by Rachel Grant
Josh tensed at hearing Trina’s name, but then relaxed. He was past worrying about mixed attractions. He could bury his secret shame and move on. “Thank you for sharing this with me.” He stroked her back and kissed her forehead. “I’m here for you now.”
She ran a hand over his stomach, under his shirt. A caress not meant to be arousing, but it was Maddie, so he got hard anyway. “Have I mentioned how much I like you, Josh?”
“I was getting a solid idea of your opinion of me when we were on the couch earlier.” He paused, then added, “So, the best sex you’ve ever had? And I have a witness, so you can’t deny saying it.”
She laughed. “The best. And we hadn’t even gotten to penetration yet.”
“Hmm. Kinda adds a layer of pressure I wasn’t counting on.”
“I have no doubt you will live up to the fantasies I’m having now.”
“Right now?” His hand ignored his brain and slipped lower to cup her butt.
“Well, not right now. I’m kind of exhausted and maybe a bit emotionally wrung out.”
He kissed her forehead again. “Me too. We should get some sleep.”
“We should.”
Neither of them moved. They just went back to holding each other in silence, but then finally, her eyes drifted closed. Their position was awkward for sleeping, so he loosened his hold and she rolled over and scooted back against him. He tucked his knees behind hers, spooning her back to his front, and held her that way until her breathing evened out and she drifted to sleep.
He lay awake, holding her, wondering how in the hell he was going to be able to keep her and Ava safe from the White Patriots who had targeted him, all while protecting an entitled billionaire and facing off with her ambitious brother, who he suspected was an active member of the White Patriots.
14
Maddie drove Ava to Bond Ironworks and couldn’t help but smile at the packed parking lot. “Your uncle has managed to get a lot of volunteers in such a short time.” She pulled into the last employee-only spot, thankful he’d reserved it for them.
“With all the TV interviews he did, there’ll probably be a lot of women. You might be in for some competition.”
Maddie laughed. It seemed unlikely a horde of women would sign up for such a dangerous task just to meet a man. But then, the man was Josh, who had looked damn compelling on TV. “Good thing I met him before he became famous, then.”
“You aren’t worried?”
She put the car in Park and shut off the engine. “Not even a little bit. Besides, if Josh is the type of guy to lose interest at the next pretty face, he’s not the guy for me.” Been there, done that.
“Are you still going to make me tell him about reading his letter?”
The words were a sharp jolt to the heart after the night she and Josh had shared. They might not have finished what they started, but it still had been intensely intimate.
Josh’s clear feelings had nothing to do with her resemblance to Trina. “I think you should come clean. It’s important for trust to go both ways. And you’re worried Josh isn’t committed to being here for you, partly because of what you read in that letter. I can tell you until the end of time that he is, but you need to clear this air with him to be able to let it go.”
“Are you trying to make him mad at me?”
“Ava, the last thing in the world I want is a wedge between you and your uncle. If I wanted anything along those lines, I’d lose, because you’re Josh’s number one priority. As you should be.”
“You don’t resent that?”
“Of course not. If you were his biological daughter, I’d expect nothing less. The fact that he puts you first just makes me like him more. He’s a good man.” She glanced at her watch. “And we’re going to disappoint him if we’re late.”
They grabbed their gym bags from the backseat, and Maddie locked the car, then they headed into the gym.
The space was full—there had to be over eighty volunteers ready to train. It was a good thing the gym was in a large open former warehouse, because it was at capacity.
Josh was in the back corner, talking with the big, exceedingly muscular man who Maddie recognized from the news as Arthur Bond.
Maddie and Ava crossed the crowded room to the two men in charge. Josh’s face lit with a big smile at the sight of them. He gave Ava a crushing hug. He hadn’t seen her since Maddie had picked her up on Thursday morning, and it was clear he’d missed her.
After hugging Ava, he turned to Maddie. They’d said goodbye this morning at eight a.m., when he drove her home before his early meeting with Arthur to prep for the day’s training session.
Her belly did a small flip at seeing the warm light in his eyes. The heat and intimacy between them was tangible. Sweet. And hot.
He slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her. A real kiss, barely on the side of appropriate for public view.
A few catcalls made it past the sound of blood rushing to important places.
He raised his head and said, “Just making sure to stake my claim.”
She laughed. “It goes both ways, so works for me.”
He released her and pointed to the end of the front row. “You and Ava take the end there. We’re going to divide into groups of ten based on skill level.”
The next three hours were a mix of workout and lessons. In the center of the room, Josh and Arthur demonstrated techniques, taking turns as aggressors and using volunteers to play victim. Each ten-minute demonstration was then followed up by twenty minutes of practice, with Bond Ironworks employees leading the groups and Josh and Arthur circulating the room.
As they neared the end of the session, Maddie was exhausted and covered in sweat. Ava looked the same, but there was a light of exhilaration in her eyes. It didn’t hurt that their beginner circle was next to an advanced group, and Ava had her eyes on Desmond.
The news had reported Desmond’s age: nineteen. With Ava barely seventeen, they were within reasonable—even legal—age to get involved. Would Josh balk at Ava dating if something developed between the two of them? Because one thing was certain: Desmond noticed Ava too.
A buzzer sounded, and everyone turned to face Josh in the center of the room. Someone new stood with him. He was white. Taller than Josh, but shorter than Arthur, he wore a tight Raptor T-shirt that matched Josh’s.
Maddie really liked the fit of those T-shirts.
“We’ve got one last demonstration for everyone today. This is Chase Johnston. Chase has been with Raptor longer than I have, and he has the distinct honor of being the only Raptor employee to have never been a police officer or serve in the military to be named to our elite Falcon Team. Today, you’re going to see why Chase made the team when others with far more experience failed.”
Chase’s gaze dropped to the floor as if he were embarrassed. It was kind of endearing. He was muscular but wiry, and had a boyish face. But he’d been with Raptor longer than Josh, so he must be in his late twenties. Trina had once mentioned that Raptor didn’t hire operatives below the age of twenty-one.
“Did you bring the knife?” Josh asked Chase.
He nodded and pulled a blade from the bag by his feet. It was about the size of an eight-inch chef’s knife, but meaner looking.
Chase handed the blade to Josh, who held it up for their audience to see. “This is a special demo knife. The cutting edge is blunt and covered with an ink-filled pad. It releases red dye on anything it touches. He ran the blade over his open palm. Red ink dripped down his palm as if he’d been sliced.
Chase handed Josh a towel. He wiped his hand clean, then nodded to Chase. “You ready?”
The younger man nodded, and they faced each other and bowed, fist in palm.
They circled each other, Josh wielding the knife. Then there was a blur of motion. Chase kicking and dodging, Josh jabbing and twisting. It was a masterpiece of choreography as the two men danced a deadly tango.
Then, in a flash, Josh was on his back on the mat, Chase loomed
above, and the knife was now in his hands.
Josh kicked out and hopped to his feet in a show of athleticism that she would ask him to perform later, in private. Then he was dancing with Chase again, but this time, he was unarmed. He dodged and weaved and tried to take the knife back, but Chase was always one step ahead, his hands moving at lightning speed.
Finally, Josh struck the weapon from Chase’s hand just as the taller man slammed him back to the floor. Josh looked up at the victor. He was breathing heavily as he said, “You let me knock the knife away.”
“You looked like you were getting tired,” Chase said, speaking for the first time, without the slightest hint of being winded.
Several onlookers—including Maddie—laughed.
Josh gave a rueful grin as Chase pulled him to his feet. Josh then turned in a full circle, arms in the air, so everyone could see the red lines on his forearms and staining on his yellow shirt across his stomach. There was even a red streak across his cheek and another short mark on his neck.
Chase raised his arms and spun in a circle as well. He didn’t have a spot of red on him.
“And that, my friends, is why Chase made Falcon team at the age of twenty-two, without any military service or training.”
Several people cheered, and Chase blushed. He was kind of adorable.
“How did you do that?” someone called out.
“I—I…” He took a deep breath, and Maddie realized he suffered from stuttering. “I’ve studied martial arts s-s-since I was a toddler. My dad was a karate instructor.” He seemed to settle in and the stutter disappeared. “I’m here to teach you defensive techniques when fighting with an assailant armed with a knife.”
“Damn, where were you two weeks ago?” Desmond asked. “I coulda used your tips then.”
There were several loud barks of laughter.
“Yeah,” another man said. “All we had was Josh over there, and he’s all striped up like a red-and-white zebra.”
Josh laughed. “Hey, you want to take on Chase? I guarantee you won’t come out as good as I did.”
“I kind of do,” another man said. “But I get the knife.”
Chase shrugged. “Sure. Bring it.”
What followed was twenty minutes of guys trying to get the best of Chase. None of them lasted more than thirty seconds, and Josh was right, no one fared as well as he had.
Chase never got a drop of red dye on him.
“Impressive,” Maddie said as she stepped up beside Josh while Chase demonstrated some of the defensive moves in slow motion to a rapt audience.
Josh glanced her way and smiled, then returned his attention to the center of the room. “Chase is the best at armed hand-to-hand combat. I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to get him out here for a lesson, but the contract with Nielsen clinched it. We get him for six weeks.”
“He flew in this morning?”
“Yeah. I got the call that he was on his way right after I dropped you off. Present from Keith.”
Last night, she’d gotten a very private glimpse into his friendship with Keith. She was damn happy Trina had landed a good one.
She leaned close and whispered, “Is Chase the one…Trina told me about?”
Josh nodded. “He’s a different man than he was last fall. A year ago, we only got glimpses of moments like this. He was competent, but not confident. Look at him. He’s got over seventy-five people paying rapt attention, and he’s already got four trainees stepping up and doing demonstrations for smaller groups. He’s a born teacher.”
“I thought Falcon team was operatives, not teachers?”
“They’re both. Each compound has their own Falcon team. The Alaska compound, where Chase was originally hired, doesn’t go on missions or handle private security. Their business is training. But even so, each member of Falcon needs to be operation ready at all times, in case they’re needed elsewhere.”
“Chase will be part of C-IV’s personal security team?”
“Yeah, until we get it figured out. We don’t have any specs from him on what he wants yet for his personal security. And then there are the mines and plants he’s got here and abroad—I have no clue what he wants there. He said he’d send me papers during his flight, but all he’s sent so far was a picture of us in the Oregonian.”
“Oh? I haven’t seen that yet. How’d we look?”
“You look gorgeous. Fortunately, the photographer got at least one picture before I answered my phone, so I look decent.” He gave a lopsided smile. “The article isn’t about the fund-raiser, though. It’s about Nielsen Steel’s plan to hire Raptor.”
“Is that sort of thing really news? I mean, who would care beyond other security firms?”
“Nielsen wants to milk the association with the work I’m doing here.” Josh nodded toward the gym full of people. “Kinda makes me wonder how bad his family’s Nazi history is that he’s going full court on this right after you started digging in the archives.”
“Good point. He and I never had a chance to talk about my research last night.”
“If you hear from him while he’s in Japan, I want to know everything he says. Keith is fine sinking money into landing this contract on the chance it’s legit, but neither of us is entirely convinced. Nielsen has an angle he’s working.”
15
Josh tucked his phone away and nodded to Ava. It was time to leave. The training had ended twenty minutes ago, and he was ready for some down time after yesterday’s emotional ride and today’s ongoing workout. Chase was staying behind to do an hour or two of one-on-one sessions with Desmond and a few of the others who wanted it, then he’d be taking over the guest room at Josh’s house. Maddie had left the gym already, and now, at last, he could take Ava home and spend some quality time with his niece.
He’d missed her over the weekend. Much as he’d enjoyed his R&R time and had been eager for a first real date with Maddie, he’d missed Ava’s energy and wit. Missed being able to give and receive the affection she so desperately needed.
“I vote we order pizza and binge-watch TV for the rest of the day,” he said as he hit the button to unlock the SUV. “How about every Spider-Man movie, starting with Tobey Maguire.”
“No way, it’s Tom Holland or it ain’t Spider-Man.” She chewed on a thumbnail, then said, “I think we should watch every movie that features a female superhero as the lead.”
He settled behind the wheel. “Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, what else?”
“Incredibles 2 is all about Elastigirl, so that counts. Birds of Prey counts too.”
“What about Catwoman?”
“Um. No. Definitely not.”
Josh laughed and started the engine.
“I’m going to add Black Panther to the watch list, because the women in that movie are so badass, I don’t even care that the main superhero is a guy. Plus, Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan are both crazy hot.”
“No objection from me. I could watch Lupita Nyong’o all day.” Thinking about the beautiful Black actress brought Trish to mind. He put the SUV in Reverse, but kept his foot on the brake. “Did Maddie tell you about my friend Tricia?”
Ava nodded. “How is she doing?”
“Better. Sean is making arrangements to fly her back to DC tomorrow, along with the other survivor, in Raptor’s jet.”
“She’s still in a coma?”
“Yeah. Medically induced. There’ll be a doctor on the flight, but keeping her out is probably best for the long flight.”
“I’m so sorry she was hurt, but glad she’s alive.” Ava reached out and placed her hand on his biceps.
He covered her fingers with his. “Thanks. Me too.”
“You were…supposed to go to that conference, weren’t you?”
He nodded.
“And you didn’t. Because of me.”
He gave her a half smile. “Owen, actually. His start date at R&R made being here a priority.”
“Is it…wrong that I’m glad it wasn’t y
ou?”
“Honey, you’ve had enough loss. Not wanting to lose one more doesn’t make you a bad person.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Uncle Josh. I—I need you. To be my dad. But also because I love you.”
Tears came to Josh’s eyes lightning fast. She’d never said that to him before. “I love you too, kiddo. I hate how it came about, but moving here, being your”—he stumbled, because he’d never dared to use the D-word before—“dad-like person is the best thing I ever did.”
“There’s something I have to tell you. You aren’t going to like it.”
Unease slithered down his spine, but really, what could she say that would be a problem? That she wanted him to find a different job because his work was dangerous? Give up training the volunteers? He could understand her reasons for feeling that way, and he would never tell her her feelings were wrong.
“Can it wait until we get home?”
“No. I might chicken out.”
He put the SUV in Park. “What’s up?”
“I—I know about Trina. That you moved here because you wanted to get away from her.”
All the blood in Josh’s body went straight to his gut. His deepest darkest secret. His greatest shame. Said aloud for the first time by his niece.
Maddie was sore everywhere. The training session in the gym had worked out muscles she’d only known existed in theory after intensive study of the human skeleton. She knew the insertion points on the bone, knew where they resided under her skin, but until today, they’d never made themselves felt.
They burned now, angry at being woken from their lifelong slumber. And if experience was any guide, tomorrow would be even worse.
