Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (year 2 reading books TXT) 📗

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