Don Juan Read online

  Don Juan

  Brotherhood Protectors World

  Leanne Tyler

  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  About Leanne Tyler

  Original Brotherhood Protectors Series

  About Elle James

  Copyright © 2019, Leanne Tyler

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  © 2019 Twisted Page Press, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.

  Brotherhood Protectors

  Original Series by Elle James

  Brotherhood Protectors Series

  Montana SEAL (#1)

  Bride Protector SEAL (#2)

  Montana D-Force (#3)

  Cowboy D-Force (#4)

  Montana Ranger (#5)

  Montana Dog Soldier (#6)

  Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)

  Montana Ranger’s Wedding Vow (#8)

  Montana SEAL Undercover Daddy (#9)

  Cape Cod SEAL Rescue (#10)

  Montana SEAL Friendly Fire (#11)

  Montana SEAL’s Mail-Order Bride (#12)

  Montana Rescue (Sleeper SEAL)

  Hot SEAL Salty Dog (SEALs in Paradise)

  Brotherhood Protectors Vol 1

  To Shannon for your extra hard work on whipping this one into shape for me. Thanks for your editing talent.

  Chapter 1

  Simone Reid unlocked her apartment door and pulled her roll along straight into her bedroom. She kicked off her heels, shimmied out of her hose, and then stripped out of her business suit before she finally headed for the shower to wash the memory of a failed trip out of her mind. Typically she loved traveling for business, but she’d mixed personal affairs with work this time around and both had not gone well. She’d been so consumed trying to trail her father’s last steps that she didn’t spend enough time focusing on her client. She’d renewed the contract, but Webster-Reynolds had not been happy with her and she was certain her boss, Robert Cranston, would be hearing about it. She could kiss her upcoming promotion good-bye unless she knew of a way to convince her boss that being distracted trying to locate her father on company time was the best policy instead of requesting time off to do so.

  She just had to hope and pray that her dad showed back up eventually and that no foul play was involved. If his business partners weren’t concerned it was odd that he hadn’t been seen in three weeks, then perhaps Simone was overreacting. Her dad was as much of a free-spirit as she was when it came to following his own path in life. He was a great salesman even if his tactics were sometimes brought into question. She was just glad his secretary had given her the location of the hotel where he’d been staying on his trip.

  Turning off the water, Simone reached for the terry cloth towel and wrapped it around her body. She stepped out onto the memory foam bathmat and let her feet dry for a moment before she ran into her bedroom to quickly dress for a night out with her girlfriends. She needed to unwind and Carly’s recent divorce was a great reason to celebrate. Checking the clock, she saw she had just enough time to touch up her hair and makeup and slip into a spring dress before Colleen would be texting that she was downstairs to pick her up.

  So she pushed all thoughts of her dad’s whereabouts and her job aside as she pulled on her dress before she rushed back into the bathroom. She applied fresh eye shadow, mascara and lipstick reminding herself she was going out with her friends tonight to have fun and who knew what else. She loved the possibilities on night like this.

  Her phone buzzed. Colleen’s name flashed on her screen, so she dashed off a text to say she was on her way before she grabbed the small gift bag for Carly and headed out the door.

  Music greeted them as they entered the Pied Piper bar on the waterfront in downtown Chicago. Colleen had been Miss Chatty Cathy all the way there, while Carly had fidgeted with the zippers on her faux leather jacket in the backseat.

  “Let’s this party started!” Simone raised her arms in the air, a tiger print gift bag in one hand, a wristlet dangling from the other as she made her way between the tables.

  Colleen carried a small gift bag as well, and Carly followed with her large black purse that looked like an overnight bag. Good girl! Their last conversation about what this night could mean appeared to have stuck with her friend and Carly was following through. Even if she didn’t look thrilled about it. The girl needed to get laid, badly.

  Simone left her friends at the table and went to the eight by eight stage area and began dancing with the chrome pole. She loved the way her reddish-brown hair shimmered in the overhead spotlights and reflected in the mirrored wall. She soon got lost in the music as she danced, forgetting about the world around her as the rhythm consumed her, and she didn’t come back to reality until she heard Carly tell the bartender, “Hit me again.”

  “Woohoo, that’s the spirit!” Simone called. The more she swayed and shimmied, the higher her dress rose with each move. However, she was still dancing alone. She didn’t understand why she wasn’t drawing the attention of any of the men in the bar tonight.

  Even Colleen over by the jukebox, swaying to the music with her blonde ponytail bobbing, was alone. Likewise, Jules lounged at the table by herself with her feet up, shaking her head to the music.

  “You guys look like a hair color commercial,” Carly said, laughing.

  “Look who’s talking.” Jules turned in her direction and gestured with her drink. “You’re the one who looks like something out of a Victoria’s Secret catalog.”

  “What? I’m well covered. Besides, you all picked it out.” Carly reached a hand to her shoulder length honey-blonde hair and smoothed the imaginary flyaway strands back into place. Then she rested her hand at her midriff where the white clinging tank stopped, exposing her tummy. A light-weight, faux-leather jacket covered the tank. The ensemble was finished off with matching black short shorts that covered all the essentials and did marvelous things for her legs. And, as if her legs weren’t long enough, the black studded, open toe, mid-ankle boots she wore added three more inches to her height.

  Simone left the pole and danced over to the bar, looking Carly in the eye. “The whole point of this evening is to get you out of your comfort zone. You’re the one that wanted a change in your life. We wanted it to be a liberation, now that you’re officially divorced from that control freak, Justin Porter.”

  Carly downed the next shot of tequila and set the glass back on the bar. “Another one, bartender.”

  Colleen rushed over to the bar, reaching for Carly’s hand. “Pace yourself and don’t forget to drink water. You don’t want to find yourself flat on the floor,” she warned with a sweet smile, leading her back to their table.

  Simo
ne followed with a pitcher of water and tray containing the next round of drinks, which they toasted to Carly and her newfound freedom. When the next song began to play, Jules finally got to her feet and danced with Colleen and Simone. They urged Carly to join them, but she refused, deciding to sip water instead. A few frat boys from the University of Chicago joined them and they danced hard to the music. Simone even danced with a few of the executive types from downtown. That lasted until a hard and fast tempo song that she and Jules loved to jump around to begun to play and she left the guy behind to go find her friend. Jules was coming to find her as well. Colleen moved off to the side and took photos of them with her phone as usual, giggling.

  When the song ended, the three headed back to the table and found Carly sitting there.

  “What have you been up to?” Simone asked.

  “Escaping the rough hands of the long-haired man at the bar. I’ve had enough shooters for one night.”

  “We need food.” Colleen picked up the small menu on the table and rattled off the appetizers. “Let’s get the slider platter and the loaded cheesy bacon fries.”

  “Girl, because you can eat like that and not gain an ounce doesn’t mean we’re all blessed with those genes,” Simone said.

  “Live a little.” Jules snatched the menu from Colleen. “I’ll go order and be right back with a round of beer for us all. Longnecks or a pitcher?”

  “Longnecks.”

  Jules returned with four bottles.

  “Let’s toast Carly and her new life,” Jules announced, handing out the bottles. “Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

  “Here. Here.” Colleen raised her bottle.

  Carly blushed and tried to hide the fact by drinking her beer.

  The waitress came shortly after with the sliders and the fries. The four talked, scarfed down the food, and then it was finally time to shower Carly with naughty gifts.

  Simone squealed, stomping her feet happily on the floor as she produced the small tiger print grift bag with black tissue paper. “I hope you have lots of fun with these.”

  Carly actually eyed the bag as if she were afraid to reach inside, but finally she stuck her hand in and pulled out furry, leopard print handcuffs. “Oh. Well. Uh. Yea.”

  “This one’s from me,” Colleen said, sitting down another small, sparkly gift bag with bright tissue paper.

  “Is there a theme to these gifts?” Carly asked.

  “Yeah, that you use them,” Simone said, feeling upset by her reaction to her gift.

  The girls giggled as Carly reached inside and pulled out a handful of glow in the dark condoms. Her hand was suspended above the bag for a few seconds before she exclaimed a startled, “Oh!” and she dropped them back inside.

  Flushed, Carly set aside Colleen’s gift and reached for Jules’s sedate white gift bag with pink tissue.

  “Do I even want to look inside this one? It looks all innocent, but that means it’s deceptive because it’s coming from you, counselor.”

  Jules shrugged. “Depends on how adventurous you are.”

  Simone couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that dead giveaway.

  Taking a deep breath, Carly pulled out the pink tissue and unwrapped a biker babe leather thong teddy and whip set. “Good heavens!”

  The girls laughed some more as Carly’s cheeks flamed and she wrapped the items back in the tissue and stuffed them into the gift bag again. She put the other two gift bags inside of Jules’s and then stowed the gifts inside her large black bag that contained a change of clothes in case she didn’t go home tonight.

  “You guys didn’t have to do this or bring these here…tonight. You could have given them to me at my apartment.”

  Colleen shook her head. “That place is so small. I swear, my linen closet is bigger.”

  Simone snorted, made a face, and then covered her nose and mouth with both hands.

  “Sorry you don’t approve, but it was all I could afford. I wasn’t awarded alimony.”

  “Which is asinine!” Jules stood up. “That is the one thing about your divorce I don’t agree with. How could the judge grant it without awarding your alimony? Justin Porter comes from money. Didn’t one of his ancestors found that country club he belongs to?”

  Carly nodded. “One of the first members. But his family doesn’t like to brag.”

  Simone snorted again. “Is that why he mentioned it so often when you were first dating?”

  “Did he?”

  “Yes.” Jules tossed a used napkin on the table. “He got the house. While you moved into a tiny apartment that you barely can afford without any support. You have no job. Your parents aren’t speaking to you because you left him, it’s—”

  “I have a job interview next week now that everything is settled and I can focus on not going to court every day.”

  “Speaking of injustice, the legal system is screwy. Where is justice in the world?” Jules continued to fume.

  Colleen patted their friend on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay. The youth center will find money somewhere to support the programs for the kids. There have been budget cuts before and the center has survived.”

  Jules kicked the leg of a nearby chair. “Not like these cuts.”

  “I’m sorry, Jules. I hadn’t realized it had gotten so bad this week,” Simone said, feeling bad she hadn’t been there for her friend. “Someone should have let me know when I got back in town from my business trip.”

  Jules shook her head. “Enough about me. It’s Carly’s night out and we still have plenty of time before the bar closes. Another round of drinks? A round of pool?”

  “A little pole dancing for our divorcee?” Simone suggested, getting to her feet and trying to persuade Carly to join her up on the stage. “You’re not going to find Mr. Right Now if you stay hidden behind a table all night. You gotta get out on the dance floor and move your moneymaker.”

  Carly shook her head and held up her hands. “Guys, please, stop. I think I’ve had more than my limit of alcohol for one night and dancing when I’m feeling like this is not going to be good. I won’t attract anything but a bucket and a mop.”

  “Okay, then what would you like to do?” Colleen asked, reaching out and taking her hands in hers. “We’re here to please.”

  “I want to spend time with my besties. Is that so wrong? I know you think I need to have a hot night out, but have I drawn a man to me tonight? Well, other than Mr. Longhair tattoo guy, but you know. Have either of you been propositioned? No. Is there something wrong with us?”

  “I think we’re sending off the wrong vibes,” Colleen said. “We’re woman, hear us roar, but stand your distance buster.”

  Jules smirked. “You got that right.”

  “More the reason we need to get up on the stage and shake our booties.” Simone left the table, went to the juke box and selected Firefly and went to the stage and proceeded to sway and gyrate.

  Colleen ran to join Simone, laughing. They joined hands, raising their arms in a slow motion wave. Soon Jules and Carly joined in. It wasn’t long until a few of the guys in the bar sauntered over and began dancing as well.

  Simone felt as if she were about to drop when the last song ended and the four of them headed back to the table. It had been just the release she needed. She hurried over to Carly and ribbed her about the frat boy she’d been dancing with.

  “Woohoo, looks like Carly found her a young one.” Simone hovered near her shoulder.

  “He’s not my type.”

  “Do you even know what your type is anymore?”

  Carly shrugged.

  A bell rang near the bar and everyone stopped what they were doing. The bartender climbed up on the wooden surface and announced, “Last call of the night. We’ll be closing in fifteen.”

  Wolf howls and cheering came from the group of Frat boys and then a round of slaps on the backs of some of the guys.

  “Wonder what that was all about?” Jules arched a brow. “Well, I hate to bail, but I have an
early morning meeting.”

  “On a Saturday?” Simone questioned, wondering if Jules was just ditching them early like she normally did on Fridays.

  Jules nodded. “With all the budget cuts, we have to figure out how we’re going to keep the few programs we can from tanking.”

  It was clear from the sad face Colleen made before hugging Jules that she bought into it. “See you. Call if you need to talk.” When she pulled away she looked at Carly and Simone. “I need to hit the ladies before we leave.”

  “Okay. We’ll wait for you at the bar,” Carly told her. Then she leaned toward Simone.

  “I want to thank the bartender for cutting me off earlier. He saved me from making a fool out of myself.”

  “Are you sure that is the only reason you are wanting to talk to him?” Simone cooed.

  She ignored her and slid onto one of the empty barstools.

  “Come back for another shot?” the bartender asked.

  “No. This girl knows when she’s had her limit. You were right to cut me off when you did. I wanted to thank you for doing that earlier. I’m Carly, by the way.”

  “Phil. And it was my pleasure to give you an out to get away from that guy. I could tell you didn’t look comfortable with him touching you.”

  “No, I didn’t. Thanks again.”

  “Are you single?” Simone asked. “Carly’s recently divorced.”

  “Nope.” Phil held up his olive toned hand sporting a wide titanium band on it.

  “You’ll have to excuse my friend here, she doesn’t think before she speaks when she’s been drinking.”

  “That’s okay. It happens all the time in my line of work.” Phil walked away to take care of a server at the other end of the bar.