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  Cherry Hill 8: Rewards of Bravery Isla has overcome many dangers in her life. She's starting a new job, achieved her CPA, and is opening up her heart to two very intimidating men. Has her luck changed, or does danger have a way of finding her? When she was hired by the real estate firm she hadn't expected to discover that the last accountant was ripping the owners off. She reports her findings, an investigation is started, and she thinks her part is over. She is moving on with her personal life, letting down her guard, her heart and body to the four charismatic, commanding O'Rourke men. Her thoroughness as an accountant puts the one piece of evidence in her possession that could destroy everyone involved in the illegal operations but she doesn't even know she has it. There's a larger operation of criminal activity going on, and Isla winds up smack in the middle, just for doing the right thing. Rewards of bravery could be her final demise.

  Genres: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense Length: 41,741

  CHERRY HILL 8:

  REWARDS OF BRAVERY

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Cherry Hill 8: Rewards of Bravery Copyright © 2019 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  ISBN: 978-1-64243-704-1

  First Publication: March 2019

  Cover design by Les Byerley All art and logo copyright © 2019 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  W A RNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  For all titles by Dixie Lynn Dwyer, please visit www.bookstrand.com/dixie-lynn-dwyer

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHERRY HILL 8:

  REWARDS OF BRAVERY

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Epilogue

  CHERRY HILL 8:

  REWARDS OF BRAVERY

  DIXIE LYNN DWYER

  Copyright © 2019

  Prologue

  “ Well, open it.”

  Isla took a deep breath as she held the envelope in her hand. This was it. All her hard work, her pushing through the crazy obstacles in her life and it came down to this moment. Did she pass her CPA exam, or would she have to study more and retake it? Would she have to keep being a bookkeeper? She glanced at York, who sat on the lounge chair by the pool. Her arm was bandaged and in a sling still, but physical therapy had already begun. What they had gone through, what York had gone through was horrific, and another obstacle in their lives. The difference was, York had her men—Finn, Lotus, Marco, and Cab—who were right nearby at the outdoor cabana and bar. They were giving York and Isla their space to talk.

  She tore it open and then pulled out the letter. Tears filled her eyes at the congratulatory introduction and then the words she had been waiting to read.

  “I passed. I’m CPA certified,” she whispered as tears fell.

  “Yes! Ouch,” York said as she jumped up, fist pumped, and then grabbed her shoulder. They both laughed, and then York hugged Isla.

  “What’s going on? Are you okay?” Marco asked, coming over with the others and placing his hands on York’s shoulders. York leaned back against him.

  “Everything is great. She did it. Isla passed the CPA exam.”

  Marco immediately smiled wide and then hugged her and congratulated her.

  “This is awesome news. Calls for a celebration,” Finn said and walked back to the bar.

  As they congratulated her, she thought about all the things she needed to do now. Her resume was in place, and she could add the new credentials to her name. She was so excited she felt almost sick.

  She covered her belly.

  “Are you okay?” Lotus asked her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

  “Yes, I just can’t believe it’s real. That after everything it happened.”

  “You made it happen, Isla,” Lotus told her and pointed. “You’re tough and confident, and you never give up,” he said.

  “She’s brave in every aspect of the word,” York added, and then they heard the pop, and Lotus walked cover with the bottle of champagne as Cab carried the glasses.

  “A toast to Isla,” Finn said, and they handed out the glasses and then made a toast and cheered. She drank down the contents and then smiled.

  “Now, to find a job,” she said to them.

  “I’m sure that won’t be a problem. You could even start doing some work for Harry at the local accounting firm in Central Valley. He did offer you a position there even before your certification,” Lotus said to her.

  She made a face and shook her head. “I need something different.”

  “Hey, did he call you again to ask you out?” York asked.

  “What?” Marco asked, looking shocked.

  “York,” Isla pleaded.

  York exhaled.

  “Harry likes her, and like the Hanes brothers, the Nelson brothers and even the Warren twins, she’s denied all of them the opportunity to explore any type of relationship. She definitely doesn’t want to work for a guy who likes her when she doesn’t share the same feelings,” York said.

  Finn placed a hand on his hip as he held the champagne glass. “All those men have been asking you out? What about Montana and Ortley?” he asked.

  She lowered her eyes and set the empty champagne glass onto the small tables. “What about them?”

  “Uhm, you like them, they like you.”

  “That isn’t the problem, Marco.

  “Then what is?” Cab asked.

  “It’s me, not them.” She took a deep breath and then exhaled. She locked gazes with York.

  “All that has happened the past year, and it’s amazing that I’m even standing here, and that I passed that exam. I’ve had everything taken away from me before this. My parents, my brother, Watson, and I’m not fully recovered from that time held prisoner, then add in the abduction, and then worrying about York, and in that area I took several steps back in therapy. I’m not whole. I don’t feel strong inside, emotionally. I can’t accept a relationship with any man, never mind men, until I’m whole again, confident again, and well, feel normal. It’s just hard to explain,” she said to them and pushed her hair behind her ear and sat down, her frustration obvious.

  “No, I get it. I completely get it. My dad and what he did added to this.”

  “No, York, it wasn’t your fault. Your dad is a criminal, just as Skoen and Hyzein were. Those types of men do whatever they want, whatever is necessary to achieve what they’re after. Men, relationships can be the same, but until I am confident in myself and my abilities and can handle life on my own, then everything else needs to wait. I need a job, to feel professional, and to feel safe in my own place.”

  “Why can’t you do that with the support of Montana and Ortley by your side?” Finn asked he
r.

  “Because then I’ll feel like I need that crutch, like I can’t handle being alone or on my own, or like I can do it because it’s my drive, my confidence, my hard work, and commitment to achieving whatever it is I’m meant to achieve in life.”

  “That’s silly when you have men who truly care about you, Isla. Montana and Ortley were at their wits’ ends worrying about you when you were missing. They were sick with concern about your concussion and the pain you were in, and they stayed by your side the entire time of your recovery,” Lotus told her.

  “And I care about them, a lot. I appreciate the friendship.”

  “Friendship? Really, Isla?” Lotus asked.

  “It’s all I can give right now. I need to do this. Alone,” she said.

  The men looked annoyed, but they were good friends, and their woman was her best friend, so they encouraged her.

  “Well then, I guess we need to start looking for a job, helping you to achieve that confidence you’re aiming to achieve so our poor friends can become your guardians, and you can accept them as such,” Finn said.

  She gasped, and York chuckled. “I’ve turned them into a bunch of romantics,” York teased and winked at Isla.

  Isla laughed aloud as Cab gave York the evil eye. “Watch it, woman,” he said, and they chuckled.

  “Actually, you can hold off on all of that for a while. Harper knows someone in Banter who is looking for a new accountant for their business. A real estate firm or something.”

  “Oh, maybe Canterberry Associates? They’re huge. They have a small place in Banter but then multiple ones across Texas,” Lotus said.

  “Yes, I think that was the name of it,” Isla told them.

  “Well then, get your resume out there to them, woman, so you can gain that independence, and remember, you’re brave and went through so much, but you survived, have great friends and family right here with you, and the rewards will start coming in,” York told her.

  “Hmm, I sure do hope so,” she said.

  They talked a little more about Banter and other potential jobs as Isla thought about Montana and Ortley. She liked them, a lot, and found comfort in their embraces, and knew they wanted her as their woman, but she just didn’t want to feel like she accepted because she was scared. Or that she gave in because they were so dominant and good-looking and fierce. She still had fears, and Ortley wasn’t exactly soft-spoken. He commanded and gave orders. A drill sergeant and her? Was she nuts? Plus they had two brothers she had yet to meet, and she heard they were very wealthy, commanding businessmen, who were world travelers, very intelligent, and men like that were only interested in professional women, or maybe weak ones they could control. She wasn’t sure.

  She was twenty-three—would turn twenty-four next week—and her experience with men involved violence, and of course dominant, superior ones here in Cherry Hill. She couldn’t focus on any of that. She needed a job, a steady income, and to start working in her profession and make something of herself, and that was the plan and she was sticking to it.

  “Who the hell does this guy think he is?” Curren O’Rourke asked their colleagues at the board meeting. He glanced at his brother, Presley, who was straight-faced and tapping the pen on the pad in front of him.

  “He has money and power overseas. He’s interested in that piece of land and developing it,” Charlie, one of their staff, told him.

  “That’s just great, but it’s right next to our property. We were told that the adjacent parcel of land was not made for developing commercial property on, and not for sale. Now suddenly it is?” Curren O’Rourke asked.

  “Something fishy is going on, that’s obvious, but we all know how this works. We’ve just been on the other side of deals like this,” Charlie told him.

  “Of course we are because we dominate the businesses in the area. We coordinate who comes in and builds, not someone foreign asshole who decides he wants to build an estate as well as a five-star hotel right there,” Curren stated.

  “It’s not like it will be bad for business for us. We have all those condos, the vacation rentals, the pools and water slide, a real vacationers getaway. I’m certain we could come up with something to maybe even work together with them.”

  “Are you out of your mind? This guy, Esmal Kabin, is working with Gus Flora. Gus would sell off his mother for a deal if the money was insane enough.” Curren raised his voice.

  “It’s worth looking into. They’ve purchased the first fifty acres of land. They have already started putting up those metal storage warehouses. There’s two hundred more, all broken into parcels of twenty-five to fifty acres,” Charlie told him.

  “Finally some good news. Though I’m worried about those warehouses being an eyesore to our guests staying on the property. Can you see them from the grounds?” Curren asked.

  “No, they are deep into the land and not viewable even by roadway. Perhaps a call over to the firm to maybe purchase a few parcels square in the middle could ensure the privacy you want to keep?” Presley said.

  Curren smirked. “Now we’re talking. This guy wants to come in here and start moving into our territory, then he has another think coming.”

  “We should look into this guy Esmal Kabin a little deeper. Get our people on it. His name sounds familiar,” Curren said to Charlie and the other staff.

  “His name was on that bid in Dallas for the Davies ranch you decided not to purchase. There were those problems you found out from that friend of yours. Merelda, and how it bordered that land by the factory,” Charlie said to him.

  “That’s right, the one with the chemical spills that were in the ground,” Curren replied.

  “So this guy isn’t such a stranger to our area. I don’t think it’s a big deal anyway, Curren. We’ve got enough going on with the new construction in San Antonio,” Presley reminded him.

  Curren gave a nod. “That was established to provide work for all those unemployed soldiers, and to help their families and kids with things. It’s turned into its own little town,” Curren said to his brother.

  “It keeps expanding, and you both own the other land for miles. Perhaps worrying about this guy Esmal Kabin buying out things close to the resort shouldn’t be a concern at all,” Charlie said.

  “Maybe. Presley and I will discuss it further. We have a nice buffer of a hundred acres between us, and that border to that parcel. In the interim, let’s look into the other parcels. See what you can find out about them, and then we’ll take it from there. I’d like to know who told us we couldn’t purchase any of that property and that it wasn’t zoned for commercial or even buildable,” Curren said.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was someone associated with Gus Flora. It’s easy enough to find out,” Charlie said.

  “Sir, I can tell you right now,” Meredith, one of their other employees, said as she typed on her iPad.

  “Go ahead,” he said to her.

  “Canterberry Associates. Hagerty Canterberry.”

  Curren locked gazes with his brother. “Hagerty, I should have known.”