Gauge

  Copyright © 2022 by Mandy Harbin

  GAUGE

  ISBN: 978-1-941467-55-8

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Edited by Delilah Devlin

  Cover Art by Najla Qamber

  This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any existing means without written permission from Mandy Harbin, M.W. Muse, Penning Princess Publishing, or Mandolin Park Publishing.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

  For more information, please join Mandy Harbin’s Newsletter!

  Contents

  Introduction

  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

  Also by Mandy Harbin

  About the Author

  A forbidden romance years in the making…

  * * *

  FBI agent-turned-mercenary Duke “Gauge” Osborne doesn’t hesitate to jump in front of a bullet when a mafia solider comes gunning for his Bang Shift teammate, but even as he lays dying, he can’t escape thoughts of the woman he broke all his rules for. He’s hardly seen her since he was forced to break her heart all those years ago, so when he wakes up in agony at the hospital, he’s shocked to find her by his side.

  * * *

  Special Agent Viola Lane has avoided Gauge for years—since the night he’d dumped her after taking her virginity. Gauge left her devastated, but she pulled up her big girl panties and moved on. Married, divorced, and now talking to a new man, she’s determined to find her happily ever after. When her team learns Gauge has been shot, she rushes to his bedside. He’s an assignment, nothing more, which is why she agrees to temporarily move in with him after he gets released. A mistake, she quickly learns, as unresolved feelings come roaring back to life.

  * * *

  With Viola back in his sights, Gauge won’t miss his shot. He’ll do whatever it takes to win her back…except tell her the truth.

  * * *

  Old enemies. Unexpected allies. First loves. Everything changes when the threats lurking in the shadows finally come to light.

  Prologue

  “About fucking time,” Bear growled when the delivery truck backed into the loading dock of The Bang Shift Garage. They’d needed a ton of parts and supplies for new and upcoming projects, but sometimes things were back ordered. It was anybody’s guess what would actually arrive today. Gauge hoped like hell the part they needed for the GT4 was here. They were already late finishing it, and none of the guys liked getting behind. Not that it was bad for business. The shop was just a cover for their real jobs. Bear, Gauge, Brody, Hunter, Blade, Shelby, Axle, and Roc were not just mechanics souping up cool rides. They were mercenaries whose largest client was the FBI.

  “I’ll handle it,” Gauge said, jogging to meet the driver.

  Duke “Gauge” Osborne was the only one in the group without a background in auto mechanics. Colonel had planned it well when he’d gathered the initial men to create a team filled with people not afraid to do questionable things under the guise of working at the garage, but Gauge had infiltrated it as part of an FBI assignment. He hadn’t even changed his own oil before going undercover. After discovering Colonel’s ties to the mafia, they’d taken him down, and the group’s dynamic changed. Gauge’s cover had been blown, but Brody had forced the government’s hand to keep Gauge on the team. He slowly got better under the hood, but he still preferred working the electronic components since he understood computers. Shelby had also been an FBI agent before officially becoming the only female member of their group, but at least she and her brother, Axle, had grown up working at their father’s garage. Had Gauge known he’d be spending his days greasy and rolling around underneath hotrods he would’ve picked a different college major before enrolling at the Academy.

  The driver got out, and Gauge took the papers out of his hands, holding the order form to check things off as they were unloaded. He jumped into the back and immediately saw something stacked in the back that’d at least make Bear happy.

  “Roxie’s tires are here!” he called out. She’d been reluctant to replace them, but Bear took matters into his own hands and ordered them anyway.

  Hunter and Blade stopped what they were doing and came over to help. The other guys stayed focused on the vehicles they’d been working on. They’d gotten some sweet rides in. Or at least, they’d be sweet when the guys got done with them. Roc dropped a ratchet and headed in their direction, too.

  Gauge and Blade made quick time of getting the stuff out of the truck while the others hauled the merchandise into the shop.

  “That’s almost all of it,” the driver said.

  “Cool.” Gauge pulled out his pen to sign the itemized list the guys had been checking off as they unloaded.

  “Um, I need Hunter Anderson’s signature,” the guy said, his gaze darting to the side.

  “I can sign it.” Gauge bent over to do just that.

  “It, er, has to be Mr. Anderson.”

  Gauge’s hackles rose, and he slowly looked up. Sometimes drivers wanted Bear’s signature since he was the official owner of the shop, but that was just on paper. Any of them could sign, but no one ever asked for them by name. The driver was sweating. It was summer in the south, and they’d just unloaded a large truck. To an untrained eye, he wouldn’t look suspicious at all, but his tone and shifting glances gave him away.

  “What’s the hold up?” Hunter asked, jogging around the corner.

  The driver quickly reached into the cab.

  “Get down,” Gauge yelled to Hunter.

  “Nobody fucks with the Romanos,” the driver said just as his hand swung into view with a Glock aimed at Hunter.

  Gauge lunged toward Hunter and jerked in midair as a shot rang out.

  He landed on the concrete, pain ripping through him. Voices buzzed around him as the truck took off, sparks flying when the hitch hit the curb as he jumped the ditch.

  Gauge’s vision clouded. All he could see was his mind’s eye, and it showed him a young, carefree blonde woman in an FBI T-shirt, chasing him on the trail back at the Academy. He’d hurt her later that same day. He’d spent many nights since wondering what he’d say to her if he ever got the opportunity to apologize. Now, he’d never get that chance.

  “What the fuck?” Brody yelled.

  He felt Hunter’s hands on his chest as the man said, “Call 911. Gauge has been shot!”

  He opened his eyes, but nothing came into view. His vision was blurred. He felt more hands on him. Words being shouted he couldn’t make out.

  “…with me! You hear me, Gauge?” someone said.

  He groaned. So much pain.

  “…blood’s everywhere.”

  Sirens.

  More hands.

  He levitated, or maybe he was finally dying and leaving his body, but should death be this painful? He flew through the air in a haze of agony.

  “…meet you at the hospital, brother.”

  He tried to open his mouth, but his body jolted, and doors slammed. Something pinched his hand, and he tried to pull it away to keep floating, not that the pinch really hurt. All pain radiated from the center of his chest.

  The sirens got quieter, and the hands touching his body got lighter. The pain was finally easing. He must be past the worst of the pain and finally dying.

  Death. He knew the path he chose could lead to an early one, but he wouldn’t have changed it. No, the only regret he had in life was her. The woman whose heart he broke for all the right reasons so long ago. A tiny part of him wished he’d one day be able to tell her the truth. To make her understand what really happened that fateful day.

  As he lay bleeding out in front of the men who long ago became his brothers, he knew he’d never get to.

  Chapter One

  Viola tossed her gym bag on the floor and headed straight to the bathroom to shower. Usually, a workout would help get her mind off things, but ever since seeing Duke Osborne at Xan’s baby shower, it didn’t matter how long she attacked the cardio equipment—and she had, relentlessly. She still walked away sore, sweaty, and swimming with thoughts of that man whirling in her head. She’d gotten over her obsession with him years ago. Years. Why now, after all this time, did he affect her like that? They’d broken up a lifetime ago.

  Correction…he’d broken up with her, and oh boy, had she been crushed. She’d fretted over every detail of their failed relationship, trying to figure out what’d happened between them. She’d had a couple of friends at the Academy, but it wasn’t as if she’d been able to talk to them about it. Getting involved with another recruit was a big no-no. When he’d ended it, there had been no reason to risk getting in trouble by spilling the secrets of her broken heart. The only person who understood what had happened was the one who had caused her grief.

  They’d known the rules. Even tried to ig
nore their attraction in the beginning, but things had gotten out of control fast. Viola had loved every second of it, too, until the morning after she’d given him her virginity, and he’d snubbed her.

  She would never forget the heartache. She’d been nothing more than a notch on his belt. It’d been weeks before she’d stopped crying herself to sleep. Only through sheer determination and perfecting the art of avoidance had she been able to finish the academy. She’d ignored him in class and dove into her assignments.

  When she’d met Dave, she’d still been nursing a broken heart. She knew she’d jumped into that relationship too fast, but a part of her had craved the affection that had so quickly been ripped away. Not wanting to hurt Dave, she’d forced her feelings for Duke aside to give Dave her everything. Even her father, who protected her dearly and loved her unconditionally, had taken to him right away, and that man had been a career federal agent who rarely warmed to anyone. In the end, Dave had hurt her, too. He’d lied to her, compromised a mission, and blackmailed an FBI mark. Viola was lucky she still had a job and was thankful her father hadn’t been alive to see the depths of that man’s betrayal.

  Divorce wasn’t cheap, and Dave had squandered away what money they’d had. She hadn’t been able to turn to her mother for help because she was a widow living on a fixed monthly installment from the trust her father had set up. Viola had scrimped and saved to start over in her apartment and pay for the attorney. She still felt awkward about Mason’s refusal to let her pay him back the money Dave had extorted from him. That entire operation had been insane. Shelby had practically been ordered to seduce Mason when the feds had set their sights on him, but at least it had worked out for Mason and Shelby in the end. They were deliriously happy together now.

  By the time Viola got out of the shower, she still hadn’t cleared her thoughts of Duke.

  Gauge. It would be easier to think of him as his handle. She never really had before because she hadn’t worked with him directly on any cases. When they’d flown to Texas together after Hunter’s sister, Heather, and her best friend, Maya, had been abducted, it had been torture. Granted, others had been around, but it hadn’t mattered. Being that close to him had wrenched unresolved feelings to the forefront. Maybe it’d help if Viola could separate the young guy she’d fallen for all those years ago from the man he was today if she forced herself to think of him by his handle. It wouldn’t change what he’d done to her, but surely it’d help keep her mind focused on the present and not lost in the past. The old Duke Osborne was gone.

  When her phone rang, she yanked the towel off her head and answered it without looking at the ID.

  “Morning, darlin’. How was your workout?”

  Jedrek. In her fretting this morning, she’d totally forgotten about this new development. Ever since Shelby had moved to Arkansas and Dave showed his true colors, Jedrek had taken on the role of her protector, and not in a brotherly way. Mason’s friend and business partner was interested in her. Anyone with eyeballs could see that. A part of her liked the attention. He was strong, but not overbearing. Plus, he was incredibly gorgeous. He hadn’t pushed her into anything, knowing she was still coming to terms with her newly single life, which she also appreciated. She hadn’t allowed herself to think of him as anything other than a friend, and her reluctance to enter into a new relationship had nothing to do with Dave. Jedrek was a Dom. Not just one who dabbled in the lifestyle. The man was a partner at a sex club. It was his life and his business. Viola had no idea how she felt about that.

  “Viola?”

  “Sorry. Just getting out of the shower.”

  “Mmm, thank you for that visual.”

  She laughed nervously as she put the phone on speaker. “Not my best look. I’m drenched,” she said as she grabbed a shirt. She looked like a drowned rat, but thought better of saying that.

  “Oh, I’m partial to anything wet,” he said, his voice smooth as the finest whisky. “Especially when it involves your body.”

  Viola felt her face flame, which was easy to do with her fair complexion. That was the first time Jedrek had said anything dirty to her. “Um…” She didn’t know what to say. Banter should be easy. She smarted off to her teammate, Carson, all the dang time.

  “I apologize, Viola. You’re not ready for that,” he said with no sarcasm.

  “Um, it’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. My job is to read women correctly. Seeing to your comfort is my responsibility.”

  She stood up a little straighter. “I’m no one’s responsibility, Jedrek.”

  He chuckled. “I’m cocking this up completely. You only use my given name when you’re irritated.”

  Her shoulders relaxed. Not long after her life had imploded, she’d started calling him Jed. She’d discovered his buddies called him that, too, and they were friends. “Nah, you’re good.”

  He groaned playfully. “Are you trying to get me in trouble? Because you know I have about a thousand sexual comebacks when you tell me I’m good.”

  She laughed then. “Maybe a little.”

  “You don’t play fair.”

  “I’m not playing at all.”

  “Ahh. The question is, my dear, do you want to learn how to play or not?”

  Viola swallowed reflexively. She knew what he was really asking, and she didn’t know what to say. Did she want to learn how to play his sexual games? Was she scared of trying something new, or was she scared of becoming involved with any man right now? She had no idea. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

  He hummed a low sound, which didn’t sound like one of disappointment. “That’s something I can work with.” Before she could respond, he said, “There’s a soft opening for the new Italian restaurant on Second Street in a few weeks. It’s a friend of mine’s place, and I have to be there to show support. I was going to ask if you wanted to attend, but now I’m not going to.”

  Although her nerves were firing rapidly, she scoffed. “So, you called to rub it in my face that you get to try out a bunch of delicious food before the general public can? That’s mean.”

  “Not exactly. I just decided that instead of asking you directly and putting you on the spot for an answer, I’ll let you know about it and say you’re free to stop by. No pressure.”

  “Hmm…asking me out on a date without actually asking. That’s clever,” she said jokingly, but she was relieved he wasn’t expecting an answer. She didn’t know how she felt about this man. Her divorce had taken its toll, and then there was Du—Gauge—and she quickly slammed the door shut on any memory that tried to surface.

  “Like I said, it’s my responsibility to know how to read women. It helps build trust.”

  “I trust you,” she said easily. She did. Even though she wasn’t sure if she could date a man like him, she knew beyond any doubt that he was a good person.

  “You know who I am,” he said, his voice dropping, leaving no question what he meant.

  “Yes.” She licked her lips. “And I might have more questions about that,” she said as she yanked on her pants.

  “Tell you what, pet. You show up at the restaurant, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Every sordid detail.”

  He ended the call before she could reply, but when she saw the time, she cussed and slipped on her shoes. She was going to be late for work. Thank God it wasn’t Monday, or there’d be no hiding the fact that she hadn’t made it on time. Forgoing makeup, she twisted her wet hair into a bun and bolted.

  If she made all the lights, she just might get there before anyone noticed.

  No such luck.

  At least she was only five minutes late by the time she pulled into the parking lot. She rushed up to her cubicle and dropped her bag on her desk. No one intercepted her, so at least she wouldn’t be called out on her tardiness. Although she worked way more than forty hours, government employees were always expected to be on time. Silly bureaucratic nonsense.