Colton 911: Secret Defender

  Once he put his arms around her from behind, Felicia found herself immobilized.

  Not because Aaron was holding her too hard, but because she was reacting to the feel of his arms wrapped around her. Her heart began to pound rapidly, like a drumroll. And then her breath caught in her throat. Instead of drawing her arms in and dropping down, she turned around to face him.

  In that moment, her face was very close to his.

  Her breathing became more rapid as she looked up at him.

  “I think I got confused,” she admitted in a soft whisper. She could feel a wave of desire stirring within her chest. She wanted to connect so badly with him that she could hardly speak.

  * * *

  Colton 911: Chicago—Love and danger

  come alive in the Windy City...

  * * *

  If you’re on Twitter, tell us what you think of Harlequin Romantic Suspense! #harlequinromsuspense

  Dearest Reader,

  Welcome back to the world of the Coltons. This branch of the family is slowly transplanting themselves to a suburb in Chicago.

  This particular story deals with a heroine, Felicia Wagner, trying to make a new life for herself while harboring a deep, dark secret. With no family to turn to and in order to stay safe, Felicia had to uproot her life to get away from an ex-husband whom she had once thought was the answer to her prayers. But he turned into a nightmare instead, only becoming more and more abusive as time went by. Because Felicia has a degree in physical therapy and a winning manner, when the hero’s self-sufficient single mother falls and breaks her hip, she asks Felicia to come stay with her and help out. More importantly, she asks Felicia to help her become the mobile woman she has always been. Felicia is more than happy to do it. However, the hero, Aaron, has more than a few reservations about inviting this stranger into his mother’s home. Little does he realize that his life is about to be changed forever.

  I hope you like this newest chapter in the life of a very fascinating family that never seems to run out of members and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  As always, I thank you for buying one of my books, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

  All the best,

  Marie Ferrarella

  COLTON 911:

  SECRET DEFENDER

  Marie Ferrarella

  USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award–winning author Marie Ferrarella has written more than two hundred and fifty books for Harlequin, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, marieferrarella.com.

  Books by Marie Ferrarella

  Harlequin Romantic Suspense

  Colton 911: Chicago

  Colton 911: The Secret Network

  Colton 911: Secret Defender

  The Coltons of Kansas

  Exposing Colton Secrets

  The Coltons of Mustang Valley

  Colton Baby Conspiracy

  Cavanaugh Justice

  A Widow’s Guilty Secret

  Cavanaugh’s Surrender

  Cavanaugh Rules

  Cavanaugh’s Bodyguard

  Cavanaugh Fortune

  How to Seduce a Cavanaugh

  Cavanaugh or Death

  Cavanaugh Cold Case

  Cavanaugh in the Rough

  Visit the Author Profile page at

  Harlequin.com for more titles.

  To

  My Baby Brothers,

  Michael Vincent Rydzynski, The Musician,

  And

  Mark Adam Rydzynski, The Actor,

  Who Have, Over The Years,

  Grown Into Good, Decent Men—

  And Also Are Now Older

  Than I Am.

  Thanks, Guys.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Rescued by the Colton Cowboy by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  Prologue

  If it wasn’t for the excruciating pain shooting up and down her leg to the point that her eyes were filling with tears, Nicole Colton would have been utterly furious with herself.

  Of all the stupid things she had done in her life—and there had been a number of them over the last fifty-eight years—this definitely took the cake.

  She felt like the pathetic embodiment of that awful commercial she had always felt was created for no other reason than to embarrass and humiliate older people—she steadfastly refused to use the term “senior citizen”—and make them feel clumsy and utterly inept. The fact that she was here, sprawled out on the floor after inadvertently taking a slip because of a wet spot, was exceedingly aggravating.

  Especially since she found that she was unable to pop right back up the way she usually did. The pain was just too agonizing.

  The cutting words “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” kept echoing through Nicole’s head even as she literally dragged herself across the living room floor until she could grasp the side of the sofa. She tried to pull herself up but failed. All but completely drenched in sweat from her effort, Nicole paused, panting hard and trying to regroup as she desperately searched for a second wave of strength.

  “Okay, Nic, you can do this,” she said through clenched teeth, urging herself on even as another sharp wave of pain sliced right through her. “You raised three boys on your own, started your own business. You can certainly get up off the floor on your own.”

  It wasn’t easy.

  Several pain-filled minutes later, Nicole finally managed to get herself up to her knees at the sofa cushion. But rather than stand up, she could only get herself into a half-lying position and then roll painfully over, all the while biting her lip to keep the cries from emerging and echoing throughout her large house.

  Breathing hard, Nicole finally managed to get into a sitting position. When she did, she was all but panting from the exertion.

  “Okay, I lied,” she said, her face dripping with perspiration. “I can’t do this.”

  Instead of going away, the pain multiplied by leaps and bounds, bordering on unbearable. Although she hated the thought, she had to admit that she had definitely broken something. Moreover, she resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to call someone and ask for help. Something that went against absolutely every fiber of her being.

  But there was no way around it.

  Nicole was sweating profusely now. Admitting to weakness was just not in her makeup. She was the one who went out of her way to hold everything together, the one who worked nonstop and still had time to cheer on her sons—her biological son, Aaron, and Aaron’s two half brothers, whom she had taken in when they were barely seven and eight—in their endeavors.

  They were her ex-husband’s sons she had opted to care for when their mother died and her ex decided they were dragging him dow
n. She treated them like her own and made certain that these “endeavors” they undertook were of their choosing and not hers.

  Her catering business was a success. Things were finally going so well—and now this, she thought as a new wave of disgust washed over her.

  Her head began to spin. The pain got much worse.

  Okay, time to get someone here to help her, as much as she hated the idea. Thank heavens she usually kept her cell phone with her. That had more to do with her catering business than anything else, but right now, Nicole was truly grateful that she had slipped her phone into her pocket this morning.

  Taking a breath to steady herself and to keep the pain at bay long enough to make the call, she pressed the keys that would connect her to Aaron’s phone.

  She definitely wasn’t looking forward to this conversation.

  Her oldest son ran a gym and she quite honestly didn’t expect him to even hear his phone, much less answer it. But to her surprise, Aaron picked up after the fifth ring.

  Just by chance, Aaron Colton was about to make a call when he felt the phone vibrate in his hand. When he saw the name on the screen, he had a really bad feeling about what he was about to hear.

  His mother never called him when she knew he was working.

  Turning away from the boxing ring, Aaron blocked out all the other noises in the gym as he answered the call.

  “Mom? What’s wrong?”

  More than anything in the world, Nicole Colton hated admitting to weakness. But the pain was making it really difficult to even breathe now.

  Still, she protested, “What...makes...you...think...anything...is...wrong?”

  If he hadn’t thought there was anything wrong before, he did now. The pain he heard in his mother’s voice unnerved him.

  He signaled to his assistant to take over as he quickly made his way to the door. “Tell me where you are, Mom. I’m coming to get you,” he promised.

  Chapter 1

  Damon Colton, the youngest of the three Colton brothers, burst into the waiting room of the hospital’s surgery. Accustomed to sizing up, at lightning speed, any area he walked into, he was able to spot Aaron and Nash within seconds. He made a beeline for his brothers.

  “How is she?” he asked breathlessly before he had even had a chance to reach them.

  “Ornery as ever,” Aaron answered.

  Feeling stiff, Aaron shifted in his seat. He and Nash had been sitting here on the orange plastic sofa, keeping vigil ever since the ambulance had brought Nicole to the hospital. Although things seemed to be going well, neither brother wanted to step away—just in case.

  “I think he’s asking about her hip, not the ongoing argument we were having with her about her going to a rehab center once this is all finally behind us,” Nash told Aaron.

  “Rehab center?” Damon echoed. He hadn’t even thought that far ahead. He was just worried about her immediate condition. “Just how bad is Mom?” he asked, looking from one brother to the other. He had gotten no details.

  “Not as bad as Aaron is making it sound,” Nash told Damon.

  It was obvious to them that their undercover DEA agent brother had come here straight from his assignment, without bothering to take the time to change out of what he was wearing. Because of his attire and his rather shaggy, longish hair, Damon was getting suspicious looks from the security guard. The latter had made it a point to slowly circle the area. For his part, Damon gave the impression of a man on the move who appeared to be less than trustworthy. That was his main intent when he was on the job.

  It was all part of the role he was playing.

  But role or no role, Damon, like Nash and Aaron, dearly loved the woman who had been mothering and caring for all of them equally all these years, whether or not they had actually come from her womb.

  Aaron took over the narrative. “The short version is that Mom was in a hurry—as she always is—and she slipped on a wet spot on the floor. According to her, she went down hard, and much to her everlasting annoyance, wound up breaking her hip,” he told Damon, repeating verbatim what he had already told Nash when his architect brother had shown up at the hospital shortly after he and his mother had arrived.

  Damon, who faced down dangerous drug dealers without batting an eye, physically winced when Aaron was done speaking.

  “Wow, that must have really hurt. Is she going to be all right?” he asked, looking from one brother to the other for reassurance.

  Aaron nodded. “The hip replacement went without a hitch. No complications,” he said. The relief was all but palpable in his voice.

  Damon had been holding his breath the entire way here, not knowing what to think. He’d never been summoned to the hospital because of his mother before. He breathed a sigh of relief now. “Is she awake? Can I see her?”

  Aaron had just waylaid a nurse moments before Damon arrived and gotten an update from her. “The nurse said that she was still in recovery. We can see her when they finally transfer her to her room.”

  Damon nodded. And then he remembered what his brother had said when he first inquired about their mother’s condition.

  “You said something about her being ornery. What did you mean by that?”

  “When I first got to the house and found her after her fall, it kind of got to me,” Aaron admitted. “I guess I lost it and told her she needed to move into a smaller house, not one that was sprawled out on three levels.” He flushed. It wasn’t his finest hour. “Needless to say, that didn’t make her very happy.”

  “Oh, hell, Aaron, you should have known better.” Damon sighed. “You know how independent Mom is. She has more energy and acts younger than women who are half her age. Saying something like that to her is like rubbing salt into her wounds.”

  Nash nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you definitely said the wrong thing, brother,” he told Aaron, then softened his words. “For all the right reasons,” he granted. “But it was still the wrong thing.”

  “I know, I know.” Aaron exhaled. “But be that as it may, when Mom finally gets to go home, we are going to have to make some changes—whether she likes them or not.” Aaron had always been the decisive one in the family and now was no different than before. “She’s going to need a nurse or some live-in help. Maybe both,” he added, looking from one brother to another to see if they concurred.

  For once, they were all in agreement.

  “No argument,” Nash told Aaron. “Whatever the cost, we can take care of it.”

  “You can count me in,” Damon said, adding his vote to the others’.

  “Cost isn’t the issue here,” Aaron told his brothers. “Whatever it is, it is. The problem, we all know, is getting Mom to agree. You know she’s going to see this as a restriction.”

  As if on cue, all three brothers nodded their heads. Their mother was a fighter from the get-go, and knowing her, it was going to be a very steep, uphill battle to get Nicole Colton to loosen her grip on the reins of her life and actually listen to her sons. Even if she knew that their only concern was her safety.

  Easier said than done, Aaron thought as he saw the operating room nurse head straight in their direction.

  All three brothers rose to their feet in unison as if they were all joined at the hip.

  And all three had their fingers crossed as they went to meet the nurse partway.

  A single thought was going through their heads. Nicole Colton had to be all right. Anything less was just not acceptable to the brothers.

  * * *

  “No, no, no,” Nicole told her oldest son in no uncertain terms.

  It was five weeks since the accident, five weeks since the emergency hip replacement surgery had taken place. Rather than the standard surgical procedure, she had gotten the more superior “anterior-posterior repair” version, which allowed her to heal faster. But not even her surgeon had expected her to make this muc
h progress, certainly not so quickly, even though she was exceedingly fit, especially for someone her age.

  She’d had the surgery on Wednesday. On Friday she’d gone home and, over all three sons’ rather loud objections, Nicole had actually walked up the stairs to her room. She had totally ignored the boys’ complaints about her doing too much too soon.

  As she crossed the threshold to her bedroom, Nicole felt as if she had just reclaimed a little of her life back. She was not about to give that up, not even to placate her sons.

  The chorus of “nos” she had just uttered was in response to yet another attempt by Aaron to talk her into having a nurse come and live with her until such time as they felt she had recovered.

  “Aaron, I don’t need a nurse. You saw me walk up the stairs. If I can do it on the first day I came back, I can do it on the second. And the third,” she emphasized proudly. “That means I can take care of myself the way I always have. I don’t need someone keeping tabs on me.”

  Aaron tried again. “Mom, getting someone to stay here with you isn’t an admission of weakness. And it doesn’t have to be a nurse,” he relented, although he really didn’t want to. He felt like a man who was struggling to win at least a portion of the battle before the war was declared officially over. “It can even be a competent, paid companion.” Although he really would have preferred that person to be a nurse. “Think of her as being just a warm, intelligent body who can step in to help you out if the need should come up.”

  By the expression on his mother’s face, he could see he wasn’t getting anywhere with her, and after spending basically two weeks away from the gyms he ran, Aaron really felt that he needed to get back to work. “Look, Mom, if you refuse to do it for yourself—”

  She smiled at that. “Now you get it,” Nicole told him happily.

  But Aaron wasn’t about to be detoured. “Do it for me,” he concluded.

  Nicole stared at her son in disbelief. “You’re not serious.”

  “Oh, I’m very serious,” Aaron assured her. He was accustomed to being listened to without any argument from his employees at the gym as well as the boxers he trained. This, however, was going to take diplomacy, a gift he hadn’t quite developed. He gave it another shot. “Look, Mom, you are very precious to me. To all of us,” he stressed. “Granted, we didn’t lose you, but we could have, if the circumstances had been different.