Page 30 of Dangerous Secret

“I’ve thought about it, and it has to be something really bad. If he killed once without losing sleep, he could have done it before. There’s also a gun in the safe. What if it could be tied to a murder?”

“I need to get into that safe.”

“That’s too dangerous. Anthony always has people around, and they’re not of the nice variety.”

“Don’t mistake me for the nice variety either, Harlow.”

Gone was the gentle, kind-eyed man she was growing to like…a lot. In that man’s place was a hard-eyed warrior, and definitely not a gentle or kind one. She’d never thought a muscled-soldier type of guy would appeal to her. Apparently, she’d thought wrong. The raw power he’d kept hidden until now was… Well, swoon-worthy came to mind.

That just made her want to know more about him, especially how he, Liam and Cooper had connected. She suspected there was a story there, and she wanted to know it. Maybe with the secrets they’d shared, he would be more open to telling her.

“You said someday you’d tell me how the three of you came to start The Phoenix Three.”

“I said that?”

“Yes.” Well, she couldn’t remember his exact words, but he’d said something along those lines.

“If you want to know, sure. The three of us were kidnapped during spring break in Fort Lauderdale and held for ransom when we were seniors in high school.”

She gasped. “Dear God. But obviously, you are all okay.”

“Now we are. The two men who did it are in prison, but they held us captive under deplorable conditions. At the time, Liam lived in Kansas City, and they grabbed him on the way home from school. They brought him with them to Florida where they knew I’d be for spring break. Our fathers were wealthy, so they figured they could get money from both of them.”

“How did they know about boys living so far apart?”

“One of them had worked as a mechanic at my dad’s Charleston dealership, and the other had worked as a line cook at Liam’s father’s Charleston pub. Liam’s family has Irish pubs all over the world. As luck would have it, our abductors ended up in prison together, one for armed robbery and the other for a carjacking. The two started dreaming up schemes to get rich when they got out and came up with the idea of kidnapping me and Liam. Unfortunately for Cooper, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person…me. When they grabbed me, they took him, too.”

“Your families paid the ransom?” She couldn’t imagine getting a call from kidnappers that they had Tyler. She’d pay anything they asked to get him safely back, even if she had to rob a bank.

“No. The first demand was a million for each of us, which mine and Liam’s families agreed to. The kidnappers thought that was too easy, so they demanded an additionalmillion each. My dad was a former SEAL and decided he wasn’t going to play games with them. He called in some favors, and a team of former SEALs found us and rescued us.”

“That’s an amazing story and thank God you all were rescued. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like. I hope they got a long sentence.”

“They did. Because of their previous records and then the kidnapping, they’ll grow old behind bars.”

“The kidnapping, that’s why y’all started The Phoenix Three.” It wasn’t a question, she knew it was true. They’d gone from being victims of a terrible crime to being heroes dedicated to saving children. Not that they saw themselves as heroes, but they damn sure were.

“Yeah.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “It was to make something good out of the worst time of our lives.”

He wasn’t just a survivor. He was a man who had taken his pain and turned it into something that could help others.

And she was blessed to have found him, to have him helping her.

Chapter 13

Murder? Grayson had expected Pressley to be involved in any number of shady things, but murder hadn’t been on his list. That Harlow had been married to the man, had slept in the same bed with him, had been touched by him made Grayson want to put his fist through the wall, or preferably, Pressley’s face. And even though he’d been a SEAL, and he’d had to do things he couldn’t and wouldn’t ever talk about, he wasn’t a violent man at heart. He was feeling damn violent right now, though.

What that said about his feelings where Harlow was concerned and what he wanted, he’d think about later. First order of business was getting Pressley out of her life and bringing her son home to her. After that mission was successfully completed, he’d circle back around to examining these Harlow feelings going on that he wasn’t sure he wanted.

He needed a plan to get into that safe, but it was getting late and time to go. “I’m going to take off.” When he stood, she did, too. She looked up at him, and their gazes locked. He didn’t even think to resist the physical pull—almost a tangible thing—between them as his mouth sought hers.

His brain kicked into gear as his lips hovered over hers. “I said I wouldn’t kiss you again unless you asked me to. Ask me, Harlow.”

Her sea blue eyes met his. “It’s not a good idea.”

The disappointment was heavy, but he understood.

“But I don’t care. Kiss me, Grayson. Please.”

---