Chance: Book 3 of a 3 book arc (Reed Security 15) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter One - Morgan

  Chapter Two - Chance

  Chapter Three - Morgan

  Chapter Four - Chance

  Chapter Five - Morgan

  Chapter Six - Cap

  Chapter Seven - Chance

  Chapter Eight - Morgan

  Chapter Nine - Reed Security

  Chapter Ten - Chance

  Chapter Eleven - Cap

  Chapter Twelve - Chance

  Chapter Thirteen - Morgan

  Chapter Fourteen - Chance

  Chapter Fifteen - Cap

  Chapter Sixteen - Chance

  Chapter Seventeen - Morgan

  Chapter Eighteen - Chance

  Chapter Nineteen - Morgan

  Chapter Twenty - Chance

  Chapter Twenty-One - Morgan

  Chapter Twenty-Two - Chance

  Chapter Twenty-Three - Chance and Morgan

  Chapter Twenty-Four - Chance

  Chapter Twenty-Five - Morgan

  Chapter Twenty-Six - Knight

  Chapter Twenty-Seven - Chance

  Chapter Twenty-Eight - Morgan

  Chapter Twenty-Nine - Reed Security

  Chapter Thirty - Chance

  More To Come...

  Chance

  A Reed Security Romance

  by

  Giulia Lagomarsino

  Chance

  A Reed Security Romance

  Copyright @ 2019 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, 2019

  ASIN: B07SRCX19Z

  Self published through Kindle Direct Publishing

  To my book club. Thank you for all the support and encouragement. This book has taken a long time to finish, and I couldn’t have made it through to the end without you!

  Chance is book 3 of a 3 book arc and needs to be read in order.

  Sniper

  Jackson

  Chance

  Reed Security Cast

  Sebastian “Cap” Reed- owner

  Maggie “Freckles” Reed

  Caitlin Reed

  Clara Reed

  Gunner Reed

  Team 1:

  Derek “Irish” Cortell- team leader and part owner

  Claire Cortell

  Hunter “Pappy” Papacosta

  Lucy Papacosta

  Rocco Turner

  Team 2:

  Sam “Cazzo” Galmacci- team leader and part owner

  Vanessa Galmacci

  Sofia Galmacci

  Mark “Sinner” Sinn

  Cara Sinn

  Violet Sinn

  Blake “Burg” Reasenburg

  Emma Reasenburg

  Ryker Reasenburg

  Beatrix (Bea)

  Team 3:

  John “Ice” Peters- team leader and part owner

  Lindsey Peters

  Zoe Peters

  Cade Peters

  Julian “Jules” Siegrist

  Ivy Siegrist

  John Christopher Hudson Siegrist

  Chris “Jack” McKay

  Alison (Ali) McKay

  Axel McKay

  Elizabeth (Lizzie) McKay

  Team 4:

  Chance “Sniper” Hendrix

  Morgan James (Shyla)

  Payton James

  Jackson Lewis

  Raegan Cartwright

  Parents: Susan and Robert Cartwright

  Gabe Moore

  Isabella (Isa) Moore

  Vittoria

  Lorenzo (Enzo)

  Team 5:

  Alec Wesley

  Florrie Younge

  Craig Devereux

  Training:

  Hudson Knight- formerly known as Garrick Knight

  Kate Knight

  Raven Knight

  Lola “Brave” Pruitt

  Ryan Jackson

  James Jackson (Cassandra Jackson- mother)

  Piper Jackson

  Ryder Jackson

  IT Department:

  Becky Harding

  Robert “Rob” Markum

  CHAPTER ONE

  Morgan

  I shivered and rubbed the chill from my arms. The cold of the cellar reminded me of when I was in the well. Only this time, I was pretty sure that Chance wasn’t going to find me. The light from the window let in the first rays of light, but it did nothing to brighten my mood. I hoped and prayed all day that Wes would come down and get me. Even he was better than sitting in a dark cellar in the cold for hours by myself.

  My bladder screamed at me for release and I glared at the bucket. I didn’t want to pee in a bucket, but I couldn’t hold it much longer. When I was on the verge of peeing myself, I scrambled over to the bucket and dropped my pants just before I would have an accident. The foul odor of piss filled the cell, so I moved as far to the other wall as possible. It didn’t do any good, but it made me feel better.

  Hours drifted by in a constant state of worry. I was scared for Payton and I worried about what was happening with Chance. I didn’t know what happened to him after he was taken. And what about the rest of Reed Security? I brought them into this mess, and while they were my only hope, I wouldn’t blame them if they just walked away.

  The day faded to night and the shadows played tricks on my mind. I wondered how many other prisoners had been in here and what had become of them. Had they died in here? Were their spirits hanging around to haunt other prisoners? I took long, deep breaths to try and stay calm, but every noise and every movement of light outside the window had me cowering in the corner.

  In all the time that I had been searching for Payton, I had never been afraid like this. There were times that I had risked my life, but it was knowing that it could lead to Payton that pushed me through. It was my choice, but this was not. I had come with Wes, but never would I have imagined that he would lock me up with no food and water. It was the lack of control that frightened me the most.

  “How are you enjoying your accommodations?”

  I jerked upright at the voice, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I didn’t know when I had drifted off, but the sun was shining outside the window, so I had slept for at least a few hours.

  “They’re fantastic. Really, if I could give it a rating online, it would most definitely be one star. And the bucket you’ve provided is the epitome of luxury.”

  Wes smirked at me, shaking his head as he walked closer to the cell. “An attitude like that won’t get you any closer to getting your daughter back.”

  I tried not to react to his taunting. After he threw me in here, I wasn’t even sure that he actually knew where Payton was.

  “When do I get out of here?”

  “When I feel like you understand what our new relationship will be. Right now, I can still see the calculation in your eyes. You’re still trying to plan out how to get out of here once you get your daughter back.”

  I didn’t say anything, even though I wanted to tell him that he was absolutely right. I would never stop fighting to get away from this monster.

  He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “See? I can read you so well. You still think that if you fight me hard enough, you’ll find a way to escape. But one day, you’re going to look at me the way you looked at that idiot security guard.”

  “He’s not a sec
urity guard. He’s a Navy SEAL.”

  “Yes, well, you would think a Navy SEAL would have been smart enough to not get captured.”

  “He was outnumbered,” I said indignantly.

  “Yes, by me. I don’t think you realize what kind of life you could have with me. I’m a very powerful man. I have businesses all over the United States and no one ever crosses me. Imagine what it would be like to be on my arm wherever I went. To have men bow down before you simply because they know who I am.”

  “Power doesn’t interest me. There’s only one thing I’ll ever want and that’s my daughter.”

  “Like I said, one day you’ll come to accept your new life, and when you do, you’ll not only have your daughter but anything else you could ever want.”

  He turned and walked up the stairs, leaving me alone in my cell again. Hours later, an older woman came down with a tray of food. It wasn’t much, but since I was starving, it looked like Thanksgiving dinner. I hurried to the cell door, pleading with her to help me.

  “I need help. I’m being held here against my will.”

  She didn’t look at me, didn’t show that she had heard me in any way. I grasped onto her shirt, jerking her back in my direction. “Please, I’m begging you. Don’t leave me down here. He’s evil,” I pleaded, my voice quivering at the thought of staying down here any longer. She was my only chance at escape right now.

  The woman glanced at me quickly and then shook her head.

  “My daughter, she’s missing and I have to find her. I can’t stay down here. Please, you have to help me. Give me a pin to work on the lock or tell me how to get out of here if you can’t do it yourself. Please, please, don’t leave me here.”

  She looked at me again, her eyes begging me to stay quiet, but I didn’t understand. I shook my head in confusion, feeling the last bit of hope drain from me. She wasn’t going to help and I didn’t understand why. What woman would stand by while another woman was being held in a cell like this?

  The door to the cellar slammed open and heavy boots pounded down the stairs. The woman shuffled back, yanking her shirt from my grasp, and stood against the wall with her head bowed. Wes walked up to me with a gun in his hand, snarling at me in disgust. I backed up a step, feeling his anger, I was terrified even though I was behind the bars at the moment.

  “I have someone bring you dinner and this is how you repay me? Not even twenty-four hours and you’re already trying to betray me.”

  My gaze landed on the gun in his hand and slowly drifted back up to meet his gaze. He didn’t look at me with lust like he had at the club. I was his prisoner right now and I had tried to get this woman to help me. I had to find a way out of this before he shot me.

  “I wasn’t trying to-”

  The gun was raised and leveled at the woman in a flash. The gun report echoed through the cell as the woman fell to the ground, eyes wide open and lifeless. I screamed as I stumbled backward and fell to the floor. Tears dripped from my eyes as I stared at the woman on the floor. She had a small hole in the center of her forehead and a large hole in the back where her brain matter oozed from. I covered my mouth as my stomach revolted, but I couldn’t swallow it down. I bolted for the corner of my cell and spewed the contents of my stomach into the bucket.

  My shaky legs collapsed from under me as I slid down the wall and tried not to look at the woman lying on the floor. Blood was flowing like a river into my cell and I tucked my legs in closer to my chest, like that would keep the blood from coming closer. My whole body shook uncontrollably as my gaze was locked on the blood. I couldn’t stop looking at it no matter how hard I tried.

  “See what you made me do?”

  My head snapped up to meet his gaze. “I didn’t-”

  “You did,” he growled. “You are responsible for her death. You tried to get her to turn on me. Nobody betrays me, and every time you try to get someone to turn on me, they’ll die just like her. No questions asked.”

  “You’re evil,” I whispered, trying to hold back the fear in my voice.

  “You’ll learn to both fear me and respect me, and then one day that respect will turn into something more.”

  He looked at the woman one last time and then turned to go.

  “Wait!” I shouted, jumping to my feet and racing to the cell door. “Please, don’t leave me down here with her.”

  Wes walked back toward me, his gaze predatory and domineering. His eyes searched my face for something, but whatever it was he was expecting to see, he must have been disappointed. “You’re not ready to leave this cell. You’ll stay down here with her until you prove that you can behave the way you’re supposed to.”

  “You heartless bastard. You’re sick. What kind of disgusting, perverted maniac shoots a woman and leaves her to-”

  My air was cut off as his hand wrapped around my throat, strangling me to the point that I almost blacked out. “You will never speak to me that way again. If you ever want to see your daughter, you’ll give me the respect I deserve. If you don’t, you’ll rot in this cell.”

  He shoved me backward and I fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. My throat felt like sandpaper and my entire body felt weak. What had I been thinking? If I didn’t know before what he was capable of, I did now.

  “Do we understand each other?” I nodded. “I said, do we understand each other?” His tone was harsh and his face was contorted with rage. I quickly modified my response.

  “Yes, I understand you.”

  “Good,” he smiled. “Keep up that attitude and you’ll only be down here a few more weeks. I would imagine you’d like to get out of here before she decomposes too much. Dead bodies tend to attract rats.”

  I swallowed hard and glanced back at the woman on the ground one more time. It wouldn’t take too long before her body started to decompose, which meant that I had to really change how I spoke to Wes or I’d be spending my days with a rotting corpse.

  “Good evening, Shyla. I do hope you have a good night.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  After five days in the cellar with a dead body, eating and sleeping had become a thing of the past. The smell alone was enough to make me lose my appetite, but the maggots that had started feeding on the body solidified my food strike. I could barely hold down water at this point. Each day I prayed that Wes would come have pity on me, but he hadn’t been down since the day he shot the woman. He always had someone bring my meals down to me and I refused to ask anything, since I had gotten the last woman killed.

  How had I ever thought that this was the solution? I should have trusted Chance. He had done everything he could for me and promised to keep looking. I had been foolish to think that I could persuade Wes to help me get my daughter back. I really didn’t think he would help me now.

  I tried not to think about Chance too much. I was afraid that my feelings for him would overwhelm me and make it impossible for me to deal with Wes. I couldn’t afford to lose myself in misery right now. I had to be smart and think about how to get out of here. Wes wanted me to be the willing captive and that’s what I would give him. I had put on a good face in the club and I could do it here.

  But gradually becoming okay with him would take forever for me to gain his trust. And if I just suddenly became attached, he wouldn’t buy it either. I needed to give him a reason to believe that I trusted him. I paced my cell as I tried to think of the right way to make it believable. I had to appear that I needed him more than my own life. I needed him to believe that I thought he was my savior. I stopped pacing, a grin coming to my face as I realized what I really needed. He needed to believe that I had developed Stockholm Syndrome. It might mean more time down here for me, but if I did this right, it would put me in a better position with him faster.

  Another day passed with me pacing my cell or huddled in the corner, trying my best to ignore the dead woman on the ground. As promised, rats showed up and started eating her flesh. If I had anything left in my stomach right now, I would be throwing up
. As it was, I was shaky from the lack of food and water and the churning in my stomach. Every moment I was awake was spent fighting back nausea. But when I heard the lock on the cellar door, I put on my mask of sincerity and tried my best to convince Wes that I needed him.

  “I must say, you don’t look like you’re doing too well down here,” Wes said with a handkerchief covering his face.

  I rushed to the cell door to meet him, letting tears slip down my face. It wasn’t too difficult to pretend since the stench was so bad. “Please, don’t make me stay down here anymore. I promise to do what you say.”

  “Am I really supposed to believe that you’re suddenly wanting to comply with what I want?”

  “I know you don’t believe me, but you can’t just leave me down here with this woman. I feel cold all the time and I can’t stop shaking. This is the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen and I don’t know how much more I can take.”

  He smiled like he had won and then walked over to the door and unlocked it. He pulled it closed and stepped inside with me. He pulled off his suit jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders, then wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. Laying my head against his chest, I followed suit and wrapped my hands around his middle. That seemed to appease him because I felt him rest his head against mine.

  He pulled back, holding me by my upper arms. “I don’t think you’re quite ready to come up. Give it another week and we’ll see how you’re feeling.”

  “Please,” I whispered with tears in my eyes. “Don’t leave me down here.”

  His hand brushed my cheek and he looked at me like he would a lover. “One more week.”

  He pushed the cell door open, but I wanted to get in one last plea.