Damaged (Triple Canopy Book 1)
Damaged
Triple Canopy
Riley Edwards
DAMAGED
TRIPLE CANOPY
BOOK 1
RILEY EDWARDS
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Riley Edwards
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design: Lori Jackson Designs
Cover Photographer: Golden Czermak | Furious Fotog
Cover Model: Chase Ketron
Written by: Riley Edwards
Published by: Riley Edwards/Rebels Romance
Edited by: Rebecca Hodgkins
Proofreader: Julie Deaton, Rebecca Kendall
DAMAGED
First edition: August 25, 2020
Copyright © 2020 Riley Edwards
All rights reserved
To my family - my team – my tribe.
This is for you.
Contents
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
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Riley’s Rebels
Also by Riley Edwards
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Four years earlier – Hadley
“Girls, come here,” my dad, Jasper Walker, called out to Adalynn and me as soon as we walked in the front door.
My eyes did a quick scan of my parents’ house, noting all the usual suspects were in attendance. Cousins, aunts, uncles, my siblings—everyone smiling and laughing. Well, everyone except my eldest sister, Delaney. I hadn’t seen her smile in a while, and whatever was bugging her, she wasn’t sharing.
With my twin sister Adalynn by my side, I made my way to my dad and stumbled when my eyes locked with the guy next to him.
No, not a guy, a man.
All man.
Tall, broad, a little older than me, hot as all get-out. But it was his gray eyes that held me captive. The color of storm clouds—the description was apt, there was sadness brewing behind his gaze.
“Brady, these are my youngest daughters. Hadley and Adalynn,” my dad introduced, pointing to each of us. “Girls, this is Brady Hewitt, the newest member of the team.”
“Nice to meet you.” Addy offered her hand and I watched as Brady’s much larger one engulfed my sister’s.
“Nice to meet you, Adalynn.”
Their hands released and Addy kicked my foot, pulling me from my stupor.
“Hadley, good to meet you as well.”
Brady’s deep, rough voice washed over me as he extended his hand. The very moment I placed mine in his and his fingers curled around my palm, I vowed that one day I would take the cloudiness away.
“Nice to meet you, Brady.”
One could say my family didn’t have the best luck. It had started with my FBI profiler cousin, Nick. He found himself a woman who had been almost killed by a serial killer. I was a kid at the time and was mostly shielded from the details even after Nick had moved Meadow from Virginia to Georgia.
Then my cousin, the police officer Ethan, met Honor. By then, I’d graduated high school and was very aware of Honor’s troubles, which had resulted in her being kidnapped and almost killed.
And of course, there was my DEA agent brother, Jason. Who, after years of mourning his wife’s death, had finally found a woman, Mercy, also a DEA agent. She brought him back to life only to have a case they were working on cause her and Delaney to be taken, beaten, and almost killed.
Are you seeing a theme yet?
My family wasn’t unlucky, but my male cousins, which should be noted, weren’t cousins by blood but by a bond my father had forged with Carter Lenox, Nolan Clark, and Levi McCoy—collectively known as my uncles. And they were, in every sense of the word. I’d grown up with these men, my father’s battle-brothers. Anyway, my cousins had a type and they’d all found strong women who’d overcome a great deal but still needed to be protected. This was because every single male in my family had a gene—an overprotective instinct—that was annoying most of the time when they got in your business. But in truth, it had allowed me to grow up surrounded by love. So much love, it could be suffocating. But the alternative was not having it so I didn’t bitch—too much.
That brings us to now.
My cousin, Jackson, had of course followed in the footsteps of those who’d gone before him, and fell in love with a beautiful, bona fide supermodel, Tuesday. She was Mercy’s best friend. Unfortunately, Tuesday had herself a stalker. Everyone—meaning my dad, my uncles, Ethan, Brady, and Jackson—had been keeping her safe while searching for the stalker.
Today, she almost died.
Almost died.
Hours later, my heart was still pounding and my stomach knotted up just thinking about it. Brady had gotten to her first, then Jackson and his fire company had arrived and taken over.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Brady had almost died, too.
He’d rushed into the house without thought for his own safety to rescue a woman he barely knew. That didn’t just make my heart pound—it made me queasy.
He could’ve died. Tuesday and Jackson, too.
My family was all at Jackson’s condo. This is what we did—we rallied. Tuesday had been treated for smoke inhalation and released so everyone was at Jackson’s to make sure she was okay.
I wasn’t ready to go to Jackson’s. I wasn’t ready to face my family or Tuesday. Luckily for me, I’d forgotten my cell phone in my dad’s office. I’d been at Triple Canopy when I got the call about the fire and in my panic, I stupidly tossed my phone on his desk and ran.
Now I was standing there staring at my dad’s desk, unable to move.
Fear and relief mixed, making me dizzy.
I was pissed and happy and I didn’t understand how I could be both of those at once.
“Hadley?” I turned and saw Brady standing in the doorway. “You okay?”
“No,” I croaked.
That was all it took for Brady to close the distance and pull me in his arms.
He smelled like a campfire and the sob I’d been holding back finally broke free.
“Shh, they’re okay.”
“You,” I sobbed.
Brady’s body went solid before he relaxed. “I’m good, babe.”
I sagged in his arms and he held on tight.
It wouldn’t be until much later, days later when I thought about that day for the millionth time that it would dawn on me—he’d called me Hadley. No hesitation. No guessing. He knew I was me and not my twin.
Almost a year later – Hadley
I came to a screeching halt in front of my parents’ house and jumped out of my car.
Shots fired at Mom and Dad’s.
That was all Addy had told me when she called.
But it was worse. Way worse. I knew it by the hard look on Brady’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Get to Quinn, babe. I have to go.”
I grabbed his bicep as he passed me. “What’s happening?”
“Some bitch nabbed Delaney. Got to get on the hunt, Hadley. Take care of Quinn.”
Right. Take care of Quinn. Lock down my fear and see to one sister while the other was missing.
“Please be careful,” I begged.
Brady’s eyes softened, but the storm clouds were still present.
“Always am, honey.”
And with that, he was gone.
Once again putting his ass on the line for my family.
It wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last. But the next time would be the worst.
Almost another year later – Brady
“No!” Jasper let out a blood-curdling roar and I froze.
Right there in the ambulance bay of County ER, I felt my heart stop.
I watched in absolute horror as Jasper’s legs gave out. Neither Levi nor Lenox were fast enough to catch him before he went to his knees. Nothing, but nothing, took Jasper to the ground—unless it was family.
Jesus fuck.
My eyes took in the scene. Brice Lancaster, Quinn Walker’s man and still in his turn-out gear, was on his ass, back against th
e wall, knees up, pure terror on his face.
Fucking Christ.
Nolan Clark and his son, Jackson, both stood looking shell-shocked until Jackson broke away and knelt in front of Brice.
“Brother?”
“Two GSWs to the chest. We…um…fuck.” Tears welled in Brice’s eyes. “We lost her right before we pulled in. We started CPR, then she was wheeled up to the OR.”
Jackson shot to his feet and Brice closed his eyes.
Quinn Walker took two to the chest.
Christ.
I felt her before I heard it.
A heart-shattering sob.
I turned and there she was, Hadley Walker.
Even in her grief, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
She turned to rush out of the sliding glass doors. I easily caught up to her and folded her into my arms.
“Brady,” she wailed.
“I got you, baby.”
My arms wrapped tighter around her.
“Which one?”
Fuck, she didn’t know. Didn’t know which family member had been injured. Just knew if her dad was on his knees, it was bad.
“Quinn.”
Hadley’s body convulsed in my arms and I’d have given anything to take away her pain. Anything to make sure Hadley Walker never shed another tear.
It would be a long time before Hadley stopped crying. A long time with her standing in my arms before she whispered, “How bad?”
“Bad, baby.”
She nodded against my tear-soaked tee and nuzzled closer.
Jesus fuck.
It was too soon.
She needed more time.
But with each day, it was harder not to claim what was mine.
Hadley tilted her head up and I caught her gaze. Pain, fear, worry. But there was something else behind those beautiful glossy eyes. And I knew what that something was. I knew it because I felt the same. Every time I looked at her, I knew when the time was right, she’d be mine.
But with her sister clinging to life, today would not be the day I told her.
“It’s always you,” she whispered.
“Always me?”
Hadley didn’t answer but she did repeat herself and when she did, I let her words settle over me.
“It’s always you.”
I knew in my soul Hadley Walker was my forever love. She made me wish I was strong enough to face my demons, be better, be the man she needed.
I could love her from afar but she’d never be mine, I was too damaged.
1
“I dare you.”
Even with the crowd in Carter and Delaney’s backyard, I knew she was there before she spoke. I always knew when she was close. It seemed I’d developed a sixth sense when it came to Hadley Walker.
Which was unfortunate.
Seriously unfortunate, when I needed to keep my distance.
Jasper called her Hurricane Hadley. He was not wrong. The woman blew in, and without warning, caused maximum damage. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. Just the opposite—I adored her. What I didn’t like was her constant bombarding. She was nosy as hell and picked and picked and fucking picked more until I caved and told her what she wanted to know.
That shit had to end.
“What are you, ten?” I snapped as she sat at the picnic table.
This was my new strategy and it fucked me that, at thirty-one years old—seven years older than her—I’d stooped to this level. It was an all-time low for me. I was being an asshole and I was doing it on purpose. But nothing else worked and Hadley had gotten too close.
“What are you, a hundred-and-ten with a stick up your ass that prevents you from having fun?” she shot back.
There it was—all that sass and attitude that turned me right the hell on. Some men liked soft and easy, I liked attitude and sass. Both of which Hadley had in abundance. I didn’t have to look over at her to know her jade eyes were dancing.
“Like a big ol’ butt plug.” She laughed. “A fun stopper. A joy killer. An entertainment obstruction. There might be a colon cleanse for that.”
“Christ. You are ten.”
“And you’re a stick in the mud. Lighten up. Life’s too damn short to always be so unhappy.”
And with that, she slid off the picnic table. My jaw clenched and sour hit my gut.
Good Goddamn, this woman.
“What’s your dare?” I sighed and finally craned my neck to look at her.
Mistake.
I should’ve kept my eyes glued to the birthday festivities playing out in Carter and Delaney’s backyard. Watching Hudson chase Emma around was safer than looking at Hadley. Hell, a low-altitude jump with a faulty chute was safer than being in close proximity to her.
Then Hadley smiled. Not her usual beautiful, carefree grin that never failed to make my body tight, but a wicked, playful smile that turned my mistake into a major fuck-up. Her father would kick my ass if he knew the dirty thoughts I had running through my head.
We were at her niece Emma’s birthday party. There were kids all around, Hadley’s whole family in attendance, and all I could think about was stripping her out of her sundress, laying her out on the picnic table, and finally taking what I wanted. What she’d been offering for months. What I knew I could never have.
Goddamn, the woman was hell on a man’s control. Hence the reason why I avoided her until I needed a fix, then gave in. I seemed to give in a lot. Though I’d never touched her like that. No, I preferred to torture myself—and being in Hadley’s company, knowing I’d never have her, was pure anguish.
A small pail hit the bench next to me and I glanced down at it, then my gaze went back to her.
“Water balloons?”
“Oh, yeah. How good is your aim, soldier boy?”
My aim? It’s legendary—the best that the Army ever trained.
“It’s all right,” I answered.
Hadley rolled her eyes. My answer was stupid but so was her question, considering I’d taken her to the range many times. This was done at her request under the guise that she wanted to learn to shoot. She didn’t need to learn, her father had taught all his children at a young age about gun safety, which included taking them to the range. But because I was a junkie jonesing for my fix, I agreed every time Hadley asked me to take her out.
I was playing a dangerous game. One that could leave me jobless at best, my ass kicked more than likely, and depending on Jasper’s mood, full of bullet holes. Yet, I kept going back for more. Hadley was like a breath of fresh air and I couldn’t get enough. I had enough problems without adding her to the very long list.
“What’s your plan?” I asked, resigning myself to playing along.
Hadley glanced around the backyard. Her eyes squinted and her brows pinched as she plotted her water balloon assault.
Christ, when was the last time I’d done something as silly as throw water balloons at my friends? I couldn’t even cast my mind that far back.
My life quarantined into sections. There was Before Nicole, After Nicole, Army, Special Forces, and Triple Canopy. Segmented into partitions, times, and places I refused to allow myself to go. Before Nicole was one of the sectors I vehemently rejected. Therefore, I wouldn’t remember a time when life was fun, carefree, or silly.
“Jason and Carter first, they’re the closest,” Hadley told me, pulling me from my musing. “Once they’re hit, Nick, Ethan, and Jackson will move in and we’ll nail them.”
“You take Jason and Carter,” I amended, less than enthusiastic about throwing water balloons. “I’ll take the others.”
“Brady?”
“Yeah?”
Those damn eyes locked onto mine, and I saw it.