whole house is burned to the ground. Are you going to spend every last penny just so that you don’t have to be near me?” “The thought has crossed my mind,” she said testily. “You know what? I don’t give a fuck. Stay here for all I care. I was trying to do something nice for you, but obviously you don’t want my help.” “You’re right. I don’t.” She turned and walked away, so I stormed off to my truck, getting in and turning the key to leave. Jules just barely got inside before I was taking off down the road. “You’re not really leaving her here, are you?” “What do you want me to do? She just said she didn’t want my fucking help.” “Well, yeah, but she’s pissed right now. She just lost everything. Give her a chance to calm down before you totally write her off.” I looked in my rearview mirror at her trudging down the country road toward town and sighed. I didn’t want to go back for her. I didn’t want to try and help someone who obviously didn’t want my help. I just wanted to get home and fix whatever shit had happened to my house. “Dude, seriously. Turn the fuck around,” Jules snapped. I pulled a three point turn in the middle of the road and drove back, pulling up alongside her. “Will you get in the fucking truck?” “No,” she said as she continued to walk down the road, completely ignoring me. “Lady-” “Lindsey. My name is Lindsey. You’re Ice and he’s Jules. I can remember your name. Why can’t you remember mine?” “I do remember your name,” I snapped. “So, you were just being an asshole.” I continued to drive slowly beside her all the way into town as she ignored me and pretended I wasn’t there. “Are you really going to be this childish?” She didn’t answer. “How are you planning on paying for a hotel room when all your money is gone?” Still no answer. “Or maybe you were planning on trading sexual favors.” She stopped in her tracks and stood staring straight ahead for a minute before continuing her walk. Apparently, there wasn’t much I could say that would deter her. When we got to the hotel in town, Jules and I followed her inside and stood in the lobby as she tried to get a room. The woman at the front desk was looking at her with disdain. “I don’t have any money. My bed and breakfast was burned to the ground along with all of my belongings. I don’t have anything. Could you give me a room for just a few nights?” “I’m sorry, ma’am, but if you can’t pay, we can’t give you a room,” the woman said in a snooty tone. “Don’t give me that crap, Bethany. I’ve known you since you were a little shit that showed off her hoo hoo to all the boys in school. You know what happened to my business. Whatever happened to the town looking out for each other?” “We do look out for our own. That doesn’t include the town whore,” she sneered. “You know, if you keep looking at people that way, the botox is gonna freeze your face like that.” Lindsey glared at the woman before grabbing her box and storming out of the hotel. Jules and I watched as the woman behind the counter pulled out a compact and started poking at her cheeks and pouting her lips. “Why would she want to stay in a town like this?” I asked Jules as we headed outside. “Beats me. It’s definitely not Mayberry.” “Where did she run off to now?” I asked, looking around. “Over there,” Jules slapped my arm and pointed to the bank. We followed her over to the bank and waited outside as she had what I was assuming was yet another uncomfortable conversation with the loan officer. When she came storming out and headed for the diner, we followed her over there. “Are we going to follow her to every place in town?” Jules asked. “You’re the one that insisted I didn’t leave her behind. I was fine with letting her walk away.” “Look, just do your Ice thing, tell her she’s coming with us, throw her over your shoulder, and let’s get the fuck out of here. I’d like to get home by tomorrow. We already wasted half the day.” “There’s no way she’s going to come with me if I try and do my Ice thing,” I said incredulously. “Have you heard the woman? She hates me.” “She’s also desperate and doesn’t want to be told what to do, but she doesn’t have any other options.” I stormed into the diner, just in time to hear the waitress yelling at Lindsey. “Get your skank ass out of here. Nobody wants you in this town, you homewrecker!” Then she proceeded to pour ice water down the front of Lindsey’s shirt. I saw the moment it was going to happen and I swear I
tried, but that little she-Devil was fucking fast. Lindsey grabbed the pie plate on the table next to her and slammed blueberry pie all over the waitress' face. “Oh shit,” I muttered. I rushed forward, grabbed Lindsey around the waist, and threw her over my shoulder. “Put me down you man-ape!” She started hitting me in the back with her box as I rushed out of the diner with her. Jules was close behind, rushing to the truck to get the door open for me. I tossed him the keys and he quickly opened the back door. Based on the mob of angry people running out of the diner, we only had moments to get in the truck and hightail it out of there. “Toss her in the back and let’s get the fuck out of here!” Jules shouted. He ran around to the driver’s side and jumped in, revving the engine and slamming it into gear as I slammed the door behind Lindsey and I. She shoved away from me to get to the other door to get out, but when she saw the people running at us, she backed up against me as if they would break down the door to get in. “Seems you have quite the group of admirers,” Jules said as he drove out of town. “They’re all a bunch of judgmental assholes,” she muttered. “So, why would you choose to stay here when I offered you a room at my place?” “Better to be with people that hate you for a reason,” she glared at me. “I don’t hate you. I just wish you would fucking listen.” “Tell me,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts up. My eyes were glued to her chest. Her shirt was soaked and she must have been wearing a thin bra because I could see her perky nipples poking through. “Hey, eyes up here!” I looked up and narrowed my eyes at her. The woman was so damn frustrating. “As I was saying before you started staring at my chest, if someone started ordering you around, would you just listen to them?” “If it made fucking sense? Yeah.” “I don’t see you as the type of man that would take orders from just anyone and I still don’t know anything about you.” “Look, you saw what happened to your house. I’m just trying to protect you!” “Do you have any sisters?” she asked. “What in the hell does that have to do with anything?” “If you had a sister and she was in my position, would you be happy if she just took off with a group of men that were carrying guns and were in some kind of war?” You could hear a fucking pin drop in the truck for how quiet it got. She was fucking right. I would hate it if my sisters were in a situation like this. “Fine, you have a point. I wouldn’t want my sisters going off with strangers either. But I swear to you that we’re good guys and we wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. If you come back with us, we’ll make sure you’re taken care of until you can get back on your feet. It’s the least I can do.” “You’re not going to lock me in a dungeon and keep me as your sex slave?” she asked warily. I snorted and shook my head. “Lady, with your mouth, the only thing I’d be using on you is a ball gag.”