Phoenix Rising: A Fortis Security Novel Book 7 (Fortis Security Series) Read online

  PHOENIX RISING

  FORTIS BOOK 7

  MADDIE WADE

  CONTENTS

  Note from the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek of Digital Desire

  Coming Soon…Deadly Alliance

  Healing Danger

  Stolen Dreams

  Love Divided

  Secret Redemption

  Broken Butterfly

  Arctic Fire

  Tightrope Book One

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Phoenix Rising

  Fortis Security - Book 7

  Author: Maddie Wade

  Published by Maddie Wade

  Copyright © August 2018 Maddie Wade

  Cover: Envy Designs

  Editing: Black Opal Editing

  Formatting: Black Opal Editing

  COPYRIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. Names characters places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as fact. Any resemblance to actual events, organisations, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook onscreen. Except for use in reviews, promotional posts or similar uses no part of this text may be reproduced transmitted downloaded decompiled reverse-engineered or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system in any form or by any means whether electronic or mechanical now known or hereafter invented without the express written permission of the author.

  First edition © August 2018

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  This book is set in the town of Hereford in the United Kingdom. It is a town of about 60,000 people and is in the West Midlands. It borders Monmouthshire, which is in Wales.

  Hereford is famous for its being the home of Strongbow Cider and the Hereford Bull.

  It is also the base for the SAS. The SAS are the elite Special Forces unit of the British Armed Forces. The unit undertakes a number of roles including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action, and hostage rescue.

  Hereford Cathedral dates from 1079 and houses the largest Mappa Mundi in existence, which dates from 1300.

  It is a market town and has a large mix of Tudor, Victorian and new buildings.

  I hope you have enjoyed this brief history.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  My wonderful beta team—Greta, Lindsey, Maria, Deanna, and Shelene you read my stories in such a rough draft and are always so encouraging and supportive. I couldn’t do this without you. Without you this series would not be what it is.

  My editing and proofing team—Linda, Shelene, and Pam. Thank you for making my rough diamond shine.

  Thank you to my group Maddie’s Minxes, your constant love for the Fortis series keeps me going when I am exhausted or have a character that just will not do as I tell them.

  My Fortis Team Captains, Rihaneh, Linda, Lindsey, Greta, Maria, Shelene, and Tracey for being such amazing supporters of these characters.

  A big thank you to Itsy Bitsy, RRR promotions, and all the bloggers and authors who promote my books and help others to find this series. Without you I would not be able to do this and get the word out about my books.

  Lastly and most importantly thank you to my readers who have embraced this series wholeheartedly and shown a love for these characters that I could never have dreamed of. To hear you say that you see these characters as family makes me so humble and proud. I hope you keep loving the Fortis family for a long time to come.

  This book is dedicated to my editor, Linda, who has worked her butt off to get this done in time. You are more than an editor—to me you are my friend.

  PROLOGUE

  LOOKING at the phone that had gone dead in his hand, Daniel threw it across the room watching with satisfaction as it smashed into pieces as it hit the floor. Pushing his hand through his hair, he leaned forward taking the picture of him and Claire as she held a new-born Paige in her arms, off the desk.

  He caressed the edge of the silver frame as he tried to remember how he had felt that night. The look on his face was one of pure adoration as he gazed at his baby girl. Claire had looked so happy, so stunningly beautiful, even after an arduous eighteen hours of labour.

  He remembered feeling a bond so strong that he had fought to contain his tears. Gratitude and love for his wife had flowed through him. He had never known happiness and contentment like it.

  He and Claire had been so happy, so in love. Had that really been just eighteen months ago? Now, as he replaced the picture and stared at the broken phone, he wondered how it had all gone so wrong. Sighing, he shut down his computer, switched off the lights in his office at Fortis, and closed the door.

  “Hey, man, you off home?” Dane asked as he strolled down the hallway towards him.

  “Hey, Dane, yeah. I’m going to collect Paige from her grandparents and then go home to be ready for an hour of ‘In the Night Garden’.’’ He smiled as he thought of how much his daughter loved that show even though none of the characters actually spoke a proper language.

  “You love it, man.” Dane laughed as he fell in to step beside him.

  He chuckled at his friend and nodded. “Yep, I do.” His usual joy at spending the evening with his daughter was marred by the difficulties in his marriage.

  “You okay, man?” his best friend asked.

  For a second, Daniel considered telling him that his marriage was in tatters and he wasn’t sure at this point if they would make it past the summer. Something about admitting it felt like giving up though, and despite the bile they had thrown at each other earlier and the increased tension between them, he still loved his wife. Was that enough though? He didn’t know anymore but he knew he wanted to try.

  “Yeah, all good, just busy planning this close protection job.”

  He saw Dane watching him from the corner of his eye and knew his friend hadn’t bought it.

  Reaching their cars, Dane stopped beside him. “Fine, but if you change your mind, you know where I am,” he said not exactly calling him on his bullshit but not letting him get away with the lie either.

  “Yeah, I know where you’ll be, buried balls deep in some brunette,” Daniel joked.

  Dane shook his head. “Nah. A redhead tonight,” he smirked as he moved to his car and swung open the door.

  Daniel laughed and got in his car, the empty juice cup in the side pocket reminding him he needed to clean the car that weekend. He turned out of the trading estate where Fortis Security had their headquarters and headed towards his in-law’s place to pick up his daughter.

  His mind kept returning to Claire. Why was she lying to him, hiding app
ointments, and disappearing for hours on end? Then there was the fact that she wouldn’t let him near her, and the way she pulled back from him every time he went to kiss or touch her. The whole thing was a head fuck. He’d caught her looking at him sometimes and the look was filled with so much emotion, love, lust, grief, and sorrow and he couldn’t work it out. He had asked and asked and had just been pushed away.

  Watching her grow ever more distant had felt like drowning until now he could hardly breathe. He punched the steering wheel in frustration as he thought of how happy they had been and now how miserable they both were. He wasn’t even sure if what they had could be saved or if what he felt for her was the same any more.

  Making a split-second decision, he spun the steering wheel in an arc doing a complete U-turn in the road, dirt kicking up as he floored the accelerator towards home. He was sick and tired of fucking living in limbo, he was going to have it out with Claire tonight and make her fucking tell him what the hell was going on.

  Gripping the steering wheel, he felt the urgent need to see her, to have it out so they could get back to being the very best parents they could be for their daughter. That seemed to be the only thing they agreed on lately—making Paige happy. He had even considered speaking to Claire’s best friend Lauren Cassidy, but pride kept him from admitting that he was so desperate.

  Rounding the last corner before his home came into view, a sense of unease prickled at his neck. Much like the feeling he used to get before a mission went south. Instantly, he started to survey the area as he pulled into his driveway. Shutting off the engine, he glanced around, looking for the cause of his sudden unease.

  Seeing nothing amiss, he slipped from the car, but instead of slamming the door as he usually would, he pushed it closed with a click. Palming his Browning, Daniel walked to the front door stopping short when he saw it was ajar. His senses were on high alert as he listened for a sound. Hearing nothing, he silently pushed it the rest of the way open, his heart beating a solid rhythm in his chest.

  He saw the rack with their coats, and Paige’s tiny wellies lined up next to his running shoes. Moving through the hall, he checked the living room and found it empty. The kitchen was the same, just the remnants of the baking Claire had done that day. The smell of brownies permeated the air, the sweet smell which was normally one of welcome, now seemed one of foreboding.

  Moving to the base of the stairs, he leaned forward, looking for any sign of movement and caught none, and proceeded upstairs. Reaching the top, his heart started to hammer again, he could feel it in his throat as he checked the two spare rooms, which were clear. Moving past the open door of Paige’s yellow room, he saw that all was clear in there too.

  His feet were silent on the cream carpet of the landing as he moved to the closed door of his and Claire’s room. He opened it slowly and moved in swiftly, his firearm up, sweeping the room in an arc.

  In a heartbeat, his world changed forever. Without having to see the rest of the room, he knew by the blood spatter what he would find when he walked around the bed. As if in a fog, he dropped his arm, scrambling over the bed and falling in a heap beside the dead body of his wife, the mother of his child, and the woman he had loved his entire adult life.

  With a keening cry of anguish that was wrenched from his throat, he took her limp body in his arms and hauled her to his chest, rocking her back and forth as he whispered words into her neck, begging her to come back to him as her blood coated his face and arms. Pain like he had never imagined splintered through his heart as he struggled to make sense of how his life had turned upside down in such a devastating way.

  Tears ran unchecked down his face as he sobbed for all that they had lost, for his daughter who would never know the woman her mother was, and for himself, because now they would never get the chance to fix what had been broken between them.

  CHAPTER 1

  MEGAN HAD ALREADY DECIDED to stay at her father’s overnight. She couldn’t take much more of the shit Daniel was dishing out. It had taken two of them to have sex and now he had reduced it to something sordid. She’d thought they were friends, that perhaps he had liked her, but since that night he had been a complete dickhead.

  First thing tomorrow she was moving out of the Estate. She would miss her family and friends and especially Paige, but she was not going to escape one monster just to be treated like a pariah by another. Even though deep down she knew Daniel wasn’t a monster. He was just a man who had given into his weakness, in this case her, and now regretted it.

  She was the designated driver for the wedding but at the last minute, her father had said he was going to stay with Lauren and Drew. He had tried to get her to stay but she had insisted she was fine to drive home and perfectly safe now that most of the threat from Rhea Winslow had gone underground and the Doctor was off the radar.

  Turning the last corner in the Volvo V60 that her brother had insisted she get because it was safe, she saw headlights coming at her. The bright, full beams blinding her as the car headed straight for her.

  Her last clear thought as the other vehicle hit her with a bone-jarring impact that spun her car was how ironic it was that it was the same corner that had killed her mother. Metal crunched, and she felt air underneath her as the car lifted from the ground before landing again, the smell of blood and oil hitting her nose as pain radiated through her entire body until she felt like every part of her was broken.

  Finally, the car came to a stop upside down. She felt blood trickle into her eye as blackness began to creep into her field of vision from the pain in her body. Footsteps sounded on the road as she fought unconsciousness. She felt a light shine in her face but couldn’t speak, her brain was too foggy to compute what had happened.

  “She’s dead.” She heard the woman’s voice and shuddered at the sound.

  “Are you sure?” Megan knew that man, she knew him. Shock and terror ran through her as her brain processed the betrayal.

  “Yes, she’s dead, now let’s get out of here before anyone comes.”

  “That will teach them not to underestimate us!” the man exclaimed as the footsteps faded.

  She needed to warn Daniel and Dane. Oh God, her family. Megan fought the panic as blackness crowded her, taking her under where pain and betrayal could not hurt her.

  Sitting at the now empty table, Daniel tried to make sense of the pregnancy test in his pocket. Thoughts went around and around in his head. Lucy had been sick for a while and Skye had looked positively green earlier. He and Megan had only slept together one time and he could distinctly remember using a condom.

  Thoughts of their night together filled his brain, making his body ache to be inside her again. The way she had responded to him—so wanton and natural. The eager way she had tried to please him. Not knowing that all she had to do was walk into a room and he wanted her.

  “Megan, can I come in?”

  “I’m fine, Daniel,” Megan’s voice replied from the other side of the door.

  He clenched his fists at her response, her voice was thick with tears and it made him want to hunt the fucker Denisovich down for making her cry.

  “Please, baby girl, let me in,” Daniel said, his voice low.

  The door cracked open and he saw Megan come into view. Tears were drying on her cheeks and her grey eyes were big with more unshed tears sparkling like tiny diamonds on her long, black eyelashes.

  “Can I come in?”

  She didn’t answer but let the door swing open as she walked back to the bed. He couldn’t help but watch the swing of her ass in the sexy as hell dress. He closed the door behind him and moved to sit on the end of her bed. She sat against the headboard, her legs tucked under her, the split of the dress showing a hint of the perfect thigh that had been driving him crazy all evening.

  Looking up, Daniel saw her watching him as he watched her. Her eyes were now dry of tears but shining bright with something else. A pulse hammered in her neck, drawing his eyes down her slender throat towards the creamy sw
ell of her perfect breasts. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes trying to think of anything but the look of desire in her eyes.

  “Daniel?” she asked her voice husky with need and a tiny amount of desperation.

  He opened his eyes to find her sitting up on her knees looking at him. Her tongue came out to wet her dry bottom lip.

  He wasn’t sure who moved first but suddenly she was in his arms, her body pressed tight to his, her hands hot on his chest as their lips met. Her soft mouth tasted sweeter than candyfloss as he swiped his tongue across the seam of her lips. A moan escaped her throat and with a growl, he thrust his tongue into her mouth desperate to taste all of her. Her mouth opened for him and it was better than he could ever have imagined and over the last few months, he had imagined a lot.

  Her hands began to move over his chest and across his shoulders before sliding down his back, pulling herself even closer so that her breasts were pressed to him, not a whisper of breath between them. He let his own hands wander and found himself cupping the round globes of her ass as he pulled her into his straining erection. He felt the vibration of a sigh rumble up her throat as she pressed every inch of her body against his hardness.

  Tearing his mouth away he swore. “Fuck.” He needed to stop before he couldn’t. “Meg I . . .”

  “Please, Daniel,” she begged, and he felt the need shiver up her spine.

  He looked into her beautiful face before tracing her cheek with his fingertip. He had so many regrets and right at this moment he knew not being with her would be one of them. “You’re so fucking beautiful it hurts to look at you sometimes,” he murmured. Megan tilted her head towards him, like a kitten seeking warmth. “I shouldn’t be touching you.” He saw pain cross her face. “But I can’t not,” he finished before crashing his lips into hers.

  Daniel pushed her to her back as he kissed his way down her neck. Her body arched into his and a whimper left her throat as he nipped at the soft skin behind her ear. He was so hard for her right now it was a conscious effort not to plunge his dick into her like a teenage boy, but she deserved to be worshipped like the jewel she was. He kissed and nipped his way down, exposing her breasts from the confines of her dress with no regard for the material that ripped under his hand.