Kenney, Laina - Overexposed [DIG Security 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Laina Kenney Page A

on?
    She couldn’t get her breath.
    Sam and Grange helped her to sit up, and Sam rubbed her back.
    “Just breathe,” he said. “Calm down and breathe, honey. You’ll be fine. Everything’s fine.”
    Avelyn struggled to see around Grange. Where was Locke?
    All at once her lungs cooperated, and she pulled in air. The relief was intense.
    When Grange stood up, she could see several agents standing around. Billy was flopping around on the floor, swearing weakly and looking up at Locke, who was standing over him with a fierce expression on his scarred face. Billy’s wrists and ankles were tied together in front of him with . . . was that Locke’s belt?
    Locke knelt in front of her and dragged her into his arms.
    “God,” he said into her hair. “Avelyn, thank God.”
    She clutched him to her with one arm, holding Sam’s hand with the other, and they sat that way for several minutes while agents worked around them.
    By the time Locke and Sam finally helped Avelyn to her feet, the volume of the chaos around them was crushing.
    Grange stood with his back to them talking to an angry Conn. Dash was snapping out orders that had orderlies and security guards scurrying in all directions.
    Conn used one booted foot to shove Billy off to the side of the hall to wait for the San Antonio Police to arrive. Whatever Locke had done to Billy in those few seconds had been effective. Billy was bound, secure, his face white around a forming bruise over one eye.
    “Nice work,” Conn said to Locke as the three of them came up to him. Except for a bandaged hand, Uncle Conn looked good.
    Locke turned and looked at Billy, and the cold rage on his face made Avelyn pause.
    “He had his hands on her. I had to do something to get him away from her fast. And as much as I want him dead, I didn’t want to tear him to blood and bone in front of your niece.”
    “Roped and hogtied. I forgot you were a rodeo champ,” was Conn’s only response.
    Sam laughed. Locke gave them both the finger, but it was half-hearted at best.
    Uncle Conn winked at her.
    Avelyn sighed inwardly. It didn’t seem like Uncle Conn was going to address the obvious fact of her relationship with Locke and his brother. She hadn’t exactly been discreet moments ago when she was clinging to both men in the middle of a crowded hallway, and she was holding hands with both men now.
    “As long as she’s happy,” Conn said.
    Locke and Sam looked at each other and nodded.
    “Yes, sir,” Locke said and squeezed her hand.

Chapter 13

    Avelyn clicked the phone off. She rose from the table and stretched. She had been sitting for far too long the past two days as she researched possibilities for her future. She knew what she wanted, but it was just a pipe dream unless she worked up the courage to make it happen.
    Now was as good a time as any.
    She poured a glass of sweet tea and padded barefoot out to the front porch where Locke was sitting.
    His Stetson covered his eyes, and his booted feet were propped up on an orange crate. When she curled into his lap, he pushed his hat back on his head and cuddled her close.
    She took a sip of the cold tea then held the glass for Locke to drink.
    He drank and tried to hide a grimace.
    “Too much sugar?” She set the glass down on the porch beside them.
    “Maybe,” he allowed. He licked her neck with his cool tongue and she squealed. “I’d rather get my sweetness from the source.”
    “Behave yourself,” she said with a mock swat to his broad chest.
    He just grinned.
    Avelyn leaned back against his chest and let her head rest on his shoulder.
    “What will happen to Billy?”
    Locke’s muscles tightened under her.
    “He’ll spend time in jail before trial, and then he’ll be found guilty of attempted kidnapping, assault, and a few other things due to the overwhelming evidence provided by nearly thirty witnesses. After he’s sentenced, the Irish son of a bitch will spend years in a crowded prison with American citizens paying for