Dangerous Territory Read online

  

  Slick Rock 21

  Dangerous Territory

  Sammy Reilly is scared of men after being beaten by her ex, Todd Lowell, but when he threatens to kill her daughter, she knows it’s beyond time to leave.

  Sammy ends up in Slick Rock, Colorado, and is lucky enough to acquire a job at the new library.

  Maddox, Logan, and Haden Keegan know that Sammy is the woman they’ve been waiting for, but they can tell their size frightens her.

  After taking a tumble in the street and being helped by the three Keegan men, she can’t help being in lust with them. However, she’s determined to ignore the sparks firing between them.

  The three brothers are dogged in their pursuit and when Sammy sees how caring they are toward Lily, she can’t help falling in love with them.

  Danger follows Sammy to Slick Rock, and when her daughter is kidnapped, she’s willing to sacrifice her own life to save her baby’s.

  Will Sammy and Lily survive?

  Genres: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 62,632

  DANGEROUS TERRITORY

  Slick Rock 21

  Becca Van

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Dangerous Territory

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Van

  ISBN: 978-1-64243-656-3

  First Publication: February 2019

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2019 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  My name is Becca Van. I live in Australia with my wonderful hubby of many years, as well as my two children.

  I read my first romance, which I found in the school library, at the age of thirteen and haven’t stopped reading them since. It is so wonderful to know that love is still alive and strong when there seems to be so much conflict in the world.

  I dreamed of writing my own book one day but, unfortunately, didn’t follow my dream for many years. But once I started I knew writing was what I wanted to continue doing.

  I love to escape from the world and curl up with a good romance, to see how the characters unfold and conflict is dealt with. I have read many books and love all facets of the romance genre, from historical to erotic romance. I am a sucker for a happy ending.

  For all titles by Becca Van, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/becca-van

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  DANGEROUS TERRITORY

  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

  Epilogue

  DANGEROUS TERRITORY

  Slick Rock 21

  BECCA VAN

  Copyright © 2019

  Prologue

  Twelve months ago.

  “Shut that fucking brat up,” Todd shouted.

  Sammy already had Lily in her arms, trying to quiet her down. She kept her back to Todd, who was standing in the doorway to the nursery. Her whole body ached and was bruised from the last beating the asshole had given her, but she refused to look at him. She was hoping he’d leave her be if she didn’t acknowledge him. She was scared because he’d never bothered to step foot near her baby daughter’s room, let alone stand in the doorway. Tears pricked her eyes, but she drew a deep breath, refusing to let them fall.

  Sammy wished she could go back to when she’d first met Todd Lowell, even if that was impossible. If she could have, though, she would have refused to date him. Knowing what she did now…she shook her head. There was no point in looking back. The only direction she needed to look was forward. Yet she had nothing to look forward to. The only precious thing in her life was already in her arms. Lily’s chubby little cheeks were flushed since she had more teeth coming in. Sammy had given her a sippy cup of warm milk after changing her diaper. Her daughter was nearly two years old and almost toilet trained, but everytime Todd started yelling, Lily wet herself. She hated that her little girl was scared of her father, but then so was she. Other than rocking her and soothing her, there wasn’t much else she could do. Lily was holding the cold teething ring in her little fist, and while she was gnawing hard on the ring, she was crying. If Sammy could have taken her pain away from her baby into herself, she would have. She loved her daughter too much to see her suffering, but again, there was nothing she could do. She’d already given Lily a dose of the liquid pain reliever for a toddler her age. Now, she just needed to wait for the medicine to kick in.

  “You fucking cunt,” Todd roared, slurring at the same time. “Shoulda fucking killed the little bitch. So much fucking trouble.”

  Sammy staggered when a fist slammed into her back right over her kidney. She tried to remain on her feet, but she still ended up on her knees. Pain radiated through her body from her knees up at the jarring, but since she had bruises all over, that wasn’t a surprise. She trembled when Todd kicked her leg. He’d never been so out of control before, and Sammy was scared for Lily. Lily was crying even louder, scared of the man shouting and hurting her momma.

  “Stupid slut,” he slurred and panted as he punched her again. “Fucking kill you both. Never stop nagging and crying.”

  She hunched over with her elbows on the floor, one hand under Lily’s head, protecting her baby as the punches and kicks kept coming. Todd was still yelling, but she had no idea what he was saying. He was drunk again. His words slurred as they all ran together.

  Tears rolled down Sammy’s face, but she didn’t make a sound other than trying to shush her baby girl’s cries. Finally after what seemed like hours had passed but was probably only minutes, the beating ceased. Lily was staring up into Sammy’s tear-filled eyes from blue eyes the same as hers. She could hear Todd’s ragged panted breaths and prayed that he’d exhausted himself enough to walk away and sleep off his last alcoholic bender.

  Sammy had never been so terrified in her life, but she wasn’t scared for herself. This time, she’d been scared the bastard was going to take his anger out on his own daughter or kill her. How could he not love his own flesh and blood? Whenever she saw him looking at Lily, which was rare, it was with hatred. He blamed Sammy for getting pregnant, but she’d taken her contraceptive pill at the same time every morning religiously. And as the saying went, “It takes two to tango.”

  Todd had lied to her from the start. He was a handsome man, and he’d reele
d her in like a fish caught on a hook. He’d wined and dined her from the first until he had what he wanted. Her in his bed and eventually in his apartment living with him. As soon as she’d moved in, he’d changed. He’d begun criticizing what she wore, how she did her hair, her body, and finally just everything about her and everything she did. She’d tried to please him, but nothing she did was good enough. She’d been about to leave him when she’d discovered she was pregnant, but instead of telling him she’d conceived, she’d kept that information to herself. She should have just walked without looking back. She and Lily would have been much better off being on their own, but she’d had nowhere to go and she’d been scared of being homeless. That was also one of the reasons she’d stuck around. She hadn’t wanted her baby to think that she wasn’t wanted. She snorted. Todd didn’t give a fuck about his daughter. He’d barely even looked at her.

  Sammy had no family that she knew of. Her mother had been single when she’d had her, and she had no idea who her father was since it said unknown on her birth certificate. Her mom had been an alcoholic and had died when she’d drowned in her own vomit when Sammy was ten years old. She’d entered the foster care system and that hadn’t been a picnic either.

  Lily was her heart and soul, and she would do everything in her power to make sure her baby knew how much she was loved, but to do that, she needed to leave.

  Todd hadn’t started beating her until after Lily was born. The first time he’d hit her, she’d been so shocked she’d stood frozen in the kitchen, with her hand to her burning cheek. Thankfully, she’d fed and changed two-month-old Lily not long before he’d hit her. He’d been pissed at her for not having dinner on the table the moment he’d walked through the door after work.

  Sammy flinched when the door to the nursery was slammed so hard the windows rattled. Moments later, the front door slammed, too. She sighed with relief when she heard Todd’s truck engine roar to life and tires screech as he backed out of the driveway. She hoped he got picked up by the cops for DUI, but he was a lucky son of a bitch and never seemed to draw the eyes of the law. He was a courier driver and knew all the back roads, avoiding the major ones where the police normally patrolled. Maybe one day soon he’d get his comeuppance, but it wouldn’t be soon enough.

  Even though she wanted to get up off the floor, she didn’t want to move. It was going to hurt even worse when she used her stiff, bruised muscles, but she couldn’t stay kneeling on the floor crouched over Lily all night long. She held her breath as she forced herself to push up until she was on her knees, holding Lily securely against her chest. Her ribs protested, but she sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. Shifting Lily so that she was cradled with one arm, she grasped onto one of the crib rails and put one foot on the floor. Using every ounce of energy she possessed, she pushed up to her feet. Her head spun woozily for a moment or two, and she tightened her grip on the crib. Lily gurgled, her small soft hand patting Sammy’s cheek. When the dizziness dissipated and she stared into the angelic face of her smiling baby, determined resolve coursed through her body.

  Sammy needed to leave, and it had to be now. She kissed her Lily on the cheek and with a groan gently lowered her daughter into her baby bed, covering her with the quilt so she didn’t get cold, and then she rushed about the room, packing as much of Lily’s things into the bag as she could. She hurried to the bedroom she’d shared with Todd, as fast as she could, which probably wasn’t that fast since she was hurting so bad, grabbed a small suitcase, and packed some of her own clothes and toiletries.

  Once done, she limped to the kitchen, snatching up jars of toddler food, a flask of milk as well as the few sippy cups she had in the cupboard. Lily wasn’t going to miss out on anything if Sammy could help it. Her daughter was precious and deserved all her love. When she had everything ready, the bags sitting by the front door, she called a taxi.

  Fordham wasn’t the nicest or safest place to live, nor the most dangerous, but she would no longer need to worry about Lily living in such an unsavory part of New York.

  Sammy went to the nursery and the closet. She pulled the stuffed toys from the top of the box and grabbed the ice-cream carton she’d washed out a long time ago. She’d been putting any extra cash she could into the container. This was a slush fund she’d been saving for her baby for anything she might need so she didn’t have to ask Todd to buy her daughter anything, and she was so glad she’d been squirreling away as much money as she could. It was time to leave, to find somewhere safe to raise her little girl.

  Sammy was going to find the perfect place for her and Lily to live.

  Staying with Todd wasn’t an option anymore.

  Lily’s and her life depended on her getting them out before it was too late.

  Chapter One

  “That was amazing.” Maddox Keegan swallowed his last bite of apple pie with a sigh, drank the last of his coffee, and sat back in his seat.

  “The food here is always delicious,” Logan, one of Maddox’s brothers, said.

  “Ever since Delta, Violet, and Jaylynn took over, the diner is always packed. They could extend and still not have an empty seat in the place,” Haden, Maddox’s youngest brother, said.

  “I’m just glad we have somewhere to eat after working our asses off all day on the ranch.” Maddox looked up to meet the young waitress’s eyes and winked at her. Cindy blushed as she refilled their coffee mugs before hurrying away.

  “Amen to that.” Logan took a sip of coffee and ended up spluttering. Maddox was about to whack his brother on the back but ended up following his sibling’s gaze when he noticed that Logan was staring out the window.

  Maddox sucked in a breath, his heart flipped in his chest, and his cock twitched in his jeans. The petite, sexy woman walking quickly along the pavement on the other side of the road took his breath away.

  She had to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was on the small side, standing an inch or two over five feet, but she had the sexiest little body on her, even if it wasn’t hourglass. Yet her hips were rounded and her breasts looked to be just the right size to fit his large paw of a hand. Her hair was a long golden, wavy curtain down past her shoulders almost to her ass. The light shone down on her crown, making her hair shine in the late afternoon sunlight. He wanted to jump to his feet and go after her. Maddox wanted to know who she was, where she was from, and everything else he could find out about her.

  “What are you both staring at?” Haden asked. Maddox knew the second Haden realized who they were watching. “Hoo-wee. That is the sexiest little bit I’ve seen in a long time.” Maddox’s chest tightened with disappointment when the gorgeous woman disappeared from view. “Have either of you seen her before?” Haden asked.

  Maddox shook his head as he wrapped his hands around his warm mug.

  “We know who she is.”

  Maddox whipped his head around so fast it was a wonder he didn’t give himself whiplash. Raiden, Brigg, and Tane Tremaine were just settling their wife, Shyann, into the booth behind him and his brothers. Raiden had been the one speaking. “Who?” Maddox asked.

  Raiden glanced at his woman before moving closer. “Sammy Reilly. She works at the library with Shyann.”

  “I was just saying the other day that we should go and sign up so we can loan a few books on cattle.” Haden grinned.

  The smile fell from his face when Raiden shook his head. “You can’t be trifling with Sammy. She has a little girl to take care of.”

  “She’s married?” Maddox snapped out.

  “I didn’t say that.” Raiden shrugged. “She could be, but she doesn’t wear a wedding ring. She could be divorced or in the process of getting one.”

  “Has she mentioned the kid’s father?” Logan quirked a brow.

  “Not when me, Brigg, or Tane have been around.”

  “Can you introduce us?” Haden asked.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. She’s a shy little thing. Never talks about herself, but she dotes on her daught
er.”

  “How old is the girl?” Maddox asked.

  “Three. She’s a sweet child and her mother dotes on her. Lily Ann looks just like her momma with those big blue eyes and blond wavy hair.” Raiden smiled. The smile faded away to a serious expression when he noticed how intently Maddox and his brothers were staring at him. “If you’re going to do what I think you are, you need to make sure the way is clear first. If it is, you’re going to have to go slow. Sammy would never admit it, but she’s been hurt. She’s very skittish around men.”

  “You know we’d never encroach on someone else’s woman, Raiden.” Maddox crossed his arms and scowled.

  “I know. Sorry.” Raiden shrugged. “My brothers and I have sort of taken Sammy and Kat under our wings since they work with Shyann. You’d do the same if you were in our position.”

  “We would,” Maddox agreed with a sigh.

  “Do you know anything about Sammy?” Haden asked.

  “Other than she’s a hardworking, loving mother, no.”

  “How long has she been at the library?” Logan asked.

  “Four weeks,” Raiden replied.

  “Had you seen her around before then?” Haden asked.

  “Can’t say I have.” Raiden shook his head.

  “Raiden, who are you talking to?” Shyann peeked over the back of the seat she had to be kneeling on. She wasn’t much bigger than Sammy. “Oh, hi, Maddox, Logan, and Haden.”

  “Hello, Shyann, how are you?” Maddox asked after his brothers had both said hi.

  “I’m great. I love being surrounded by books and suggesting things to read as well as pointing the school kids in the right direction when they need information for homework.”

  “You’re doing a great job, baby,” Raiden said. He waved good-bye and turned toward his wife.