JORDEN: (Justice Brothers #3) Read online

  Jorden

  Book 3: The Justice Brothers Series

  By

  Taylor Lee

  Jorden, Book 2 in USA Today best-selling author Taylor Lee’s provocative new series, The Justice Brothers.

  An Assistant US Attorney ends up fighting the legal battle of his life. Unfortunately he is on the defense and his children are at stake.

  An accomplished psychologist and coach revered by all, discovers she can’t outrun her past. She can only hope her righteous lover will understand and forgive her.

  An evil woman isn’t about to let her children and former husband go without a fight. And this woman fights dirty! Especially if she has the support of a corrupt Judge.

  A family drama that calls out the best and the worst of two passionate lovers. Unfortunately, Jorden and McKenna discover that Justice—like Love—isn’t always fair or easy.

  WARNING: Romance so HOT it singes the pages

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  Chapter 1

  A shrill whistle blew. The play came to a screeching halt, the players’ rubber soles ripping noisily across the basketball court. Jorden was on his feet before the jarring sound of the referee’s whistle stopped. He sucked in a deep breath when Chloe fell to the floor, clutching her stomach. She rolled to her side and curled up in a protective ball. Shoving at his concern, Jorden reminded himself that Chloe was strong. At least, she was tall enough to take an intentional body blow. When the other players stepped back and his fifteen-year-old daughter still didn’t get up, just writhed on the hard court surface, Jorden’s concern turned to fear. His brother Jude’s restraining hand on his arm held him back.

  The tall, redheaded coach left the sidelines and in seconds was kneeling at Chloe’s side. Jorden held his breath, watching the competent woman run her hands over Chloe’s back and neck, directing a stream of questions at his shaken daughter. He breathed again when he saw Chloe nod in response, and with the coach’s help, rise shakily to her feet.

  Chloe clung to the coach’s arm, acknowledging the crowd’s roar of approval. She turned to the stands and smiled bravely when she met his gaze. Jorden pasted a smile on his face and raised his clasped hands above his head in an “attagirl” gesture. Chloe’s wobbly smile widened and she returned the gesture. Jorden was gratified that the referee called for three shots, adding a technical foul to the penalty for what was clearly an intentional hit. At the call and the approving applause from the fans, the opposing team’s center who had hit Chloe stepped back, a sneer darkening her sullen expression.

  Ignoring the tall girl’s ominous scowl, Chloe stepped to the foul line. She spun the ball in her hands, then in a practiced ritual, bounced it three times on the court, took a visible breath, and released the ball. It flew through the air, rode the edge of the hoop, then tipped out. The referee caught it and tossed it back to Chloe. Once again, she performed her lucky drill, shot the ball, and missed again. Jorden murmured, “Watch it go in, Chloe.”

  Breathing deeply, Chloe glanced to the sidelines and focused on the coach. As if inspired, she nodded and quickly performed her studied drill and shot. The ball whizzed through the air and cleared the net. The crowd roared their approval.

  Jorden breathed a sigh of relief when the horn sounded, signaling the half was over. His brother wrapped a comforting arm over his shoulder and squeezed it.

  “Damn, bro. Never thought girls’ basketball was as rough as boys’, but hell, these young women play hard.” With a scathing glance at the surly perpetrator who’d knocked Chloe to the ground, Jorden’s brother added grimly, “And dirty.”

  Now that his lungs were performing as they should, Jorden breathed a relieved sigh. “Yeah, Jude, if I’ve learned anything watching Chloe all these years, it’s that anyone who thinks that girls’ basketball isn’t a contact sport doesn’t know the game.” He blew out another hard breath and confessed, “I know Chloe is good, damn good. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the intensity of the play at this level. Problem is, she was so thrilled to make the varsity team, I can’t complain. She and Marcia Ojakangas are the only sophomores who made varsity. I just need to decide if I’d embarrass my daughter more than I already do if I hooked an oxygen tank to my back for the duration of game. Either that, or do without air for the second half.”

  Jude clapped him on the back. “C’mon, counselor. Man up. Chloe’s tough. She’s a Justice, after all. What more can I say? It’s in the genes!”

  The dark-haired young woman with the unusual, thick-framed glasses standing beside Jude poked him in the ribs and laughed. “Did the Justice arrogance get passed along as well? Or do you need a particular bodily appendage to be as cocky as you and your brothers are?”

  Jude wrapped his arm around the diminutive woman, his lips curving in a salacious smile. “Let me put it this way, sprite. That appendage, as awesome as it is, ain’t required for our arrogance or toughness. Like I said, it’s in the genes.”

  Jorden smiled and nodded to the young woman. “Skylar, you’ll be glad to know that both of my daughters are tough, and yes, a tad arrogant, although thankfully it comes across as self-confidence. They’re also loving and beautiful, which puts the fear of God in this father’s heart. My worst nightmare is they will have to tangle with men as arrogant and chauvinistic as we Justice brothers are.”

  Jude laughed. “No worries, bro. All four of us and the Judge are lying in wait for any snot-nosed, randy wannabes who think they can have a shot at one of my nieces. Hell, man, the knights of old thought they had to run through a gauntlet to get to their fair maidens.”

  Skylar sniffed. “From what I’ve seen, both Chloe and Emma are more than able to fend off the randy boys. From my vantage point, those two girls are more intimidating than any of them.” She added with a saucy grin, “Don’t worry, if they’re interested, they’ll take what they want so sweetly that the boys won’t know they’ve been had.”

  Jude snorted. “Kinda like how you lassoed me into your stable, right squirt?”

  “Precisely.” Sky snuggled against the tall detective and murmured, “It’s in the genes, Detective Justice. The girl genes.”

  Skylar turned to Jorden. “I can understand why you’re concerned, Jorden. Not about the boys chasing after her, but playing basketball. Chloe seems more interested in basketball than she is in boys, and you’re right—basketball is a much rougher sport than people realize and the girls play as hard as the boys do. Luckily, she has a great coach. I can assure you that if Mac thinks Chloe’s good enough to be on the team, she is.”

  Jorden frowned. “I haven’t had a chance to meet the new coach. I was in DC when the school hired her. From what Principal Daniels told me, she has an impressive record and comes highly recommended. Moreover, from what I understand it was a serendipitous hire. They recruited her as the new school psychologist, then learned that she’d been a high school and college basketball superstar. Coach Reynolds, who’s been at Wildwood Academy for years, was ecstatic about having help, particularly with the JV team.”

  “She’s a ten-strike for the school, Jorden. Skylar and I have met her; in fact, she and Sky have become running buddies. Which makes me beholden to her in more ways than she can know.”

  Jude chucked Skylar under the chin and gave an aggrieved sigh. “Just think, bro, now my little sprite has someone to run with in the reservoir at night, in addition to the tweakers and joyriders who slink in the shadows.”

  At that mome
nt the team returned to the court. Chloe glanced up to the stands and waved to him. He gave her an arm pump and a genuine smile, laughing when Jude hollered out, “Kick butt, Chloe. You’re the man!”

  As the game progressed and the referees kept a tight rein on the aggressiveness of the other team, Jorden relaxed. Chloe was on the bench most of the time, which was to be expected for a young, new player. But when she did hit the court, she demonstrated the excellent ball-handling skills that had made her a star on the club teams. Only her shooting was tentative. She missed more than half her shots and passed many times when she had an open shot. Jorden decided he’d take her to the Y over the weekend. He had played college basketball, and while he was careful about putting pressure on her, he knew she was intimidated by the bigger, more aggressive game played at the varsity level.

  Surprisingly, Jorden found himself paying more attention to the new coach than he had in the beginning. He had been so concerned about his young daughter that he hadn’t focused on the tall, redheaded dynamo. In addition to being attractive, she was clearly a forceful leader. She owned her side of the court and was intimately engaged with the players. Each time a player returned to the bench, she showered them with a winning smile and words of encouragement. At every timeout, the girls huddled around her as she mapped out plays on a play board, including the players in the strategy discussion. Her energy was obviously contagious, because the team came back again and again from being behind and ultimately went on to win the game by six points. As they left the court, all the Wildwood girls wore big smiles and fought to be close to their impressive leader as she strode from the court.

  Jude punched him on the arm to get his attention. “Any chance you and Chloe can join Sky and me for dinner? We’re meeting up at the Shipwreck with that redhead you’ve been ogling for the last half hour. How about you tag along?”

  Jorden felt his cheeks heat, hoping that his “ogling” hadn’t been as obvious to others as it was to his intuitive brother. He gave himself room. Any man with eyes would have been attracted to the vibrant woman who’d dominated the direction of the game. Seeing the opposing male coach and half of the fathers in the crowd attempting to make their way into the Wildwood group celebrating their upset win, it was clear he wasn’t the only ogler in the crowd.

  At that moment, Chloe, accompanied by her best friend Marcia, rushed over to him crowing excitedly, “Dad, did you see my layup at the end? I was sure it was going to roll out. But it didn’t. How sick was that?” Before Jorden could utter the appropriate oohs and aahs, Chloe hugged Jude and Skylar, then turned back to him with her next question. “Dad, can I please go with Marcia and her family? The Ojakangases are going to Pedro’s for dinner, and they invited me to spend the night. Please, please, can I go? I finished all my homework and don’t have a Saturday game tomorrow morning.”

  After discussing logistics for the next morning with Paul Ojakangas, who was his second-in-command in the AUSA office, Jorden pressed a bill into Chloe’s hands and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. He shook his head, staring at her retreating back. Turning back to his brother he said with a rueful sigh, “Well, given that Emma doesn’t get back from basketball camp for another ten days, it looks like I’m batching it tonight. Guess I am free for a quick bite at the Shipwreck. I might forego Skylar’s favorite double-bacon burger with extra cheese, but that Glenmorangie Scotch she’s partial to sounds damn good. It’s been a long week.”

  Jude snorted. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re always batching it, big brother. And no, those two gorgeous nieces of mine don’t count. Tell me, Jorden, when was the last time the Assistant United States Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District had a date? A real one, not just those one-night-stands you do to make sure your pecker still pecks?”

  Jorden shook his head and managed a smile. “Says the guy who’s never, ahem, ‘pecked’ a woman twice unless she was one of his infamous G2G’s—go to girls—until he gave in and admitted that he was madly in love with that remarkable woman.” Jorden gestured to Skylar, who was talking with a group of team parents. “I’ve said it many times, Jude, but I’ll say it again, along with Jared, Jake, and the Judge. I’m one of the happiest guys around knowing that you actually got your head out of your ass and hooked up with Skylar. I’m telling you if ever there was a woman for my exacting and admittedly challenging brother, it’s Skylar Hughes.”

  “You’re right, bro. I never thought I would say it, but I am deeply in love with that remarkable woman, and strangely enough, she returns the favor by loving me.”

  Jude assumed an uncharacteristically serious expression and said in an undertone, “Hell, big brother, maybe we can grab some alone time and discuss the elephant that’s not only in the room, but apparently back in our lives.”

  When Jorden didn’t answer, Jude persisted. “Have you seen her yet?”

  “Yeah, I have.”

  “Okay. I’ll let that non-answer stand and simply ask how is she?”

  Jorden shrugged. “Francine is Francine.”

  “Hmm, destructive as ever?”

  Jorden responded dryly, “Like I said, Francine is Francine.”

  Chapter 2

  Driving to the Shipwreck, Jorden relived his conversation with Jude. At his brother’s insistence, Jorden had added a little detail to his cursory responses. Thankfully, Jude was savvy enough not to press. But then, why would he? When it came down to it, Francine was Francine. For anyone who knew her, that was enough said.

  Remembering his strained conversation with her the previous night, Jorden admitted that he hadn’t thought about much else in the last twenty-four hours. Chloe’s game had been a welcome three-hour respite. For the first time since his ex-wife had waltzed into the judicial center and appeared unannounced at his office door, the basketball game had given him an opportunity to think of something besides her.

  It was disconcerting to acknowledge that Francine had always had that effect on him. From the first time he had met the five-foot-nine willowy beauty, he’d been consumed by her. It had taken him ten years of hell living with her and five years recovering from that hell to finally get her out of his system. Or so he had thought until last night.

  In fairness, they say you never truly get over your first love. Particularly if you marry her and are constantly reminded of her by your two daughters who share some of her physical traits. Like their mother, both Chloe and Emma had Francine’s startling blue eyes. Fortunately, they had his dark, almost-black hair. He would have been challenged if they were blond like their mother. The girls were tall for their age, but he could claim credit for that. All the Justices were tall. But they were all men. Francine distinctly was not.

  As Chloe approached her sixteenth birthday, the developing curves on her adolescent body telegraphed the possibility of Chloe inheriting more than eye color from her voluptuous mother. Jorden wasn’t surprised to see that at only thirty-four years old, it was clear Francine had already begun augmenting her stunning body with the help of skilled plastic surgeons.

  As if that were a surprise. Dissatisfaction was the driving force in Francine’s life. It always had been. Dissatisfaction with her gorgeous body, her lovely face, the big house they lived in, being a mother, not going out every night of the week, her extensive wardrobe that always needed updating, the drugs she took and the alcohol she drank, etc., etc. But the most dissatisfying element in her previous life had been him—her husband who, Jorden thanked God, was now her former husband.

  Pulling his Bimmer into the Shipwreck parking lot, Jorden wondered if he was making a mistake. He knew that Jude wouldn’t press him about Francine any further than he already had. And Skylar had to be the most intuitive person he knew—as well as the kindest. The problem was that Jude had said Chloe’s coach was joining them. Watching the redheaded livewire at the game, which had seemed at that time like an interesting option, was now problematic.

  As he entered the Shipwreck, he conceded that given the fact that Francine had grabbe
d center stage in his mind, the idea of making small talk with a stranger was less than appealing. He was about to make his excuses to Jude and head home to another quiet night on his lakeside deck with a bottle of Maker’s Mark when a luscious laugh caught his attention. Turning toward the melodic sound, he saw his brother lounging at a table with two gorgeous women. One of whom had red hair, and, he now knew, an amazing laugh.

  Jude spotted him across the pub and bounded toward him. “Don’t even think it, bro, much less say it.”

  Jorden shot him a sheepish grin. “Say what, Dr. Phil? That your antisocial brother looked like he was going to bail and forego the opportunity to chat it up with his intrusive brother and a woman he’s never met? I don’t have to tell you, dude, that if Skylar wasn’t sitting at that table with a hopeful look on her face, I would have turned tail and ran before I got to the door.”

  Jude laughed. “And missed a night of booze, bad food, and me on your ass? C’mon, counselor. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

  Striding to the table where the two women were waiting, Jude hollered to the waiter standing attentively to the side, “Denny, my man, bring us another glass and be ready with an additional bottle of that first-rate Scotch Ms. Hughes has turned us all on to. My aloof brother has deigned to join us pub-crawlers for the night instead of drinking alone the way he always does. You never know how much those solo drinkers can put away.”

  “Sure thing, Detective Justice,” the gangly waiter with Deadhead tats decorating the back of his neck and both forearms said with a grin. Nodding to Jorden, he added, “Good evening, Mr. Justice. Would you like a menu, or do you want what these folks ordered?”

  “No thanks, Denny. I think I’ll add to my outrageous brother’s portrayal of me as a raging alcoholic and stick to the Scotch. In addition to being a private lush, I’m also a wuss. It would take me a week to digest Ms. Hughes’ chosen finger-food, a double-bacon burger with extra cheese. Although, I will tempt Jude’s derision and Skylar’s chagrin and have a side of your deep-fried vegetables to go along with my bottle of Scotch.”