Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) Read online

  Contents

  OI8: Title Page

  By Nicole Edwards

  OI8: Copyright

  PROLOGUE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTY-SIX

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  THIRTY-NINE

  FORTY

  FORTY-ONE

  FORTY-TWO

  FORTY-THREE

  FORTY-FOUR

  FORTY-FIVE

  FORTY-SIX

  EPILOGUE

  OI8: Acknowledgments

  About Nicole Edwards

  Nicole Edwards on Amazon

  OWNED

  OFFICE INTRIGUE, 8

  NICOLE EDWARDS

  BY NICOLE EDWARDS

  ALLURING INDULGENCE

  Kaleb

  Zane

  Travis

  Holidays with the Walker Brothers

  Ethan

  Braydon

  Sawyer

  Brendon

  THE WALKERS OF COYOTE RIDGE

  Curtis

  Jared

  Hard to Hold

  Hard to Handle

  Beau

  Rex

  A Coyote Ridge Christmas

  Mack

  Kaden & Keegan

  BRANTLEY WALKER: OFF THE BOOKS

  All In

  Without a Trace

  Hide & Seek

  AUSTIN ARROWS

  Rush

  Kaufman

  CLUB DESTINY

  Conviction

  Temptation

  Addicted

  Seduction

  Infatuation

  Captivated

  Devotion

  Perception

  Entrusted

  Adored

  Distraction

  DEAD HEAT RANCH

  Boots Optional

  Betting on Grace

  Overnight Love

  DEVIL’S BEND

  Chasing Dreams

  Vanishing Dreams

  MISPLACED HALOS

  Protected in Darkness

  Salvation in Darkness

  Bound in Darkness

  OFFICE INTRIGUE

  Office Intrigue

  Intrigued Out of the Office

  Their Rebellious Submissive

  Their Famous Dominant

  Their Ruthless Sadist

  Their Naughty Student

  Their Fairy Princess

  Owned

  PIER 70

  Reckless

  Fearless

  Speechless

  Harmless

  Clueless

  SNIPER 1 SECURITY

  Wait for Morning

  Never Say Never

  Tomorrow’s Too Late

  SOUTHERN BOY MAFIA/DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND

  Beautifully Brutal

  Without Regret

  Beautifully Loyal

  Without Restraint

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Unhinged Trilogy

  A Million Tiny Pieces

  Inked on Paper

  Bad Reputation

  Bad Business

  NAUGHTY HOLIDAY EDITIONS

  2015

  2016

  Copyright © 2021 by Nicole Edwards Limited

  All rights reserved.

  This is a self-published title.

  Published by Nicole Edwards Limited

  PO Box 1086, Pflugerville, Texas 78691

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  OWNED

  Office Intrigue, 8

  Nicole Edwards

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

  COVER DETAILS:

  Image: © Kaspars Grinvalds (108462590) | 123rf.com ; © Nik Merkulov (44243712) | 123rf.com

  Design: © Nicole Edwards Limited

  INTERIOR DETAILS:

  Formatting: Nicole Edwards Limited

  Editing: Blue Otter Editing | BlueOtterEditing.com

  IDENTIFIERS:

  ISBN: (ebook) 978-1-64418-038-9 | (paperback) 978-1-64418-039-6 | (audio) 978-1-64418-040-2

  BISAC: FICTION / Romance / General

  PROLOGUE

  Thursday, October 31, 2019

  TJ Arlington’s Halloween Party

  TALON

  “Have you seen my brother?”

  The woman muttered something, which I assumed was her brother’s name, but I didn’t catch it.

  I watched as she moved to another person, asking the same question and getting another negative response. But she was intent and not at all swayed by the sideways glances she was getting, much less the posturing by all the Dominants looking to intimidate.

  She disappeared into the fray for a moment, but I caught sight of her again when I noticed a couple of security guards making their way through the crowd. No doubt on their way to intervene because this woman had dared something so crass as to come inside without her flapper dress.

  Heaven forbid.

  Without so much as a goodbye to Ian and Isaac Stokes, I turned to follow the woman.

  Because I towered over everyone in attendance, I located her easily, watched as she turned her question on the security guards who were already attempting to urge her back the way she’d come. While I could see them, I couldn’t hear what she was saying over the din of conversation, but I could deduce relatively well: they wanted her to leave, she didn’t want to go, and they weren’t going to ask nicely.

  We’d see about that.

  Several people had started to turn, drawn by the insistent commands being barked by the security guards.

  “I told you, I need to find my brother,” the woman exclaimed, her low, raspy voice bordering on hysterical.

  She attempted to shake off the hand curling around her arm, the security guard clearly not interested in hearing her out.

  Despite her somewhat disheveled appearance, the woman had a natural beauty about her. With her hair in a haphazard ponytail and not a lick of makeup on her face, she looked far too sweet to be amidst this lascivious and carnal group.

  Beneath what looked to be her workout attire, I could see she was on the thin side. Delicate bone structure, small breasts, and legs that went on for miles. She was a bit taller than average for a female—I’d venture a guess at somewhere close to five nine, maybe five ten—with the longest, shiniest hair I’d ever seen. And her face. She was proof there was a God, because she’d been
put together in a manner that could only be created by the heavens. From a physical perspective, she was breathtaking, catching plenty of eyes as she strolled through.

  For the first time in a long time, I found myself entirely enthralled by a female and overwhelmed by an instinct to protect her.

  Before I could intervene, the security guard in a tacky suit grabbed her arm, jerked her toward him.

  “You can’t be here,” the little twit insisted, his meaty paw squeezing her arm. “You don’t have an invitation, nor are you wearing the appropriate attire.”

  On a good day, I wasn’t the sort of man to stick my nose where it didn’t belong, but I was compelled by some dark driving force to intervene.

  “I’m not here for the party,” she insisted. “I told you, I’m looking for my brother. His name’s—”

  “Not tonight you’re not,” the man declared, rolling right over her as he pulled her toward the front of the house.

  I stepped into his path, blocked his attempt to drag her away. The move brought him to an abrupt halt, had him locking his hand more tightly around her arm.

  “Hey,” she hissed, trying to pry his fingers from her arm. “You’re hurting me.”

  Anger, hot and bright, erupted, and it took everything in me not to rip his head clean off his body. It was an emotion I wasn’t familiar with, one I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt before.

  “If you wouldn’t mind,” the idiot in a cheap suit huffed, trying to move around me without bothering to meet my gaze. “She’s not permitted to be here.”

  “I think she asked you to remove your hand.” I kept my voice even, the deep baritone all I generally needed to get the desired result.

  The man sighed, glared up at me. There was instant recognition but not an ounce of concern. “I’m not here to argue with you, Talon. She can’t be here. Master Arlington said—”

  I nodded my chin toward the hand still gripping her arm. “Off.”

  He released her, then stepped back, his palms coming up in a sign of surrender. “Whatever. I’ve got to inform the rest of the team. They won’t be nearly as nice as I’ve been.”

  Before he could walk away, I gripped his shoulder, my hand covering the entire joint, squeezing just enough to have his arm going numb. “Next time you think of being nice to her, I’ll break your fingers. One by one.” I leaned down to his level. “Then I’ll feed them to you.”

  The man howled, his knees buckling as my fingers dug deeper into the nerves.

  “Okay. Yes.” He attempted to shrug off my hold. “I won’t touch her again.”

  I released him, my eyes shifting to the woman. More specifically the way she was rubbing her arm, her expression pinched from pain.

  The bullshit excuse for security stormed off in a huff, but I was more interested in the big brown eyes peering up at me.

  “Are you okay?” I took her wrist, pushed her sleeve up, and gently raised her arm to study the angry red marks the bastard had left on her flawless pale skin.

  Her eyes locked on the spot where my skin touched hers, but she didn’t pull away. “Yes. I’m fine. Look,” she said softly. “I really am sorry. I’m not trying to crash the party. I just need to find my brother.”

  I motioned her out of the path of the other guests, hoping they would redirect their attention now that the show was over. “Who’s your brother?”

  “Ransom Bishop.”

  Well, wasn’t this an interesting turn of events? I’d known Ransom Bishop for many years, and never had I learned he had a sibling.

  “He’s not here,” I told her.

  Her eyes widened and a glimmer of fear glinted in those mesmerizing amber eyes, replacing the determination. “He’s not? He said he would be here.”

  I motioned toward the front door. “I saw him leave about an hour ago. Said he had to take care of something.”

  Her hand covered her mouth. “Oh, God.”

  Releasing the wrist I’d inadvertently been running my thumb over, I motioned for her to step toward the hallway. No sense causing another scene.

  “Have you tried calling him?”

  “Yeah, but … he didn’t answer.” She exhaled her exasperation. “He does this sometimes. When he’s busy.”

  “And you suspect he’s busy?”

  She offered a half shrug. “Must be. If not, his memory’s going, because he forgot to pick me up.”

  Before we could continue our conversation, footsteps sounded behind me. I knew from the scurry of feet that there was more than one person coming my way. With my body blocking the woman from view, I glanced over my shoulder, narrowed my eyes at the leader of the pack of assholes.

  “Hey. She can’t be here,” he barked, glaring up at me as though he might have the mind to take matters into his own hands should I not heed what was clearly a warning.

  When I didn’t budge, he attempted to look around me.

  As though it was my sole position in life, I didn’t move, keeping her sheltered between my body and the corner, my back to the room. There was no way he could see around me unless he forced me to move. Or tried, anyway. Which he wouldn’t. Not if he knew what was good for him.

  “She can’t be here,” he demanded again.

  I turned my attention back to the woman while I continued to speak to the man who was making a feeble attempt at passing himself off as security. “She’s here. And she’s not leaving until I say she’s leaving. Understand?”

  Ransom’s sister craned her neck, staring up at me. I could sense her trepidation, but I could tell I wasn’t the one causing it. Nor did she seem the least bit perplexed by the jackass with the superiority complex. Since I was acting as a wall between her and the men who were determined to drag her out, she was safe from them.

  Which begged the question: what had her so worried?

  “Look, man,” the guy muttered, his voice lower but no less adamant. “I’m not some submissive you can boss around. I’m TJ Arlington’s second-in-command.”

  Very, very slowly, ensuring he could see my displeasure with the interruption, I turned to face him, because clearly he wasn’t going to get the message otherwise. “Well, why didn’t you lead with that?”

  The smug look he gave me said he saw himself as far more important than he was.

  “If you had…” I pretended to consider it for one heartbeat, two. Then shook my head, smirked. “No. It would’ve had no impact whatsoever.”

  He frowned. “I’m sorry?”

  “You should be.” I lowered my voice to a guttural growl. “I don’t give a fuck who you are. I suggest you scurry off, find me the top dog. Perhaps he’ll have a bit more respect for Mr. Arlington’s guests.”

  “She’s not a guest,” he argued.

  “Maybe not. But I am.” I started to turn back to Ransom’s sister, sparing him one final glance. “Consider her my plus-one. Interrupt me again, you won’t walk out of here under your own steam.”

  He swallowed, clearly detecting the sincerity of my threat. I didn’t bother waiting for him to walk away before I turned my attention where it belonged.

  “What’s your name?” I asked, ensuring my frustration didn’t bleed into the words.

  “Braelyn,” she whispered, still looking up at me. “Braelyn Bishop.”

  “I’m Talon.”

  As though she’d heard my name before, her eyes flared slightly before settling. Considering my friendship with Ransom, it didn’t surprise me that he had talked about me at some point. Question was, what information had he relayed to her?

  I took one step back, giving her room to breathe, but I kept her shielded in the corner.

  “Why don’t you try calling him again,” I suggested.

  As Braelyn reached for her phone, someone called my name from behind me.

  The familiar voice had me turning to see TJ Arlington strolling my way.

  A foreign need to defend had me standing taller, broadening my stance as I turned my back on Braelyn. Didn’t matter that I knew TJ wasn’t a thr
eat, I was still prepared to protect her.

  “Relax, big guy,” TJ murmured. “I just wanted to let you know you’ve got access to anyplace in my home.” He motioned down the hall. “There’s a library and an office that way. Guest rooms upstairs. I’ve informed my boys to keep clear.”

  “You should teach your boys respect,” I stated flatly, glancing past him at the two jerk-offs I’d had the displeasure of dealing with.

  TJ’s gaze skimmed my face. It was obvious he wasn’t sure how to respond to that remark, but I knew him. Well, in fact. He would take my request to heart, deal with them appropriately. TJ was not a man who wanted to come across as lacking in any manner.

  “Consider it done,” he said, his tone somewhat clipped.

  I offered a nod of thanks.

  Without waiting for more, TJ turned and walked off, greeting another guest.

  “Perhaps we should check out the library,” I told Braelyn when I turned back, gesturing for her to head down the hallway.

  She smiled, obviously hearing the mirth in my tone. While I did have a library in several of my residences, including my main estate on Sapphire Island, I still considered home libraries to be pretentious. As for my reasons for having a room dedicated solely to books … well, to put it simply, it was par for the course. Considering what I did for a living, people expected certain things from me. And though I couldn’t care less what others thought, my ridiculous wealth, which far surpassed anyone at this party, afforded me plenty.

  When we stepped into TJ’s ostentatious library, I waited while Braelyn tried to call her brother, the phone to her ear.

  After a few seconds, she shook her head, frowning. “He’s still not answering.”

  Retrieving my own phone, I pulled up Ransom’s contact info and dialed his number. A few seconds later, I was leaving a voicemail.

  “Does he usually avoid your calls?” Braelyn asked, sagging against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

  “No. Never.”

  “Shit,” she muttered, then she was on the move, pacing back and forth.

  I followed her movements briefly before scanning the room. The ceiling was roughly twenty feet high, some awkward mural of what could’ve passed for Greek mythology painted across it. The walls were lined with dark wood shelving, all filled to overflowing with books. The bulk of which I was almost certain cost more than a small country. One entire bookshelf was dedicated to TJ Arlington and his plethora of BDSM-related publications.