Exposed (Eternal Brethren Military Romantic Suspense Book 7) Read online

  Books by Shirleen Davies

  Romantic Suspense

  Eternal Brethren, Military Romantic Suspense

  Steadfast, Book One

  Shattered, Book Two

  Haunted, Book Three

  Untamed, Book Four

  Devoted, Book Five

  Faithful, Book Six

  Exposed, Book Seven

  Undaunted, Book Eight, Coming Next in the Series!

  Peregrine Bay, Romantic Suspense

  Reclaiming Love, Book One

  Our Kind of Love, Book Two

  Edge of Love, Book Three, Coming Next in the Series!

  Contemporary Romance

  MacLarens of Fire Mountain Contemporary

  Second Summer, Book One

  Hard Landing, Book Two

  One More Day, Book Three

  All Your Nights, Book Four

  Always Love You, Book Five

  Hearts Don’t Lie, Book Six

  No Getting Over You, Book Seven

  ‘Til the Sun Comes Up, Book Eight

  Foolish Heart, Book Nine

  Macklin’s of Burnt River

  Thorn’s Journey

  Del’s Choice

  Boone’s Surrender

  Historical Western Romance Series

  MacLarens of Fire Mountain

  Tougher than the Rest, Book One

  Faster than the Rest, Book Two

  Harder than the Rest, Book Three

  Stronger than the Rest, Book Four

  Deadlier than the Rest, Book Five

  Wilder than the Rest, Book Six

  Redemption Mountain

  Redemption’s Edge, Book One

  Wildfire Creek, Book Two

  Sunrise Ridge, Book Three

  Dixie Moon, Book Four

  Survivor Pass, Book Five

  Promise Trail, Book Six

  Deep River, Book Seven

  Courage Canyon, Book Eight

  Forsaken Falls, Book Nine

  Solitude Gorge, Book Ten

  Rogue Rapids, Book Eleven

  Angel Peak, Book Twelve

  Restless Wind, Book Thirteen

  Storm Summit, Book Fourteen

  Mystery Mesa, Book Fifteen, Coming Next in the Series!

  MacLarens of Boundary Mountain

  Colin’s Quest, Book One,

  Brodie’s Gamble, Book Two

  Quinn’s Honor, Book Three

  Sam’s Legacy, Book Four

  Heather’s Choice, Book Five

  Nate’s Destiny, Book Six

  Blaine’s Wager, Book Seven

  Fletcher’s Pride, Book Eight

  Bay’s Desire, Book Nine

  Cam’s Hope, Book Ten

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  EXPOSED

  Eternal Brethren, Book Seven

  Military Romantic Suspense

  SHIRLEEN DAVIES

  Copyright © 2019 by Shirleen Davies

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For permission requests, contact the publisher.

  Avalanche Ranch Press, LLC

  PO Box 12618

  Prescott, AZ 86304

  Exposed is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is wholly coincidental.

  Book design and conversions by Joseph Murray at 3rdplanetpublishing.com

  Cover design by Sweet ‘n Sassy Designs

  10-Digit ISBN: 1-947680-18-8

  13-Digit ISBN: 978-1-947680-18-0

  I care about quality, so if you find something in error, please contact me via email at [email protected]

  Description

  An unlikely attraction.

  An indisputable desire.

  Can their battle of wills lead to love?

  Exposed, Book Seven, Eternal Brethren Military Romantic Suspense Series

  Jace “Raider” DeWitt loves everything about his life as a Navy SEAL. The action, danger, comradery, and his undercover work in the MC. Most of all, he embraces the unknown, not knowing what each day will bring. After years of serving his country, his relationships consist of his team brothers, and he sees no need to expand the circle. Until he discovers the only woman who’s ever held his interest has moved to Liberty Lake.

  Alvena Kasey had been ready for a change ever since her good friend, Dani Robertson, left Pine Glen to marry Ghost, a Navy SEAL and VP of the undercover MC. Finding work as a nurse in the town across the state was easy, as was settling into her cozy rental home. She hadn’t planned on running into the most ornery patient she’d ever treated. Obnoxious, insufferable, and much too handsome for his own good. The one man who still dominated her dreams.

  One positive outcome came from their strained reunion—the discovery each has a heart for abused and abandoned children.

  Thrown together to protect a young boy being stalked by an abusive mother and her boyfriend, Jace and Ali work side-by-side to keep him safe while guarding themselves from an intense, mutual attraction. But physical abuse isn’t the only threat.

  A small group of soulless men wants the boy, and anyone who protects him, dead.

  Can their mutual love of a young boy hold them together? Or will deep-seated independence make a shared future impossible?

  Exposed is book seven in the Eternal Brethren Military Romantic Suspense Series by best seller Shirleen Davies. It is a stand-alone, full-length novel with no cliffhanger and a guaranteed HEA.

  Book 1: Steadfast

  Book 2: Shattered

  Book 3: Haunted

  Book 4: Untamed

  Book 5: Devoted

  Book 6: Faithful

  Book 7: Exposed

  Book 8: Undaunted Coming Next in the Series!

  Visit my website for a list of characters for each series.

  https://www.shirleendavies.com/books/character-lists/

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six


  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Books by Shirleen Davies

  EXPOSED

  Prologue

  Cheyenne, Wyoming

  Jace DeWitt huddled in the back corner of his closet, arms wrapped around his bent knees, heart pounding in his twelve-year-old chest.

  Don’t find me. Don’t find me. Don’t find me. The prayer rolled through his mind even as he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t understand any of it. Why his mother chose to live this way. Why he continued to be a target of all the lowlifes she brought home.

  The men had come here for her, hadn’t they?

  When he was younger, Jace could hide in the tall, wicker laundry basket in his room. Sliding inside, he’d shut the top, drawing the dirty clothes over him. Not once had he been discovered. At twelve, he could no longer fit into the slender white container with a black plastic lid.

  “Jace! Where are you?” his mother slurred, evidence of the alcohol she’d already consumed. At ten o’clock on a Saturday morning. He’d hoped she’d put off her drinking for several more hours.

  “I mean it, Jace! David wants to see you before he goes to work.”

  The knowledge produced a hot ball of vile in his throat. Her latest boyfriend enjoyed hurting him, chuckled at the fear on Jace’s face. This time, David would be in for a surprise.

  Beside him lay a butcher knife he’d found at the junkyard down the street. If held correctly, plunged into the right spot, the rusted seven-inch blade would bring an end to Jace’s humiliation and pain.

  Over the months, Jace had amassed a sizable amount of money doing odd jobs his mother knew nothing about. Enough to buy a bus ticket out of Cheyenne to his grandparents’ ranch near Casper. The ranch his father grew up on before he entered the Navy. Before he died in a shipboard accident on the other side of the world.

  The DeWitts made him feel special, wanted, loved. At fifty, they were young enough to try for legal custody. With the photos of his mother and her men friends Jace had accumulated over the last year, he prayed a judge would agree she was unfit to keep him.

  Although they were as anxious to get their grandson away from his drunken, prostitute mother as him, his grandparents told Jace the timing was up to him. Well, the time had come.

  Whether David came after him or not, tomorrow at first light, Jace would be on the bus to Casper.

  “Jace! If you don’t come out now, I’m going to smash your game box to pieces and won’t buy another.”

  Instead of leaving the closet, he shoved himself farther back, hiding behind a box of old clothes. He’d hoped to take the game box with him, stuff it into his backpack along with a few clothes and the dilapidated laptop the janitor at school had given him.

  The day the elderly man had slipped it to him, Jace had thought himself a king. Best present ever, he’d told himself. He didn’t care if it needed a battery and a lot of repairs. Once he got to Casper, he’d have plenty of time to take it apart and fix it.

  Pounding on the closet door made him flinch, but not enough to move from his hidey-hole. Reaching out, he clenched the handle of the knife. This time, if David came after him again, he’d be ready.

  Then he’d run.

  Chapter One

  Liberty Lake, Arizona

  Twenty-two years later…

  “Dammit, Gunner. Get the hell away from me. You’re ruining any chance I have to score with that lovely redhead at the bar.”

  Jace “Raider” DeWitt had been coming to Robbie’s the last two Thursdays, trying to hook up with the new female police officer. He hoped getting laid after months of celibacy might help him deal with his confusing feelings for Alvena Kasey.

  Ali…the woman he’d had a hard-on for since their first meeting over a year ago in Pine Glen.

  “She isn’t going to go out with an outlaw biker, man. You’d have a better chance with Dani’s friend. Ali, right?”

  “I’m not interested in her, Gunner.” He tilted his beer toward the redhead. “That’s the woman I want.”

  “For one night. Then what? You need to get your head straight.”

  “And screwing the beautiful woman a few feet away won’t help do that?”

  “Hell no. Trust me. I’ve tried it.” Gunner tilted the bottle of beer to his lips, taking a long swallow. He’d been in love with Lieutenant Commander Sage Montero for close to three years. A helicopter pilot based in San Diego, they’d been having a friends with benefits relationship for too long.

  “You talk to Sage lately?”

  “Same ol’ thing, except now there’s a twist.” Gunner finished his beer, holding his hand in the air for another.

  “What’s the twist?”

  “She requested a transfer to Virginia Beach a few months ago. She heads out next week.”

  The jovial banter left Raider’s lungs. “Geez, man. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s my own fault. Sage always said we were just fun and games. It never felt that way to me, but I didn’t think she’d transfer across country to make me see reality.”

  He grasped Gunner’s shoulder. “That, my man, is why love sucks.”

  Raider took another look down the bar at the redhead, knowing he wouldn’t make a move. Gunner was right. A night with a woman he cared nothing about wouldn’t ease the ache he’d tried to ignore for months. All because he couldn’t get Alvena Kasey out of his head.

  “Wish I’d figured it out sooner. What the hell do I know about women and love? I’m a simple cowboy.”

  Raider took another sip of beer, chuckling. “There’s nothing simple about you, my friend. You definitely are a cowboy.”

  Raider turned at the sound of laughter coming through the front door. Four women entered. “Well, hell.”

  Tessa, her assistant Valerie, along with a woman Raider didn’t recognize, and Ali strolled to a table.

  “It’s not Friday or Saturday. Why are they here?”

  It was Gunner’s turn to laugh. “Is this going to be one of your infamous long whines? If so, I’m heading home.”

  “I don’t whine.”

  “The hell you don’t.” Turning around to face the dining area, Gunner rested his elbows on the bar. “Do you recognize the girl with them?”

  Shifting, he studied the woman again. “Never seen her. Might be worth your while to find out who she is. Maybe she’ll take your mind off Sage.”

  Gunner didn’t respond. What could he say? He’d envisioned a future with Sage for so long the thought of not having her in his life seemed foreign, as if he’d stepped into another world. A place not of his choosing, but one he had to accept.

  “Let’s head over and introduce ourselves, buy them a round. Then I’m all for heading out. I need to catch up on bills and stuff.”

  Gunner snorted. “I call bullshit on that, man. You want to get home to play Call of Duty.”

  Raider shrugged. “What can I say? Seems you’ve outed me.”

  Anyone who knew Raider understood his passion for video games. Any platform and almost any game requiring a higher level of skill.

  A story had circulated about Ali cutting him off of all games during his recovery from the explosion at White Eagle Training Center. Raider would spend hours at it instead of resting. Neither had confirmed or denied it. Gunner had long ago decided it was true.

  He grinned at the reminder of the time she’d spent as Raider’s twenty-four seven nurse. Explosive, volatile, fiery. Those words described both of them. Ali couldn’t wait for the assignment to end so she could return to Pine Glen. Now she was back after accepting a position with the local hospital. Bets were already being placed on how soon the fireworks would fly. Gunner had his money on sooner rather than later.

  “All right. Let’s get this over with.” Gunner couldn’t remember a time he had no interest in meeting a woman.

&nb
sp; Tessa saw them first, offering a warm smile in greeting. “Hey, guys. How are you doing?”

  Raider kissed her cheek, followed by Gunner. Rock’s wife and a well-respected pediatrician in town, everyone loved her, enjoyed her company. She came into the bar every few weeks. Most times, the other wives joined her.

  “Couldn’t be better.” Raider turned his attention on the new girl. “Who do we have here?” He thought he saw a brief flash of disgust on Ali’s face before it was gone.

  “This is Katrina. Her family moved here from Nebraska. She decided to tag along.”

  Gunner stepped forward, holding out his hand. “Welcome to Liberty Lake, Katrina. I’m Gunner.”

  Her face flushed as she took his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “This miscreant is Raider.”

  “Good to meet you, Katrina.”

  She shook his hand, too. “Same here.”

  “Kat works with Val’s aunt at the nursery. She took it part-time for the rest of the summer and fall, but we’re hoping she’ll stay.” Tessa’s words were filled with encouragement.

  Gunner watched Katrina’s anxious expression relax at what Tessa said. “Did you work at a nursery in Nebraska?” Reaching behind him, he grabbed a chair, sliding it between Val and Katrina, and sat down.

  “No. I was a teacher.” Lifting her glass, Katrina sipped her wine.

  “What age?”

  “High school.” Shrugging, a soft chuckle crossed her lips. “I taught for three years before deciding it wasn’t for me.”

  Raider pulled a chair next to Ali, who didn’t hesitate before scooting away. An instant later, she stiffened at the feel of Raider’s hand on her knee. Shoving it away, Ali sent him a withering scowl.

  “Do not try that again, Jace.”

  “Jace, huh? You must already be pissed at me, sweetheart, if you’re using my real name.”

  “You aren’t real in any sense, and I am not your sweetheart, your nurse, or anything else.” Ali twisted so her back was to him, his deep chuckle increasing her irritation.

  “Hey, darlin’. How about a dance?”

  Raider’s gaze narrowed on one of the men in Robbie’s. Average height, average weight, with light brown hair, his hand on Ali’s shoulder.

  Her head swiveled up enough to see him, offering a disingenuous half-smile. “Thank you, but not tonight. As you can see, I’m celebrating with a group of friends.”