Black Out Read online

  Black Out

  HOT Heroes for Hire: Mercenaries: A Black’s Bandits Novel

  Lynn Raye Harris

  Contents

  About This Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Books by Lynn Raye Harris

  Who’s HOT?

  About the Author

  About This Book

  Angelica Turner’s life is in danger. If she wants to survive, she’ll have to turn to a man with violence in his eyes and death in his soul. A man she desires, yet desperately needs to resist if she doesn’t want her heart shattered again.

  * * *

  Hardened mercenary Colton Duchaine has wanted Angie since he first laid eyes on her, but he knows he’s the wrong kind of man for an innocent woman like her. His life is too dangerous, too unpredictable. He can never settle down.

  * * *

  But when someone wants Angie silenced, Colt will do whatever it takes to keep her alive. And when she’s safe, he’ll get out of her life for good.

  * * *

  Turns out that walking away is easier said than done. Angie is his—and Colt will stop at nothing to claim her for his own.

  * * *

  HOT Heroes For Hire: Mercenaries, aka Black’s Bandits

  Black Out: Colt & Angie

  © 2020 by Lynn Raye Harris

  Find me:

  Lynn on Facebook

  Lynn on Twitter

  HOT Readers and Fans Group on Facebook

  Sign up for Lynn’s VIP Reader List

  Lynn’s Website

  Prologue

  They were onto him. Nobody had said so, but he knew it nonetheless. They were coming for him.

  He rushed through his house, throwing clothes into a case, grabbing his laptop and passport.

  Panicking.

  “Think,” he told himself through gritted teeth.

  He flung himself down in his desk chair and logged onto his computer. He’d kept records. He’d been careful, but it didn’t matter now. He opened up the accounting firm’s secure login portal. Once he was in, he deposited the spreadsheet he’d been keeping. It was separate from the official records and they didn’t know he had it.

  Or hadn’t known. Maybe they did now.

  It had everything in it.

  But if he got caught while trying to escape, he wouldn’t be caught with it. He could deny he knew anything.

  Who was he kidding? They wouldn’t believe him—but he could try.

  If the worst happened, it was still there. Someone at Barton, Barnes and Blake would figure it out.

  He hoped. God, he hoped.

  He’d point them to it when it was safe to make contact. Until then, he planned to disappear. He had enough money.

  Hopefully he had enough of a head start.

  He heard the slamming of car doors. The neighbor’s dog started to bark.

  Time to disappear.

  Chapter One

  The numbers weren’t right. Angelica Turner—Angie to her friends—stared at the spreadsheet on the screen in front of her. It wasn’t syncing with the client account’s statements, and it annoyed her.

  It shouldn’t be her job to figure this one out. But one day last week, Charles Martinelli didn’t show up to work. He quit, or so the official story said. She wasn’t entirely certain he hadn’t been fired, especially if all his accounts were this screwed up. Not that she’d heard anything that suggested he’d been fired, and she wasn’t about to ask.

  Whatever the case, the shit job of cleaning up this particular mess fell to her. She almost didn’t see the spreadsheet in his files, because he’d labeled it oddly, but once she’d opened it, it bore the Cardinal Group name. They were a small venture capital firm, investing in local businesses for a pool of anonymous investors. It was a nice idea and good for the local economy. But if she couldn’t figure out Charles’s work, she was going to have to start over. Re-enter all the company’s statements, redo all their deposits and expenses. She didn’t relish that idea at all, especially since she had other accounts to take care of.

  The life of an accountant began to get a little insane at the start of a new year. Corporate tax returns due March fifteenth and personal ones due April fifteenth. It was a lot of work. She’d been with Barton, Barnes, and Blake for almost two years now, and while she couldn’t say she hated it, she didn’t love it. With the exception of this particular account, the job wasn’t as challenging as she might like.

  She loved some of her coworkers though. Liam Wood was a great guy. They’d been hired on the same day, so she felt a certain affinity with him. He’d been the one who’d clued her in months ago when her best friend started seeing Jace Kaiser. Liam had seen them in a restaurant and told Angie all about it. Maddy had to confess after that.

  Thoughts of Maddy and Jace inevitably led to the man she didn’t want to think about. Colton Duchaine. Colt was one of Jace’s coworkers, and he made her stupid heart want to give him a chance in spite of the fact she knew it wouldn’t work out.

  Colt lived a dangerous life. He and Jace were spies. At least that’s what she thought they were. There was certainly no doubt they were involved in a high-risk profession. She’d gotten a firsthand look at that when Jace’s sister had kidnapped her at gunpoint.

  Angie shivered. She still had nightmares sometimes, though mostly she was fine. Jace had saved her and Maddy both. When Angie’d found out that Colt had been shot, she’d been devastated. She knew it was her fault because she’d led Natasha straight to him.

  No matter that he told her it wasn’t, she couldn’t help but think if she’d been a stronger person when Natasha abducted her, she might have thought of a way to escape instead of leading the assassin to Maddy and Colt.

  That wasn’t the only reason she couldn’t get involved with Colt. She’d had more than enough experience with dynamic, handsome men, thank you very much.

  Men who looked like Colt had far too many temptations in life. She’d been there, done that with her ex. She wasn’t doing it again.

  No matter how sexy the temptation.

  Angie clicked one of the columns and sighed in frustration. She dashed off an email to the client, asking for any additional statements they might have before she started going through the columns and making note of everything that was off. If they didn’t send anything additional that resolved it like magic, she’d have to make a list of individual transactions and ask for information on each one.

  Her cell phone rang and she jumped. It was so quiet in the office that the noise scared her. It was Maddy. Angie picked the phone up and leaned back in her chair. That’s when she noticed it was dark outside. She hadn’t realized she’d been working that long.

  “Hey, babes,” she said.

  “Hi, Ang! You busy?”

  Angie glared at the computer screen. “A little, but I’m about to call it a day anyway. What’s up?”

  “I fixed too much pot roast for dinner. I was hoping you’d join us.”

  Angie couldn’t help but grin. Maddy knew she wasn’t a cook. At all. And whether or not Mads had actually fixed too much pot roast or she was just thinking of her bestie, Angie wasn’t going to turn down a home-cooked meal.<
br />
  “That would be great. I didn’t realize how late it was. I was just going to shut down and pick up something on the way home, but your cooking is even better.”

  “Awesome! I’ll set a place for you.”

  “You sure Jace doesn’t mind?”

  “Why would he mind?”

  “He’s been out of town recently. And so have you. How’d the appraisal go?”

  Maddy was an art appraiser for an insurance company and she often traveled to exotic locations in order to evaluate rich people’s collections.

  “Oh, it was great. I had to appraise some Russian art in Japan—and Jace joined me when he finished with his assignment, so we haven’t been apart as much as you’d think. Besides, I’ve missed you and I want to see you. Jace is perfectly happy with the idea, so please get here as soon as you can.”

  Angie laughed. “Okay, fine, I’ll be there in twenty minutes. I have to shut down my computer and grab my coat.”

  “See you then, girlie! I can’t wait to catch up!”

  They hung up and Angie logged off her computer and put everything away. She was smiling to herself, happier than she’d been in days. Maddy did that. It was great having a best friend you could say anything to. And who could say anything to you.

  Angie had worried just a little, if she was honest, about how much Maddy might need her now that Jace was in her life. But Maddy was the same person—only happier and with more excitement about the future.

  Angie wished she had that same excitement. She didn’t, and she didn’t know how to get it. She’d thought the change from math teacher to accountant would do it, but it hadn’t. Not yet anyway.

  It didn’t help that when she’d made the change, she’d also discovered her fiancé was a cheating douchebag. The life she’d thought she was working for imploded at that point.

  Angie grabbed her coat and handbag and headed for the exit. Liam’s office door was open and his light was on. Angie peeked in.

  “Hey,” she said.

  Liam looked up, his face fixed in a frown that melted when he saw her. “Hey. You leaving?”

  “I am. I thought I was the only one working late. I didn’t hear you at all.”

  Liam snorted. “I wish, but I’m here. Have to finish up the Garvin account tonight.”

  Guilt pricked her. She should probably be working on reconciling those statements, but she just couldn’t face it tonight. Besides, corporate tax returns weren’t due for another month and a half. There was time to get all her work done, even if she had to pop in and out of the Cardinal Group accounts for another week or two.

  Damn that Charles Martinelli anyway.

  “Did you get any of Martinelli’s accounts?” she asked.

  “A couple. You?”

  “Oh yes. You find anything out of the ordinary with any of them?”

  Liam’s brows drew together. “Not yet. Will I?”

  Angie shrugged. “Maybe. It’s too early to tell, but I feel like he left a bit of a mess. Have you heard from him?”

  “Nope. Talk about tanking your career, right?”

  Sometimes Angie wished she could walk away like that. Just say see ya, suckers and not come back. But she’d already left one profession and this was the one that was supposed to fulfill her. So far, she wasn’t feeling all that fulfilled.

  “He was either very brave or very stupid. I’m not sure which.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. Some days I’d love to leave it all behind and retire to a beach somewhere.”

  “Sounds like a dream. Okay, I’m out of here.”

  Liam tapped some keys. “Have a good night. See you tomorrow.”

  “Yep, see you. Don’t work too late.”

  “I won’t. The girlfriend is bringing dinner over later, so I’ll get home in time for that.”

  Angie said goodbye, then went and got into her car. She sat there for a long minute while the heated seat warmed her up. A man strode down the sidewalk in front of the office building and over to the door. He peered though the glass, and then rapped on it. Angie debated lowering her window and telling him the office was closed, but he continued down the street.

  She put the car in reverse and dismissed it from her mind. Soon she’d be at Maddy and Jace’s, eating dinner and having a glass of wine with two of the people she loved most.

  She’d worry about how to fix the mess Charles had made tomorrow.

  Colt knew the instant he pulled up on the street in front of Jace and Maddy’s place why they’d invited him. He gripped the wheel with both hands and sighed. Maybe he should keep on driving, but then he’d have to explain why he hadn’t shown up after all.

  And Maddy would be hurt. He didn’t think Angie would care, but Maddy would—and that was enough to make him put the Yukon in park and get out. He stood on the street and studied the Cape Cod-style house that Maddy had inherited from her grandmother. Jace was helping her fix it up, and they’d started an addition on the rear of the house that would be a new master suite. Colt could see the vapor barrier covering the OSB from this angle. It was bigger than he’d realized from the plans Jace had shown him.

  Jace and Maddy deserved it. Jace was one of his best friends, plus they worked together. And Maddy was so sweet she gave him a toothache—but in the best way possible. Not a pairing he’d have seen from a mile away, but it definitely worked. Humanized Jace, which was something he’d needed.

  Maybe Colt would find that someday too.

  Angie’s older model BMW sat in the driveway. The metal still creaked from the engine compartment as it cooled, which meant she hadn’t been there long. Colt drew in a breath and gripped the bottle of wine he’d brought before walking up to the front door and ringing the bell.

  The door swung open and Jace stood there. “Hey, man, glad you could make it.”

  Colt arched an eyebrow. “You might have mentioned there was an ulterior motive,” he said, low enough that Maddy and Angie wouldn’t overhear.

  Jace gave a small shake of his head. “Strict orders from my lady. No can do.”

  “Fine. Here’s a bottle of wine, traitor.”

  Jace laughed and held the door open wider. “Come on in. You can handle it.”

  He could. He wasn’t sure Angie could. He hadn’t seen her since New Year’s Eve in this very house when she’d kissed him at midnight. It hadn’t been a particularly sexy kiss, but it had certainly rocked his brain and left him aching. Just a simple press of her luscious lips against his, and he’d dreamed of her for days.

  He walked inside and shrugged out of his coat. Jace took it and hung it on the hall tree. They actually had a small entry hall now. It was one of the renovations they’d done to make the house more modern and livable for their lives together.

  Colt followed Jace into the open living area. The kitchen had been expanded and opened up. There was a big island where a wall had once been and you could see all the way into the kitchen now. Maddy was busy taking something out of the oven. Angie perched on a chair by the island, twirling a glass of wine between her fingers, and talking to Maddy.

  She looked up when he walked in with Jace. Colt could see her entire body stiffen, and a wave of disappointment washed over him. Whatever the reason, she still wasn’t comfortable around him. Wasn’t ready to let anything happen between them.

  “Hello, ladies,” he said as Maddy came around the island all smiles, arms open.

  “Hi,” Angie said as Maddy enveloped him in a hug.

  “Colt, I’m so glad you could make it! I know it was short notice but I didn’t want all these leftovers and I thought, well, who else could help us eat this roast? So I came up with the two of you.”

  “I’m glad you called me. You know I love a home-cooked meal.”

  Maddy was all smiles as she went back to the stove to stir something. “Have a seat. It’ll be ready in a few.”

  Angie’s beautiful green eyes met his for a second and then she dropped them to her glass. Colt’s gut twisted—and then he decided what the hel
l. She clearly didn’t care for him, so he wasn’t about to twist himself up in knots trying to be nice.

  “Want some wine?” Jace asked.

  “Sure.”

  “The one you brought, or the one Maddy opened?”

  “Is it red?”

  “It’s a Napa Valley cab.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Jace poured a glass and handed it to him. Colt took a seat at the bar and looked around the room. “I still can’t get over how much bigger this space is since you knocked out the wall and redid the kitchen.”

  “Right?” Maddy said brightly. “And the floors! Who knew we’d fine that gorgeous heart pine beneath the carpet?”

  “Uh, just about any renovation show on HGTV. Which I know you love watching,” Colt teased.

  He hadn’t even known who Chip and Joanna were until he’d met Maddy. Now he knew all about shiplap and farmhouses, though Maddy wasn’t trying to turn this place into a farmhouse. She’d found another show apparently, one that was more about renovating older homes. Some couple in Mississippi named Ben and Erin. It pained him that he knew these things, but he did.

  Maddy laughed. “Okay, you got me. I hoped we’d have hardwoods. I’m so glad we did—but I’d have gone shopping for antique flooring if they weren’t there.”

  Jace rolled his eyes, but it was lovingly done. “Yeah, she would have. And she’d have dragged me with her. To every single architectural salvage store on the eastern seaboard.”

  “Come on, it would have been fun.”