Jackson Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter One - Raegan

  Chapter Two - Jackson

  Chapter Three - Raegan

  Chapter Four - Jackson

  Chapter Five - Raegan

  Chapter Six - Jackson

  Chapter Seven - Cap

  Chapter Eight - Chance

  Chapter Nine - Raegan

  Chapter Ten - Cap

  Chapter Eleven - Jackson

  Chapter Twelve - Raegan

  Chapter Thirteen - Jackson

  Chapter Fourteen - Raegan

  Chapter Fifteen - Jackson

  Chapter Sixteen - Jackson

  Chapter Seventeen - Raegan

  Chapter Eighteen - Cap

  Chapter Nineteen - Jackson

  Chapter Twenty - Reed Security

  Chapter Twenty-One - Jackson

  Chapter Twenty-Two - Jackson

  Chapter Twenty-Three - Raegan

  Chapter Twenty-Four - Jackson

  Chapter Twenty-Five - Chance

  Chapter Twenty-Six - Raegan

  Chapter Twenty-Seven - Jackson

  Chapter Twenty-Eight - Jackson

  Chapter Twenty-Nine - Raegan and Jackson

  Chapter Thirty - Jackson

  Chapter Thirty-One - Cap

  More To Come...

  Jackson

  A Reed Security Romance

  by

  Giulia Lagomarsino

  Jackson

  A Reed Security Romance

  Copyright @ 2019 Giulia Lagomarsino

  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.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2019

  ASIN: B07QWK4GW9

  Self published through Kindle Direct Publishing

  This book is dedicated to me. I wrote this while potty training my twins and it was exhausting! I’m giving myself a round of high fives. I hope you all enjoy!

  Jackson is book 2 of a 3 book arc and needs to be read in order.

  Sniper

  Jackson

  Chance

  Reed Security Cast

  Sebastian “Cap” Reed- owner

  Maggie “Freckles” Reed

  Caitlin Reed

  Clara Reed

  Gunner Reed

  Team 1:

  Derek “Irish” Cortell- team leader and part owner

  Claire Cortell

  Hunter “Pappy” Papacosta

  Lucy Papacosta

  Rocco Turner

  Team 2:

  Sam “Cazzo” Galmacci- team leader and part owner

  Vanessa Galmacci

  Sofia Galmacci

  Mark “Sinner” Sinn

  Cara Sinn

  Violet Sinn

  Blake “Burg” Reasenburg

  Emma Reasenburg

  Ryker Reasenburg

  Beatrix (Bea)

  Team 3:

  John “Ice” Peters- team leader and part owner

  Lindsey Peters

  Zoe Peters

  Cade Peters

  Julian “Jules” Siegrist

  Ivy Siegrist

  John Christopher Hudson Siegrist

  Chris “Jack” McKay

  Alison (Ali) McKay

  Axel McKay

  Elizabeth (Lizzie) McKay

  Team 4:

  Chance “Sniper” Hendrix

  Morgan James (Shyla)

  Payton James

  Jackson Lewis

  Raegan Cartwright

  Parents: Susan and Robert Cartwright

  Gabe Moore

  Isabella (Isa) Moore

  Vittoria

  Lorenzo (Enzo)

  Team 5:

  Alec Wesley

  Florrie Younge

  Craig Devereux

  Training:

  Hudson Knight- formerly known as Garrick Knight

  Kate Knight

  Raven Knight

  Lola “Brave” Pruitt

  Ryan Jackson

  James Jackson (Cassandra Jackson- mother)

  Piper Jackson

  Ryder Jackson

  IT Department:

  Becky Harding

  Robert “Rob” Markum

  CHAPTER ONE

  Raegan

  One year ago…

  “I want that shipment by the end of the day. I don’t care what you have to do to get it.”

  I listened from the bedroom as Xavier talked with his supplier. He was into dealing weapons and over the years I had known that, but I had looked the other way because I thought I loved him when we first got together. Of course, he had been different then. When he started getting into dealing, he had changed into a different man, one that liked to keep me in line with his fists. If I hadn’t been so weak, I would have walked away, but I waited too long and now he knew exactly how to keep me in line. Unfortunately, I let my mouth get away from me a time or two and had paid the price. I just couldn’t help myself sometimes. I tried to keep my mouth shut, but sometimes my thoughts just slipped out. One of these days it was going to cost me my life.

  Like I actually had a life the past few years.

  But I couldn’t stay now. He was making a deal with his supplier to try and overthrow his largest competitor, a man that I had only heard of, but knew that he wasn’t someone that you messed with. Anyone who did, died a very slow, very painful death. And that was only the beginning. He sent messages to his buyers that he wasn’t to be fucked with by using families as examples. I had seen it with my own eyes. Women and children had been literally burned at the stake when someone double crossed him. That was what Xavier was planning on doing, and if he was caught, he would be the least of my worries.

  “I’m not willing to put my ass on the line unless I get a bigger cut. You know that if you get caught, I’m going down too. Taking weapons from this guy is as good as signing our death warrants,” his supplier said.

  “Not if you do it right. Get rid of those asswipes you use and get some real men to do the job.”

  The supplier sounded irritated, but even he knew that he could only push Xavier so far. They were both playing a dangerous game.

  “I’ll have it for you by the end of the day, but you need to find a different location for the drop. We have to assume that any place we’ve used in the past could be known.”

  God, these guys were fucking idiots. They were going to get everyone killed.

  “Fuck,” Xavier laughed. “The payday off this is going to be incredible.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this? This guy has eyes everywhere.”

  “I’ll have people all around watching. If they see anything unusual, I’ll know immediately and take care of it.”

  Famous last words. God, he’s such an arrogant prick and it’s gonna get him killed. Not that I cared. I’d be happy to be rid of him at this point, but that was easier said than done. I couldn’t just walk away from him and too many people knew that I was his girlfriend. If I ran away, anyone would snitch on me just to get a better deal on their weapons.

  His supplier didn’t seem like he really believed him, but he agreed and continued to make plans with Xavier. I crept over to the other side of the room and pulled the burner phone from the back of the closet. It had been slipped to me by someone that stopped by once after Xavier had beaten me. He was concerned for me and knew that I wouldn’t be able to make it out on my own. I hadn’t used the phone yet, but I was going to now. The only people that I knew would help me were my parents. I didn’t want to put them in danger, but they
were my last hope. I dialed the numbers that I still knew by heart and waited for someone to answer. My heart thumped wildly in my chest and when my dad’s voice came over the line, I started to tear up, I was so choked up over hearing his voice after all these years.

  “Daddy,” I whispered. I gasped as my breathing seized in my chest. I had to hold it together.

  “Raegan?” The shock and hope in his voice came through loud and clear. I hadn’t talked to my parents in years and the last time I had, they begged me to leave Xavier. But I knew that would likely never happen. “Baby girl, are you okay?”

  “Daddy, I need you,” I plead. “Xavier is doing something stupid.” My voice trembled with anger as I thought about what I had overheard and the danger he was putting me in. “He’s doing something dangerous and…” I swallowed down the fear that was causing me to choke up. “I don’t think I’ll make it out of here if he goes through with it. I don’t want to die here.”

  My voice broke as I spoke the words, knowing the truth of the situation was staring me in the face.

  “Baby, tell me where you are. I’ll make sure you get out.”

  “Uniontown. It’s on 7th Street and Harris Street. It’s the brown house on the corner.”

  “Hold tight, baby. I’m coming for you.”

  I nodded, trying to convince myself that he could make it in time to get to me, but deep down, I was pretty sure this was the last time I would speak to my father. “Daddy, if this is it, if I don’t make it, tell Momma I’m so sorry. Tell her that I love her and I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you.”

  “Baby, I will make it or I’ll find someone that can get to you. I swear, I’ll get you out.”

  “I know, Daddy. I love you,” I whispered. The phone was yanked from my hand and I yelped in surprise. I hadn’t heard anyone come in because I wasn’t paying attention, and that was my biggest mistake yet. Xavier backhanded me and I flew against the closet wall, trying to hold in my scream so I didn’t scare Dad.

  “Who the fuck is this?” His eyes shifted as he listened and then he glared down at me, his fists clenching in anger as he stared at me. “She won’t be contacting you again.”

  He threw the phone against the wall and it broke apart, crashing to the ground. My last lifeline was gone. All I had now was hope that my Dad could come save me. Xavier cracked his knuckles and bent down on his haunches, his jaw hard as steel as he looked at me.

  “So, you thought you’d try and leave. That’s never gonna happen, bitch.”

  “Better to die escaping than stay here and die because of your stupidity,” I snapped.

  He grabbed my hair, yanking me to him. My eyes watered and my scalp burned as he pulled me from the closet. I tried to crawl out so that I wasn’t dragged, but I couldn’t get my hands under me as he hauled me up higher. I felt my hair being ripped from my head as he threw me against another wall. My skull cracked against it with a sickening thud. Everything in front of me went blurry and I tried to blink my vision back, but before I could, his fist caught me in the jaw, sending me back against the wall again.

  God, I was stupid. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I cowered away from him, knowing this could be the worst it had ever been. His foot connected with my ribs and I gagged and then threw up on the floor. He kicked me again and again until at least a few of my ribs were broken. I was wheezing and sucking in air as best I could, but black spots were forming from lack of oxygen. When his foot struck out and hit me in the face, my nose broke and blood gushed into my mouth. I started choking on my own blood. I pulled my knees up, ignoring the pain in my chest, doing anything I could to protect myself.

  When he didn’t hit me immediately, I thought maybe he had left me and my beating was over. I slowly opened my eyes just as he walked into the room, shoving his brass knuckles onto his hand. I whimpered in agony as his fist came toward me again. Two hits was all it took and I was out.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I thought I heard voices, but that couldn’t be right. I was dead. I couldn’t possibly still be alive after what Xavier had done to me. Something touched my face and I moaned, jerking away from whatever it was. I knew I hadn’t moved far, but my instincts were to get as far away as I could. The problem was, I could barely move. I felt myself being lifted and prayed that someone was here to help me. Either that or just shoot me and take away the pain.

  As I moved through the air, my arm hung limply next to me. I tried to pull it into my body, but I didn’t have the strength. My head was resting against something, but as we moved, it flopped backward, straining my breathing. My strangled breaths became too painful and just when I thought I would pass out, I was moved again in a more comfortable position. I heard what sounded like gunshots and then there was bright light behind my eyelids. The voices were back, but they were so muffled that I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I couldn’t focus on anything and I kept floating in and out of consciousness, not sure what was real and what was a dream.

  I wanted to call for my dad when I thought I heard his soothing tone, but I couldn’t make my voice work. Something touched my face again, but this time I didn’t flinch away. I could feel rough fingers brushing my hair from my face, but I wasn’t scared. Either I felt safe with these hands or I was too far gone to care at this point.

  “Hang on, Raegan.”

  The male voice was fierce, but comforting, and I wanted to beg him to stay, but I was too late. He was gone. I could feel it.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  Something wet dripped down my cheek and something soft was swiped across my face. It felt so good, so refreshing that I moaned in appreciation. My body felt light, almost like I was floating. For all I knew, I was lying on a cloud in heaven right now. I vaguely remembered my last encounter with Xavier, but I couldn’t be bothered with the outcome right now. I wasn’t in pain like I thought I would be. Yeah, there were some aches and pains, but overall, I felt pretty good. I tried to open my eyes, but it was like they were stuck together. I raised my eyebrows and lowered my jaw, hoping that it would help peel apart my eyelids.

  “It’s okay, Raegan. Just give me a minute.”

  Wetness coated my eyes and slowly, I felt my eyelids starting to loosen from the attachment they had to each other. I sighed my contentment as the gluey substance was cleared from my eyelids. After blinking a few times, clouds appeared in front of me. But the more I blinked, the more I realized that I wasn’t actually surrounded by clouds. My vision cleared enough to see people. There was a woman sitting on the bed beside me.

  “You’re so pretty,” I sighed. “You have really nice hair and your teeth are really white.”

  She was holding a cloth in her hands and smiling down at me. I felt really good, kind of loopy, but it felt so nice.

  Another figure appeared behind her and I gasped. This man was terrifying, with black hair and the darkest eyes I had ever seen.

  “Psst.” I struggled to lift my finger and motioned her toward me. “Don’t look now, but there’s a really scary man behind you. I think he might be a killer, but he’s also kind of hot,” I croaked. God, had I become a frog? Was that possible?

  The woman chuckled slightly and the man just raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Do you think he’s any good in bed?” I blinked a few times and narrowed my eyes to see him better. “Nah, I bet it’s all for show. Look at the size of his muscles. He’s compensating for something.”

  I winked at her, which was actually more like blinking at her. “That’s my husband,” she laughed. “Raegan, meet Hudson.”

  “Hudson? That doesn’t fit him. Shouldn’t he have some badass name like O’Roark or The Butcher?”

  “Well, everyone calls him Knight,” she chuckled. “And I’m Kate.”

  “Ah, Knight definitely fits him better. He’s like the Black Prince,” I said dreamily. “His name was Edward, which definitely doesn’t fit you, but he was a knight. Get it? A knight named Knight.” I attempted to laugh at my own joke and Knight shook his
head at me. “But he died of dysentery, which I would think would really suck because diarrhea in the 1300s couldn’t have been fun.”

  “Diarrhea would suck, but death was okay?” Knight questioned.

  “Hey, Doc, tell the Black Prince about infectious diseases in the 1300s,” I whispered conspiratorially.

  “How about instead we get you over to my clinic and get you some x-rays?”

  “Do you know how they went to the bathroom back then?” I said to the Black Prince. “They built garderobes on the outside of castles and their excrements fell down into a hole. Imagine walking under that and diarrhea falling on your head,” I laughed.

  “How about we talk about this on the way to the clinic?” Kate said. She held out her hand to me and pulled me up into a sitting position. The room tilted around me, making me feel drunk.

  “And people hung their clothes in the garderobes because the smell kept the moths away.” I grimaced and feigned gagging. “I think I’d rather have moths than smell like shit.” I stood and leaned heavily on Kate. “That’s where wardrobes came from. Such a lovely picture.”

  Kate started walking with me toward the door where another man was standing, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his jeans pockets. I stopped where I was, smacking Kate in the arm. “Do you see him?” I hissed. “He’s so gorgeous.”