by Maddie Wade
“Ready to get this meeting started?”
Gunner hadn’t heard him come up behind him. Jack was like a panther unseen, silent, deadly. He in no way wanted to have this conversation, but it was time, so he nodded his head.
He followed Jack back to his pristine office that had the Monarch’s seal in a frame on the wall. It was uncluttered and organised like the man himself. Gunner nodded at Will, who was the polar opposite of Jack—covered in tattoos, a wild child who skirted the rules to achieve what he needed, even had a short stint in juvey which had caused a rift between the brothers for a long time.
“Gunner.”
“Will.”
Jack rounded his desk and sat and offered Gunner a seat, which he took, tilting it at an angle so he could see the door.
“How is Lacey this morning?” Jack asked as he sat back in his chair and rested his hands across his flat abdomen. He looked relaxed, calm, but anyone that knew him could see he was far from it. He was assessing every move Gunner made, looking for a lie or a weakness, something that would threaten him or those he cared about.
“She seems fine.”
“I hear you met her in Germany?”
Gunner stayed silent wondering if Lacey had told the girls and it got back to Jack or if someone else had been watching.
“Enough chit chat. I have information, and I feel you and Will need to hear it first.”
“Go on.”
“Osbourne took me to meet his partner, who had set up the meeting with Samir al-Sadir.”
“And that man was my father.”
Gunner reared back in surprise at Will’s statement.
“Yes, how did you know?”
Will laughed without humour and looked at Jack, whose jaw was working overtime as he ground his teeth and tried to hold his temper. There had only been a few times that Gunner could remember seeing Jack lose his legendary cool, but if he wasn’t mistaken, he was very close to it now.
“Our father is the reason I went to jail. He was working with Miqdaad al-Sadir, and when I caught him, he engineered it so I ended up in prison. He promised he’d cut ties and Jack ensured that was the case when he formed Eidolon and took him out.”
“Yes, I remember that mission.”
“So, my father is working with Osbourne and Samir now but to what end?” Jack pursed his lips, having got his anger under control.
“I don’t know, but Osbourne is out for your blood, and Fredrick knows it.”
“He has never had much use for his sons. I was always a disappointment to him, and Jack was his hero until he couldn’t control him anymore. Now we’re both expendable. The only reason he’s still alive is because of our mother.”
“Did you know he was working with Osbourne?”
Jack shook his head. “No not until you mentioned Miqdaad. Which begs the question, did you know my father was involved in all this?”
Gunner sucked in a large breath before letting it out slowly. “I suspected from the start but couldn’t be sure. The man who came to my door and blackmailed me about Milla was only the messenger, but I caught sight of the man in the back of the car when he left, and I thought I recognised him as your father but wasn’t one hundred per cent. I wasn’t willing to blow your life up if I wasn’t sure.”
“So, my father targeted you from the start. He was the one to blow this team up.”
Gunner shook his head. “Not only him, Jack. I should have come to you.”
“Yeah, how?”
Gunner stood and began to pace. “I don’t know.”
“Exactly. If there had been another way you would have found it. We see that now, Gunner, we all do.”
“But I betrayed you all, Jesus I let them hurt Pax.”
“I know, and while that is far from ideal, we know you wouldn’t have let that happen if there had been any way to avoid it. Blake hates it, but he does understand it.”
“You shouldn’t trust me. I let people down.”
“Tough shit, because you’re part of this team and we should have had your back before, and we didn’t, and for that, I’m truly sorry. But we have it now, and we’ll take my father down and make him pay for what he’s done once and for all.”
Gunner sank into the chair, shocked to say the very least at the turn of events today had taken. “I need to stay undercover. It’s the only way to find out how far this goes.”
Jack stood and came around the desk and leaned against it as Will took his seat and began to type on the laptop there.
“Agreed. What did they want you to do?”
“Osbourne wants the plans and itinerary for the Royal Tour next year.”
“That’s easy. We can mock that up and send him a fake.”
Gunner shook his head. “No. If he has someone inside the Palace who has seen the originals he’ll know we’re on to him.”
“So, we give him the plans. We can always change it afterwards. I can ask for an audience with Her Majesty and explain what’s happening under the guise of something else. I think it’s way past time to bring her in on this.”
“What about her safety? You can’t trust Osbourne.”
“I have someone I can put in place undercover who can be with her at all times.”
Gunner didn’t ask, and Jack didn’t offer any more information. “It can’t look like I got this information easily. Osbourne told me to wheedle my way back in, and he knows you. Knows you won’t fall for that easily.”
“That’s fine. Stay in Hereford and work the situation with Lacey and make it seem like you’re making friends with the team by showing up here and being seen with a few of the guys out and about.”
“What about Bás?”
Jack glanced at Will, who gave the slightest nod of his head. “Let us handle Bás.”
“Fine. Is there anything else I can do here?” Gunner was still far from sure about his position with Eidolon or his former teammates, but for the first time in two years, he didn’t feel like an outsider.
“No, do what Osbourne asked and report back as he told you to. Tell him it’s taking time. In the meantime, sort out the situation with Lacey and find out if her sicko ex is behind this latest threat.”
“Oh, believe me, protecting Lacey is top of my list.”
Jack cocked his head and groaned. “Not another one? My men are falling like flies. Is there some kind of vaccine I can get from this stupidity?”
Will punched his brother on the arm. “Dick don’t knock it until you try it. Aubrey is the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Jack swiped him back, causing Will to stumble and Gunner to laugh at the antics of these grown men, brothers as close as anyone could be.
“Well, that’s true. If you and Aubrey ever split up, I want to keep her and get rid of you.”
“Bro, there’s no way Aubrey would leave me. She loves me.”
“No accounting for taste hey, brother.”
“Whatever. I have to go see Mum and talk about the wedding. I’m tempted to put it off with everything going on with Dad, but I’ll speak to Aubrey first. I personally don’t want that asshole in my wedding pictures.”
“Don’t tip your hand that you know. He needs to believe that Gunner hasn’t told us and is keeping his cover.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, Jack.”
Will shook his head and lifted his hand as he left.
“You look a little shell-shocked, Gunner.”
Gunner stroked his chin. “Honestly, I am. I never once considered you would forgive me or that I deserved it.”
Jack motioned for the door, and he followed. “Honestly, neither did I, but I see now how we all made mistakes, and so do the rest of the team. If you can’t forgive family, then there’s not much hope for the world, and you are family, Gunner. I just hope you can forgive us. I don’t say it will go back to how it was, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all grow from this and learn to be better men.”
They stopped at the door to the gym, and he saw Mitch and Alex in the
ring sparring. Mitch threw a left hook and Alex blocked and countered with a one-two punch and an arm lock until Mitch tapped out. The two men stopped as he and Jack entered, and Mitch walked to the side of the ropes slowly.
Mitch had reason to hate him. He’d tied him up so he could get away when Mitch had rumbled him as the traitor. Gunner waited for the inevitable hate and only just caught the gloves Jack threw him.
“Time to get back in the ring and see how much fitness you lost while you were on your sabbatical.”
Alex barked out a laugh as Jack got his own gloves on and Gunner did the same. “Sabbatical? Is that what we’re calling it?”
“Calling it a holiday seems a little unfair considering he got beaten up.”
Gunner let the words flow around him, the banter one of the things he’d missed the most. Today hadn’t gone as he’d expected, but it had gone infinitely better. And the one person he couldn’t wait to share that with was Lacey. It should scare him how much he was falling for her, but for perhaps the first time in his life he didn’t let the fear of loving someone win.
Chapter 10
Nate had dropped Lacey off at her home leaving her with Liam and Reid, two of the Eidolon guys. Skye had held her while she cried and forced her to talk through her fears about Carmine, reassuring her at each turn that he wouldn’t get near her.
Lacey loved Skye. She was her oldest friend, and there was nobody she’d trusted more until Gunner. He’d barrelled into her life like a bulldozer, turning it upside down in the best way. Now the only time she felt safe was when he was around. Of course, she’d never tell him that, she wouldn’t want to put any more on him than she already had.
As she’d lain in his arms last night, she’d come to the conclusion he could be hanging around just to see if she was pregnant. When it turned out that she more than likely wasn’t, he’d politely back away. It hurt her heart to think it, but why else would he stay? As Carmine had taken great pains to remind her, she was boring and cold in bed.
Although it had felt far from cold being with Gunner, the boring part was probably right. She’d done parties and premiers, and she had no desire to go out and get drunk every night. Staying home and reading a book or working on a design was how she liked to spend her time.
Poking her head in the fridge, she pondered what to make for dinner. Gunner was staying with her for now, and she wanted to embrace it and cherish every second while she had him. She was pulling peppers and a package of chicken breasts from the fridge when she heard the front door open.
Lacey knew it was him without hearing a single word, just the feeling and energy he brought into the room was enough, and she closed her eyes and sighed. Everything suddenly felt right with her world again. She hadn’t realised the tension she was carrying until he was in her space and she felt it ebb away.
Gunner rounded the corner to the kitchen and Lacey dropped the ingredients onto the counter and hurried to him.
“Your face. What the hell happened?”
He was sporting a black eye, and a bruise was forming on his cheek, but perversely he was grinning like a kid at Christmas. Her fingers gently probed the abused skin, and he captured her wrist in his hand and pulled her close as he plastered her body to his own.
He kissed her fingertips, and she cocked her head to look at him, wondering how she was meant to stop herself falling in love with a man such as him.
He smiled. “Jack and I were sparring.”
Lacey wasn’t sure how to respond, but from the look on his face, she guessed this was a good thing. “This is good?”
Gunner lifted her up and twirled her around, making her throw her head back and laugh before he settled her on the counter and stepped between her legs. She was wearing a short green floaty skirt and a white vest top with flip flops which now hung from her feet.
“This is great. We sparred, and then the guys kicked my ass, and I kicked theirs a little bit, and it was like being home again. Do you know what I mean?”
Lacey felt her body soften as she leaned toward him so happy to see a genuine smile on his face and the weight of guilt lifting a little. “Yeah, Gunner, I understand.”
She did, hadn’t she been thinking the exact same thing earlier when he’d walked in?
“Do you know the crazy part?”
Lacey ran her hand over his cheek as he turned to kiss her palm. “No, I don’t read minds.”
“All I kept thinking about when I was there, and this weight was lifting, was that I couldn’t wait to get back here and tell you about it.”
“Gunner.”
This man could break her so easily and not have a clue he’d done it. She had no doubt he would never knowingly harm a hair on her head, but it would be so easy to fall in love with him and then end up a shell when he walked away needing more fun in his life.
Gunner buried his head in her neck, his lips skimming the pulse in her neck.
“I mean it. As good as it feels to know I can maybe one day find my way back to them respecting me, the best feeling was coming home and seeing you.”
Gunner was devastatingly handsome all the time, his ice-blue eyes, the blond hair and scruff and the wide shoulders but when he smiled like he was now, she had no defence against it.
“I’m so happy you had a good day, sweetheart.”
“What about you? How was your day?”
His hands were on her waist his thumbs caressing the soft skin of her bare belly as he spoke, making it difficult to concentrate.
“Good.”
“Just good?”
Lacey saw the sexy smirk as he drew back.
“Yeah. I talked with Skye, got some designs ironed out.”
“Let’s see if we can make it better than just good.”
His lips came down on hers in a kiss that stole every thought from her head. The man could kiss like the very devil himself, and she wanted more. His teeth nipped at her lips, and she opened for him, letting his tongue caress her own as he made love to her with his mouth.
Lacey speared her fingers through his hair, gripping it hard as she clamped her legs around his back and held on. The next minute she was in his arms, her legs and arms around him as he held her by the curves of her ass and not breaking the kiss, he carried her upstairs and into the room they had shared last night.
All traces of the threat against her were gone, taken away by Eidolon, and now Gunner would erase any bad memories. He sat on the edge of the bed and kept her in place, the stony ridge of his cock pressing against her clit, making them both moan. The thin barrier of her knickers wet with the need for him.
Last night after the shock of finding the nightgown on her bed, he’d held her in his arms, but hadn’t touched her as she wanted him too, like he was now. She felt a desperate edge to their lovemaking as he nipped at her neck, drawing her top over her head, and throwing it to the floor. Her nipples peaked in the lace bra, and she saw the look of carnal desire in his eyes that made her feel sensual and sexy in a way she never had before.
“So fucking beautiful.”
Lacey grasped at his top, wanting to get her hands on all the warm muscular flesh beneath and he helped, lifting one bunched bicep behind his head, and pulling the shirt off in a fluid move she was sure boys learned in school to distract the opposite sex.
Gunner grasped her waist as he lay back and pulled her so that her sex was hovering over his mouth. Lacey suddenly felt shy, unsure, but his hands stroking the skin of her ass and his eyes never leaving her face gave her confidence as he silently asked for permission. Lacey moved the last bit and then she was in heaven, his mouth was on her, licking and kissing through the panties she wore.
Lacey threw her head back, letting him control the pace as she rode his face with abandon, not feeling embarrassed by how wet she was or how wanton but enjoying every sensation that flew through her body. The hands at her hips shifted, and in a strangely erotic move, he tore her panties from her, removing the scrap of lace so he could touch his tongue and lips t
o her clit. His beard rasped against the delicate skin of her thighs and pussy as her climax built until she couldn’t hold it back and his name fell from her mouth as wave after wave of pleasure moved through her.
As her orgasm ended, he slowed his pace and he flipped her, so she was on her back still half-dressed with him poised above her, the evidence of her climax glistening on his face.
“You are the most stunning creature I have ever met.”
He kissed her then, the taste of her desire between them adding to the eroticism of the moment. With a last kiss, he rose from the bed, his eyes not leaving her as she lay watching him undress.
“Lose the bra, Cosmo.” Lacey unclipped her bra and went to remove the skirt too.
“No leave that, I like the idea of fucking you in that short flirty skirt. It’s all I’ve been able to think about all day.”
Lacey did as he asked, too distracted by the gorgeous man in front of her, who was so confident in his own skin. His cock was hard, the bead of pre-come on the tip as he took a condom from his pocket and covered himself.
She could watch him all day long and probably climax from just the sight of him touching his cock as he stroked it once and then moved to her. Nestling between her thighs, he braced his elbows on either side of her head and looked at her, and she wondered what he was thinking.
Then she was lost as he kissed her—slow, sensual, drugging her mind as he pushed into her slowly. The tempo of his lovemaking different now but no less devastating to her senses. The slight burn as he filled her adding to her pleasure as she wrapped her legs around his hips as he slid fully inside her.
Gunner stayed motionless for a second, just kissing her, seeming content to just be inside her. If it wasn’t for the twitch in the muscles at his shoulders as she held him, she would think he wasn’t affected like she was.
“Gunner, I need you to move.”
The sexy twitch of his lips was lethal to her equilibrium. If she could transfer that look to a model, she would be able to sell invisible suits. Her squirming encouraged him to move, and soon he was rocking into her slowly, his pelvis rubbing her clit every time until she was on the verge of another climax.
