Beautiful risk r i s c b.., p.1
Beautiful Risk (R.I.S.C. Book 3), page 1
Beautiful Risk
Anna Blakely
Contents
Other Books by Anna Blakely
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Intentional Risk
More books by Anna Blakely
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About the Author
Copyright © 2019 Anna Blakely
All rights reserved.
All cover art and logo Copyright © 2019
Publisher: Anna Blakely
Cover by Lori Jackson Design
Content Editing by Trenda London
Copy Editing by Tracy Roelle
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and places portrayed in this book are entirely products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.00.
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Other Books by Anna Blakely
R.I.S.C. Series
Taking A Risk, Part One
Taking A Risk, Part Two
Intentional Risk
Unpredictable Risk
R.I.S.C. Bravo Team Series
(Special Forces: Operation Alpha World)
Rescuing Gracelynn
This book is dedicated to my grandfather, or as we affectionately called him, Ol’ Pa. He was 97 years old, and sadly, he passed away during the writing of this book.
My grandfather was the kind of man we all love to read about. He was a WWII Army Veteran. He and my grandmother were married for over 50 years, and he was one of the most loving, caring, and protective husbands I’ve ever seen.
Before my grandmother passed away due to complications from Alzheimer’s, he would drive the thirty-mile round trip to her nursing home twice a day to be with her. Every morning, he would sit and help her with her breakfast, and then sit in her room with her for a few hours after. He’d go back home, rest or do what needed to be done around the house, and go back to the nursing home to sit and help her with her dinner. He’d then stay with her in her room until it was time for bed. (To this day, I can’t make it all the way through watching The Notebook without breaking down like a blubbering fool, because those two characters remind me so much of my grandparents.)
Ol’ Pa was an amazing husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great grandfather. He will be dearly missed by so many, but I find peace and solace knowing he and Ol’ Ma are back together after seventeen years apart, and have finally gotten their very own Happily Ever After.
Prologue
“It’s empty. Did you know that?”
From behind his dark glasses, Trevor Matthews stared down at the shiny new casket. Its silver hue shimmered in the summer sun.
Jake McQueen—his Delta Force team leader and best friend—stood silently beside him. They were the only two who had yet to leave the gravesite.
Beads of sweat formed on Trevor’s forehead, his wool beret doing nothing to fight off the warm, sultry air. He was so hot he thought he’d suffocate if he didn’t get out of his dress uniform soon.
Would be a hell of a lot better than the way Lisa died.
“Why the casket?” he wondered aloud.
Not the most appropriate question, given they were standing less than two feet from her grave. For some reason, Trevor couldn’t let it go.
“There wasn’t even enough left for her parents to bury.”
“Don’t do that, man,” Jake tried to deter that line of thinking.
“I’m serious. Why spend the money? Why go through all this?” He waved his arm toward the numerous floral arrangements and now-empty seats. “It’s not like she’s here to...”
He shifted gears mid-thought. “I shouldn’t have let her go in there. I should’ve listened to my gut, but I”—his voice broke, and he cleared his throat—“I shouldn’t have let any of them go.”
Jake turned to face him. “I’m there; I make the same call, all day long.” Trevor shook his head in denial, but Jake kept going. “Listen to me, Trev. You can’t do this to yourself, you hear me?”
Trevor turned to his friend, grateful the sunglasses hid his red-rimmed eyes. “I knew it was off, Jake. In my gut, I knew something wasn’t right with that guy, but I still gave the go-ahead.”
“And if it hadn’t been for the fucking flu knocking me on my ass, I would have been the one giving those guys and Lisa the green light to enter that building.”
“You don’t know that. You may have seen something. Noticed something I missed, or—”
“Bullshit. I’ve read the reports. We got bad intel. Period. You didn’t miss a fucking thing.” When Trevor remained silent, Jake said, “And let’s not forget, Lisa’s the one who brought Hadim in to begin with.”
Trevor’s gloved hands fisted at his sides as he spoke through clenched teeth. “Don’t do that. You do not get to blame her.”
“Why? Because you want to shoulder all the blame yourself? Lisa was CIA, Trev. She knew the risks. You shared your suspicions about Hadim, but she chose to ignore them and moved forward as planned. That’s on her. Not you.”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Trevor growled, defending the woman he’d grown to care for. One he’d been sleeping with for two months, despite regulations against it. A woman he’d just said his final goodbyes to. “Hadim was a long-time asset. She trusted him.”
“And that trust got her killed.”
Except Lisa hadn’t just been killed. She’d been held captive for nearly a week. Tortured that entire time. With each day that passed, a new wave of pain and terror had been brought down on her until finally…mercifully…she took her final breath.
Using his shoulder, Trevor wiped away the single tear that had escaped beneath his glasses. Turning, he glanced at the casket one last time and made a silent vow.
Never again, would he allow himself to feel this way. Dealing with the loss of those he’d served with was bad enough. Knowing someone he’d been intimate with had died because he’d failed to protect her…that was a brand of pain all its own.
One he never wanted to experience again.
1
“Just grow a pair and ask her, already.”
“Shh! Keep your voice down, dipshit,” Trevor warned his teammate and friend from across the table. “She’ll hear you.”
Derek gave him an unapologetic smile. “Good. At least then she’d know you’ve got a thing for her.”
Derek West was R.I.S.C.’s technical analyst and all-around smartass. R.I.S.C.— Rescue, Intel, Security, and Capture—was an elite, private security firm based out of Dallas.
R.I.S.C.’s Alpha Team—the team both he and Derek were on—was comprised of five men and one woman. All former military, they provided several different services, ranging anywhere from installing and testing out high-end security systems to trudging through the swamp looking for Homeland Security’s latest target. And pretty much everything in between.
Jake McQueen, Trevor’s best friend and former Delta Force teammate, owned the company and was Alpha Team’s team leader. Trevor was his SIC, or second in command, but for the past two weeks, he’d been the one in charge.
While Jake was away with his new wife, Olivia, Trevor had been left to man the fort. He’d learned quickly how this side of the job could be a pain in the ass, but he’d gladly deal with the headache so his friend could take his long-awaited honeymoon with the love of his life.
The guy had wasted years pining away for his childhood friend’s little sister, but after Olivia was kidnapped and nearly killed by a sadistic drug lord, Jake had finally come to his senses and married the woman of his dreams.
Seeing those two together and happy had made Trevor think about his life. His future. He didn’t, however, want to discuss it with Derek or any other member of Alpha Team.
“I don’t have a…thing for her.” It was the first lie Trevor had ever told his friend.
“Right. That’s why we’ve been coming here, to this outta-the-fucking-way diner to eat, instead of going somewhere in the same time zone as the office.”
Trevor rolled his eyes. Derek could be so dramatic. Joe’s was less than a twenty-minute drive from R.I.S.C.’s downtown office. “I like the food here.”
D laughed so loudly, several customers turned their direction. “One, the food here is greasy as shit. And two, with the exception of your
Trevor’s gaze slid over to the petite blond. Wearing a pair of perfectly fitted jeans and a black T-shirt, she began to take an elderly couple’s order.
Like every other time he’d come here, she had her long, blond hair pulled up in a messy bun. A few wavy tendrils had escaped, framing her face and brushing the back of her neck.
She smiled at something the older man said, deepening the matching set of dimples on her cheeks. Trevor suddenly found it hard to breathe.
“I don’t get it, man. You’re single. Haven’t had a girl—serious or otherwise—the entire time I’ve known you. What’s the deal?”
Trevor looked back across the booth at his friend. Not in the mood to go all Dr. Phil with the guy, he remained quiet. It turned out to be the wrong choice to make.
“This isn’t about that one woman, is it? What was her name…Lisa?”
Hearing the name was a shock to his system. Several seconds passed before Trevor could even speak. “How do you know about her?”
Derek looked at him incredulously. “You’re kidding, right? Hell, the first thing I did when Jake hired me was look all you assholes up.”
Of course he had. “No,” he finally answered D’s original question. “Lisa has nothing to do with this.” Liar.
Even though his friend nodded, Trevor knew he hadn’t sounded as convincing as he’d have liked.
“Glad to hear it. ’Cause that was a long damn time ago, Trev. You’ve got to move on from shit like that.”
“I already told you that isn’t it, so drop it.”
After giving him an assessing gaze, Derek said, “All right. If what happened in Syria isn’t the problem, what the hell is?” Then, as if he’d just realized something big, Derek’s eyes widened, and he began tripping all over his own words. “Ah, shit, man, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know. It’s cool, though. Really.”
Thoroughly confused, Trevor asked, “Didn’t know what?”
“Seriously, man. I don’t judge anyone for shit like that. Your lifestyle’s your business. Even if we are battin’ for different teams, that don’t change the way I look at you, or—”
“Batting for…what in the hell are you talking about, D?” Trevor lifted his glass of his sweet tea to his lips, wondering if his friend had lost his mind.
“I’m just sayin’, bein’ gay ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of.”
A small geyser of tea shot out of Trevor’s mouth, covering the front of Derek’s shirt.
“Jesus Christ,” Trevor grumbled as he reached for the metal napkin dispenser.
“Whoa!”
Scooting back in his seat as far as he could go, Derek pulled out several napkins of his own and started patting the front of his shirt.
“You know, for a genius”—Trevor wiped his mouth and chin—“you can be a real dumbass.”
Now Derek was the one who looked confused. “What?” he asked, wiping down the table. “What did I say?”
“What did you—”Trevor cut himself off and ran a frustrated hand over his jaw. “Just because I don’t go to bed with every woman who has a pulse doesn’t make me gay.”
“Well, good. I mean, if you were, that would be cool, too. I just meant that…”
“Hey, guys! Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back here. We’re short-staffed today, so it’s been kind of crazy.”
Trevor glared at Derek before turning and giving the five-foot-nothing angel standing next to their booth a smile. D had better pray she hadn’t overheard their conversation.
“Hey, Alexis. I’d ask how you’ve been, but I’m thinking this may not be the time,” Trevor joked.
Grinning, she said, “Well, you know me…just livin’ the dream.”
Her sarcasm made him smile even more. Man, she’s pretty.
Looking at Derek’s chest, Alexis shook her head in amusement and chuckled. “Nice shirt, Derek. I think I like it better than the last one.”
Trevor glanced down at D’s shirt. He was so used to the computer geek’s oddball T’s he hardly paid them any attention anymore.
Today’s was a picture of a computer power symbol with the words ‘Turn Me On’ below it. Trevor fought an eye roll.
“So, what are you guys going to have? Your usual?”
They’d eaten here a handful of times, and each time, he’d ordered the same thing. Trevor ignored the silly beat of emotion he felt because she’d remembered. Hell, she probably knew what everyone who came in regularly ordered.
“Actually…” Derek directed his response to Trevor. “I think we should branch out tonight, Trev. You know, go for somethin’ new. Somethin’ you’ve really wanted but have been too afraid to try. We should all do that once in a while, ain’t that right, Lex?”
Trevor had never wanted to punch Derek…until now. And if the guy kept this shit up, that was exactly what was going to happen.
Giving Derek a cute as hell giggle, she answered, “Sure. I guess so.”
“See, Trev? Even Lex agrees with me.”
Clearly amused by the jackass, Alexis was still smiling when she asked, “Well, then…what are you going to try, Derek?”
“I think I’ll go for the fish tacos. Haven’t tried yours yet, and I’m curious to see if it’s any good.” Derek glanced across the table at Trevor, a giant shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “Don’t you think it sounds good, Trevor?”
Schooling the murderous expression trying to make its way to the surface, Trevor fought against the desire to reach across the table and beat the hell out of the other man. Lucky for D, Alexis didn’t catch his double entendre.
“Fish tacos. Got it.” That sweet voice had his head turning back around. A set of crystal blue eyes found his. “What about you, Trevor? Have you decided what you want yet?”
Derek let out a few loud, exaggerated coughs. Trevor barely squelched the urge to kick the asshole’s shins beneath the booth.
“Oh, my gosh. Are you okay?” Alexis asked, sounding genuinely concerned. She looked down at Derek’s empty glass. “Hold on, I’ll go get you some more water.”
Before Trevor could stop her, the sweet woman was heading back to the other side of the counter and reaching for a pitcher and a glass.
Leaning on his elbows, Trevor spoke low and through his teeth. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”
“What?” Derek cleared his throat and shrugged innocently, his coughing fit suddenly over. “I had a frog in my throat,”
“Yeah? Well, you’re gonna have my fist down your throat if you don’t knock your shit off. What are you, twelve?”
With humor in his eyes, Derek coughed loudly a couple more times right as Alexis came back with the full pitcher.
“Here”—she quickly poured the ice water into his glass—“this should help.”
“Thanks, darlin’.”
Derek took the glass from her hand. While he sipped the water, Alexis turned back to Trevor.
“Sorry. What did you decide? Did you see anything new that caught your eye?”
No, not new. Trevor wanted the same thing, every time he came in here. Too bad he hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask for it yet.
“Trevor?”
Shit. He hadn’t answered her. “I-I’ll just stick with my usual.”
For some reason, this made the corner of Alexis’s lips turn up, her dimples becoming more prominent with the movement.
“One patty melt and fries, coming up.” Then, staring a little deeper into his eyes, she added softly, “Let me know if you think of anything else you need.”
Jesus. The temperature in the small diner seemed to instantly rise. “I will. Thanks, Alexis.”
She smiled even more. “I’ve told you before. Call me Lexi. All my friends do.” With a little wink, she turned and walked away. Trevor’s eyes couldn’t help but follow.
