Claimed, page 1
If you did, thank you. Thank you for respecting me and other authors for their hard work, understanding this is our job, and while we love it, we do deserve to be compensated for all the hours, and hours, and hours we put into it.
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There is no such thing as a victimless crime. If you truly believe that, you’ve never been a victim. And the victims aren’t only the authors, but the fans who lose authors that quit over our constantly being stolen from and mistreatment. Mistreating the authors that write the books you like or read—not liking them isn’t an excuse for theft, it’s just extra weird then—that’s not a fan. Fans leave reviews to support. Fans send messages of love. Fans… Well fans are nice. Be nice.
There are lots of ways to fight eBook piracy, reporting the site even if you’re not the copyright holder is always a good option. If you want to help in the fight, Google it and you can see there are many ways.
Jamie has been the adult of everything most of her life from keeping house for her parents as a kid, to being the one who made Secure Settings a reality. As good as she is at anything she’s tasked with, her drive stems from wanting to be accepted and appreciated… Which very few have ever done.
Stacy was lost when he got out of the military, and being tricked into shooting Kate didn’t help. He fought for redemption by putting Kyle behind bars, but somehow he knows it’s the dark haired beauty that will get him and his wolf into line if she’ll just give him a real chance.
Nate has been into Kate for so long, but when Jamie confesses she’s in love with him, he can’t seem to see anything or anyone but her. Not only has he missed that two Alpha Bitches were right in front of him all of this time, but one was in love with him.
Is it too late for them, or did he lose her to someone who will love her as he should have? Or is there another option?
1
“I love you, Nate,” I confessed, guessing how it would go but needing the closure.
Shock filled his eyes, but then he smiled. “I love you too, Jamie.”
“Not how I love you.” I nodded when the shock came back. “I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time.”
He slowly set down the pen in his hand, the papers in front of him forgotten, and cleared his throat nervously. “I’m not really sure what to say. You know how I feel about Kate. I’ve never hidden that from you.”
“I know, but she’s mated now, and she met you first, so until you told her the truth—which you never did—it wasn’t right for me to potentially poach.” I let out a sigh when he just blinked at me, frozen like an idiot. “You don’t feel the same. I get it. I just needed to say it, be honest, before I try and move on. We’re moving out of Chicago to the friggin’ boonies and will be working closer than ever. I wanted you to know so I didn’t keep hiding it from you.” Still he said nothing. “Please say it, Nate. Say it so I can heal and move on.”
“I don’t feel the same, Jamie,” he whispered, looking choked up. “I’ve never even looked at you like that. I was always looking at Kate.”
I swallowed loudly, hurting more than I would have thought to hear that when I knew it was how he felt. “Okay, thanks. I’m leaving first to set up the business side there while you handle things here, so we’ll have space to move forward. And I will, so don’t worry about me. Stacy asked me out, and I said I had to make sure of something first or I would always wonder.” I bumped into his door since I’d been backing away. “See you, Nate.”
“Bye, Jamie,” he muttered as I hurried out of his office. “I’m sorry.”
I believed he was. He was a good guy like that.
It was part of the reason I’d fallen in love with him.
I headed right to the airport, my flight leaving soon. I had known the answer and was glad to have the very quick escape ready. I was also glad I’d done it, glad to finally have it off my chest and start healing, move on past my somewhat pathetic, one sided feelings for Nate Boyle.
Time for a reboot, Jamie Kane 2.0 or something. Big plans had been made and a whole new life and home ready for me. My condo was all packed up, movers already on their way to my new, fabulous place.
When Kate had used the inheritance meant for her Uncle Kyle to help our business expand, the bank and town had realized we were staying and were going to be good for the economy. Maybe. Hopefully. So the bank hadn’t just told us about that ranch to expand but a bunch of other properties as well, not knowing what we were looking for.
Including one on the other side of Kate’s ranch.
That one I’d bought. I was the one with the head for business after all. While Kate was no slouch and definitely knew more about the business we were in than I did, I was the numbers, marketing, and most everything else person. I was why it had become a company instead of Kate taking gigs on her own or teaming up with Nate. They knew the industry, the people, and I made it work and work well from the amount of money we all made.
So while Kate had immediately dismissed the forty acres on the other side of her ranch, I hadn’t, especially when I’d seen the mansion it had. I’d dug deeper and found out a lot, like the bank was dying to unload the foreclosed property before it became unmarketable. Which was how I’d bought it at a steal. A huge, kick ass mansion I’d gotten for the price of a really nice condo in Chicago.
And the best part was our company was paying for half of it. It was too big for just me, and that was why I’d proposed the idea to Kate as a home base for the women who worked for us too. Most took gig after gig after gig and had a week here and there for vacation in between.
None of them wanted to pay rent then on a place, and having to head to your storage unit anytime you wanted anything was horrible. And we weren’t going to be in Chicago anymore where that was possible. Instead, they’d have a room in my mansion and could stay somewhere nice, already set up, and relax in between jobs.
The mansion itself was amazing. I’d had it inspected, and everything was top of the line and ninety percent finished on the new construction… Which was why the bank was so nervous, as the place wasn’t finished. The people had run out of money or lost money in some investments and it had gotten foreclosed on. The purchase price was as-is, and given the deal I’d gotten, I didn’t give a fuck if that ten percent ever got finished.
Well, of course I did, and I would absolutely handle that when spring came. But for now, it was a great idea and a great project to throw myself into, along with all the work expanding, and heal my broken heart.
I landed in Minneapolis since there weren’t always direct flights to the nearest decent airport to Florence, Montana. That was the only bad thing for real about this idea, but it wasn’t too bad. And I didn’t do most of the traveling, and to be honest, I was a bit tired of Chicago. It was always noisy. And expensive. Everything was so expensive, and I was getting old enough where I was over the club scene and some peace sounded better.
Plus, everyone I loved had agreed to move so I wouldn’t be alone unless I decided to stay.
I had several drinks while I waited for my connecting flight, at least one too many, while returning texts to our employees who were dying to know more about having a home base. Everything was moving fast—as Kate and I didn’t screw around—so the news was just starting to trickle outward about specifics. And the property hadn’t even officially been on the market, as the few real estate agents weren’t willing to put time into something they didn’t think would sell.
What kind of idiot would buy a mansion that was only ninety percent done and all of that?
Yeah, this very smart woman who knew value when she saw it.
I tossed back my last drink when they announced final boarding for my flight and ran my buzzed ass over to the gate because the only thing worse than changing planes and flying into Montana was missing the flight and having to deal with that bullshit. Especially when there was only one flight a damn day to there from that airport.
The next problem was that first class provided free booze, so I ordered a wine and kept right on drinking, eating the snacks the flight attendant offered to keep from getting completely trashed. It was a nice way to pass the three hour flight since my original plan of reading one of the lists of books I wanted to was now out.
We landed in the beginning of a snowstorm, so we were lucky that it wasn’t too bad yet and we could land. But they gave us a warning as we taxied that a huge storm was coming in and to get to where we were going fast.
I stumbled off the plane, assuring them I was fine, just a bit of ear popping needed. It worked, and I headed to the luggage area, shocked when I saw Kate, Dean, and Jared all standing at my carousel. Right, the airport was so tiny that you could come in there, as it was before security.
It hit me why it was them and not someone they sent for me when I got closer and I saw the worry in Kate’s eyes.
“You never knew, did you?” I blurted, comprehending Nate had called her.
“No, no clue.”
“You are so clueless,” I sighed, having trouble not wobbling. It might have been wise to have changed before so I wasn’t flying in heels when I decided to drink. “Did you finally get caught up he’s always been into you?” I winced, not having meant to blurt that out.
She gave a slow nod, gesturing be
“Sometimes,” I argued, thinking it was pretty dense to have taken her that long.
She was suddenly in front of me, helping me stand straight. “Can one of you take her to the truck? I know her bag, and I’ll wait for it.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” she said quietly. “And you don’t have to be. I’ve got you, okay, Jamie?”
“Okay,” I whispered, bobbing my head. “Can they carry me? I weigh like five pounds to them, and my feet hurt. I had to run between flights because I sat at the bar too long. I fled Chicago.”
“Yeah, they’ll carry you,” she agreed, biting back a smile. “Whoever does it will get something special when we get home.”
Instantly I was in Dean’s arms and he was smirking at his twin. Wow, what would it be like to be loved like that? Desired so much that men fought to win something from her?
I really wished I knew. And here she always thought men wanted me, that I was the pretty one. My friend had blinders on not to see she was who men wanted half the time and always took notice of her too. I hoped being mated and wanted as much as the twins desired her helped with that.
“I would have carried you without the bribe, but Jared’s been hogging her a bit,” Dean informed me as we walked outside.
“I know. You’re both good guys.” I stared off at the snow falling to blanket the airport. “Must be nice to be loved like that.” I winced, wanting to duct tape my mouth.
“Nate’s an idiot because you are a quality woman,” he grumbled. “And it was obvious you treasured him. I won’t defend him, but we get a bit of tunnel vision and sometimes need to be smacked upside the head.”
“Men?”
“No, um…” He frowned. “Well, that too actually.”
I nodded, getting it. He meant being werewolves, but men did it too. Great, so Nate was an idiot on two fronts.
He got me to the truck, and then we went to pick them up. Kate suggested we see if the McDonalds on the way to the ranch was still open, as it was my secret craving always. Fine, she wasn’t completely dense if she at least knew that about me. Luckily it was, so I got way too much and proceeded to eat it all, not caring about having a milkshake when it was fucking cold as could be and snowing.
I must have passed out on the drive because I woke to my phone ringing and I was in Kate’s old room that had been updated. I reached for it as I slid out of bed. “I drank too much last night and not awake yet, so can it wait?”
“It can’t,” Tanya worried. She worked for us, and there was a situation on the job she was on. “You okay, Jamie?”
“I’ll live,” I sighed as I made it to the bathroom. I felt bad for peeing while on the phone with someone, but it was do that or hang up because the booze was coming out. “What happened?”
“He did it again. Worse this time.”
“You record it like I said?”
“Yeah, of course. I also got the security footage from the home surveillance system because he’s a moron who did it right in front of a camera.”
“Okay, send it to me, pack up, and leave. I’ve got this.”
“Um, there’s more,” she admitted quietly. “He didn’t just demand sex and get grabby, he hit me this time.”
I froze, not having seen that coming. “How bad?”
“He backhanded me and got pissed when I didn’t go down. I caught his hand the second time to stop him. I’ve got a nice bruise and cut from the ring he was wearing.”
Fucking asshole. “New plan. Send me the proof, pack up, and go to the nearest police station. I’m calling the lawyers.”
“Wait, Jamie, I don’t—we don’t need to do that. I don’t want to start trouble—”
“Tanya, you are a well-trained and professional bodyguard. That means you guard your own body as well. If that asshole hit you, you are not the only one he’s gotten violent with. No way. It was one thing if he got grabby and we ended the contract, but a client got violent with one of us, and that’s not okay. Nor would the fallout if he ran his mouth we accepted that sort of treatment.”
“Okay, if you think it’s best,” she murmured. “Thanks, Jamie.”
“We protect our own, Tanya. I don’t ever want you guys taking shit like that. I felt bad asking you to stay after he grabbed you and demanded sex for what you cost to have, but we needed to cover our asses. Fuck him, and he’s going down now.”
“You are so kick ass even if you weren’t ever military.”
“I have other skills,” I purred, saying goodbye before hanging up. I finished in the bathroom and headed downstairs for coffee, glad at least someone had gotten me out of my work clothes and into something more comfortable.
I assumed Kate had done it, but I didn’t really care if the twins had handled it.
No one was around when I reached the kitchen, so I started up Kate’s fancy latte maker and got everything out as I called our head attorney. They weren’t moving with us, and we were going to rent a much smaller office space for them and to keep our business licensed in Illinois even if most of us were going to be in Montana.
“I know someone there who can handle the situation and we can trust,” she assured me after I filled her in. “I’ll get with Tanya and see which station she’s going to. The lawyer or someone she knows will meet her there. How do you want to handle the contract?”
“Send a bill for full payment to him and his agent who contacted us,” I answered after a moment. “He broke the terms and assaulted our employee twice, both sexually, now violently. His career is over if we blow this up.”
“Is that how you want to play this?” she worried.
“No, not even, but he needs fucking therapy or something if he thinks he can treat women this way. I’m worried about the next woman who works for him or he corners that doesn’t have us at their back.”
“Understood. I’ll handle it.”
I smiled. “You always do. How are the munchkins?”
She let out a heavy sigh. “It snowed, and they tried to use my own debate tactics against me as to why they should be allowed to skip school and ‘embrace their youth’ to play in the snow. It’s my own damn fault, and I guess I should be proud they’re so smart, but like seriously?”
“That’s funny,” I chuckled, glad things were going well for her that she only had that to complain about. She’d had a really rough go at life, and the moment she’d found happiness, marriage, kids, the whole thing, her husband had dropped at thirty-two from an undiagnosed heart condition. And a genetic one, so her kids had it, which meant expensive.
Luckily she’d found us, and we didn’t mind the gap in her job history, as she’d taken some years off to have her two kids. She was still current on her licenses and kick ass. And we had great insurance, so she was very, very loyal.
Kate showed up right after I had my first sip of my latte and discovered an apple pie in the fridge. I rolled my eyes at their healthy lifestyle, seeing they’d gone for a run together. In the snow.
Weirdos.
I filled her in, and she nodded along, backing my play, which she always did. We always backed each other, which was why we made such great partners.
Glancing at my phone when it beeped, I growled as I saw the email from Nate. “He’s fucking kidding, right?” I shook my head and called him.
“Hey, Jamie, um, hi,” he muttered, sounding like an idiot.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I snapped. There was a long pause, and I rolled my eyes again. “Nate, the list you sent me of things you need me to do is un-fucking-real. It was sort of cute before like you couldn’t live without my help and gave mixed signals like you looked for ways to interact with me more, but now it’s just fucking offensive.”
“How?” he asked, sounding hurt.
I dropped my fork and rubbed my forehead. “You have an administrative assistant.”
“She’s more like a secretary that only answers the phones and makes lunch runs,” he muttered. “She’s not very good at anything else.”
“Then fire her,” I growled. “I’m the co-owner of the parent company of your company, and you send me a fucking ‘Honey-do’ list the morning after you tell me you’ve never looked at me like I’m a real woman. Are you seriously that big of an asshole?”
