His Angel

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

“Come on, Beau,” Ian Sawyer called to his lab-pit bull mix as he walked up the driveway to Brody Evans’ new house. The large, black dog finished a quick call to nature on Brody’s curbside mailbox before running to his owner’s side. Ian often wondered if the mutt had some Great Dane in its pedigree because he was tall enough that Ian, at six-foot-three, could almost pat the dog’s head without bending over. It hadn’t always been the case. When Ian found the six-week-old pup shivering and crying beside its dying mother outside his front door, Beau couldn’t have weighed more than seven or eight pounds.

Ian recalled the night he’d heard the intruder alert go off on his phone a little over a year and a half ago. He’d been in his apartment watching the eleven o’clock news. The residence was located within his business compound, surrounded by a security fence to keep out unexpected visitors. At least it did until the furry duo broke in.

When the alert went off, he switched the TV channel to bring up the compound’s multiple CCTV camera angles. Expecting to see a guard, his brother, or one of his team members walking around, he’d been surprised to see an animal limping toward his front door. Zooming in, he saw it was a badly injured dog carrying a small puppy in her mouth.

By the time he’d gotten outside, the mother had expended the last of her energy and collapsed a few feet away. The pup was dirty, a little malnourished, and covered in fleas but in good health. The mother, though, had been torn to shreds by another dog or some other animal. When Ian cautiously approached the pair, she’d nudged her baby closer to the human she was entrusting him to and then passed away without a sound.

After rushing the puppy to a nearby veterinary clinic open at all hours, Ian returned, followed the path the mother dog had taken, and found she’d dug under the fence line to get to his door. He’d followed drag marks leading into the woods on the other side of the fence. A little way into the brush, he’d discovered two additional puppies, which had both died several hours earlier. Ian retrieved a shovel and the mother dog’s body, then buried the three of them under a tree at one o’clock in the morning before heading back to the compound to fill in the hole under the fence.

The pup had been bathed, neutered, chipped, and received his shots, then Ian took him home. The six men who made up the primary core team of Trident Security were all retired Navy SEALs, and for the first few weeks, the poor dog had gone by the name “FNG” for “‘f*****g new guy.” But that changed as soon as Ian’s goddaughter met the little guy for the first time and gave him a new name. Jenn had been reading Beau Geste in school and dubbed the pit bull mix with the same moniker.

When Beau was three months old, Ian had an old Navy friend begin training him like military working dogs at a nearby facility. The pup had taken to the training as if he’d been bred for it. And although he now was a full-fledged protection and tracking dog, when he wasn’t on duty, the big guy was an even bigger goofball who just wanted to get belly rubs or play fetch until he dropped. The dog was a well-loved addition to Trident Security and had full access to the business facilities and the residential apartments within the compound.

Ian and his brother, Devon, lived at the company compound they owned. As for the other four men of the Trident Security team, they all resided within ten minutes of the facilities. Brody was one of their teammates and had purchased his place about two months earlier. Tonight, Ian brought the dog to a last-minute barbecue since the house had a fenced-in backyard. Beau would have plenty of green grass to roll around in, something he didn’t have at the paved compound.

The door was unlocked, so Ian let himself in, with Beau making a beeline to the kitchen to greet the rest of his favorite humans. Brody was the first person to reach down and pet him. The tall, broad man, also known as “Egghead,” was the team’s computer geek and master hacker. He’d designed and/or programmed the team's security and tracking systems, computers, and gadgets. He was also the team flirt and joker and rarely without his signature smile and quick wit.

The rest of the crew in attendance were Jake “Reverend” Donovan, team sniper, Marco “Polo” DeAngelis, communication specialist, and Ben “Boomer” Michaelson, demolition and explosives expert. Last but not least, Ian’s younger brother, Devon “Devil Dog” Sawyer, was their breacher and lead climber. Ian was their team leader and interrogator, the same position he’d held in SEAL Team Four. While each man had their specialties, they could take over each other’s positions if needed. They worked so well together that they could almost read each other’s minds.

When Ian entered the kitchen, everyone paused long enough to greet him before resuming their conversations. He leaned down and gave Kristen a quick peck on the cheek as she smiled at him.

Kristen Anders was the only non-team member in Brody’s house at the moment. She was Ian’s future sister-in-law, an author of erotic romance novels, and the love of Devon’s life. The guy had popped the question three months ago between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and after crying for several minutes, she’d said yes. They’d been in Nepal at the time, visiting Ian and Devon’s parents while their mother was performing surgery at a clinic there for Operation Smile. The two had spent about ten days helping Chuck Sawyer, the brothers’ father, and many other volunteers build a school in a nearby village.

The proposal hadn’t surprised anyone but their parents since Devon had collared his submissive eight weeks earlier in a ceremony at The Covenant. It was the b**m club which the brothers’ also owned along with their cousin and club manager, Mitch Sawyer.

While Brody prepared boneless chicken breasts for the grill, Kristen patted ground beef into hamburger patties. When Beau plopped down on the floor next to her, she slid off a flip-flop and raised her foot to scratch his underbelly, much to the dog’s delight. She glanced back at Ian. “Where’s Jenn? Didn’t she come with you?”

Ian leaned against the counter beside her, crossed his arms over his sculpted chest, and grumbled, “Nope. She went shopping with some friends from college this afternoon. Apparently, she has a date tonight.”

Her eyes lit up with the opposite reaction he’d had after learning his goddaughter was going on a date. With a guy. Who probably wasn’t any good for her. Who probably only wanted to get into the pretty girl’s pants. He’d kill the bastard if he knew who he was.

Before Kristen could respond, Brody’s eyes narrowed from where he stood a few feet away in front of the opened refrigerator door. “Jenn’s going on a date?” His loud voice was filled with shocked annoyance. “With whom?”

The hush which fell over the room was interrupted by a short squeal of delight as five pairs of curious, angry eyes and one pair of elated ones stared at Ian. He let out a loud sigh. “I have no idea. She refused to tell me because she knew I’d have you investigate him.”

The big, protective men all scowled, but Brody responded, “If she doesn’t give you his name, tell Baby-girl she can’t go. It’s as simple as that.”

A loud groan sounded, and everyone turned toward Kristen, who was rolling her eyes as if she was in the presence of six idiots. “Guys, come on. Your niece is nineteen years old and will be twenty in three months. She’s an adult whether you like it or not. She’s smart and can hold her own if she needs to. You can’t ground her for refusing to let you harass some poor kid who wants to take her out.”

The men were all Jennifer Mullins’ surrogate uncles. Her father had been their lieutenant in the SEALs, and the team spent many off-hours at the man’s family home near their base. The once-little girl had grown up with over forty “uncles,” who she still kept in touch with through emails and phone calls. But she’d always been closest to these six men. When she was born, her parents had asked Jeff’s best friend, Ian, to be her godfather and legal guardian if anything ever happened to them. Ian had been happy to do it but never thought he would need to take their place so early in her life. Later this month would be the first anniversary of her parents’ murders.

The team had found out this past September their deaths weren’t the result of a burglary gone wrong but, instead, were part of a larger plot to kill several former members of SEAL Team Four. A Texas senator with bigger aspirations had hired a hit-man to take out Jeff Mullins, Ian, Devon, Jake, Brody, and two others. He’d realized they had been on a fact-finding mission years earlier and may have recognized him as a man who’d met with their target.

The senator’s distant cousin was a Colombian d**g lord with whom he’d developed a clandestine relationship in exchange for the financial backing to climb out of poverty into college and law school. In return, the senator became Ernesto Diaz’s asset in Dallas. Besides being the head of a lucrative d**g cartel, Diaz had been involved in the s*x trade and arms dealing.

The FBI and Navy investigators had made the connection between the deaths of Jeff and Lisa Mullins, Eric Prichard, and Quincy Dale. The men of Trident security had been tapped to sort through boxes and boxes of classified missions they’d been on to figure out why Team Four had been targeted. Only after two attempts on the lives of the remaining four men on the hit list did they find out who wanted them dead and why. Since then, both the senator and hit-man had met with their own untimely demises. During all the chaos, Devon and Kristen met and fell in love.

Devon pinched his fiancée’s a*s hard, and she jumped and squealed, almost dropping the raw hamburger in her hands. “Who says we can’t? And don’t roll your eyes at a roomful of Doms, Pet.”

The others all chuckled, knowing the sweet submissive wanted to glare at them and say something snarky before she thought better of it. Her a*s would be s*****d red if she did. “Fine, but come on, guys. This is the first date I’ve heard of her go on since she moved down here. You should be happy she’s doing something fun, especially with the anniversary of her parents’ deaths coming up. I’m sure she'll introduce you to the guy if there’s a second or third date.”

Ian had stayed with Jenn for three months in Virginia following the murders so she could finish up her high school education. She’d moved to Tampa and into Ian’s apartment before moving again into a dorm room at the University of Tampa, where she was now enrolled. It’d taken her a while to deal with the loss of her parents, which everyone understood. But between counseling, her new school and friends, and her beloved uncles, Jenn was coming out of her shell and returning to the bubbly, outgoing woman they all knew and loved. The men mumbled their reluctant assents and changed the subject.

“Hey, Boss-man.” Brody handed Ian a bottle of Bud Light. “It seems you’re s**t-out-of-luck with my new neighbor.”

Ian’s eyes narrowed and grew cold. “What’re you talking about?”

Brody shrugged his broad shoulders. “Some guy’s been hanging out with Angie all day, and they seem kinda chummy. His car was in her driveway all through last night. A little scruffy-looking, which I wouldn’t think was her type, but it’s obvious they know each other pretty well. Too well to be a relative.”

Ian had met Brody’s next-door neighbor, Angelina Beckett, once while helping his buddy move into his new house. She was a pretty woman, about thirty-three years old, with a killer body that made Ian’s c**k react like a snappy salute to an Admiral—fast and stiff. She'd starred in several of his dreams over the last two months with her long blond hair down to her shoulder blades, soft green eyes, lush breasts, and an a*s he would love to get his hands on. More than once, he’d gotten off in the shower imagining her on her knees in front of him, giving him the blow job of a lifetime. Since their introduction, he’d only had a few glimpses of her, but his teammate must have noticed his interest in her.

Without saying another word, he uncapped his beer and took a swig before heading out to the patio with Beau on his heels. While the dog ran straight to the grass and began to sniff everything in sight, Ian sat at the outdoor table facing Ms. Beckett’s backyard. She was also sitting at her patio table with her back toward him, although her chair was turned slightly so she was facing her guest. The strands of her long hair were twined in a braid that lay down the center of her back atop her teal blue shirt. He preferred her hair down and wished he had the right to walk over there and undo the confined tresses. Shifting his gaze to the strange man who sat at a ninety-degree angle next to her, Ian studied him.

Brody was right. The man was a little on the disheveled side, with a scraggly beard, mustache, and shoulder-length hair. But otherwise, he appeared clean, wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. He seemed to be around the same age as her. What pissed Ian off, though, was how the guy had Angie’s bare feet in his lap, massaging them as the two spoke. He watched as Angie’s boyfriend’s eyes flashed to his, then back again to hers. Ian wasn’t fooled. In that split second, the stranger had noticed, evaluated, and determined Ian wasn’t an immediate threat. It was obvious the man had training. His honed physique and body language screamed former military to Ian, yet he could almost disguise it. In fact, if Ian hadn’t been just like him, he may have underestimated the man.

As the rest of Ian’s team filtered out to the patio and took seats around the table, the man’s gaze flashed over to them before settling again on Angie. Ian watched as she stood with the grace of a prima ballerina, her long legs and heart-shaped a*s encased in faded capri jeans making his mouth water. When she turned toward her back door, he heard her say to her boyfriend, “Give me a few minutes to freshen up, and we’ll grab something to eat. I hope you’re in the mood for Mexican.”

The moment she disappeared into the house, without hesitation, her boyfriend turned his attention to the six men beyond the chain-link property fence. Standing, he approached them like a lion interested in intruders entering his domain. He was about six-one, two hundred and ten lean pounds, with brown hair and eyes. Several tattoos were peeking out from under the arms of his short-sleeved T-shirt. He was also smart enough to stop two feet from the chest-high divider when he noticed Beau run over and place his big body between his humans and the stranger. Ian took it as a good sign that the dog, while in protective mode, wasn’t growling a warning.

Warily, Brody stood and walked over to the fence to greet the man. “Hi, I’m Brody Evans, Angie’s new neighbor.”

Crossing his arms over his muscular chest, the other man nodded at Brody before intensely gazing at Ian and Devon. “I’m aware of who you are, Evans. I was wondering if I could meet with you and your employers, the Sawyer brothers over there, sometime tomorrow morning at the Trident Security offices.”

Ian’s eyes narrowed as his stunned teammates looked back and forth between him and the stranger, who knew quite a few things about them, while they knew nothing about him, including his name. None of them were happy with the fact either. Staying in his seat, he leaned forward, put his beer bottle down, and pinned the bearded man with a warning look. “Who are you?”

He glanced over his shoulder before continuing, and Ian wondered why he didn’t want Angie to hear the confrontation. “My name’s James Athos, and I’ll explain the rest tomorrow, but for now, let’s just say we have a mutual friend, and I need your help.”

Ian raised one eyebrow, his icy stare never wavering. “Friend? And who would this friend be?”

“A man named Carter.”

If any of them were further surprised at the guy’s revelation of knowing their longtime friend, associate, and U.S. government spy, T. Carter, they didn’t show it. Carter was so deep into the world of black ops that Ian’s team had no idea who the man actually worked for. He seemed to have very high connections in every alphabet agency in Washington D.C.—FBI, CIA, NSA, et cetera—as well as in the Pentagon, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and several foreign countries. He was also the man who’d killed the hit-man targeting the team several months ago and most likely the senator who’d hired the guy, although none of them would ever know for sure.

Ian’s eyes flashed to the backdoor beyond Athos before returning to the man’s face. “Tell me one thing . . . is she in danger?”

Athos shook his head. “No, and I’d like to keep it that way. I also don’t want her to know anything about our conversation. Angie means the world to me, and I’ll do whatever I can to protect her. What time can I meet you?”

Ian did a mental check of tomorrow’s schedule. “Oh-eight-hundred?”

As Athos nodded his agreement, the woman in question chose that moment to come back outside and lock the door behind her. Now wearing white canvas slip-on shoes and carrying a small white purse, she strolled over to where her boyfriend stood. With automatic reflexes, the men relaxed their tense expressions, giving her no indication anything was wrong. When she stopped next to Athos, she looked at Brody, then the rest of the men with a friendly smile on her pretty face. “Hi, Brody. Hi, guys. I see you’ve met Jimmy.”

Ian felt a jealous punch to his gut as the other man put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on her temple tenderly. “I introduced myself, babe. I’m glad your new neighbor seems like a nice guy. I was worried you would get someone like the last asshole who couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself. That was until I had a little conversation with him and threatened to tell his wife after I beat the crap out of him.” There was a not-so-subtle warning in there to the other men.

Angie rolled her eyes and smacked the guy in the stomach with her hand. “I told you I had it under control. And you didn’t threaten to beat him. If I recall, you threatened to cut off George’s manhood and shove it down his throat, followed by his fingers. Now come on, I’m starving. Take me to dinner.”

“Your wish is my command, babe.”

She looked back over the fence and gave the men a cute little girlie wave. “Have a nice night, everyone.” As they turned toward the path leading to her driveway, Ian could have sworn she looked straight at him with a flash of heat in her eyes. But it was gone so fast he must have been mistaken. Whether it was real or imagined didn’t matter to his d**k which twitched inside his khakis at the sight of her retreating buttocks. f**k, how he wanted to take a bite out of those a*s cheeks.

“What the f**k?” Boomer asked. “Who the hell is he?”

Ian was still staring at where the two of them had disappeared around the side of her house. “I don’t know, but you can be sure I’ll find out. You know how much I hate surprises.”

No one said anything more about the mystery man as Kristen came outside with a plate of hamburgers and chicken cutlets ready for Brody to grill. A few minutes later, the conversation returned to the usual banter that always occurred when they were together. However, Ian was no longer in a relaxed and talkative mood.