Gunner: An Eidolon Black Ops Novel

by Maddie Wade

  “Gunner did some awful things that resulted in people we care about getting hurt, but I need you all to take a deep hard look at yourselves. Would you have done anything differently, having met his sister and seeing how vulnerable she is? I know I wouldn’t have. It’s easy to judge and hold on to anger and rage but be honest with yourselves. If he’d really felt like we had his back, he would’ve found a way to tell us. Fuck, he would have told us about Milla.”

  Jack moved to the boxing ring and climbed up under the ropes into the middle.

  “Gunner let us down, but we fucking let him down too. Not one of us is innocent, and we need to stop acting like hurt little bitches and accept that. Now, does anyone have anything they want to say on this matter? Because for the love of God, if I have to discuss it again like we’re a fucking sewing circle, then heads will roll.”

  The room was silent, and he could see that he was getting through to them when Mitch chuckled. He’d always been the calmest member of the team. Blake could be a hot head sometimes, and he’d seen the state Pax had been in after her attack, so he got it, but so did Gunner. What Blake had done was cruel and unfair.

  “I’m all good, boss man.”

  “Lopez?”

  “Sure, you’re right. I would’ve done the same in his boat.”

  “Decker?”

  “You know my feelings already.” Jack did know how Decker felt. The profiler had been the one to point it out to him and hold a mirror up to the failings of the team allowing this to happen.

  “Alex?”

  “If I can work with Bás, I can work with Gunner.” Bás was an altogether different kettle of fish; he’d been the one to beat Evelyn, albeit holding back, while undercover.

  “Reid?”

  Reid was quiet, but he adored Callie his girlfriend, and had been furious at Gunner for his involvement.

  “Honestly, Callie and I were talking about this, and the fact is, she would’ve been in much more danger if he hadn’t been involved. I don’t like it, but it won’t change how I work. Will it take me a little while trust him again?” He shrugged. “Probably, but I expect that goes both ways.”

  “Blake?”

  Blake had his arms crossed over his chest, looking mutinous. “She needed to know the truth.”

  “Don’t try and defend it, Blake. It was a dick move, and you know it. It was his to tell, not yours, and you went in with the sole purpose of hurting him and in the process hurt Lacey too.”

  “That wasn’t my intention.”

  “Maybe not, but it was the outcome. Gunner knows he made mistakes, and God knows he’s been busting his ass to fix them, but you’re not innocent either, Blake, none of us are. So quit acting like a victim. We have an enormous mountain to climb with this threat, and we can’t afford for us to be fighting. Can you work with Gunner or not?”

  “I can try, for Pax and the team, I’ll try.”

  Reid chuckled. “If the way Pax walked out of here is any indication then you have at least a week on the sofa.” Blake rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree.

  “Good. Now I’m sure you’re all wondering why I trashed my office. Well, Gunner found out who the third man working with Osbourne is, and it’s Frederick Granger.” He held up his hands to stop the talking that began.

  “I can assure you, neither Will nor I knew about it. But we did have an issue before. The first Op we did taking out Miqdaad al-Sadir was because I had intel that my father was working with him and we wanted to put a stop to that. We thought it was over, but unfortunately, it’s not. He’s now working with both Osbourne and Samir al-Sadir. In exactly what capacity and how deep, we don’t know. But my father was the one behind Milla’s kidnapping. He’s the man who targeted Gunner and therefore us.”

  “Gunner told you this?” Mitch asked.

  “Yes, he was the one who brought me the information, but he sat on it until he was absolutely sure because he didn’t want to blow my world to smithereens. My father is the enemy here, not Gunner. He was a pawn they selfishly used to weaken us, and they’ve succeeded as proved today. I understand if you have questions and I’ll answer them as best I can.”

  “What’s the plan, boss?” Blake asked, and he could tell he was getting through to them.

  “I have a meeting with James Fitzgerald next week, and I think we need to bring the Queen in on this herself. We have no clue who we can trust on this except those two, and then we form a plan from there. But be aware my father has threatened Lacey if Gunner doesn’t follow through on what they want. Let’s make sure we have his back this time, even though he probably won’t want it.”

  “Is Carmine still a problem for her?” Alex had caught Lacey when she’d collapsed after the kidnapping and attack, and they all liked the woman a lot. Plus, she was Skye’s best friend, and Nate and Skye were Fortis and therefore friends.

  “Carmine is still in jail, but he’s had a few visitors of late including his brother and his legal counsel.” Lopez had been monitoring Carmine Russo since they had found nightwear on Lacey’s bed. It could well be the Russo family, but he also wouldn’t put it past his father to use that to scare the woman.

  “Check if there are any connections between Frederick and the Russo family. There isn’t one I know of, but it’s becoming clear that I don’t know the man who fathered me at all.”

  “Is your mom safe with him?”

  Jack could tell Reid hadn’t wanted to ask, but it was a good question. “Yes, the one thing my father would never do is lift a finger to our mother. But I’ll go around there later and make sure she’s safe. Unfortunately, we can’t move on him because if we do, the whole thing becomes too precarious. We need intel and a plan first, so I can’t warn my mother, but she’s out a lot with her friends. While we’re here, I want to do some drills ending with randori in the ring.”

  He heard the groans. Drills were a killer, and randori was where you were attacked on all sides from all angles in quick succession and had to fight your way out of it. It was good exercise and why his men could hold their own in any situation.

  “Quit whining and get changed.”

  “Someone should check on Gunner. He was pretty upset.” Mitch was already in sparring gear.

  “Good idea. Blake, you go. You fucked it, you fix it.”

  Blake didn’t argue, just turned and left. As he did, Mitch moved up to Jack. “That wise?”

  “Yep, they need to iron this out between them and forcing it is the best way to clear the air.”

  “Hope you’re right, boss.”

  Jack didn’t say it, but he did too, or they were all dead.

  Chapter 15

  Lacey applied the last swipe of mascara to her eyelashes and sat back from the mirror at her vanity to check the overall appearance. Clever make-up tricks she’d learned from the experts now hid the smudges under her eyes, the evidence of her heartbreak. She’d spent the first day after her break up with Gunner in bed crying and then she’d dragged her ass out of bed. Wallowing in self-pity would get her nowhere.

  Now a week later, she was feeling a little more human at least. Her grief at his loss turning to mild depression. Her heart still ached when she thought about Gunner, which was why she’d tried to stay busy working and had even travelled to London to oversee the photo shoot for next spring’s children’s range. Waggs had been a good sport about it, and she found him good company, but his mannerisms so like the man she’d fallen for it made her miss Gunner more.

  Her plan for today was to work from home, but she’d always taken care of herself and saw no reason to stop now just because she worked from home and was nursing a broken heart, so she’d made an effort to put on her face and dress in something fun. A yellow-spotted tie sleeve dress with a vee neck and buttons down the front that fell to her knees made her feel happier. Clothes had always been her way of making herself feel better. Certainly when she was with Carmine it had been the only thing she could control and, in the end, he’d taken that too.

  Not like
Gunner, he’d looked at her with desire and more no matter what she wore or didn’t wear. He’d never put a single second of pressure on her or told her she was lacking. All he’d done was make her feel like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. That in itself didn’t mean a lot to her, beauty was a perceived subject in her book. It was the way he made her feel strong, like they were partners, that had made her fall for him. Even in moments when she was weak, he never made her feel that way.

  Lacey jumped when her phone that was sitting by the bed rang, and she moved to answer it, quickly, smiling when she saw Skye’s name. Her friend had shown up the second night after the-break-up-that-wasn’t-really-a-break-up because they hadn’t actually been together. A tub of ice-cream later the entire sorry story lay bare between them and a carton of chocolate chunk had been decimated.

  “Hey, hun.”

  “Hi. Guess who gave birth to a bouncing baby boy this morning?” Lacey could hear the excitement in her friend’s voice, and it was infectious as she felt the grin pull at her cheeks in happiness.

  “Oh my God, did Roz have her baby?”

  “Yep, early hours of this morning, two weeks late and he’s a bruiser, nine pounds three ounces.”

  “Ouch, that makes me want to cross my legs. What did they call him?” Lacey relaxed back against the headboard and crossed her ankles.

  “I know. I thought Noah was bad at seven-pound five. They decided on Deacon for a name.”

  “Awe that’s so sweet, and they’re both okay?”

  “Yeah, mum and baby are doing fine. Not sure about Kanan though. He turned up here afterwards and had that traumatised look on his face like he’d come from a war zone.”

  “Yeah, it must be hard for the men too, seeing the women they love in pain.”

  “I know Nate struggled with it. Anyway, I wondered if you wanted to go see them later? Apparently Roz needed a few stitches and had some bleeding, so they’re keeping her in a for a few days until her iron levels are up nearer normal.”

  “Yes, I’d love that. I need to pick up a gift for her and the baby though. What time is visiting?”

  “Two until four. I can pick you up around one-thirty?”

  “Sounds good, see you then.”

  Lacey hung up with a smile on her face. Roz had turned out to be an unsuspected friend, and despite her fearsome reputation as an assassin, Lacey saw through that to the woman who loved her family. She was so happy she now had that family, complete with the son she’d admitted she wanted.

  Lacey walked to the back door and looked out to see if she could find out who was on duty today. Personally, she thought it was overkill having such highly trained men watching over her when she was sure they had better things to do.

  She was surprised to see Jack walking toward her with a grin on his face. He was disgustingly handsome, and what made it worse was he had no idea and probably didn’t care. That was like catnip to most women except her, her heart and attraction was firmly in camp Viking.

  “Morning, Lacey.”

  Lacey crossed her arms as she stepped back from the door to let him inside.

  “Morning, Jack. I see I warranted the big guns today.”

  Jack chuckled. “No, I just had something else I needed Waggs to do, and the others are busy.”

  “I’m sorry if I’m causing problems. I can hire private security if you think I still need it.”

  They were standing by the back door, and she saw Jack clench his jaw, but when he looked up at her any sign of anxiety or stress was gone.

  “No need and you’re not causing any problems at all.”

  Lacey felt sure he was lying, after all Eidolon weren’t a security company like most were, but she let it go. Jack didn’t seem like the sharing type, and honestly, she had enough on her plate without looking for trouble.

  “I have to pop into town and get a gift for Roz and Kanan.”

  Jack grinned and turned. “Baby shopping it is. I heard she had a little boy?”

  Lacey was surprised as they chatted on the way to town how open Jack was. He’d admitted he and Roz had a somewhat complicated relationship because they both felt their operatives were the best. Still, with more than one of their team members being in relationships with each other, they had mostly buried the hatchet.

  Lacey picked out the cutest onesie for the baby and some gorgeous pamper kits for the new mum. She’d think of something for Kanan, but she wanted the girls to have something too and bought them both a small gift.

  Once back home, Jack went back to his post, blending into the tree line of her property like a phantom and Lacey wrapped the gifts with pretty paper and ribbons. She always liked wrapping presents and was sure she’d love doing it for her own family one day. Whether that would ever happen for her, she had no clue.

  It had taken everything she had not to do an early pregnancy test. She just had to wait and see what happened. That didn’t stop the dread every time she went to the bathroom though which was crazy. A baby was the last she needed right now and especially given the circumstances she found herself in. Yet, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that at this point she dreaded her period more than a positive test.

  At one-twenty, Nate and Skye arrived to pick her up and Jack came over and had a hushed conversation with the man. Lacey tried to ignore it, but she was curious and wanted to know why Eidolon was so involved in her safety. She was soon distracted as they got to the hospital.

  “I’ll stay out here and grab a coffee, let you girls have some time with Roz.” Nate leaned in and kissed Skye, and while it wasn’t pornographic, it was certainly not a tame kiss. Lacey felt a pang of envy steal into her heart and hated herself for it.

  “Ready?”

  Skye hooked her arm through Lacey’s, and she forced a smile onto her face that became genuine the second she saw Roz. She was lying in the bed, looking almost as white as a sheet, and had the most beatific smile on her face as she held her son in her arms.

  Lacey knew Roz wasn’t a hugger, but she didn’t care and leaned in for a one-armed hug. “Congratulations.”

  Skye did the same, and then they both peered down at the perfect little angel in Roz’s arms. He was the image of his father in every way except for his mouth, which was the same cupids bow as Roz.

  “Oh, Roz, he’s precious.”

  Roz looked down at her sleeping son, and the love was evident to see. “Little shit left my vagina looking like a meat grinder got hold of it, my belly is like a bowl of jelly, my boobs are like rock hard balloons sitting on my chest that leak every time I move, and I’ve never been happier.”

  Lacey laughed at her words remembering Skye saying similar things if not quite so colourful about the aftereffects of birth.

  “I was going to ask how you are feeling, but I guess that sums it up nicely.”

  “Would you like to hold him?”

  She raised a brow at the offer but immediately nodded. Roz turned and handed Deacon to her as Skye smiled and handed Roz the gifts they’d brought. Lacey was overwhelmed as the tiny bundle settled in her arms as his fingers stretched and grabbed her pinkie.

  At that moment she realised how much she wanted this for herself, whether it was now or later on she wanted to be a mother. Deep down, she wanted that to be with Gunner, but she couldn’t see a way forward after what had transpired between them. Perhaps mother nature had already chosen, and a deeply hidden part of her wanted that to be the case.

  She had the strangest feeling of being watched, and as she lifted her head, her eyes locked on the handsome face of the man she loved. It was the look on his face that ruined her though, tearing a hole on the seams where she’d patched her broken heart. His eyes were soft as they rested on her and Deacon and so full of grief almost but also something else she couldn’t quite contain.

  Chapter 16

  Gunner had no clue why Roz had sent him a text to ask him to come to the hospital and see her after she’d just given birth to her son, but he predicted it had somethin
g to do with Pax. Roz was ridiculously protective of her girls, considered them family, with her acting as the terrifying patriarch.

  Walking around the corner and seeing Lacey holding a newborn had been like a punch to the gut. The look of wonder on her face as she cradled the infant in her arms made him want things he knew were lost to him. He’d do anything to go back and make things right with her. He knew in his heart that she was his one chance at something special, something that only came once in a lifetime if you were lucky.

  She was it for him, the love of his life and he’d screwed that up too. Looking for the answers in the bottom of a bottle for three days hadn’t helped either, so he’d gone hunting. Looking for Carmine Russo who he’d just learned had been given bail, a power-play by Osbourne no doubt to control him. A reminder of who was in charge, but Gunner was done being a puppet he was going on the offensive. If he found Carmine first, there’d be no question of him walking away and having a second chance at hurting Lacey, not while he still breathed.

  Lacey looked up, and he saw the joy on her face at seeing him and then it was quickly doused with confusion.

  Roz followed Lacey’s gaze. “Ah, Gunner, thanks for coming.”

  Gunner pulled his eyes away from the woman who held his heart and looked at Roz, the leader of the Zenobi group. “Why am I here, Roz?”

  Roz crossed her arms and glared at him, no less deadly after giving birth hours earlier than she was before her pregnancy.

  “Tell her.”

  Gunner shook his head, confused. “What?”

  “Tell Lacey why you let those men hurt Pax.”

  Gunner could feel the anger surging through him to have been put on the spot once again.