Deadly Betrayal (Finding My Home #7), page 1
Deadly Betrayal (Finding My Home)
Book 7
Nikita Parmenter
Copyright © 2023 Nikita Parmenter
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE HARDWORK OF THE AUTHOR!
Cover design by: Serenic Designs
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Books by this Author
About the Author
Prologue
A lot has changed in the two years since we had that meeting with Mr Rising, and yet many things have stayed the same. We have all finished school now, and because of that, we are working more jobs, which are always interesting and test our limits which I love. Trick has become a truly amazing leader. He always was, but he’s absolutely thriving with all the extra responsibilities that he’s been given, and he loves the organisation side of it all as well. The first thing we had to get done to the house was the stables to ensure that it would work for us in the long term. We needed to bring the horses up as soon as we could, and the stables were in a lot worse condition than we thought they were going to be. It took longer than we would’ve liked, thanks to their condition, but they were finally finished after about five months, so we’ve got the horses up here, which has been great. I think we’re planning to start work on the trail after the winter when things start to warm up again; we’ve been so busy that we simply haven’t had the time. Bless them; the guys haven’t forgotten about it and regularly bring it up, throwing around ideas. Work has finally started on doing the fixes to the house. It hasn’t been particularly difficult coping with it, as it is over the past two years, but I’m definitely going to be relieved when it’s all finished.
Especially the utility, having space for only one washer and dryer is a nightmare for this many people, and you can guarantee that whoever is on washing duty that day curses up a storm.
The guys and I are as close as ever, and Peter and Elijah are really good and stronger than ever. Callan, Noel and Marty moved out of the farmhouse and into their own places around the town, and Peter has truly made the farmhouse his. He got his way and got a gorgeous dog too, which he named Shadow because he thought it was hilarious. Marty and Noel are still frustratingly tiptoeing around their feelings for each other even though we’ve had a few parties now, and they’ve ended up making out in a corner and then leaving together. It’s never spoken about again,, and they avoid each other like the plague for a few days after. They’re in denial, and the rest of us are all in agreement to leave them to it.
Now that we’re safer than we ever have been before, we’ve been back to see the parents several times, and it’s been amazing. We’ve managed to put off having them come here; we all wanted to make double sure that it was really safe, but they’re fed up with waiting now, so we’re having them come up for Christmas, which is only next month, Jonah is setting them up with a house in town. I’ve been pintresting and planning, and I’m stupidly nervous, especially since we’re going to have Jynx and the guys and Lyric and here guys here for Christmas as well.
Speaking of parents, Rage decided to sell the house, and his dad helped him out. They’ve only met a few times, thanks to both of their busy schedules, but they talk all the time, and I can tell that it means the world to Rage.
Lyric has become one of my best friends, level with Jynx and Peter and her and Jynx get on ridiculously well, which makes all the guys nervous.
We see a lot of Zemi and her team as well, although we haven’t quite got to the level of trust where we have invited them back to the cabin, which fortunately they understand, and one of her guys always distracts Zemi in case she gets an impulsive idea when we leave and decides to follow us again.
I’ve still had no contact with Rylie, but I’ve made peace with the fact that I most likely won’t.
Working with Mr Rising is interesting; Alaric was right. He is a good boss, but the other teams are exactly like Zemi described; they don’t like that we’re young, and they don’t like that I’m a woman. Jensen and Saint have pulled several pranks and blamed other people by this point. It wasn’t too bad since we only went in a couple of times a month to debrief the boss, but now that we’re all over twenty-one, Alaric is taking a step back from being our handler, and we’ll be reporting directly to Mr Rising, he also wants us to play a more active role at the base and in training. He’s recently become aware of the issues with the senior teams and thinks that despite our success rate, having us join in with some of the training exercises would prove to the fuckers our worth, and they’d leave us alone I had pointed out that we didn’t need to prove shit, but he just gave me a look, so I shut my mouth instead.
Chapter One
“Ever, we’ve got to get going. Mr Rising wants us at headquarters!” Trick calls up the stairs.
“I’m coming,” I yell back, “Runa won’t get off my jacket.”
“Why don’t you get another jacket?” Jensen suggests, and I turn to find him leaning against my door, looking highly amused.
His face has become sharper over the last couple of years, and he’s filled out even more thanks to all of the jobs we’ve been doing and the extra equipment we’ve put into the gym.
I stick my tongue out at him, “Because I hadn’t thought of that.”
His chuckles follow me to my closet as I pull out a different jacket and put it on. As I head toward him, he smirks and stalks toward me; he lifts me up, my legs wrapping around his waist as my lips crash against his; my back hits the wall as he nips my lip, our tongues dancing together.
“Seriously, you two? If we’re late again because someone has distracted Ever, Mr Rising is going to be less than impressed.” Cash says from the door.
I kiss Jensen one more time and then look over to Cash, raising my eyebrow, “And who was it that distracted me last time?”
He grins proudly but admits to nothing as we all head out of my room and down the stairs.
“You got your jacket back then?” Rage teases.
“Nope, that’s hers now,” I reply with a shrug.
The guys chuckle; they’re getting used to Runa and me having these disagreements now, and they find great entertainment in it whenever we do. As soon as we step outside, I wish that I’d put more layers on; it’s only November, but it’s cold as hell, and I’d be willing to bet that we’ll be getting snow soon, I might mention that to Mr Rising soon, just in case we can’t get into headquarters because we’re snowed in, not that I think any of us would be really disappointed by that.
We split up and get in the SUVs, Trick turning the heat on as soon as we are seated, and the doors are closed.
“Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?” Luc asks, “it’s a lot sooner than our usual check-in ones, and we’ve already given our report for the last job.”
Trick shrugs, “I have no idea, he did say that he wanted us to start coming in more now that Alaric has taken a step back, so maybe it has something to do with that, but he was very vague on the phone. So either he’s got a job that’s too sensitive to go through the normal channels, or it’s something else entirely.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” I reply, wanting to change the subject, “are we still going to the parents for Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah, Mom is beyond excited. We’re doing it at Kat, Richard and Marc’s place.” Trick replies and then adds, “To be honest, I think she’s more excited that they’re finally coming up here for Christmas.”
“We’ve put it off for as long as we can,” I agree.
Riot turns to look at me, studying my face, “You’re not looking forward to it?”
“No, I am. I’m just nervous. I mean, we’ve got everybody coming up, Lyric and her guys, Jynx and the guys, Peter, Elijah and the rest of the team, and then the parents too, that’s,” I pause while I try to add up the numbers.
“Thirty-two,” Rafe replies, and of course, he’d know he’s been planning the meal since we first agreed to invite them all up.
“Don’t forget Alaric messaged Atlas, and he can make it now,” Riot reminds us.
“That’s thirty-three! That’s a crazy amount of people, and I just want to make sure it’s perfect. The extension on the kitchen isn’t even finished yet, so currently, we don’t even have anywhere to sit them all.” When I decided that I wanted to do a big family Christmas at our place this year, we also invited Elena, Dom, Blade, Inferno and the babies up, but they already had a massive thing planned at the club, so they couldn’t make it.
“It will be fine, Sweetheart,” Trick smiles reassuringly, “none of the people coming are strangers, and you can guarantee that they’re all going to pitch in.”
“The kitchen extension should be finished in the next couple of weeks,” Rafe adds, “and we’ve got that huge table already in the garage waiting for us to put it together.”
“I can’t wait to start decorating,” I grin and then add because they all give me the same look, “I know, no decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I’m telling you now, the day after, though, it’s going to look like Christmas threw up in our house.”
“I don’t think that’s the imagery that you want to use for that,” Luc grimaces.
I chuckle, “Yeah, maybe not.”
“When’s Jynx coming?” Trick asks me.
“The day after tomorrow, she had a break, and we haven’t seen each other in a couple of months and didn’t want to wait until Christmas.”
“Is Jonah setting them up with a place in town again?” Luc asks curiously.
“Yeah, I think he’s setting them up in the same place as last time, Jynx loves it, and I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t end up just buying it.” I chuckle, having already had the conversation with her.
The rest of the drive to headquarters is just full of easy chit-chat. We’re around five minutes away when my cell pings with a message, and I pull it out.
Peter: Message me the second that you guys get back. I need to talk to you.
Me: Are you okay?
I’m instantly alert, worrying about everything that could have possibly gone wrong since we left. As has become our norm, when I start to freak out that something is wrong, Peter immediately sends me a picture of him and Shadow curled up on the couch in Elijah and his farmhouse.
Peter: Sorry, sugar, I’m fine. I just need to talk to you.
I reply that I’ll let him know and that I’ll tell the guys the plan for when we get back. Although I am a lot better than I was after I got kidnapped, it has left some things behind that rear their ugly heads every now and then, like my panic that the people I love aren’t safe. I know that if they really weren’t, my panic would turn to very focused rage, and anyone who got in the way of me protecting them would die. I also occasionally still get nightmares, but I pretend I don’t.
The awe of pulling through the first set of gates and seeing the amount of security and then the colossal mansion beyond hasn’t lessened over the last couple of years, if anything, now that I know what lies beyond the doors of the house. It’s pretty incredible what they’ve managed to achieve with it without it affecting the façade.
Trick parks the car, Atlas parking next to us and then says, “Come on, let's go and find out what Mr Rising wants.”
As we walk through the door and into the giant lobby, I fill the guys in on what Peter texted me.
“I’ve already messaged him and asked if he and Elijah want to come up for dinner,” Rafe tells us, his phone in his hand.
“Good idea. He knew we were coming here, so it must’ve been important. Maybe it’s the reason why he said he wasn’t coming today.” Atlas suggests.
“Yeah, that was weird. What are we telling Mr Rising about why he isn’t here again?” Jensen asks, eyes constantly moving around the space and studying the other people.
“Just that he’s not feeling too good, and we’ll fill him in when we get back.” Trick reminds him for maybe the fourth time.
I grin as I look around. There are very few people here that have taken a liking to us. Speaking of people who like us, I see Zemi stomp across the lobby with a face like fucking thunder, a split lip, a bruise starting to appear on her cheek, and her eyebrow split too. Her men, as I call them, although none of them are admitting their feelings, are all following after her, looking concerned, even Raiden, who likes to give her a hard time usually.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I ask as soon as she’s close enough.
We’ve gotten pretty close with them; not only are they awesome, but we’ve sort of made an alliance since everyone hates them just as much as us. We aren’t quite at the point where we trust them enough to invite them back to our place, but that’s also because we’re all super cautious, and we have even more people to keep safe now. We haven’t had any problems since we started working here apart from the expected on-the-job injury, which has, thankfully, been nothing too serious.
Whatever Zemi says is entirely unrecognisable to me since she’s that fucking mad. I look toward Raiden, hoping he can explain.
“Zep, Saint, go and take Zemi to get cleaned up and make sure she doesn’t need any stitches.” Raiden orders, his voice tight with anger that he’s barely suppressing.
They instantly nod, and before they can walk off with her, I say, “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”
I just receive a nod in return as she stomps alongside Zep and Saint.
“What happened?” Atlas asks, his eyebrow raised.
“Fucking Jared, he’s been needling her with snide comments and shit for the last couple of weeks, and then today made her mad enough that she got in the ring with him.” Raiden starts.
Wilder takes over, “She lost, he’s had years more training than she has, and he fought dirty.”
“Wilder went in the ring with him and handed him his ass,” Raiden interrupts.
Wilder scoffs as he continues, “Yeah, and it didn’t make any fucking difference because I’m male, and he still spent fucking ages gloating and yelling about how women shouldn’t be a part of the teams and how they’re only good for one thing.”
Anger burns through my veins. That fuckers been giving her shit for as long as we’ve been here, and I know he was doing it before we came as well. Which is why I ask, “Where is he?”
Raiden and Wilder share a look before Raiden answers me, “Most likely still in the gym spouting his bullshit.”
I nod and start heading in the direction of the gym, there are a couple here, but since he didn’t specify, I assume that it’s the main one. Of course, everyone follows me, Jensen bouncing in anticipation and the others with huge grins on their faces; they know that I’m starting to consider Zemi one of mine, which means I’m going to protect her like one of mine and this fucker has been bothering her for far too long.
No one notices as we enter the gym; everyone is too focused on the idiot that is still gloating, just like Raiden predicted he would be.
“Did you see how easy she was to take down?” he asks loudly, “do we really want weak women like that on our teams.”
What’s worrying about his little speech is that he actually has some people agreeing with him.
“Stupid, backwards-ass donkey dicks,” I mutter, and Rafe chuckles, since he’s the only one close enough to hear what I’ve said.
“Bring him down a peg or two, Baby,” he mutters back proudly, making me smile.
“Yeah, because winning against someone who has decades less training than you is really an achievement,” I call out sarcastically. He doesn’t have decades of training; he’s probably only in his mid-thirties, but he’s sensitive about his age, so I just had to throw the decades in there for my own amusement.
Rage whistles behind me, hearing the anger in my voice, before saying excitedly, “Oh, he’s fucked.”
“I bet she has him down within the first minute,” Atty replies.
“I’ll take that bet,” I hear Riot agree, “she’s got that look in her eye. I think she’s going to play for a bit first.”
“Ah fuck, I missed that,” Atlas groans.
I tune out their conversation, amusing as it is, and refocus on the people still left in the gym.
