Broken Ties

ABOUT BROKEN TIES I was the hero once, until I was betrayed. Now I’m something else. I am the shadow that haunts the night. I am a hunter, a protector. I am Jonas Castillo. For years I’ve existed on the edge of the dark, protecting innocents who can’t protect themselves. Until… her. Jessica "JJ" Jones. The bane of my existence. A bright light in the dark. The crack in my armor. A loud, argumentative beautiful crack in my armor. But first, there’s a more immediate concern. JJ is running scared. And to protect her I might have to break the vow I made years ago. BROKEN TIES M. MALONE NANA MALONE CONTENTS Part I 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 Part II Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 About the Authors Also by M. Malone Also by Nana Malone PART 1 CHAPTER ONE Jonas She was lying to me. I eyed my client, Mira Ashton, carefully. She'd been beaten and abused by her ex-husband for years. She was still cagey around men. But since I was one of the people who'd gotten her away from that asshole, she shouldn't be afraid of me. So why was this whole situation off? I'd met her at the café just on the edge of the theater district as she'd asked me to. Normally, we would do a site visit at her home but given her history, I didn't think anything was unusual about her asking to meet here. But now I wasn't sure. Something wasn't right. "Mira, you sure you're okay?” Her gaze snapped to mine. "I'm fine. It's just that it's really crowded in here." "We don't have to stay here. If you would like, I can drive you back to your apartment." She lived about three or four blocks from here. Her eyes went wide. "No. This is fine." "Are you sure? Did your husband call? If you're scared or unsure, we can help with that. That’s the purpose behind these check-ins. We do this for all our clients. It's no trouble at all for us to look into another matter for you if someone’s bothering you." She shook her head. "It's nothing like that. I just—I just hate that I needed you in the first place. That I got myself into the situation. That's not who I am; that's not me. I don't like how everything turned out, but I'm fine. I just have to learn how to deal." I nodded. "It's going to take some time. Just know that he can't hurt you. We got him out of the house. And you got a restraining order against him. It's not in his best interest to come near you. If he breaks that restraining order, he goes back to jail. He doesn't want that. So you're safe." She shifted her gaze away. "Yeah. Safe." My brow furrowed again. "Can I get you another slice of pie? Something else to eat?" "No. I think I'm just going to head home." "Okay, let me give you a ride. I parked just across the street." For a long moment her gaze lifted and met mine, holding it. It was as if she wanted to tell me something. Wanted me to hear something. But what the hell was she trying to say? "No, I think I'm just going to walk." I wanted to argue with that. But she set her jaw, and I'd seen that look before. It was the I'm-not-fucking-around look. It was the look people got when they set their minds about something and had no intention of changing it. "All right. You have a good night now, okay?" She scooted out of the booth and stood. "I will. Thank you for everything. You don't know—" She cut herself off and sighed deeply before continuing. "You, all of you at Blake Security, you don't know what you have done for me. Thank you." I waited exactly thirty seconds before following her. I had no idea who the hell Noah had to blow to get special curbside parking access around most of the city, but all of Blake Security’s cars were equipped with special plates so we could park anywhere. Farther down the block, she hopped into a taxi. It took her the few blocks to her apartment. I figured she might not have wanted to deal with the summertime crowds in the theater district, as it was packed. When she reached her apartment, she climbed out of the cab and stared up at the building for a moment. I parked across the street and watched her intently. And then I saw what she was looking at. Someone passed by the front window. Someone was walking around. My eyes narrowed. It wasn’t so much that she had a guest that had me concerned. It was that I recognized the movement of the guest. The guy was mostly in shadow, but I recognized the way he walked and rolled his shoulders. That was her ex-husband. What the fuck was he doing in her house? Mira's building didn't have a doorman. Luckily, I had a key. I tried to wait patiently until she was up the elevator before following in the service elevator behind her. It was farther down the hall than her apartment, but I'd be able to observe her. Stalker much? Damn it, I just wanted to make sure she was okay. You need to let this go. She's not Emma. I shoved away the painful memory of the woman from all those years ago. The one I’d been unable to help. The one that