Page 2 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

WADE

The lunch rush at the restaurant had just ended, leaving us in the usual lull before the dinner crowd arrived.TheWateringHole, the pubIco-owned with my friends—most of whom were former military, along with one former cop—wasn’t exactly whereIenvisioned my career heading.Still, it was part of our larger plan after retiring from the military.Vince,Jack, andIhad served together during my last tour, and during downtime, we often talked about our post-duty ambitions.Vince’scousin, a cop looking to transition into private security, inspired us to team up with him andArcherto bring our vision to life.

Considering three of us wereArmyRangers, our special ops skills made us highly qualified to do private security.Vince, having learned from his bounty hunter dad, andArcher, a former cop, also allowed us to add private investigations and fugitive recovery to our business.

However, a business like that usually takes time to build up clientele, so we’d decided to buy into the pub first to build up cash flow for the security business.Myuncle ran theWateringHolefor thirty years, but was ready to retire, soI’dtalked him into selling the pub and restaurant to me.Thebest part was he owned the whole building.Thepub was on the ground floor, with a large empty space on the second floor, which we’d turned into the security company, and then two small apartments on the floor above that.

I lived in one apartment, and the other belonged toJack, thoughImainly kept an eye on it now while he was finishing up his last tour.Oncehe was done, hopefully in a few weeks, he would join us at the security company.

We’d recently put in a surveillance room upstairs where we could monitor all the extra security cameras we installed around the inside and outside of the building.Itwas necessary for the security company, but also for the pub, soIcould keep an eye on everything whenIwasn’t there.

It was a great location, just on the north side ofAtlantanearDobbingtonAirReserveBase.Plentyof servicemembers came to the bar during downtime, which made it a good spot to recruit more people for when our business -RangerShieldSecurity- took off.ArcherandVincewere basically heading up the security company sinceJackwas still overseas, andIwas running the bar most days.

Jack had called a couple of days ago to give me a heads-up that his sister was going to move into his space temporarily until he came home.Hedidn’t say much, but apparently his sister quit her job, broke up with her boyfriend and was moving here.Healso asked if we could hire her at the bar, which was fine by me because we were short-staffed, and she apparently had experience working in restaurants and bars.Hegave her my cell, and she’d texted me to tell me she would be here this afternoon, which was whatIwas currently waiting for.

I was hoping to get her to fill out all the paperwork and give her the basics today and then have her start training tomorrow withTammy, who had been here about as long as my uncle.Speakof the feisty devil,Tammystood in the small office doorway and knocked.

“Hey boss-man, got a lady here to see ya.Areal looker namedEllie.Isthis the one you want me training?”

“Yeah.Wouldyou send her back so we can get started on her paperwork?”

“Sure thing.I’mglad we share tips, ‘causeIhave a feelin’ this one will bring in lots of them from the boys.She’scertainly easier on the eyes thanSamandCorey,”Tammysaid with a wink.

“Thanks,Tammy,”Isaid asIrolled my eyes.Tammyhad made it her life’s mission lately to try setting me up with every girl who walked into the bar, no matter how big the red flags were.

Small raps at the door had me looking up again, andIimmediately did a double-take of the woman standing next toTammy.Shehadn’t been kidding.Thiswoman was stunning.Jackhad a picture of him and his sister he carried around with him while we were overseas, but the girl in the picture was a scrawny fourteen-year-old girl with frizzy blond hair and braces.Thewoman before me was not that girl.Shehad filled out in all the right places.

She was quite tall.Shepractically towered overTammy, though that wasn’t saying much since almost everyone was taller thanTammy, but whatTammylacked in height, she more than made up for with attitude and brass balls.

“Here ya go, boss.Oncey’all get the paperwork signed let me know, andIcan show her around the place and figure out a time for her to shadow me.”

“ThanksTammy.Willdo,”Isaid, shaking myself out of my daze asIstared at the beautiful woman in the doorway.Inoticed some discoloration on her face – bruises, maybe, that were starting to heal, but she also appeared to have makeup on, soIcouldn’t tell for sure.

“I’mWade.Youmust beEllie,”Isaid, extending my hand.

She took it, and the soft brush of her skin against my arm sent a jolt through me—not good, because it felt way too nice.Shakeit off, soldier.

“Yes, hi.Thanksfor helping me out,”Elliesaid in a cheery voice, though she looked a bit nervous. “Iknow you’re only considering me for the job because ofJack, butIpromise you won’t regret it.Ihave plenty of experience with bartending and waitressing.”

“Jack already told me you had plenty of experience, soI’mnot worried.Let’sget all this paperwork signed, and thenI’llshow you around the place,”Isaid, knowing full well thatTammyhad offered, butIfelt the sudden need to do it myself.

I handed over several sheets of paper for her to fill out and sign.Whileshe did,Ipretended to do some stuff on my computer but found myself glancing over at her with her eyes looking down.Thosedefinitely looked like healing bruises now that she was up close.Wasshe in an accident?Jackhadn’t mentioned anything.

She had fair skin and bright blue eyes like her brother, but whereasJackhad brown hair, she had light blonde hair that was wavy and landed just past her shoulders.Itlooked so soft that,Ijust wanted to run my hands through it.

Inappropriate.

She is your employee now, not to mention your best friend’s little sister.

“How old are you?”Iasked.Ihadn’t looked at her résumé yet, butIhad a general idea based on how many years younger she was thanJack.

“I just turned twenty-one,” she said, looking up at me, andIwas immediately captivated by those beautiful blue eyes.

I nodded back.Waytoo young for my nearly thirty-year-old self, that was for sure.

AndJack’slittle sister.Rememberthat.

I tried to distract myself while she finished the paperwork, butIcouldn’t stop staring.

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