Saving Ren (Barretti Security Series, Book 3) by Sloane Kennedy Read Free Book Online Page A

low. “I want to not have to tell his brothers they need to come down to the morgue to ID his body because he put a bullet in his brain. Or that he’s going to spend the rest of his life in a jail cell because he shot someone he thought was a threat!”
    Jagger straightened. “Finally Detective, something we agree on.”
    Declan fell silent at that and Jagger felt a strange urge to reach out and wipe the tension from his brow. Which made no fucking sense because he couldn’t stand the guy.
    “What’s your plan?” Declan finally asked.
    “We get him through the next few weeks. Make him feel safe enough so that he can focus on other things like seeing a professional and reaching out to his brothers. One of us is with him 24/7 for as long as it takes.”
    “And if he doesn’t go for it?” Declan asked.
    “That’s one choice he doesn’t get to make.”

 
     
    Chapter 3
     
    “Ren, you have to do it.”
    “No.”
    “Don’t tell my parents…don’t tell them I was scared, okay?”
    “Brandon, please, I can’t.”
    “It hurts so bad Ren. Please, you have to make it stop…”
    “No!”
    “Damn it Ren, wake up!”
    Ren jolted awake as hard fingers dug into his shoulder. The ground beneath him was surprisingly smooth as he scrambled away from his attacker. Even the usually rough earth at his back felt wrong. There were no sharp edges digging into his skin or large rocks that forced his body to curve at unnatural angles. And the dust that perpetually coated his tongue and throat was gone too. And the light? Why was it so fucking light?
    A shot of victory went through him as his fist connected with flesh and bone and the sound of a muffled grunt had him swinging out his leg in an effort to bring his captor all the way to the ground where he could strike a lethal blow. But there was no contact as his target anticipated the move and within seconds Ren was flat on his back, a heavy body holding him down.
    “Ren, it’s me, Jagger!”
    Ren fought like a man possessed but his body was too weak and it only took a minute before he was too winded to do anything other than twist and turn his body in a futile effort to knock his opponent free. His eyes slowly began to focus as the sensitivity lessened and he stilled when he realized he was looking at an intricate tattoo on a heavily muscled arm. He followed it up to where it disappeared beneath a black T-shirt.
    “If you promise not to take another swing at me, I’ll let you go,” he heard a rumbly voice say. His gaze lifted until it met a pair of gray eyes that reminded him of the storm clouds he and his little brother used to watch from the window of the bedroom they’d shared as kids. Rafe had always been frightened because he knew the clouds would inevitably be followed by thunder and lightning but Ren had loved them because there was nothing  more exciting than the rush of the entire house shaking as a blast of thunder swept over it.
    “You’re Declan’s friend,” Ren finally said as the events from the previous night began to play through his head. There was a certain amount of time that remained lost to him but he did remember this man. “You gave me soup.”
    Jagger’s smile was wide and softened his otherwise hard features. His bald head, scarred face and huge body made him look like a biker on steroids but the chuckle that rumbled through his chest as he released Ren was strangely comforting.
    “Yeah, well, it was either that or a can of fruit cocktail. I hate that shit,” he added as he climbed to his feet and reached his hand down. Ren took it but quickly released it as soon as he was upright. Jagger’s hand was warm…too warm.
    “I used to do that,” he heard Jagger say and he glanced up from the hand he’d been staring at and saw that Jagger was looking at the bed sheet Ren had placed on the floor in the corner of the room. “Took me almost six months to get used to a mattress after I go out.” He looked down at the shoes Ren had put