Today I’m sharing a scene from Protecting it All, Book Four in the Passion Series.  This book is a suspense and I hope it keeps you turning pages and on the edge of your seat. In this scene, Hannah rushes home to find three men coming out of her house.
Excerpt:
Hannah drove too fast across town. She pulled into the parking lot just as Dylan and two other guys even bigger than he was walked out of her front door as if they belonged there. Between the stress of Jake and now Dylan pursuing her without regard for her wishes, Hannah had just about had enough of being pushed around. An anger she’d been pushing down consumed her as she got out of her car, slammed her driver’s side door with a loud thud, and marched full steam up the sidewalk. She confronted the handsome man, who looked comically surprised to see her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You’ve been trying to convince me that you’re this good guy trying to protect me, and now you go and break into my house? You have some nerve!” she stormed at him.
They had reached each other at the halfway point. Hannah made sure he got the message, taking both hands and shoving his chest with all of her strength. It was like hitting a brick wall.
“Whoa. Hang on there. I can explain.” He pulled her into his arms to keep her from flailing at him. The tighter he held her, the harder she struggled to be free.
One of the big guys with him stepped closer to talk softly. “Let’s take this inside. We’re attracting too much attention out here.”
Before she knew what was happening, Hannah was being shuffled along towards her front door, sandwiched between Dylan and a hulk of a man who looked a lot like him. They had to be brothers, the thought of which intrigued her. The third guy, the tallest of the three, jimmied open her door in just a few seconds, telling her that her security was a joke.
Her small apartment seemed downright petite with the three hulking guys filling the space. Mama Rosa had been right in her description of them. They were all strikingly handsome and it was throwing her off. As big as they were, she didn’t feel threatened by them, which didn’t make any sense at all.
Dylan stepped closer, his arms stretched out and his palms up, as if to show her he wasn’t going to hurt her.
“I think now would be a good time for that explanation.” She hated the quaver in her voice.
“I’ve told you that I was investigating Jake Davenport. This is my brother and my boss. They’re here to join the investigation. We need your help.”
“And you thought breaking into my apartment was the best way to get it?” she asked.
“Listen, I’ve tried talking to you, but you aren’t listening to me. Jake Davenport is bad news. We need to get him neutralized.”
“First, you don’t need to tell me. I already know first hand what Jake is capable of. The question is, what is it you think I can do to help you?”
The tallest man stepped around Dylan to answer her. “My name is Lukus Mitchell. We’ve been tracking Davenport for a few weeks now, and we’re working on getting evidence that will put him behind bars.”

“Why? What’s he done to you?”
His green eyes flashed as she challenged him. She got the impression it wasn’t something he was used to.
“He’s hurt my best friend’s wife… badly. And he’s threatening my fiancée. Tiffany can barely sleep because of the nightmares about Jake hurting her and her best friend, Brianna. He’s stalked them both and now they’re under house arrest, locked down with round-the-clock armed guards because Davenport keeps flying to Chicago to try to get to them, promising to hurt them.”
She watched his eyes as he laid out what they had against Jake. Maybe she was a fool, but by the time he finished speaking, she believed him. Hannah saw the fear in his eyes as he spoke about the woman he loved being in danger. She fought down a feeling of jealousy, and wondered if this Tiffany knew how lucky she was to have a man like Lukus Mitchell in her life protecting her. It was something Hannah longed for, but knew she’d never have.
The heftiest of the three stepped forward next. “I’m Dylan’s brother, Derek, and I’m the one who decided we needed to get into your apartment. If there was even a small chance we could get evidence to put Davenport away, we needed to take it.”
Her eyes returned to Dylan’s. “What is it exactly you think I have that can help you?”
Dylan answered. “The accounting books for Strictly Disciplined. He did try to hire you to do his accounting, right?”
“How did you—”
“Because his long-time accountant just turned up dead under suspicious circumstances, and because you recently got your degree. You’re exactly his type. He’s set his sights on you and he isn’t going to stop until he has you… until he breaks you,” Dylan explained.
“Breaks me?”
Lukus answered her. “He’s a sadist. He gets off on dominating women. What makes him dangerous is that he especially likes breaking in women who resist him. It’s all a big game to him.”
Memories of how Jake had tied her down and hurt her before taking her forcibly while she begged him to stop had her shaking. These men had just described her date with Jake Davenport.
Dylan picked up on her thoughts. “Fuck, he’s already hurt you, hasn’t he?” She couldn’t figure out why he looked so angry. “What did he do to you at his house on Monday?”

“That’s none of your business.” The words to confirm what Jake had done to her wouldn’t come. A sense of shame she knew she didn’t deserve washed over her as she remembered not only his actions, but how her body had betrayed her in the most confusing of ways. She looked away, desperate not to let these men see how vulnerable she felt in that moment.
Dylan reached out to gently stroke her arm. The action was such a stark contrast to her memories in Jake’s horror house earlier that week. She couldn’t stop trembling. When she looked up, the three men were watching her carefully.
“He’s never going to leave me alone, is he?” she choked out.
Lukus answered, the pity in his voice clear. “I’m afraid not. That’s why we need to put him behind bars.”
She stepped away from the men, turning her back to them so they couldn’t see the tears coming to her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself as she thought.
She had messed up so many times. She should have listened to her internal reservations and steered clear of Jake. She shouldn’t have taken the journal. She should have gone to the police right after he’d raped her; while they could still collect evidence.
I should have packed the car and driven Connor and me away from this place yesterday morning.
Fear for Connor’s safety warred with her own promise to herself to try and prevent any other women from suffering the way she had at the hands of Jake Davenport. Alone, she knew she had no clue how to battle the evil that was Jake. Could these three alpha men help her? Dare she trust them?
The quiet of the room was broken by the sound of the near-by connector door linking her apartment to Rosa’s cracking open. In unison, the three men whipped out concealed handguns, pointing them at the unexpected movement as if Jake Davenport were about to stroll through the door.
Hannah turned on them, holding her arms out wide as if she could somehow stop their bullets with her petite body. “NO! Put your guns away! Right now!”
The men refused to lower their weapons until Connor’s childish voice called for her. “Mommy!”

Hannah was watching Dylan and saw the surprise register in his grey eyes as Connor ran up from behind her to throw his three-year-old arms around her legs, clinging to her, afraid of the big bad men with guns pointed at his mommy. All three guns were lowered to the floor.
Hannah heard Mama Rosa’s wheelchair approaching from behind. “I have my cell phone. I’m calling 9-1-1 in exactly thirty seconds if you aren’t out of here.” Her accent may have been thick, but the men understood.
With the emergency diffused, Hannah turned, pulling Connor up into her arms where he clung to her like a monkey. “It’s okay, Rosa. These are actually the good guys. I’ve been having some trouble with a guy at work, and these men are trying to help me get him out of my life.”
Rosa looked each of the men up and down suspiciously before visibly relaxing. She didn’t let them off the hook, though. “Where I come from, the good guys come in through the front door and not the side window,” she scolded.
Lukus answered sheepishly. “Yes, ma’am.”
Hannah snuggled against Connor to hide her smile at the sight of the man who was obviously used to being in charge looking contrite. Her eyes met Dylan’s as his own grin lit up his face. She felt the flush in her cheeks under his scrutiny, liking how he made her feel safe when he was around.
Too bad safety was an illusion.
*****
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Blurb:
Jake Davenport is still on the loose, and Lukus Mitchell and Markus Lambert have had enough. They won’t rest until the sadistic Dom who is threatening their women is behind bars…or dead.  They don’t care which. Lukus assembles a team of his top security personnel and heads to California leaving Markus and Tiffany’s cop brother, Aiden, in Chicago to keep Tiffany and Brianna safe, locked down in the loft at The Punishment Pit.
Derek’s brother Dylan is already there, staking out the predator, feeling helpless as he watches Jake lure innocent women into his nest of consensual, but brutal, sexual websites. When Jake turns his eye to Hannah Martine, Dylan decides he’s done with just watching.
Hannah moved across the country trying to escape the demons of her past, but the fresh start she’s hoping for is cut short when Jake presses her to accept a tempting job that will solve her financial woes. Once he gets her alone, the sadist uses humiliation, drugs and brutal force to try to bend Hannah to his will.
Everything comes to a head when Lukus and the gang realize only someone on the inside can get close enough to collect evidence of the illegal activities needed to put Davenport away. Dylan is furious they are even considering sending the innocent woman he has strong feelings for anywhere near the monster trying to break her.
Will Hannah have the strength to walk back into the demon’s lair? And even if she does, will the threat against Brianna and Tiffany be dissolved? Jake is obsessed with the women from his past, and as authorities close in, he will become desperate for his revenge against Lukus and Markus.
This is Book 4 of Livia Grant’s sexy Passion Series – a roller-coaster of suspense, emotion, heartfelt love and darkest desires.
Publisher’s note: This book contains graphic descriptions of BDSM, explicit sex scenes, dub-con elements and more. If such material offends you, please do not read.
If you haven’t read the first books in the series, they are now available in a low-priced boxed set.
The Passion Series Boxed Set:  3 books, 2 couples negotiating D/s , and 1 madman trying to destroy it all.
This series is a fast-paced, intensely sexy, edgy and emotional story that combines humor, drama, friendship and romance in the way Livia Grant fans have come to expect and new readers are sure to enjoy. Don’t miss out on this outstanding story that isn’t afraid to break a few of the rules on the way to an HEA.
Available:  Amazon US  | Amazon UK  | Amazon CA
*****
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