“Shit,” Jordan yelled. “She’s getting away, Tony. Justice is leaving with that ranch trash.” Norma fired a warning shot into the air and cocked the shotgun to reload the barrel.
“Eyes on me, boys,” she barked. Charlie took that as his cue to take off, throwing the truck in drive and heading down the long driveway to the main road.
“Will she be all right?” Justice asked, looking back over her shoulder to where her granny still held her father at gunpoint.
Charlie laughed again and nodded. “Your grandmother is a tough old bird—she’ll be just fine.” Justice knew Charlie was right, but she still worried about her grandmother. If her father was capable of kidnapping his daughter and selling her off to thehighest bidder, what else was he capable of? Justice took one last look back, afraid that she already knew the answer to her question.
CHAPTER ONE
Present-Day
Justice Hobbs jumped as Sunny burst through the back door of her bakery, chasing after little Sadie. Her two-year-old seemed to keep Sunny running most days, and being eight months pregnant again, Justice knew she had to be tired. Heck, she was exhausted just watching Sunny try to keep up with everything most days. Justice scooped up the squealing toddler and spun her around, loving the way she giggled and squirmed, trying to break free.
“Oh no, little sprite, you need to stay with your mama and listen to her, now.” Justice handed the squirming girl back to Aaron, who’d strolled in after his wife. He took Sadie from her, kissing her cheek. Justice wasn’t sure how it all happened, but Sunny and Aaron, along with their adorable daughter, became her family.
“Hey, mama, you look about ready to pop,” Justice said, rubbing Sunny’s ever-expanding belly and feeling the baby kick her hand. That never got old, feeling Sunny’s little boy kicking and moving. “Granny Norma said to tell you all ‘Hey,'” shesaid, pulling off her apron, happy to be off her shift. Justice didn’t mind the early mornings, but lately, her four am wake-up call came way too soon. She spent the past weekend out at her grandmother’s ranch in Goose Creek, Colorado, and she was dead tired. Her grandmother, Norma Jeane Hobbs, was a spitfire. Justice had trouble keeping up with the sixty-five-year-old woman, and she was just twenty-three. She smiled to herself, remembering how her granny dragged her along on her latest hunting trip, trying to find them the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Justice was excited about the upcoming holidays, even though she would miss her friends in Harvest Ridge. She was going back home to stay with her grandmother for a week and help with Thanksgiving dinner. It was probably her favorite holiday, especially when she got to spend it with her most favorite person on the planet. Sunny smiled, “How is Norma Jeane doing these days?” Her very pregnant friend pulled on her apron and helped Sadie with the little matching one that Norma made for the toddler. Her grandmother figuratively adopted Sunny and Aaron’s little family as her own, loving the toddler as if she were her granddaughter. It was nice to see Norma Jeane’s face light up every time Sunny and Aaron brought the toddler out to the ranch for a visit. It made Justice happy to see her grandmother play with little Sadie, spoiling her rotten.
“She’s good but says to tell you she misses you all and that dinner is every Sunday at five, in case you have forgotten.” Sunny and Aaron both laughed.
“I guess we owe her a visit before this little guy comes.” Aaron palmed Sunny’s belly and leaned in to gently kiss her lips. Seeing the two of them together made Justice a little jealous. She wondered if she was ever going to meet someone in Harvest Ridge or if she was doomed to become an old spinster, getting up at the butt crack of dawn and making pastries to sell in thebakery window. Sure, most people her age were going out to clubs a few towns over or to the local bars, but she was asleep by eight most nights. Getting up before the sun sure put a damper on her dating life. Hell, since she took the job at Sunny’s about two years ago, her dating life has been nonexistent.
“I try to get out to Goose Creek to see Granny every other week. She sure seems to miss you guys. I bet she would love to see you before the baby comes. She’s planning on coming here for a visit after he arrives. She can’t wait to hold him. I think she secretly hopes to be the first visitor, so you’ve been forewarned,” Justice said.
“Well, that would be just fine with me,” Sunny laughed. “You know I love your grandmother, Justice. We all do.” Sunny tickled Sadie, causing her to giggle and squirm in Aaron’s arms.
“She loves all of you, and I can’t tell you how happy you all have made her, especially since I left her to move here, and well, the stuff with my dad.” Justice let her thoughts trail off, not wanting to finish what she was thinking. She was always careful about how much she shared with Sunny and Aaron about her father.
Anthony Hobbs was the Mayor of Goose Creek and became involved with some scary men to get where he was in his political career. Now that he was running for Governor, Justice was afraid of what her father’s choices might cost her personally. Norma Jeane wrote off her son when she found out just how far he went to secure his position as Mayor. She helped Justice to break free from her father’s hold and make a new start in Harvest Ridge, where she secretly lived for months before returning home to visit her grandmother.
Justice knew there was always a chance that her father’s lynch men were watching her, maybe even ready to drag her back home, but it was two years since she got away from him. He probably had bigger fish to fry besides marrying off his twenty-three-year-old only child to his biggest supporter. The thought of being a part of an arranged marriage seemed barbaric to her, and she shook her head, trying to rid that painful night from her thoughts. That was the night her grandmother sent over half a dozen ranch hands to physically pull her out of her father’s house and get her to safety. If it wasn’t for her grandmother’s quick thinking, she would have been shipped off to marry Jordan Wolf, a thirty-five-year-old man who financially supported her father’s political career and pulled most of her dad’s strings.
“You all right, Justice?” Sunny stroked her arm, and she shivered.
“Yes, I’ll be fine, thanks.” Justice knew that reliving that night over and over again was costing her the tightly held control she craved. But she also knew that telling her closest friend about how she was abducted and almost raped didn’t feel right. Sunny had enough going on in her life to hear about Justice’s darkness. Those secrets were better kept to herself.
“Why don’t you go home and get some rest? You look beat,” Aaron said. She felt dead on her feet; she wasn’t sleeping much the past few nights. She was having horrible nightmares and felt the need to constantly look over her shoulder. Living in continuous fear was exhausting, and the lack of sleep was catching up with her. She kissed Sadie’s cheek and laughed when the feisty toddler wiped it off with the back of her little hand.
“Yuck,” Sadie squealed, causing them all to laugh. Justice hugged Sunny and waved to Aaron, grabbing her backpack on the way out the back door. She stepped into the alley and froze at the sight of the motorcycle parked by the back corner of the building. She quickly looked around, and when she spotted the big guy standing by the bike, she wanted to run back through the back door. He was exactly the type of goon her father wouldemploy to hunt her down. The hairs on her neck stood on end as he turned and walked towards her. She wanted to scream or run back into the building, but she couldn’t move her legs, being frozen with fear.
“Justice Hobbs?” His voice felt as though it blew straight through her. It was deep and sexy with a slight growl that made her want to lean into his big body. He was tall, and his shoulders were broad enough to block out the afternoon sun. He was wearing shades that hid his eyes, but his dark hair and full lips had her thinking things about a total stranger she was better off not thinking about. She shivered, “Yes, I’m Justice Hobbs.” He smiled at her and took off his sunglasses, revealing the sexiest green eyes she had ever seen.
“I’m Jagger James. Your grandmother, Norma Jeane, sent me. You are in danger, and she wants me to bring you to her.” Justice heard all the little alarms ringing in her head, and she was finding it hard to concentrate. Especially with tall, dark, and hunky hovering over her. Her grandmother would never send a stranger to fetch her. Justice knew all her granny’s ranch hands, and she was pretty sure she would remember sexy Jagger James working at the ranch.
“I haven’t seen you around my grandmother’s place,” she almost whispered, clearing her throat. “Are you new?” Jagger nodded, and she wondered if she was just being silly. Maybe her grandmother sent her a handsome stranger to whisk her away to safety, but what if he was the danger, and she was giving herself over to the enemy?
“I haven’t been out to the ranch in months,” she lied. She was just out there, and she would not have forgotten seeing him. “When did Norma Jeane hire you?” She tried to sound flirty rather than nervous, but wasn’t sure she was pulling it off.
“I’ve been with her for a couple of months now. Listen.” Jagger looked around the alley as if making sure no one wasaround. “You seem like a nice girl and all, but I’d like to get back on the road.” He nodded to where his bike was parked. His lie told her everything she needed to know. He was working for her dad and was there to bring her home. She knew she had two options. She could either fight like hell and try to get away from him, or she could go and visit her dear old dad. She decided to fight like hell because a family reunion with a man who was trying to auction her off to the highest bidder wasn’t what she wanted to do today.
She gave him her best smile and leaned into his body. The big goon was dumb enough to smile back at her, and that was when she kneed him in the balls. Judging from his groan and the way he doubled over, she made contact and did some damage. What she wasn’t prepared for was him grabbing her ankle on his way down and knocking her to the ground with him. Her head hit the pavement, and her world was going dark, leaving her defenseless to fight back. Her last thought was that she was going home, and the fear of what her father would allow others to do to her filled her with dread.
Jagger took a few minutes to pull himself together after the sultry little Hobbs brat kneed him in the balls. He loved a girl with a little fire, but this woman was an inferno. She was sexy as fuck, with her jeans that hugged her every curve and the cropped sweater that did nothing to hide her side tattoo or her little belly ring. Her dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and she had on very little makeup, just the way he liked. Before she admitted to being Justice Hobbs, a part of him wished she wasn’t. His assignment was to grab the Mayor’s spoiled princess and force her back to his mansion. He didn’tcare about the rest of the details. As long as he got what Hobbs promised him, he’d let his boss have the little brat. But she was so much sexier than the picture he was given to trace her down. And a whole lot feistier than her dear old dad described her to be. He watched her most of the morning, hoping there would be a lull at the bakery where she worked, but he wasn’t that lucky. When the pregnant woman and her kid showed up with a guy he assumed was the woman’s husband, he knew he was finally going to get his chance to grab Justice. Jagger waited in the back alley for her to get off work and make her way out to her old pickup truck. The plan was to lie to her and convince her that her grandmother was sending him. He was hoping to get her to go along willingly so he could take his bike. Now he was going to have to tie his bike down in the bed of her truck and drive her ancient pick-up back to Goose Creek. Jagger stood, gingerly holding his groin, making sure that the pain wasn’t unbearable. He got lucky that she knocked herself out when he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. Failing to bring her back to Mr. Hobbs wasn’t an option— he had too much on the line, including his little sister’s life. He was so close to walking out of there with Jules by his side, he couldn’t let this plan go sideways. Leaving Jules with that crazy man wasn’t going to happen, ever. So, he would nab the sweet and deliver her back to Hobbs, keeping up his end of the bargain. He just hoped like hell that Anthony Hobbs kept up his end because from what he learned about the man in a short time was that he didn’t play by the rules.
Jagger’s sister was foolish enough to trust Hobbs when she took the job to be his assistant. What she didn’t know was that he was as crooked and corrupt as they came. Once she caught on and tried to quit, Hobbs made sure she was tied to his dirty dealings. She called Jagger for help, and he had no choice but to take Hobbs’ offer to work as one of his goons. Hobbs was impressed with Jagger’s military service since he was honorablydischarged from the Air Force. He also liked that Jag was a pilot in case he needed to fly somewhere fast to get out of a jam.
All in all, the job wasn’t too taxing, mostly being the mayor’s bodyguard and making sure his business didn’t get too messy. He had to knock a few heads together, but for the most part, he was lucky enough to keep his hands clean. Until now, when he had to kidnap the princess and drag her back home against her will.
He pulled Justice up his body, double-checking they were still alone. It was close to lunchtime, and he was sure people in the little town would be heading out to eat soon. He didn’t need to be asked any questions as to what he was doing with the sexy little hellcat. He especially didn’t want her waking up and taking another swipe at him. She had a good aim, and he didn’t want to give her another chance at unmanning him.
