Page 3 of Vicious Sabotage

“I stopped them.”

“Fuck! Lock yourself in the bar, Livia. Don’t open the door for anyone but me. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Her legs folded, and she sat down hard on her desk chair.

“I’ll be there soon.”

He ended the call. Livia stared at her phone screen for several heartbeats before turning her attention to the security footage again.

The parking lot looked empty. To a bar owner, no customers meant no money earned. With high overhead costs, that was very bad. Payroll came at the end of the week. She had shipments of alcohol arriving and invoices to be paid. Her rum distillery business hadn’t taken off the way her father expected, which meant the bar carried the secondary business.

When Colton appeared on the security camera, she leaped out of her chair and rushed to let him in.

He took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You’re okay? Not hurt?”

She shook her head. Her friend Meadow was so lucky to have a man like Colton in her life. And Ivy had Hunter. God, the man must be going out of his mind.

Livia had never felt so alone.

“Let me have a look at the footage.” Colton released her and moved behind her desk.

After a minute of replaying the video, he met her gaze.

“What is it?” She wet her dry lips with her equally dry tongue. She owned a bar. She should never be thirsty.

His gaze burned into her. “You were brave as hell, woman. But you just made yourself a target. You need a bodyguard.”

* * * * *

Carver Wolfe had no business being on a ranch. While the place was scenic, and quieter than any place he’d ever stayed, he had only come because of his men. Colton and Hunter had come to take care of business on the ranch that their late friend, Forest Gracey, had talked so much about.

Wolfe had been back with his fellow SEALs for all of a few hours and they had already stepped on a landmine. But he had their six.

He met the gazes of his men. At least he thought of Colton and Hunter as his men—they were practically babies when they joined the SEAL team that made them into men. He’d watched them grow as warriors and took pride in shaping them into the badasses who stood before him.

“What the hell have you gotten yourselves into?”

Colton filled his chest with air.

“I see there’s a story. There always is. I’ve been here for hours now, and nobody’s told me a fucking thing. Debrief me, guys. I’m ready.” Carver wagged his fingers to coax the tale out of Colton. Since Colton was always known for bucking authority, Carver could guess that he’d stepped into quicksand.

Hunter issued a grunt. “We’d hoped to welcome you to the Gracey before throwing you into the flames, but there isn’t time. A woman’s in trouble.”

At that, Carver stiffened. “What kind of trouble?”

He already knew half of it. The woman Hunter had claimed as his had been kidnapped. The men got her back and returned to the ranch with her just as Carver arrived.

The breeze kicked up into what could only be called a stiff blast of wind, and he caught the scent of nature in a way he hadn’t experienced before. He was well-traveled when it came to foreign countries. Deserts and jungles he knew, but the country felt foreign.

Lush fields with cattle in the distance were framed by the stark steely gray of the mountains. Thick, dark evergreens filled the space in between. Yeah, he’d never seen anything like this place.

“Short story is that a woman in town requires protection.” Colton scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Who’s after her?”

Hunter’s expression hardened, and he curled his fists. “The guys who kidnapped Ivy returned for her purse. When they came for her truck, the bar owner put a bullet in one.”

“Jesus. Tough woman.”

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