Defying Asher (Knight Security 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that.”
    “How so?”
    “Claudia was shot at in New York two days ago.”
    “ What? ” Lissa sat forward tensely, her heart beating loudly. “There was nothing on the news or in the newspapers about it.”
    “Because she wanted it kept quiet. The police are investigating, however, and she contacted Knight Security to take over her security here before flying to England yesterday.”
    Lissa had no idea why she should be surprised her mother hadn’t even bothered to let her know she’d been shot at. Not when it happened, or since. “She isn’t hurt, is she?”
    “One of the bullets grazed the top of her arm, but otherwise, she’s fine.”
    “One of the bullets? How many shots were fired?”
    “Four.”
    Lissa breathed deeply in an effort to calm the nauseating roll of her stomach. Claudia receiving death threats and actually being shot at were two distinctly different things. E-mails and text messages were impersonal, but actually shooting at someone—with the intention of killing them?—was very up close and personal.
    “Was anyone else hurt?”
    “That’s the reason Mi—Claudia hired Knight Security to take over her security while she’s here.”
    “Where’s Harvey?” Lissa prompted sharply.
    “You knew Claudia’s personal bodyguard?”
    Only one word in that question held any relevance to Lissa. “Past tense?”
    Ash nodded. “I’m afraid Harvey Stein was shot and killed in New York two days ago while protecting your mother.”
    Oh dear God…

Chapter 3
    “Arrangements have been put in place for you to have your own security detail—”
    “Absolutely not.”
    Asher scowled his displeasure with Lissa’s answer. “Did you listen to what I just said?”
    “About Harvey being shot and killed?” Lissa paced her sitting room, feeling far too agitated to remain seated after Asher had made his announcement. “Of course I listened.”
    She just couldn’t believe Harvey was actually dead. She had known him most of her life. He had been a widower for the past twenty years, but Lissa had met his two children and his three grandchildren. Oh God, if she was deeply shocked and numbed by his death, how must Harvey’s family be feeling? Devastated, she was sure.
    “But that doesn’t mean I have to accept your suggestion concerning my own security,” she continued. “As you’ve already realized, I’m not now, nor have I ever been, a central part of Claudia’s life.”
    “It wasn’t a suggestion, Lissa.” Ash surged restlessly to his feet. “We’ve spoken to Claudia, and she agrees. Until this situation is resolved, you will have your own bodyguard, whether you like it or not.”
    “I don’t.”
    “Well, isn’t that a surprise.”
    “Who is ‘we’?” Lissa challenged.
    “My older brother, Gabriel, and me.”
    “How many brothers do you have?”
    “What the hell does it matter— Three,” he relented as Lissa lifted her brows at his raised voice. “Gabriel’s older by a year, the twins, Caleb and Ethan, are one year younger. We also have a younger sister.”
    “And how would she feel about having a bodyguard foisted on her?” She raised her chin in challenge.
    “Pissed,” he conceded. “And I speak from experience, because that’s exactly what happened a year ago when she had a stalker. She only forgave us because she fell in love with and married the guy we asked to keep her safe,” he added ruefully.
    “You wouldn’t rather have protected her yourself?”
    “Not an option.” He grimaced. “Our relationship with our sister is…complicated.”
    “It’s very romantic about her and the bodyguard, though.”
    “Oh, it gets even more so. They’re now expecting a baby.”
    “Uncle Asher,” Lissa mocked before sobering. “Well, no matter what the three of you have decided, I didn’t agree to have a bodyguard.”
    “Not even if one of them is Liam from last night?” he taunted.
    The tall blond who couldn’t help but overhear her conversation with Ash, add two and