Dare to Forgive (The Dare 3)

She turned away from him and headed inside.

* * * *

Will watched Adel walk away and he was concerned to say the least. Whomever called her was obviously bothering her and not listening to her request to leave her alone. Was it an ex-boyfriend? Was the guy abusive? Maybe someone who drank a lot and hurt her? His mind was assuming so many things after their nice conversation during lunch and what she shared. Hell, if her ex—well, if there was an ex—who drank a lot and was abusive to her then he would give up drinking if it made her uncomfortable. He wanted to know who the guy was. He wanted to help her and to take the look of fear, of anger and sadness from her eyes. He had to talk to his brothers.

They had all witnessed her taking calls from her mom and how sad she got. They knew nothing about her family, her past, or even where she worked before. Their father Harold knew her and recommended giving her the job. They accepted their father’s good judgment and they hadn’t been disappointed since. In fact, they spent more time around her than they needed to. Having her help with this new business venture was a plus. He needed to talk to Leo. If some guy was harassing her, together they would take care of him and protect Adel. She was going to be theirs eventually. They just needed to gain her trust and prove to her that they weren’t going to hurt her.

He felt sick. What if Adel had been abused? What if the guy still wanted her? He had to find out. He exhaled and entered the building searching for Leo and Hank, but it was time to meet again in the meeting room and Adel was already there looking professional and ready. Her smile seemed sincere, but he knew she was hiding her emotions. Something was going on and he and his brothers would get to the bottom of it.

Chapter 2

Adel looked around Spencer’s as she sipped on a glass of white wine. She wasn’t in the mood for drinking, for socializing for that matter. Bentley called her again and it was making her crazy. Why did he want to know where she was working and if she was handling things okay? She just wanted to be left alone and to have the past behind her, but she was uptight, on edge, and it didn’t help that Steve was here and so were his brothers. All four of them were watching her, and then she saw Will and Leo. She swallowed hard. They stood out in a crowd with their designer dress pants and solid polo shirts. Add in their attitudes, the way they walked around like they owned the place, and oh yeah, they grabbed every woman’s attention in the place.

“Hey, beautiful, will your friends let you leave them long enough for me to buy you a drink?” Steve asked, interrupting her zoned out time. She felt embarrassed and hoped no one noticed her staring at two of her bosses.

Mercedes raised one of her eyebrows up at him. “Are you kidding me? And leave me to fend on my own with these lovebirds surrounding us?”

Adel laughed and so did Steve. He reached both hands out to the two of them.

“Come on both of you. We’ll buy you a drink.”

Mercedes took Steve’s hand and so did Adel and then they walked with them toward his brothers and some group of guys. Adel noticed Deputy Taylor Dawn, out of uniform of course, and two of his brothers, Kurt and Warner. Their eyes immediately roamed over Mercedes and she looked away from them.

Adel had the feeling that the Dawn brothers were interested in Mercedes. Warner and Kurt were pretty mysterious men who had military pasts. She could remember hearing some gossip about them being spies and very resourceful. Mercedes worked in the sheriff’s department so she probably heard things, too. Mercedes had a hard childhood and young adult life, so Adel could understand her fears. Hers were similar. If she couldn’t trust her own father and mother, how could she ever trust any man?

Adel felt the hand on her lower back and then Steve whisper next to her ear.

“What are you drinking?”

“Oh, I’m good actually. I’ve been sipping this all night.”

“Maybe you need something different?” he asked.

“Yeah, like one of those girly drinks your friend Marlena is sipping,” Caleb, Steve’s brother, suggested as he nodded toward Marlena where they’d just left. Then his eyes roamed over her body again. She felt self-conscious and she also realized that she wasn’t attracted to any of these men.

“I’m good for now, but thank you,” she replied. She glanced to the right, back to where she had seen Leo and Will but they were no longer there. She felt disappointed and then she felt like an idiot. Why was she paying attention to them and worried about where they were? Leo and Will were all wrong for her and they were out of her league. She took a sip of wine and listened to Mercedes correct the story that Taylor was explaining of a recent burglary attempt not far from where she lived. They had gotten some new evidence and even a lead in the case.

Adel couldn’t help but to smile. As much as Mercedes tried to hide her attraction to Taylor, Kurt, and Warner, they tried even harder making it obvious that all four of them were interested.

“Good evening, everyone.” She heard the voice and felt the hands on her shoulders at the same time. She nearly spilled her drink.

Will approached along with Leo as Will pressed up against her back.

The men greeted him and Leo as Leo took position right next to her and winked, then smiled before he took a sip of his beer.

Will’s hands massaged her shoulders and then she felt his lips next to her ear.

“I got that fan we talked about. I’ll meet you at your place at eleven?” he asked but it seemed Steve had heard him. Steve squinted his eyes and Adel could hardly breathe having Will this close to her and smelling so good. His hands felt amazing on her shoulders and she wished she were wearing something that covered them completely instead of the tank style blouse.

She looked at him and nodded her head.

“If you’re sure it’s no problem. I mean if you have plans or something it’s no big deal. I could get someone to help me install it.”

“The fan? Heck, Will, if you’ve got some hot date or want to take your boat out for the day, I’d be happy to help Adel install a new fan in her bedroom. It’s the bedroom right?” Steve asked and held her gaze. She could tell he was flirting as usual, but Will didn’t find it amusing and nor did Leo as Will squeezed her shoulders again and then released them and stood on her other side.

“No. We’ve got this covered. Adel comes before everything else,” he said and she looked at Will like he was crazy, but Will had that firm Ferguson expression on his face that made her pull her bottom lip between her teeth and wonder why he was being so intense. His tone was different than when they were in the offic

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