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  Killian

  The Fearless Few #1

  Ryan Michele

  Killian: The Fearless Few ©2020 Wicked Words Publishing LLC—Ryan Michele

  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 from Ryan Michele.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  1st edition published: April 22, 2020

  ASIN: B0852BYTNG

  Blurb

  The power of a name … Killian Graham.

  He was the kind of guy I couldn’t forget. From a high school crush that never went anywhere, to the full-grown alpha male who now made my spine tingle, Killian Graham was the total package.

  Frustrating, infuriating, and hot as they’d come, Killian Graham invaded my world. Things hadn’t stopped spinning since.

  My best friend got herself into some trouble. Being the strong woman I was, I came to her rescue. That was when Killian stepped in to save us both. From there, things grew intense both in and out of the bedroom.

  Killian Graham, the mystery man who rocked my world on every level.

  Killian Graham, the man who decided he wanted me and would stop at nothing to have me safe and in his bed.

  The one man I wanted more than my next breath. The very same man I wasn’t sure I could hold onto because everything about him was a secret. Or so I thought.

  He laid his world at my feet. Now it was up to me to decide if I could accept where things were headed for us and everyone around us.

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  Contents

  1. Ellie

  2. Ellie

  3. Ellie

  4. Ellie

  5. Ellie

  6. Ellie

  7. Ellie

  8. Ellie

  9. Ellie

  10. Ellie

  11. Ellie

  12. Ellie

  13. Ellie

  14. Ellie

  15. Ellie

  16. Ellie

  17. Ellie

  18. Ellie

  19. Killian

  20. Killian

  Epilogue

  Epilogue 2

  Other Books by Ryan Michele

  About the Author

  Thank you!

  1

  Ellie

  Ride or die. I'd used the expression often. I knew it to my core. That deep meaning of one person you stuck with through thick and thin; no matter what happened, you had each other’s backs. It resonated in my soul because I had my ride or die.

  That was what Bri was to me. My person.

  Brianna Waverly had been my bestest best friend since we were in third grade when she tried stealing my Oreo cookies at lunch when she thought I wasn’t looking.

  I was, and we got into it. Full-blown rolling on the floor and pulling hair, yelling, and not stopping until teachers were yanking us apart—fighting, the real deal. Oreos were the best cookies of all time, and of course, I had to stand up for the chocolaty, creamy goodness. Nobody touched my snacks, ever.

  Fun times, great memories. To this day we fought over them.

  Needless to say our parents were called, and we were a match made in heaven from then on, bonded by a cookie. Through all the phases in life, she was my person. The one I’d do anything for, even take a bullet without blinking an eye.

  It was the reason I was currently parked on the street in front of a well-lit house, wondering what the hell Bri had gotten into now. She could be a bit of a wild child and a free spirit. I loved her for it, but sometimes it landed us both up the shit creek without a paddle. Cars lined the streets on both sides, and music could be heard clearly; even though I was quite a ways away and my windows were up. None of this surprised me when it came to Bri. Apparently, it was a hell of a party.

  One I could see Bri and I going to for a night of fun back in the day. We were a bit rambunctious, as my mother would say. She was using that term very loosely with me. Always said I was a handful the moment I came into the world, screaming and making my presence known.

  Mostly my partying happened at my bar instead of these kinds of parties now, but Bri still went ‘living out her years,’ as she called it, getting in a few more before she got old. And who was I to judge, except maybe right now because of this.

  Twenty-five minutes ago, Bri called from the bathroom of this house sounding scared out of her mind and needing me to come and get her. Even though I was at the bar working because there was a rush, I dropped everything and motored as fast as I could to get here. All the while my mind ticked off every passing minute worrying for my friend.

  Bri was a wild child, and not much fazed her, so knowing she was scared concerned me because that wasn’t like her one bit. Therefore, I risked a speeding ticket just to get to her in five minutes instead of the twenty it would usually take.

  The cell in my hand rang, and I answered, seeing Bri’s name. “Where are you?”

  “In the bathroom.”

  Saying “duh?” would only delay this process, and there was no time for that. “What side of the house are you on?”

  “The right.” My eyes scanned down the right seeing light peer through the curtains into the night. “No wait. My right. Your left.” She went back on her first answer. I loved her, but if she didn’t pull her shit together, I’d get her out of this mess and strangle her.

  “Bri, seriously. Focus, snap out it, and tell me what window I need to go to.”

  We were opposites. I tried to think things through, where she was the walking definition of scatterbrained. Bri mostly went with the flow of things. Loved to have fun and just be. She had a very free spirit and sometimes was a bit forgetful. Loved her, but it was the truth. It added to her wild child ways, and one day they were going to catch up with her. Today wasn’t going to be that day if I could help it.

  But now wasn’t the time for her to get confused. I wanted to get her and get out of here as soon as possible.

  There was some rustling on the other side of the line like she was shaking her head, then she said, “Look at the front door, on your left side. I’m in the back corner.” Pulling her shit together, yes, that was my Bri.

  Just then the sounds of banging on a door filled the line with muffled demands. “Open the fuckin’ door. Bitch, I’m gonna get your ass.”

  “Bri?”

  Her voice dropped low. “I’m okay, but I have to get out of here now.”

  “You have some serious explaining to do.” I got out of my Jeep Wrangler, black with black interior and a ragtop. She was one hell of a ride. Quickly, I moved to the left side of the house. Luckily there was only one man outside smoking, and he was on the opposite end from where I was headed. Not that it would matter much, considering I had no weapon.

  I should’ve grabbed my bat from the bar, but I didn’t think of it at the time. Being in a hurry and all. The least I could’ve done was grab a knife from behind the bar. Note for next time. Hopefully, though, there wouldn’t be a next time.

  “Get ready to jump out.” There were more muffled words, but I concentrated on my surroundings. With the cloak of darkness hiding me well, I surveyed the home. The area was pretty dark with a few streetlights off in the distance giving a very eerie glow.

  The first two windows had curtains, and I peeked through the tiny cracks of the first window and noticed it was a living room pa
cked with people. I moved down to the second window and peeked inside, someone getting lucky in what appeared to be a bedroom. Nobody noticed me. A small stroke of luck, but I’d take it.

  A puff of blonde hair came from the furthest window down, and my heart squeezed seeing my girl. I shoved my phone into my back pocket and raced to her.

  “Thank god you’re here. These guys…” she said as I reached out for her.

  “Later,” I ordered, hearing the door crack behind her from whoever was pounding on it like their life depended on it. They obviously were going to do anything to get inside, including smashing the door down. We didn’t have much time and needed to get the hell out of here.

  Bri began to swing her legs out, and I was ready for her. Suddenly a huge crash came from the room, and Bri let out a shrill scream as she started to fall. I wrapped my arms around her quickly and pulled her the rest of the way down. She stumbled on the heel of her sandal as she tried to steady her footing. A large beefy man with a black and gray goatee stuck his head out the window then reached his arm out, trying to get at Bri. His eyes were filled with rage directed at my best friend.

  “You little slut! Get back here!” he charged, reaching as far out the window as he could. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he fell out at this point, he was so far out.

  What the hell did she do to him to make him so mad? That was a question for another time.

  Luckily, she was far enough away that he couldn’t get her, but that didn’t stop his furious face from taking both of us in. I didn’t know who he was friends with here, and we were far from being in the clear—meaning the safety of my Jeep!

  Screw that and screw him. Bri and I knew from experience how parties could go bad in the blink of an eye. We’d had our fair share. Add in the sneaking out to go to them and drinking, we’d just about seen it all.

  This, though, was new, in that no one had actually gone after one of us. We didn’t like this much.

  “Come on!” I gripped her arm and started to pull her in the direction of my Jeep, hearing the man behind us. It appeared he was too big to get out of the window. Bonus for us.

  A strong arm came across my stomach, pulling me back and Bri with me since we were attached. A scream left me, and a hand clamped over my mouth while Bri was torn away from my grasp.

  Fear gripped me. I shook my head, trying to get a handle on my emotions. One thing I knew—always keep your head about you. Meaning, I couldn’t get wrapped up in fear. I had to be prepared to fight.

  “Ellie. Shut it.” The low growl came from deep within the chest of whoever this man was.

  Freaked out was taking it lightly. My mind went into hyper drive. Inhaling deeply to steady the fear coursing through my chest, I noticed he smelled of man, and I was trying to decipher the exact description as I tried to fight free. His voice was calm, firm, and deep. His arm around my waist was thick and firm, as was the body behind me that he pulled me against. He was taller than me and easily maneuvered me the way he desired.

  Wait, he knew me? On an inhale the smell of bourbon, honey, and leather wrapped around me, but I didn’t let it detour me. I continued fighting and could hear Bri doing the same next to me.

  The man who had me was strong, holding me with little effort, and fear like no other crawled through me. Was this the guy from the window’s friend? Was this a setup to get us out here and take us out?

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  This man picked me up off the ground, into his arms, and took off running as if he were out for a Sunday jog and not carrying a woman kicking, clawing, and fighting.

  “What are you doing?” I screeched as I heard Bri’s voice beside me, another man carrying her. Clawing the guy’s arm to get his hand removed did nothing, and I dug my nails in deep. Kicking did nothing. Hitting did nothing. Shifting my body, same—nothing. He completely ignored every move I made.

  When I looked up at the man, ready to scratch his eyeballs out—because that was something I learned watching television, a good scratch or poke to the eyes would have anyone throwing you to the ground—everything inside me froze.

  Hell, even my eyelashes stopped blinking briefly as I stared in astonished amazement. I had to be seeing things. Had to. This entire situation had to be a figment of my imagination, and I had a damn good imagination. But still, I’d never been in a scenario like this before.

  Killian Graham was holding me in his arms.

  The very Killian Graham, mind you, I hadn’t seen in years, but here he was carrying me away from a house where I was attempting to rescue my best friend.

  Was he friends with these assholes?

  No, he couldn’t be. Could he?

  At my apparent shock, he removed his hand. “What are you doing here?” I bit out because you only lived once, and frankly, I wasn’t much for having a filter on my words.

  “Saving your ass,” he growled low, and I swore I felt the words race through my body like small cars. Gravelly. That was his voice. A combination of that low rumble, but with a rough edge to it. One you could listen to for hours and never get tired of it.

  Killian set me on my feet next to a black Escalade with tinted windows. “Listen,” he said, grabbing my attention. The other man placed Bri on her feet next to me. “Get in, and do not move,” he ordered, and by the look on his face, he truly expected me to obey.

  What the hell?

  Since when did he think he could command me to do something? No one ordered me to do anything. Bri and I had to get out of here before the beefy man saw us again.

  My hands went to my hips, ready to give him some serious attitude, because what the fuck! He moved in closer, his body heat pressing against mine and throwing a bit of the wind out of my sail. “Bad guys, Ellie. We don’t have time for this shit right now. Get. The. Fuck. In.”

  The seriousness of his tone had me reining myself in for a moment. It had to be the edge to his voice that did it because there was simply no other reason for me to comply so easily. Yes, it had to be something. I was not a woman who got ordered around and told what to do.

  “What are you going to do? My Jeep is—” I started to point off to where my Jeep sat, but he cut me off.

  “Now, Ellie.” This time he didn’t wait for me to contemplate his words. He opened the SUV door, lifted me clean off my feet, put me inside. He put Bri in, then the door was shut and locked. My mind was racing, trying to focus on Killian.

  Only he was already gone. Like a figment of my imagination, just up in smoke, as if I dreamed this entire evening’s actions. Blinking didn’t wake me, nor did the customary pinching of the skin, so it must be real.

  I turned to Bri, and her mouth was hanging open in shock or surprise—I wasn’t sure which. I asked, “You did see Killian, right?” needing her to confirm what I’d just seen.

  Her head shook, unable to form words.

  “And he just grabbed us from that house and ordered us in here, right?”

  She nodded again.

  “Say something!” I cried out in frustration. I was a bit freaked out and pissed by the turn in events, but she was my bestie, and she’d get over it. I needed something from her. I didn’t know what, but something!

  “Girrll…” she drawled out like we weren’t in this crazy situation, but instead sitting at her house drinking. “That was so him. Where did he come from?”

  “Hell if I know.” I looked out the window seeing nothing but light filtering from the windows of the house. We were much farther away from it now, but I saw no trace of Killian or his friend anywhere.

  “I haven’t seen him in years. You remember all the rumors?” Bri asked, and oh boy, did I remember the rumors. Killian Graham was the talk of the town. The stories were wild. Anything from Killian worked for the CIA, to a mercenary, and some even eluded to him being a drug kingpin. No one actually knew what Killian did, and that aura of mystery made the man utterly intriguing.

  It was then everything went off the Richter scale crazy. Police sirens heard in the dista
nce were fast approaching, and within a couple of seconds the house was bathed in the headlights of police cars and SUVs. The officers hopped out, guns at the ready and standing behind their vehicle doors.

  Shit! What did we find ourselves in the midst of? This wasn’t good.

  My brother Elliot got out of his cop car, gun pointed at the house like his brethren. “Fuck! Elliot’s here!”

  “I can see.” Bri added, “Along with the entire force, it seems.” She wasn’t wrong.

  I knew many of the men from my brother. None of which would be happy about me being here. At all. They’d taken on a protective role in my life, either doing it for Elliot or just because they were kickass men.

  Sometimes it served me well, other times not so much. My Jeep wasn’t far enough away for my brother and his brothers-in-blue not to see it and recognize it was mine. They would all know in seconds I was in the area. An area I clearly shouldn’t have been in.

  “Shit. He’s gonna…” I started to vocalize my thoughts, scanning the area. My eyes drifted over to where my Jeep was parked only to find that spot empty. “Where’s my Jeep!”

  I made a move for the door handle, yanking it and trying to get it opened. It was to no avail because the damn thing was locked from the outside. Killian had to be joking. “He locked us in!”

  Bri’s arms went around me tight. “Take a deep breath. We’re safe. Let them do whatever they’re doing, and stay out of the way.”

  Anger, fear, frustration. All these emotions flooded my system, and I was stuck sitting in this SUV with not a single answer to the eighteen hundred questions consuming me. So I went with the ones Bri could answer. Since she was in the predicament beforehand, I didn’t ask anything as I made my way to her. Now, well, now it was time for the inquisition. “Why the hell were you here alone, Bri? That’s not like you.” And it wasn’t. She may party, but she always had someone with her. Usually it was a friend of ours named Khloe who was her single wingman.