Brother's Keeper Security Series Bundle (e-book)

A USA TODAY BESTSELLING SERIES!

Heart-stopping chemistry and breath-holding suspense make this a riveting one-click must...

The O’Reilly brothers are a force to be reckoned with in this pulse-pounding, action packed series that will keep you on the edge of your seat…and watching over your shoulder.

Murder. Deception. Corruption. There is no match for the Brother’s Keeper Security team.

Be prepared to have your heart taken hostage and mind blown as you face twists and turns you never saw coming.

Five men. One mission. Justice.

“This is a nail-biting, page-turner. The hunters are being hunted, and they don’t know who is friend and who is foe. It's a fast-paced read filled with intrigue, emotions, passion, and suspense.”

"Stephanie delivers everything we expect from her: comedy, smoking hot romance, angst, secrets, pain, suspense, an epic twist you won’t see coming, healing hearts, and a Happily Ever After."

“Stephanie St. Klaire is a freaking genius. Full of twists and turns, and enough steam that you can see coming off of the pages. Only one word comes to mind, epic.”

“Stephanie St. Klaire is a master of suspense mixed with some romance!”

"THIS is what I was waiting for and Ms. St.Klaire has outdone herself."

"Stephanie St. Klaire is by far one of the best writers out there for romantic suspense."

"If you're looking for a twisted romantic suspense, look no further"

"Sometimes you run across an author that you just know every book they write will be a hit and that you immediately love. Stephanie St. Klaire is without a doubt one of my favorites!"

CHAPTER 1:
He shot the man. Lydia just watched her husband commit murder in cold blood. His eyes were void of emotion, his expression seething, and his cold demeanor something she didn’t recognize. Murder was a far cry from the affair Lydia Prescott-Valdez feared she would stumble upon when looking for her husband after he skipped yet another date night – a sign her marriage was in trouble. The shock of what unfolded instead provoked a sharp gasp and sent her running when one of Esteban’s men caught her eye – he saw her. She ran blindly, her body on autopilot while the past several minutes, which would change her life forever, played back like a bad movie reel.
When Lydia had pulled up to the real estate tycoon’s building in booming Miami just minutes before, she thought it odd so many cars were in the parking lot at such a late hour. Esteban’s car, front and center. Nobody holds board meetings that late.
Mistake number one – don’t go in.
A sense of fury raced through her, and rage sent Lydia storming through the front door despite the warning bells sounding in her head telling her not to go unless she was prepared for hard truths and ready to deal with them. Deaf to her own good sense, Lydia went up the elevator to his executive suite.
Mistake number two – if you act on emotion, be prepared for the fallout.
Confident she was about to unveil the source of her husband’s distraction in the form of giant fake boobs and a trashy discount store outfit that wasn’t even fit for a stripper, she was surprised to find his office empty. Fists tight and white-knuckled, Lydia followed the sound of something she couldn’t identify, intent on finding her damn husband. Half of the executive floor was under construction, and as she followed the sounds, it began to look like it was just late-night renovations, given the drill-like sounds and what was perhaps a saw.
Mistake number three – missing people and odd noises never end well.
Lydia stopped in her tracks when she heard a man’s bloodcurdling scream.
Mistake number four – if a man screams in sheer agony, you should run.
But she didn’t. Lydia kept on going until she found her husband, gun in hand, watching one of his associates drag a knife down the side of a bloodied and beaten man’s face while an equally brutalized man lay on the floor in a wounded heap. The man at the other end of the torture was held up only by rope dangling from the rafters because he could no longer stand on his own two feet. Certain her husband had nothing to do with something so heinous, that he stumbled upon it just as she had, she waited for him to use the gun to free the victims.
He raised his gun, alright, and used it but not at all the way Lydia assumed he would. Gunfire rang out as the body on the floor jolted from the impact of the bullets Esteban just emptied into his now dead corpse. The other man cried out, wetting himself from fear. Fear Lydia’s husband invoked, fear only evil could stir, fear that now raced through her, too.
She hadn’t realized that her reaction was out loud. She didn’t hear herself, but one of Esteban’s men did. Jason. He was her driver and bodyguard, appointed to watch over her and her son. Nausea settled in when their eyes met, and menace rested in his stare. All Lydia could do was run. She was completely unaware of how she made it down the elevator, through the lobby, and out to her car. She was just…there.
Sitting behind the wheel of her running car, she felt panic threaten to paralyze her until she saw Jason through the lobby’s glass doors, running toward her. Tears spilled over, and Lydia gasped for air while her tires spun out on the hot pavement. Slammed with every emotion one could muster, she realized that not only was her marriage clearly over but she also just witnessed a murder. Her next move became obvious. Run.
Her whirlwind love affair with Esteban was tainted at some point, and Lydia had been determined to get things back on track. She wasn’t a quitter, used to getting what she wanted. Thinking back, the socialite circuit that Lydia and her sister, Trinity, frequented exposed them to endless lines of suitors, but the one who caught Lydia’s eye, and fought for her heart – Esteban Ricardo Valdez – was also accustomed to getting what he wanted. He pursued her, wooed her, and finally won her over despite the enormous red flags she chose to ignore. He was too damn charming and easy on the eyes for her own good.
Their marriage began as a fairy tale, certain to end in a forever happily ever after, but eventually, the newness wore off, and the once doting husband became the absentee husband. When Lydia became pregnant with their son, it seemed their happily ever after was on the horizon once again until the baby was born, and the family became boring. She had always prided herself on her independence, though Lydia lived on a trust fund and never worked a day in her life, and her confidence – until now.
It wasn’t the money and spoiled life her husband offered her – she grew up privileged. It was love, or so Lydia thought, and she had been ready to fight for it. Whatever had Esteban’s attention was to meet its match, but she was no match for murder and scandal, nor did she expect to stumble upon it.
Lydia wasn’t that tough, and he wasn’t worth that much. Sitting in a cold, musty interview room at Miami PD, her mind was reeling. It all started to fall into place as she sat alone in the room, lost in thought. So many late-night broken hearts and tears, wondering where her husband had been, fell into place now. A person doesn’t simply pick up a gun one day and create a scene such as the one she watched unfold. It was calculated, methodical, and horrific. He knew what he was doing because he had done it before, more than once, more than twice.
How the hell did she love a man like that, and why the hell had she been so hell-bent on trying to make him love her back when he didn’t want her. Now she didn’t want him. Lydia feared him and all that came with him. When she told the police officer what she had witnessed, he placed her in an interview room and was likely watching her through the large mirrored window to her left, trying to decide if she was a half-crazed loon or a real witness to a crime. Lydia was dressed in a scandalous dress that was supposed to impress and seduce her husband, and her makeup was a runny mess from all the frantic tears she unloaded, along with skinned knees and elbows…she must’ve fallen at some point and just couldn’t remember. Lydia looked like a hot mess right out of Miami’s seedy nightlife.
***
Jason was trained to see, hear, and smell everything – to always be intimately familiar with his surroundings. Tonight, that skill paid off when a small, breathy sound caught his attention, and he quickly followed it back to its source. Standing halfway around the corner of a wall behind a plastic construction curtain in the dimly lit distance was Lydia. He’d recognize those curves anywhere, even in the shadows. When their eyes locked, he knew exactly how much she had seen…everything.
Even with the poor lighting, the terror and fear were evident in her expression. He needed to get to her before anyone else noticed her, especially Esteban, and before she ran. Like she read his thoughts just as they surfaced, Lydia backed away slowly at first, then turned and ran. Shit.
Jason stepped back from where he stood and pulled his phone from his pocket, as if he was taking a call, then excused himself. As Esteban’s right-hand, nobody, including Esteban, questioned him. It wasn’t unusual for him to take calls and disappear to take care of business without explanation, and it worked this time too, despite the old played out I’m taking a call trick. The truth was, Esteban was entranced and distracted by the torture he and the rest of the men were inflicting. They didn’t care or even notice his absence. Good.
Once out of view of those he wished not to draw attention from, he rushed out of there like a man on a mission. He came through the lobby doors as her car tore off like a bat out of hell, understandably so. Quick to follow, he tracked her using her GPS, his gut burning. He knew exactly where she was headed, and it was the worst place Lydia could go. He needed to stop her before she ruined everything or, worse, got herself killed.
After hitting every red light in town, Jason finally made it to the police station, where he found Lydia’s car haphazardly parked right out front. It was still running with the keys still in it. She was in a petrified frenzy, no doubt. He hoped he was there in time to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life. Before she incited her own death sentence.
It didn’t take long to find her – Lydia was the talk of the station. Esteban owned the local PD. They were deep in his pockets. When you were in the business he was, local law enforcement went to the top of your payroll because you would need a lot of favors. He caught the attention of a familiar face and was quickly taken to her.
Jason entered the room Lydia was held in, and her face drained of all color. “Let’s go.”
“No!” Lydia said, turning to the officer as she made a desperate plea. “You can’t leave me with him. He was there. He…he knows!”
The jackass smiled. “Whatever you say, darlin’. I’m doing you a favor.”
“A favor? I’m as good as dead. You have to help me! Please don’t leave me with him!” she pleaded to no avail, and again, the man just smirked while Jason glared.
“Thanks, man. I got it from here. I’ll take care of the problem.” Jason tried to keep it cool to avoid any more unwanted involvement. They needed to get the hell out of there while they could.
“Problem? I’m a problem? I think you mean witness – to murder – one you seemed heavily involved in.” She turned to the officer one more time, so desperate her voice fell to a whisper. “You can’t leave. Please arrest him. Don’t leave me with him. He’s going to hurt me. He’ll probably kill me.”
Something Lydia said hit Jason hard in the gut. He didn’t know why it mattered so much to him at that moment, but she was afraid of him. She thought he was as bad as Esteban, and that stung.
The officer fired back in a less than gentle way, “Hey, you’re lucky I’m letting you out of here. You came into a police station drunk, high, and who knows what else, trying to file a false report and stir shit for a trick gone bad. I should arrest you for each count, including driving under the influence. You parked your damn car on the front steps of the police station!”
“High? Like drugs? Wait, trick?” Lydia saw red, and her whisper quickly became a raging roar. “You think I’m a prostitute? Who the hell do you think you are talking to? I’ll have your badge for that!”
Jason could only imagine what was going through Lydia’s head. First, she knew that he saw her at the crime scene, or she wouldn’t have run or feared him now. Then she went for help, was denied, and the officer not only insulted her but was willing to turn her over to an accomplice to murder. He didn’t want her to fear him, but Lydia needed to until they got out of there.
Approaching her, Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her close enough to hear what he had to say. “Play along, or neither of us is getting out of here alive.”
Confusion darted across her expression but was gone as quickly as it came.
“Let’s get out of here, Jackie,” he said. “The boss wants to see you. You’re late.”
Initially, Lydia had no desire to trust him, but something changed when he called her Jackie. He had always been good to her, patient without ever offending or intimidating her. It seemed he was at risk as much as she was if he was worried about getting out alive. Her choices were slim. Stay with cops who think she’s a drugged-up whore and get tossed in jail where Esteban is sure to find her. Or take a gamble with Jason, who seemed to be giving her a way out…but to where?
“Get your hands off of me, jerk.” Stumbling came easily as he manhandled her a bit, trying to get her to the door. It helped the whole drunk and high thing. “I’m not going to see the boss. He can kiss my ass.”
“Uh-huh, whatever you say, sweetheart.” Lydia stalled, wondering if Jason was still playing along or if he was really taking her to the boss, Esteban. He leaned down, and whispered, “Trust me.”
And she did. All the way to her car, where he placed her in the passenger side, got behind the wheel himself, and sped off.