Protecting His Prize E-Book

Ember Casey

• Herausgeber: Ember Casey
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The Devil's Set is hunting for the greatest treasure of their lives--this time in the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park. With so much on the line, can Xavier Price unlock Rinaldi's latest set of clues while battling his hot, not-so-convenient feelings for The One That Got Away?

Park ranger Penny Vaughn has spent the last few years trying to get over her brief, fiery marriage to Xavier. When he and his “business partners” show up at Yellowstone seeking her help, her first instinct is to run like hell. But then her curiosity gets the better of her, and soon she’s swept up in a thrilling adventure with the man she swore she would never forgive.

As they face the dangers of the wilderness together, Xavier and Penny quickly learn that the heat they shared years ago still burns wild and hot. But can they see beyond the pains of the past to give themselves a second chance at love?

PROTECTING HIS PRIZE is Book 3 in the gripping  Devil's Set series by  USA Todaybestseller Ember Casey.

Leseprobe

Contents

Protecting His Prize

Copyright

Books by Ember

The Devil's Set

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Epilogue

Books by Ember Casey

Protecting His Prize

THE DEVIL’S SET

Book 3

EMBER CASEY

Copyright ©2019 Ember Casey

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 author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Cover designed by Cormar Covers

You can contact Ember at [email protected].

Website: http://embercasey.com.

BOOKS BY EMBER CASEY

THE DEVIL’S SET

Claiming His Treasure

Hunting His Jewel

Protecting His Prize

Defending His Heart

THE FONTAINES

The Secret to Seduction

The Sweet Taste of Sin

The Lies Between the Lines

The Mystery of You

The Thrill of Temptation

THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY

His Wicked Games

Truth or Dare

Sweet Victory

Her Wicked Heart

Take You Away

Lost and Found

Completely (short story)

Their Wicked Wedding

A Cunningham Christmas

Their Wicked Forever

STANDALONE NOVELS

The Billionaire Escape Plan

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O’er the lands and o’er the seas

The Devil’s set of hunters goes

In search of gold and jewels like these;

The treasures that will tempt men’s souls

PROLOGUEGardiner, Montana, United States

This isn’t the sort of danger I signed up for. Xavier Price took a swig of his orange soda as he stared up at the stone arch in front of him. Deep sea dives? Sure. Long treks through the jungle? Anytime. Pirates? Bring ‘em on. But not this. Anything but this.

He looked up at the wide stretch of blue over his head. There were only a couple of wispy clouds in the sky above, but despite the bright August sun, a mild chill hung in the air. He told himself that anywhere would feel chilly to him after spending the last few weeks in the Caribbean, that the goose bumps on his arms had nothing to do with the woman who was somewhere on the other side of that arch, somewhere in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park.

He stuck his free hand in his pocket out of habit, his fingers closing around the little wooden figurine he always kept there. The ridges dug into his palm, but he tightened his grip. Bracing himself.

“What do you think?” came a voice from beside him.

Xavier turned his head, releasing the figurine and yanking his hand out of his pocket. Jackson North, one of his teammates, stood a few feet away, and though he was obviously talking to Xavier, his gaze was on the Roosevelt Arch in front of them. Several of their other teammates—Alexei, Cruz, and Jackson’s girlfriend, Charlotte—were spread out at intervals around the big stone structure, searching. They’d probably be having better luck if any of them knew what they were looking for.

This is going to be the biggest haul of your career, Xavier reminded himself. If the Devil’s Set has to search this entire park inch by inch, they will. And you’re along for the ride whether you like it or not. For the past few months, the Set had been pursuing the fortune of the late Vincent Rinaldi, a billionaire who’d fancied himself an adventurer and treasure hunter. Rather than leave behind a fat stack of bills or a bulging stock portfolio when he died, Rinaldi had instead hidden his fortune—in the form of one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry—all across the globe.

The necklace they’d found in the Caribbean—a gaudy thing studded with red diamonds, which Rinaldi had named Delphinus—was easily one of the most valuable pieces in the world. And the letter they’d found with it had led them here, in search of a piece called Equuleus. Apparently Rinaldi had a thing for astronomy, and he’d named each set of jewels after one of the Heavenly Waters constellations.

Honestly, Xavier didn’t really care about all those details. He was mostly just along for the adventure. For the fun. And he had been having fun, at least until now.

“Well?” Jackson prompted him.

Xavier had already forgotten that his teammate had asked him a question. Jackson hadn’t been a member of the Devil’s Set as long as Xavier or most of the others, but from the moment Roth had recruited him it had been obvious to Xavier that he would be a huge asset to the team. Once Jackson was focused on something, he never let it out of his sights. He’d let a hunt lead him to the ends of the earth.

Xavier admired the guy, really. Even if he didn’t completely understand. Sometimes, the prize wasn’t worth the cost of the hunt.

“I think Vincent Rinaldi couldn’t possibly have meant anywhere else,” Xavier admitted to his teammate. “The question is what we’re supposed to do now.”

“Rinaldi’s letter said that everything would fall into place when we came to the Roosevelt Arch.” Jackson’s eyes were still on the great stone structure.

“For his fiancée. Not for us. It’s not like he could have hidden something here. Or even carved some secret message into one of the stones. We’re out in the open. He would have been seen. And arrested.”

Jackson nodded in agreement, following Xavier’s sweeping gesture. The Roosevelt Arch was a stately, imposing structure, marking the northern entrance to Yellowstone National Park, but despite the rolling, pale-colored ridge they could see in the distance on the other side of the arch, they weren’t exactly in the middle of the wilderness. Behind them was a parking lot serving the tourist shops and restaurants of Gardiner, Montana. In front of them, through the arch and just down the road, was the official entrance kiosk to the park, where every vehicle was required to stop and show—or buy—a visitor’s pass. Dozens of people could see them where they stood.

“What does the poem say again?” Xavier asked. He wasn’t one for memorizing stuff like that, but several members of the Set—Jackson among them—seemed to have a knack for it.

“Our love’s as wild as the wilderness,

Our hearts as big as the sky.

I kissed you where the ground bubbles up

And swore to be your guy.”

Xavier shrugged. “So our clues are the wilderness, the sky, and the ground bubbling up. That doesn’t really narrow it down.”

“But it all points to Yellowstone.” The flat, even voice of their leader behind them made both Xavier and Jackson jump. Despite the fact that they were on the most exciting hunt of their lives, Xavier hadn’t seen Roth crack a smile even once. The guy was brilliant, sure, but he really needed to learn how to have fun, to let himself enjoy the thrill of what they were doing. What was the point, otherwise?

Roth stepped forward beside them, frowning up at the Roosevelt Arch. “Most of the poem was simply to get us here, to this park. The mention of ‘wilderness’ is obvious enough. And even the phrase ‘big as the sky’ might be a reference to ‘Big Sky Country,’ a well-known nickname for Montana.”

“Most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming,” Xavier pointed out, but his leader went on as if he hadn’t spoken.

“The part about ‘where the ground bubbles up,’ is almost certainly talking about one of the park’s geysers or hot springs. The key is figuring out the specific one he’s referring to.” Roth turned his steely gaze onto them. “I suspect his mention of the Roosevelt Arch in the letter we found was simply a heavy-handed clue, in case the poem on its own didn’t steer Alyssa here to Yellowstone. Either way, we’re going to do a thorough inspection of the arch and surrounding area before moving on.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Jackson said, nodding.

“Then you should go make yourself useful,” Roth replied. “Unless you have a specific reason for standing around doing nothing?”

“Right away, sir,” Jackson said. Xavier echoed him, moving to follow his teammate to the arch, but Roth grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Not you.”

Xavier frowned. He didn’t like being singled out, especially by authority. But he was still on probation after running off to the Caribbean against orders—never mind that he and Leo had found another piece of Rinaldi’s fortune—and that meant he had to behave himself, for a little while at least.

Roth released Xavier’s arm, but his hard gaze kept him in place.

“We need to talk about your connections here,” Roth said.

Xavier ran a hand through his hair. “My connections?”

“I’m talking about Penelope. She’s a park ranger here, isn’t she?”

Xavier’s fingers tightened on his can of soda, and the aluminum crunched slightly. “How do you know about her?”

“Marriage records are publicly accessible,” Roth said calmly. “Do you think I would have offered you a position on this team without doing my research? I need to understand the men who work for me…their pasts, their wounds, their grudges. I only choose the best for the Set, but the best are still human.” His gaze never wavered. “So, tell me, is this Penelope of yours going to be an adversary or an asset to our business here?”

Xavier reached instinctively for the figurine in his pocket, then stopped himself. “How the hell am I supposed to know? I haven’t talked to her in years.”

“It ended badly, obviously. But how badly are we talking here?”

“Bad enough that we haven’t spoken since. Bad enough that we like to pretend the other doesn’t exist.” Bad enough that just the mention of her name brought up a whole sea of messy emotions he was not interested in reliving. Most of it was his fault, but he tried not to dwell on the past. “She won’t go out of her way to help us, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Hm.” Roth finally pulled his gaze away from Xavier, and he rubbed the dusting of silver stubble on his chin. “I suppose we can’t count on her, then. One thing confuses me, though.”

“What?” From where Xavier stood, it was pretty damn simple—he and the rest of the Set needed to avoid Penny at all costs. He’d rather stand against a pack of rabid wolves than face down his ex-wife again. What did they say? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He hadn’t exactly scorned Penny, but some would say what he’d done was worse.

“You say you pretend she doesn’t exist,” Roth said. “But Penelope didn’t start working here at Yellowstone until two summers ago. A couple of years after the two of you parted ways. So clearly you’ve kept tabs on her.”

“Just to make sure I didn’t accidentally cross paths with her.” Xavier didn’t like what Roth was implying. “I already told you she won’t help us. Is there anything else you need to know or can I go help everyone else search for the damn treasure?”

Roth didn’t even flinch at Xavier’s tone. “I think, perhaps, it’s worth testing the waters. Depending on what we’re up against here, it might be useful having someone on the inside.”

“Then I’ll seduce some other ranger girl,” Xavier said. “We’ll probably have better luck that way.”

“We’ll see.” Roth’s gaze never wavered. “I never thought I’d see the day when you were afraid of something, let alone a woman.”

“I’m not scared. I just don’t want my balls ripped off. I happen to like them.”

“Oh, come now. Just think of it as a challenge. You’ve faced down a great white shark. You’ve BASE jumped off a mountain. You’ve explored cave tunnels that were so dark and narrow that even Donovan refused to investigate them, and you did it without flinching. And you’re going to tell me your ex-wife frightens you this much? I thought better of you, Xavier.”

“This isn’t about fear!” Xavier insisted.

“Of course not. Go on, then. Make yourself useful. But think about what I’ve said. And remember, you’re already on thin ice with me. Don’t give me another excuse to question your commitment to this team.”

Xavier didn’t need to think about it—he already knew that seeing Penny, no matter what the circumstances, would be disastrous.

“Do any of the others know?” he asked his leader. “About Penny?” His teammate Leo did—Xavier had told him himself—but Leo was currently recovering at the Set’s base in London, basically on the other side of the world.

“If they do, it’s not from my lips,” Roth assured him. Roth was a hard bastard, but you could always take him at his word. “But if they did, they’d probably tell you the same. This is bigger than your fear or your pride.”

Xavier didn’t doubt they’d say that. His teammatesweren’t the ones who had to face down an ex-wife. Hell, even Jackson—who’d put up a hell of a protest when he was originally ordered to go get Rinaldi’s atlas from Charlie—probably wouldn’t understand. The original breakup between Jackson and Charlie had been far less complicated than what he was dealing with.

Either way, Xavier wasn’t going to stand around and listen to any more of this. He stalked away from Roth, pissed at himself for being naive enough to believe, up until this conversation, that his leader didn’t know about Penny. He’d already been dreading this expedition, but up until now he’d been trying to convince himself that Yellowstone was big enough to keep him and his ex-wife from ever crossing paths. But obviously Roth had different ideas.

I’m a moron.

Distracted, he raised his orange soda to his lips, and it was only then that he realized he’d crushed the can in his fist. What little soda was left inside was unreachable now. He caught Jackson watching him, concern in his eyes, but Xavier simply shrugged and pretended all was well.

He looked up at the arch again, and at the wide blue sky beyond.

This better be worth it, Rinaldi, he thought. Because I’m about to experience hell on earth.

CHAPTER ONE

Norris Geyser Basin Museum, Yellowstone National Park

“Do you want your own map?” Penelope Vaughn knelt down, smiling at the little girl in front of her. “It’ll show you how to get everywhere you’re going to visit today. Maybe you can help be the navigator for your dad.”

The girl nodded shyly, her pigtails bobbing as she reached out. She hadn’t said a word since her family approached Penny, but her eyes were sparkling with excitement as her chubby fingers closed around the paper map.

“There are plenty of signs,” Penny assured the girl’s parents as she rose to her feet again. “And if you have any questions about anything you see today, just find another ranger. He or she should be able to tell you anything you want to know.” Her eyes fell on the little girl again, and her grin widened. “And you’ll remember what I told you about the animals, right?”

The girl nodded solemnly. Hopefully, she and her parents would listen. Unfortunately, too many tourists treated the park like a petting zoo. Just last week, some idiotic college kid had tried to climb onto the back of a bison for a selfie.

“Have a wonderful day,” she told the family as they turned to leave. She gave the little girl one more wave, wishing she could see her face when she spotted her first elk. Or when she saw the otherworldly rainbow hues of the Grand Prismatic Spring. The absolute best part of her job here was watching children’s faces come alive at the strange and beautiful wonders of nature. There was nothing else like it in the world.

It took her a moment to notice her fingers had moved to her belly, and that a lump had risen to the base of her throat. She shook her head, chasing the feelings away, before walking over to the end of the museum’s breezeway, looking out at the Porcelain Basin below. On her first day here in Yellowstone, this view had left her breathless. She’d worked at various national parks over the years, but Yellowstone had stolen her heart instantly. And this area of the park had started it all.

The ground sloped down from the museum into a flat, chalk-white valley broken by hot springs of fluorescent blue. Steam rose from several of the pools, and a wooden boardwalk snaked through it all, allowing visitors to see the thermal features up close. The first time she’d followed that boardwalk, she’d felt like she was exploring an alien planet. Now, there were still times it left her breathless with wonder.

Her eyes skimmed over the people below. School would be starting up very soon, and they’d had some big end-of-summer crowds this week, but there were fewer visitors here today. It was a nice respite. Fewer people meant there was a slightly smaller chance of someone trying to do something reckless—like wandering off the boardwalk. The ground around the park’s thermal features was extremely delicate, and some of the pools were so hot that they’d boil your skin right off your bones.

For the moment, at least, everyone seemed to be behaving. She let her gaze fall on a young family—mom, dad, and three kids, the youngest still in a stroller—and smiled. When she had kids, she planned to take them to a different park every year, to teach them from a young age about the mysteries and wonders of nature.

If she had kids. Every month and year that passed, that was looking like less and less of a possibility.

Stop catastrophizing, she told herself. You don’t know what the universe has in store for you. Besides, you’ve got a job to do. You can wait until you’re off the clock to bemoan your destiny to die alone.

And, like that therapist had taught her the one time she’d worked up the nerve to go speak with a professional, she reminded herself that she was lucky—she had an amazing, fulfilling job that she loved. She helped bring wonder and joy to thousands of people a day. So what if she never ended up having a family of her own? She’d find purpose in other ways.

And of course, there were a handful of ways she could make the whole baby thing happen on her own, if the right guy never came along. She could get a sperm donor. Adopt. The possibilities were endless! But all those possibilities also required her to have a fair bit of extra cash lying around, and unfortunately, the number on her savings account was exactly the same as the number of potential baby daddies she had waiting around—a big fat zero.

“Excuse me, miss?” came a deep voice from behind her. “I was wondering if you could help us with something.”

She turned to find a young couple, about her age, standing just inside the breezeway. The guy was muscular, with broad shoulders and close-cropped light brown hair, and he had his arm around the waist of a girl with a sweet smile and a honey-colored ponytail. They looked happy. In love.

I wonder if they share the same dreams of their future, Penny thought, trying to ignore the pang of envy deep inside her. She put on a smile.

“What can I help you with?” she asked them cheerfully. “Do you have any specific questions about the Norris Geyser Basin?”

“Actually, about geysers in general,” the guy said.

“And hot springs,” the young woman added.

“Sure. Have you taken a look around the museum yet? There are lots of great resources that explain the origins of the geothermal features here at the park.” The museum wasn’t particularly large—just a simple, stone-and-wood pavilion at the heart of the geyser basin—but Penny had always been proud of it.

“We have. And our questions are a little…untraditional,” the guy said. “Is there any place around here where you’d say the ground bubbles up?”

Penny frowned. “That’s an odd way to put it. But yes, a lot of the hot springs bubble.” She paused, remembering an incident from earlier in the summer. These two looked like intelligent people, but she wasn’t always the best judge of character. “They aren’t hot tubs. You know you’re not allowed to swim in them, right?” They wouldn’t be the first couple to get that stupid idea.

“Oh, of course not,” said the girl, laughing. “We’re just fascinated by hot springs.”

Penny studied the pair of them, trying to decide whether or not they were reckless enough to ignore her warnings. People did idiotic things when they were in love—she knew that better than anyone.

“Lots of them bubble,” she repeated. “As do some of the geysers. Most of the ones here in the Norris area don’t erupt as regularly as Old Faithful, but maybe you’ll get lucky.” She walked over to the stack of maps and grabbed one. “I recommend following the boardwalk down into the Porcelain Basin first. Then up and around. I’d pay special attention to—” Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye.

No. He can’t… She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to clear the image from her head. There was no way he was here. No freaking way.

She forced herself to open her eyes, turn her head. Her gaze drifted over the visitors in the museum, looking for the wavy blond hair that had induced that gut-wrenching sense of recognition. Her heart pounded in her ears, and her neck suddenly felt hot.

But whoever or whatever she’d seen, the man of her bad memories was not there. There was no one who even resembled him—no six-foot-four, athletic, tower of a man with hair that always looked fresh from the beach. Her imagination must have been playing tricks on her.

With a relieved sigh, she made herself turn back toward the couple. Her mouth widened into a smile again. “I’m sorry, what was I saying?”

“You were telling us about the boardwalk,” the young woman said. She was watching Penny with curiosity—almost concern—and that made Penny’s neck even warmer. Why was she so jumpy today?

She made sure there was extra cheerfulness in her voice when she went on. “Oh, of course. The boardwalk. It will take you past all the major features of the basin. Make sure you stay on it, though. The ground here is extremely delicate.” She handed them a map.

“Thanks for your help,” the man said. He was already looking down into the chalk-white valley below them, a determined set to his jaw. Whatever he and his girl were looking for, Penny hoped they found it—she wouldn’t want to come between him and that laser focus she saw in his eyes.

The two of them turned and headed down the path, into the Porcelain Basin and toward the boardwalk she’d recommended. And Penny stepped out of the breezeway, suddenly feeling queasy. She went over to her fellow ranger Eric, who was just waving goodbye to a family.

“I need a short break,” she told him. “I’ll be right back.”

She jogged outside the museum, pausing only briefly to greet visitors coming in. Then she retreated down the path toward the parking lot, ducking around the back of the souvenir shop to a little spot she’d discovered last summer, tucked away among the trees. Out of sight of the main path, it offered a touch of privacy when she needed a moment to herself.

You’re being paranoid, she told herself, settling down on a rock that was just large enough for a seat. Seeing imaginary visions of Xavier! It was absurd.

She rubbed her eyes. This wasn’t the first time her ex-husband had popped into her head this week. She’d had a dream about him the other night, one that had left her with the worst dream hangover in the history of dream hangovers. Even now, three days later, it was still making her feel sick.

It’s still just a dream, she reminded herself. Nothing has changed. Now put on your big-girl pants and get back to work. You’re not going to let him continue to upset you all these years later, are you?

She had a feeling she knew why these dreams and images were surfacing again, too. Last week, she’d been introduced to one of the new law enforcement rangers, and their meeting had been…if not exactly flirtatious, then at least friendlier than usual. For the first time in months, she had a potential romantic prospect, and he was tall, dark, and named Nick. So of course her subconscious had to jump in and remind her of the bastard who broke her heart.

Nice try, brain.

Shaking her head at herself, she stood, brushing any dirt or debris off her uniform pants. She was being silly, that was all. Now that she’d had a moment to collect herself—and remind herself of her promise to forget Xavier—she had work to do.

When she returned to the museum, Eric gave her a once-over. “Everything okay?”

“Just peachy.” She smiled, pulling at the auburn braid that hung down over her shoulder. She glanced around the exhibits. “Since the crowd’s pretty light in here today, I think I might do a lap around the boardwalk.”

He nodded. “Go ahead.”

“You know how to reach me if there’s a rush.” With one more smile, she headed back out of the pavilion. A brisk walk would do her good. Clear her head.

She started down the boardwalk into the Porcelain Basin. To her left, the Black Geyser Steam Vent shot a steady gush of hot steam into the air, and the mild wind whisked it into twisted shapes. She’d always found the soft hissss of the park’s geothermal features comforting, but she wasn’t sure what that said about her.

Up ahead, the young couple she’d just helped had stopped to look at the Sunday Geyser, which was a beautiful, opaque robin’s egg blue. They still had their arms around each other’s waists, and the woman turned her face and looked up at the guy with a look that overflowed with love and admiration.

Ah, there’s nothing like the love that blooms over a geothermal pool. This time she suppressed her envy quickly. Just because she was likely to end up a crazy cat lady didn’t mean she wished that fate on others.

She slowed her walk, not wanting to interrupt the couple’s private moment. And she let her attention wander farther down the boardwalk, to the other visitors. A couple of teenagers posed for a picture with the Constant Geyser in the background. The family she’d noticed earlier with the three small children had paused to take a few pictures of their own. Beyond them, a tour group was studying their maps and pointing to features in the distance.

Her eyes moved back to the family. The mom bent down to return the baby to the stroller, while the father was stuffing his fancy camera back into its padded case. One of the other children was looking intently down at her map, while the final child had waddled over to the edge of the boardwalk, staring down into the brightly colored pool below.

That’s an accident waiting to happen, Penny thought, quickening her pace again. She’d just kindly ask those parents to hold their kids’ hands, at least until they were away from all these hot pools and geysers. It would be too easy for one of them to tumble right off the boardwalk.

As she watched, the little girl leaned a little further over the edge, one plump arm reaching out as if she meant to touch the water.

Penny broke into a run.

“Hey!” she called as she sprinted down the boardwalk. “Hey! Watch your daughter!”

Both the mother and father lifted their heads to look at her. They could hear her shouting, but they must have been too far away to make out the words, especially over the hissing steam of the geysers, because they simply glanced at each other in apparent confusion.

“Your daughter!” Penny shouted as she ran, frantically pointing. “Grab your daughter!”

She could already see it playing out, as if in slow motion. Everything slowed, stretched, like she was running through glue. She could hear her blood pumping in her skull, her breath coming in shallow gasps, her boots pounding down on the wooden boardwalk, and that ever-insistent hiss hiss hissssss of the steam vents. She could see the young girl reaching, her little fingers wiggling toward the pool below. Leaning just a little too much, too far to come back…

Penny shouted again, even though she knew it was hopeless. She’d never reach them in time. They’d never react in time.

And then, out of nowhere, he appeared.