Conned
Authors: Jessica Wilde
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Suspense
Conned
By: Jessica Wilde
Copyright © 2014 Jessica Wilde
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce,
distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means without written consent
from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or
dead, is coincidental.
Cover Photo from Shutterstock.com
Cover design by Jessica Wilde
ISBN-13: 978-1499363180
Other titles by Jessica Wilde
Every One of Me
Our Time
The Brannock Siblings Series
Leverage (The Brannock Siblings, #1)
Coming Soon
Missing (The Brannock Siblings, #3)
To my brothers and sister,
"Family is the only thing you have to turn to when
life throws you to the ground… God doesn't ever ignore the love shared between
brothers and sisters… He immerses Himself in it and surrounds us with even more
of that love. No matter what happens in your lives, don't forget to look out
for each other."
-Isabelle Brannock
I love who you are,
I protect who you are,
and I'll die doing it.
Table of Contents
Conall
The harsh ringing of my cell phone woke me from a much
needed nap and I almost threw the damn thing against the wall. Ever since Ash
and Luke had gotten engaged a week ago, I had been constantly fighting the urge
to put my fist through his face every second he was around - even the seconds
he
wasn't
around - for defiling my sweet little sister. However, I had
made a stupid promise.
Although, if I was told to find a better man for her, I
wouldn't. There wasn't one out there that even came close to Lucas Shade. He
would take care of her and he would sacrifice everything he had to do it.
He had pretty much ripped the privilege out from under me
and my brother and father. Something we all were still trying to cope with,
therefore, the reason I was having a hard time getting a good night's rest.
I picked up the phone that was vibrating all over the coffee
table beside me and answered the insistent call.
"Brannock."
"Got a job for you."
I rolled my eyes at the lack of greeting from my boss.
Captain Miller was never one for small talk and he always came across as a
grumpy old man who didn't give a damn what you thought about him. It was just
his personality and it worked for the Denver Police Department.
"What job?" I asked, rubbing the kink out of my
neck from lying awkwardly on the couch for the last thirty minutes.
"Witness protection."
I threw my head back, flipped off absolutely no one and
silently cursed the ceiling for making my life hell. "I don't think I'm
the right guy for the job, Cap. You know how much I hate babysitting. Plus, I'm
not a marshal, remember?"
"Well, you're the only guy
for
the job,
Brannock. Shit went down while you've been gone and you are the only one I
trust to take care of this witness. The marshals can't get her gone fast
enough. It's a big deal. Part of the Ripley trial coming up in a few months.
This girl is the only leverage we've got."
A girl? Shit, this just keeps getting better and better
,
I thought sarcastically. I did not play well with girls. Correction, I
played
well with them, but I didn't
spend time
well with them.
I did my job no matter what, though, so there really wasn't
a choice.
"Fine. I'll catch a flight in the morning."
"No, I'm sending her to you. We've already had one
close call while she was in the safe house. I don't want her anywhere near
Denver and I want her out before morning. "
I let that sink in. This was going to become a shit ton of
trouble, I could feel it in my bones.
Trouble.
"Alright, let me arrange a few things here and I'll get
back to you. E-mail me her file as soon as you can and send me her flight when
you know it."
"Will do, she should be in the air by early morning.
Thanks, Conall. I owe you one. This is going to be a pain in the ass, but I
can't think of a better man to take care of it."
For being such a grumpy old man, he sure did know how to
hand out a compliment when he actually wanted to. Probably just doing it to
kiss my ass.
After saying goodbye, I stood up and stretched my stiff
body, then went looking for Dad. I had nowhere to hide this girl and hoped he
had a few ideas for me. If the U.S. Marshals weren't taking care of the job,
that meant we had to pretty much wing it. I had seen it several times before,
but was never involved.
I ran into Fergus on my way into the kitchen and he had a giant
bowl of ice cream cradled in his arms like a baby. "How do you eat all
that shit, Gus Gus?"
He laughed and shook his head, "I normally don't, but
technically I'm still on vacation until next week. Might as well make the most
of it, right?"
I chuckled as he walked passed me and made his way to the
office on the other side of the house where the flat screen was. I had
forgotten about the game and wished I could stay out on vacation a while longer
and gorge myself with junk food like him.
Dad was sitting at the island with his glasses on top of his
nose and his laptop opened in front of him.
"What's up, Pops?"
"Oh, not much, just trying to find a good price on a
flight to Ireland."
I froze as I was reaching for the handle on the fridge.
"What?"
He sighed and pulled his glasses off, rubbing his tired eyes
before meeting my shocked stare. "Your grandparents are pretty pissed off
at me. Figured I should take a trip up there and make it up to them. I only
have a few more days until I'm officially retired. I decided to start it right
away."
"Wow. Well I guess that's a good thing then. Grams was
pretty upset, they didn't even stay long after your funeral." I grinned,
remembering how crazy it felt to sit in front of a coffin I knew was empty at a
funeral that was completely faked so some dipshit's attention would move off of
my sister.
"Yeah, well…"
"That actually would work great if you were gone. I
just got a call from Captain Miller. He's got a witness who needs babysitting
for a while. Wants me to take charge of it here in town and keep her out of
trouble. Maybe I could use the house?"
My father narrowed his eyes and held eye contact with me for
a long moment before dropping his head into his hands and groaning. "As
long as your sister stays out of it, I don't care what you do. Lucas is going
to be taking her on vacation in a week. Get her out of this town and into some
relaxation. That and he doesn't want her to start working yet. She deserves a
break after what she went through."
I nodded in agreement, "She does. Maybe I could just
use the house for the first little while and then arrange an apartment for the
rest of the time. The witness will be on her way here in the morning. I just
want to be ready with
something
, you know?"
"It's a woman?" Dad asked curiously.
"Yeah, I guess. Part of that Ripley trial I told you
about a couple days ago. Probably just a kid in the wrong place at the wrong
time. I'm waiting for her file."
He grinned before closing his laptop and standing,
"Okay then, you can use the house. You guys still planning to surprise me
on Friday night?"
My eyes widened and I froze once more while going to open
the fridge. "How the hell do you know about that?"
He rolled his eyes and made his way to the kitchen door.
"Ash was never really good at hiding things. Can't believe you guys
thought it would be smart to put her in charge of it."
I chuckled as he disappeared through the door and finally
opened the fridge to grab a soda. I popped the tab and took a swig the same
time my phone beeped, signaling an incoming e-mail. I pulled it out of my
pocket and clicked on my work e-mail.
When I saw the picture that was attached to the file, the
can of soda slipped out of my hand and dropped to the floor, spraying a sticky
mess all over the place.
The person in the picture was
not
a
girl
.
She was the very definition of a
woman
. A woman I
would have a very hard time not staring at.
She was gorgeous.
Blonde hair, green eyes, lips that a man would kill for.
Fergus strolled into the kitchen and took one glance at the
mess on the floor and shrugged. "Hey, man. Dad told me about your
assignment. Sorry to hear it. I know how much you hate…" My brother
trailed off as he glanced over my shoulder and saw the picture on the screen.
"Never mind. I don't feel sorry for you at all," he laughed and
placed his now empty bowl in the sink.
"What the hell am I going to
do
?" I asked
harshly.
"Well it can't be
her
, that's all I'm certain
about. You'll figure it out, but until then… I think you're pretty
screwed."
I nodded in agreement and kept staring at my phone, even
after the screen went black, and one word kept flying back and forth through my
mind.
Trouble.
Trouble.
Trouble.
I was in trouble.
Emily
She was going to vomit.
She knew it in the very depths of her soul.
She was going to lose the small hold she had on things
because she just couldn't handle it anymore, not the way she thought she could.
Emily wasn't meant for this kind of life and everyone knew it, but what choice
did she have? She'd made her decision and she couldn't back out of it now. Not
when the only family she had left was depending on her. No one could bail her
out except for her brother, Rayce, of course, but what the hell could he
possibly do now? It was
his
fault she was sitting on this plane waiting
for all of the other worn out passengers to get out. It was
his
fault
she was now no longer going to be able to live her life without looking over
her shoulder every other minute.
The one thing she
never
wanted had been thrown into
her face.
Emily Dawson was now living under witness protection because
her brother had once again been in the wrong place at the wrong time and she
loved him enough to put her life on the line to protect him.
Her life was forever changed after spending the last few
years trying not to blame herself for her brother's choices. She had been sure
that by now, it would be behind her.
"Wishful thinking," she muttered under her breath
while watching a plane land outside of the tiny oval window. That seemed to be
all she ever did.
"What was that?"
She turned toward the high pitched voice of the person
sitting next to her and remembered that even though she was completely alone,
technically she
wasn't
at the moment.
"Nothing, Officer Sheen," she said as cheerily as
possible. That was another issue she was having. There was no way for her to
fly to California without an escort and the department just had to send her out
with the most beautiful and annoying woman they had. Annoying because she was
just too open about
everything
. If Emily had to hear one more story
about her and Officer So and So 'hooking up', she was going to have to punch
the woman right in the ovary. She had to know that being a slut wasn't actually
a
good
thing. Right? She was at least 30 so she should know that by now.
"Let's get off this thing," Sheen said and flipped
her bright red hair for the billionth time and it wouldn't have mattered to
Emily except that fake red hair was extra long and kept smacking her in the
face. Officer Sheen was tall and skinny and had the darkest brown eyes she had
ever seen and was so fully a woman that Emily felt like a child standing next
to her. It was no wonder the woman had so many sexual escapades.
Emily stood behind her and rolled her neck from side to side
before stretching her legs and back. She had been cooped up in a tiny shack of
a house for several weeks before the marshal who was with her got himself put
in the hospital. Apparently, the men who wanted her silent had more connections
than she thought was likely outside of the movies. Stuff like that just wasn't
possible in real life - or so she thought. They had found her and thanks to
Deputy Ross, she was still alive and two more of Ripley's men were dead.
A good thing? Not in the way you would think.
Deputy Ross had a family. A good family from the stories he
had told and she had felt awful when he was injured. If he hadn't survived, she
didn't think she would have been able to go through with this.
The whole thing had become a giant mess and she just
couldn't stomach the thought of what she still had to do, even if that meant
keeping her brother out of prison. It all felt wrong and deceitful.
Because it is
, she thought to herself.
But her brother needed her and she may not have been able to
protect him before, but she would do everything in her power to protect him
now. He was her family. The only family she had left and she needed to remember
that.
She pulled her bag out of the overhead compartment and
followed Officer Julia Sheen to the door of the plane where an overly happy
stewardess said goodbye and wished them well. Julia didn't even look at the
woman, but Emily couldn't help but smile back wishing she could be living a
life where her only concern was making sure the drink cart didn't hit anyone's
elbows. Obviously she knew that wasn't all there was to the job and it was
probably a ridiculously stressful one, but she still envied the cheerful woman.
She sighed and kept her head down while following Julia into
the terminal. She just wanted to get this whole thing over and done with and
eventually go back to a somewhat normal life. If that was even possible. As far
as she had been told, her journey with the woman ended the minute she was
transferred to the officer who she would be staying with until the trial. As
long as nothing went down to get her transferred all over again.
She didn't know much about the guy, but figured he would be
a short, balding, pot bellied Mr. nice guy. She had nothing against law
enforcement, but the ones she had run into so far fit the stereotype, and she
had run into quite a few over the years with Rayce Dawson being her little
brother. So long as the guy didn't try to make her feel like everything would
be okay, she didn't care. She already knew it wouldn't be okay. Not for her.
That wasn't the point, though. She wasn't doing this for her. She was doing
this for Rayce.
Her brother had unintentionally made sure that her life
would be over. He knew she would give up everything for him, he was her only
family after all. She had sworn to protect him when she was five years old and
held him in her arms for the first time. She thought she had done a fine job up
until their parents died when she was 18. She fought like mad to keep him out
of the system, hoping that doing so would give him a better life. She
sacrificed, but it hadn't been enough and he still ended up in the wrong places
with the wrong people. She knew there was nothing she could have done to change
that, knew it in her heart. Her head had other ideas, though.
"Alright, Officer Brannock is supposed to meet us at
the luggage carousel and my job will be done. Try not to get into any trouble
while you are here."
Emily nodded her head at Julia's instruction. It was the
same thing she had listened to when Deputy Ross had taken her under his protection
and she knew it was sound advice. Didn't mean that trouble wouldn't somehow
find
her
.
"Oh, and don't get in my way once we meet him,"
Julia added with a wicked smile. "That man is a hot piece of ass that I
have been dying to get my nails into."
Emily rolled her eyes and felt a headache coming on. As
expected, Julia's professionalism was nowhere in sight, something Emily wished
she would have known prior to getting on the plane in Denver. She'd accepted it
and knew the only way to get some distance from the woman was to just comply.
"Go ahead, I won't be a problem."
Of course, that wasn't under her control. She
was
the
problem and if this officer had any sense of duty, Julia wouldn't be getting
what she wanted. Emily was under no illusions that she would immediately find
safety in a new state. Another thing that tempted her to just back out of this
whole thing altogether.
"Good. I only have one night here and I plan to spend
it with Conall Brannock."
Emily didn't reply, but she wanted to. Badly. However,
keeping her mouth shut was more important than getting in her opinion. It
didn't stop the dramatic eye roll, though, and Julia caught it.
She had promised herself she would keep her attitude in
check. It wasn't her, but it had to be for now. Just until she could ensure her
brother's freedom, then maybe she could go back to being Emily Dawson. She told
herself this every day, but her
old
self was clawing at the walls she
had confined it to and she feared she was slowly losing her mind.
Julia scowled at her, but Emily ignored it. She kept her
eyes forward and her chin held high. She may be acquiescent, but she wasn't
going to let someone walk all over her. Before Julia had a chance to lash out,
a man stepped in front of them and stopped them in their tracks. Emily stumbled
and the weight of her carry on pulled her to the side and the strap snagged on
her long hair making her wince. She felt herself falling when a firm hand
grasped her upper arm and steadied her before the ground could meet her face.
"Sorry," she muttered as she adjusted her bag and
raised her eyes. Her entire body went still at the sight of the man standing in
front of her, still holding onto her arm, and her breath left her on a
"Wow!"
He was tall. Much taller than her, she noted right away since
she was almost pressed against his chest. As her eyes traveled further up, she
noticed that he was also very fit and definitely the most beautiful man she had
ever laid eyes on. His shoulders were wide and sculpted and she could clearly
see the outline of his chest through the white shirt he was wearing that looked
like it was made just for him. His face… well, she had never seen a face like
that
before. His jaw was firm and covered in scruff making him look slightly
unkempt, but didn't take away from how handsome he was. His lips curled
slightly on one side in an amused grin and she felt her cheeks get hot when she
registered how soft they looked. She took in his dark brown hair, wavy and
curled around his ears and at the nape of his neck, but the feature that took
her breath away were his eyes. Almost cornflower blue, but darker, softer, and
watching her closely.
"Nothing to be sorry about," he said and the deep
baritone of his voice slid over her skin, making her shiver. "I'm Conall
Brannock. You must be Emily."
She nodded slowly and tried to smile, but it came out as
more of a grimace.
God, this is embarrassing
. For the first time in a
long time, she moved her gaze down to her feet and didn't look a man in the
eye. She prayed the floor would open up and swallow her or that her mouth would
for once stay shut on its own. She wanted to throw out every curse word she
knew for letting herself look so vulnerable, but it was out of her control.
It was just her luck to be in the presence of a beautiful
man and not stand her ground. Again, another reason why she felt like she was
losing herself. She raised a teenage boy on her own, nothing was harder than
that and she still could have done better.
She was only vaguely aware of Julia talking and telling him
how bumpy the flight had been and how she was looking forward to relaxing
tonight. She was, however, extremely aware of his gaze that hadn't left her
once. She could feel the burn in her skin from his stare, but she was too
chicken to look up. She didn't want to know what he saw and she was certain she
would find out if she looked up at him.
"That's great, Jules. I've got a hotel room set up for
you and a driver scheduled to bring you back here tomorrow morning," he
stated casually.
"What? You mean I'm not staying with you… both, with
you both for the night?"
Emily sighed at the tone of Julia's voice. Whiny and
completely clueless. She finally looked up to see Officer Brannock roll his
eyes to the ceiling and it made her want to smile. She wasn't the only one then.
"No, Jules, and for the last time, I'm not going to
sleep with you."
Her jaw dropped at the bluntness he used with his fellow
officer and felt only a little sorry for Julia, but when the woman giggled and
put a hand on his arm and squeezed, the concern she felt disappeared. Julia had
no self respect and it disappointed her.
It's women like this that make the
rest of us look bad.
He shrugged her off with a frown and reached toward Emily,
"Here, let me take this." Without waiting for her approval, he slid
the strap of her bag off her shoulder, being mindful of the hair still tangled
there and lifted it onto his own shoulder before his frown tipped up into a
polite smile. This time, his white teeth popped into view and she immediately
got the urge to fan herself.
"Thank you, Officer Brannock," she said, hoping
her voice didn't sound too weak and breathless.
"Conall. Please, call me Conall."
She smiled, but it didn't last. Julia scoffed and shoved
passed her, walking toward the luggage carousel across the terminal with an
exaggerated sway of her hips. Conall shrugged as they started to follow after
her and they both shared another eye roll.
"I'm sorry you had to deal with that the whole way
here," he muttered. "She isn't easy to… well, she's too easy, that's the
problem."
Emily felt a giggle bubble up her throat and tried to stifle
it unsuccessfully. After a few more steps, she stopped, realizing he wasn't
next to her anymore. She looked back and he was standing a few feet behind her
with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Staring at her.
"Is everything okay?" she asked and started to
look around, wondering what had shocked him so much.
His mouth snapped shut and he closed his eyes and shook his
head, his shaggy hair falling over his forehead. "Um, yeah, sorry. I just…
nothing. I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't very professional," he
mumbled and she swore she saw a slight pink tint his cheeks, but he walked
passed her too quickly for her to confirm it.
She understood he must feel guilty, but she was glad he had
said it. The humor had made the tightness in her shoulders ease a little.
They waited only five minutes before her two bags appeared.
Conall had immediately taken them from her and led the way out the terminal
doors. Julia was walking beside her and shooting daggers with her eyes, but
Emily didn't give her any indication she was aware of it. People like that fed
off of a response and seeing as how she wouldn't be around much longer, Emily
didn't feel like egging her on.
