Protecting What's Mine: A Security Romance Collection

by Apryl Baker

  He pointed to Hector’s second in command. “You are now in charge. You see what happens when you cross us?”

  The man nodded, unable to take his eyes off his friend.

  “As a token of our goodwill, I’ve brought you a gift.” He pointed to Mona. “She thinks she can cross us as well. She’s nothing more than a puta. Show her what it means to be one of our whores then deliver her back to her home. Keep her for a few days if you want, and make sure everyone gets a taste.”

  The new leader of this particular sect of Los Muertos stood. “Gracias, Señor Ramirez. We won’t let you down, and we thank you for the gift.”

  “Death will meet you if you let us down again.”

  Juan collected the whore he’d taken a liking to and escorted her and the boy out while Mona’s screams began. He smiled once he settled himself in the car. He leaned back and relaxed, his hand gripping his new whore’s hair as she bent down and went to work on his cock.

  All in all, a good day’s work.

  Chapter Two

  Kade yawned and let his office chair recline. He’d been working to get the office for Kincaid Security & Investigations up and running for the last three weeks. His little brother, Mason, finally managed to get the computer systems installed and all the programs working. The security system had been a nightmare of its own. The entire brownstone that housed the business needed to be rewired to meet code and handle the new computer and security systems.

  And he’d been dealing with this by himself. Viktor was off on a pro-bono case for a friend of their brother, Dimitri. Not that Kade begrudged Viktor. The woman needed help. Her soon to be ex-husband beat her and then moved to their daughter. Kade despised men who turned their fists on helpless women and children. He would have done it himself for free if Dimitri reached him first.

  His phone chirped, and he glanced at it. His wife’s smiling face stared back. Angel always brightened his day, but right now he wasn’t up for talking to her. She’d been harassing him to go back to Miami so she could get some closure in her brother’s death. His mother and grandmother ordered him to take his wife there so they could get remarried and put their past behind them.

  He snorted. All the women in his life seemed to want to order him around and expected he’d obey without a fight. He’d do whatever he damned well pleased.

  Dylan Jenkins, who was a whiz at finding information, stuck his head in. “You got a minute?”

  Kade sighed and sat up. A nap would have been so nice. The big man came in and settled himself into one of the two chairs opposite Kade. It was almost comical. Dylan stood about six feet five or so, and he dwarfed the chair. His blond hair and ice blue eyes reminded Kade of some of the serial killers he’d dealt with in his time with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. The man’s eyes were always so cold. Viktor assured him he could be trusted, but something about him bothered Kade. He just couldn’t put his finger on what.

  He held up a plain yellow folder. “I have some information for you.”

  Kade’s spine stiffened and he leaned forward, eager but cautious of what news Dylan brought him. He’d asked the man to look into the cartel, specifically whether he was still on their radar. “Well?”

  “It’s not what you want to hear.” Those piercing blue eyes turned colder, if that was possible. “You’re still high up on their hit list.”

  “That makes no sense. They could have taken me out many times over the years…” He trailed off at the hard shake of Dylan’s head.

  “The cartel never forgets. They’ve been busy expanding their reach, which now includes New York. Before, they were told to watch for you if you set foot back in Miami. Now, they are actively looking for you. I’d say stepping outside your apartment right now is a risk. Going to Miami?” Dylan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That would be a death sentence.”

  Fuck. Angel needed to go say goodbye to her brother. How was he supposed to tell her that wouldn’t be happening any time soon? He was in for a shit storm when he got home.

  “They have people in New York, you said?” Kade glanced down at his phone. Angel was calling again. He let it go to voicemail. This conversation was too important to disrupt.

  Dylan nodded, flipping the file open. “I did an in-depth investigation. The cartel started out in Miami in 1976. Very small, very elite. They stayed quiet up until around the early nineties, when they started to show off their power in force. Not long after that, they were the number one cartel in the south. These guys migrated up from Central America, Kade. They mean business.”

  “I know. I was embedded in their organization undercover for over a year.”

  “No, man. What you saw was like someone window shopping. You think you see the best stuff in the window displays, but really, all the good shit is in the back, just waiting for the rich people to flood in.”

  Shopping? This scary-ass motherfucker was talking about shopping?

  “I worked retail in high school.” His eyes turned glacial, telling Kade to fuck off with any questions. Fine by him.

  “When did they move into New York?”

  “Spring of last year. They’ve slowly been taking out more and more of the local drug dealers. They either bring them into the fold, or eliminate those that try to stand up to them. After a few grisly deaths, the rest get the picture and don’t put up a fight. These are vicious people, Kade.”

  “They’re vicious? Just wait until I tell my wife we can’t go to Miami.”

  “Better you than me.” Dylan finally cracked a smile, and Kade scowled.

  “You think you’re escaping blame, motherfucker? Shit, no. As soon as she finds out you’re the one who did the research, she’ll come for you.”

  The smirk faded from his face, and Dylan’s blue eyes went frosty. “Shit.”

  “Yup.”

  Kade thanked him and took the file folder to study in-depth later. How the fuck was he going to tell Angel this after he’d promised her they’d go? Shit, shit, shit.

  “What stuck a hornet up your ass?”

  Kade looked up to see his younger brother, Nikoli, standing in the doorway to his sort of put-together office. At least it had chairs and a desk. Nik looked exactly like him, so much so they could be twins. Dark hair, black eyes, and a swagger that suggested more confidence than anyone had a right to possess.

  “My wife.”

  “What did you do now?” Nikoli strolled into the room and sat down. He and Angel were friends—more than friends, really. They considered each other family. She took care of him when he’d come into her bar drunk. Nik had no idea she was married to him. Hell, neither had Angel at the time, since he’d forgotten to file the divorce papers. She’d looked after Nik because she knew he was Kade’s brother. Once Nik found out she was his sister-in-law, he’d gone into super over-protective mode. All his brothers had, really. They didn’t have sisters growing up. The poor girl would have killed them, more likely than not, but the men were more than making up for it with Nik’s Lily, Dimitri’s Becca, and his Angel.

  “Wipe the grin off your face and tell me what you did to my girl.”

  The steel in the boy’s voice made Kade laugh. Nik was the most protective of all of them. He would sacrifice anything for the girls, especially Lily and Angel. They didn’t know Becca that well yet, but they were working on it, especially since she’d convinced Dimitri to leave sunny LA to move to snowy New York. Having grown up in Russia, Dimitri had been determined to escape the cold, but Becca hated LA, so he’d packed up his stuff and moved to New York. Amazing what their women could make them do.

  “I didn’t do anything, brat.” He leaned back and cracked his knuckles. “I just have to tell her we can’t go to Miami.”

  “Why not?” Nik checked his phone, frowning.

  “I had Dylan check it out, and my name is still pretty high on their hit list.”

  “Shit.”

  “There’s more.” He rubbed his temples, the headache starting to bloom. “They’re here
in New York. If they see me or Angel, we could be in a shit storm of trouble.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” His brother’s eyes went hard and mean, reminding him of Conner, Viktor’s twin. Something had happened to him in Afghanistan, and he was harder, cold.

  Kade nodded, suddenly feeling weary. “Dylan thinks just walking outside is too much of a risk. These people are brutal bastards, Nik. The things they would do to Angel…” He trailed off, shaking his head. It was too horrific to even contemplate.

  “She needs security around the clock. I’ll pay for it myself.”

  “Nik, it’s not just Angel. To get to me, they’ll go through my family. We’re all in danger, even Lily and Becca.”

  He winced at the string of curse words that left his brother’s mouth. He had no idea Nik knew so many expletives. It came out in a mixture of Russian and English.

  “How many men can we spare here?” Nik asked once he’d calmed down.

  “Three, maybe four. We have everyone on cases. I’ll have to pull people just to get those three or four.”

  “I’ll hire outside security, and your guys can supervise them. The women need round-the-clock protection.”

  Normally, Kade would have told Nikoli no, but when it came to Angel, he swallowed his pride and did what needed to be done. His little brother was a millionaire, owning his own gaming company that put out a lot of popular titles. The boy could buy and sell as many security companies as he wanted. Kade made good money, but nothing like Nik. It irked him that the kid could do more for his wife than Kade could. This, though? He’d get no arguments out of Kade for providing security to their girls.

  “I appreciate that, Nikoli.”

  “Where are you?”

  The cold bite in Nik’s voice startled Kade.

  “Stay there until I get home. We have a situation. I mean it, Lily Bells. Do not go out. Hell, don’t even go near the windows.” There was a pause in which Kade assumed Lily ripped his brother a new one because of the wince that floated across face. “Now, Lily Bells…” He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it, dumbstruck. “She hung up on me.”

  “If I spoke to Angel in the tone you just did to your woman, she’d do more than hang up on me. She’d lock me out of the apartment and withhold sex for a year.” He smirked at the boy’s alarm. “If I were you, I’d take flowers and wine home, apologize, and then show her how much I loved her.”

  “Screw her until she forgets how big of an ass I can be, you mean?”

  Kade nodded, grinning when Nikoli excused himself and headed home, his phone out to tell Dimitri what was going on and that he’d be sending security for Becca. The kid was in for it when he got home. Lily was the sweetest person he knew, including his wife, but the woman had a mean streak a mile wide. He almost pitied Nik. Almost.

  But that brought him back around to his own problem. Angel was going to be pissed, and she was meaner than Lily and his mother combined. The first call he made was to Jasper Watkins. He’d been Angel’s guard during the serial killer scare, and she might not object so hard if her new guard was someone she knew. Besides, Jasper was the best they had when it came to a bodyguard. No one was better.

  “Boss.” The deep voice rumbled through the phone.

  “Jasper. I have a new assignment for you.” He rolled his head from side to side, trying to relieve the pressure in the stiff muscles of his neck.

  “I haven’t finished this one yet.” Jasper yawned. His client kept late hours, and Kade knew the man napped when and where he could.

  “I’m sending Sawyer to relieve you. This is more important.”

  “More important than an ambassador’s daughter?”

  “It’s for Angel.”

  The long pause on the other end was a testament to how the statement had shocked Jasper. “What happened? The bastard get out on bail?”

  Angel’s stalker, the deadliest serial killer to ever prey upon Boston, was thankfully locked away in a maximum-security prison until his trial in a few months. Angel would have to testify, and every time she thought about it, she was plagued by nightmares. He wished to God he could take those awful memories from her, but he couldn’t. Instead, he worked hard to help her make new ones she could rely on to help her through the worst of them.

  “No, the fucker is still locked up.” Kade’s hands fisted just thinking about him. All he wanted was to beat the bastard who’d violated her. He hadn’t raped her, but he’d come damn close. He’d put his hands on her, his mouth. Rage froze him. If he could get five minutes alone with the bastard…

  “Then, what?” Jasper’s question cleared some of the rage, at least enough to let him answer.

  “Miami’s deadliest drug cartel. I’ll fill you in when you get here. And, Jasper, as soon as Sawyer shows up, you haul ass to my apartment.”

  After assuring Kade he would, Jasper hung up on him.

  Now all he had to do was tell Angel.

  Chapter Three

  Angel glanced at her phone. Two texts and three missed calls from Kade. If she looked at the texts, she’d feel obligated to respond. If she did that, her shopping trip would be cut short. Kade’s birthday was next week, and she was currently browsing at Macy’s for his present.

  What to get him, though? The man claimed he didn’t need or want anything but her. Which warmed her heart, but it didn’t help her at all right now. He never had been very good at accepting presents. Secretly, Angel thought he tried to ignore his birthday because it meant he got a little older. She laughed as she browsed the suits section of the store.

  Clothes were boring presents, though. No one liked getting clothes on their birthday. Birthdays and Christmas were special holidays that required special gifts. Gifts that meant something. She’d been agonizing over this for almost a month now and still had no idea what to get him.

  Sighing, she gave up and strolled outside. Spring in New York was a little chilly, but nothing like Boston, at least. She buttoned up her coat and tried to grab the attention of a cabbie. Angel refused to take her car out in this traffic. It was awful. She lived only about ten minutes away from downtown, anyway. Why would she subject her car to crazy drivers? Cabs were easier.

  A black SUV pulled up to the hotel across the street, and a man and a little boy got out. The woman who staggered out caught her attention. She wasn’t dressed like either of the previous two. In fact, if Angel hazarded a guess, the woman might be a hooker. Who in their right mind exposed a little kid to that? Not that she had anything against hookers. People had to eat and put a roof over their heads, after all. Angel didn’t think they should be shamed for doing what needed to be done to survive, but children didn’t need to see it either.

  Her phone buzzed again, and she glanced at it. The image of Lily Holmes, Nikoli’s fiancée, stared at her. This one she answered as she watched the people across the street. “Hey, Lily. What’s up?”

  “Nikoli is being an ass, that’s what’s up.” The irritation in the girl’s voice pulled a chuckle out of Angel. She and Lily had become very good friends over the last few months. Enough so that Lily or Angel would call each other when the brothers upset them and devise their punishments.

  “What did he do this time?” Angel almost yelled when she saw the little boy step closer to the curb. What the hell was wrong with people that they didn’t watch their kids on a busy street?

  “Called out of the blue, all growly, and told me to keep my ass in the apartment and not to go anywhere. Normally, I don’t mind when he wants to stay in. We have lots of fun, but it was the way he said it this time. Like I was some kind of trained animal who would obey without question. He’s never spoken to me like that before.”

  “Maybe something’s wrong?” Angel took several steps toward the little boy, some instinct bubbling up. He was too close to the edge of the sidewalk. Did his father not see him? “I’ve never heard him speak to a woman that way, even his one-night stands. He was never cold with them, just matter-of-fact.”

&nbs
p; “He’s a stupid ass, is what he is.” Lily paused and answered a question.

  “Where are you?”

  “At work. When the ass called and demanded I stay home, I went to work, even though I don’t need to be here today.”

  A car whizzed by so fast, she saw the wind of it ruffle the kid’s clothes. That was it. She sprinted across the street, prepared to give the little boy’s father a good tongue-lashing. She made it just as he stepped down off the curb and a car came barreling toward him. Angel grabbed him and dived toward the sidewalk, landing on her back to keep him from getting hurt.

  Green eyes stared down at her solemnly, his dark hair falling down to hide one. She gasped as she studied him just as intently. Strong jaw, eyes the shape of Kade’s, and Peter’s nose. She shook her head. No. She was only seeing what she wanted to see because he looked so much like Kade. It was what she imagined Matthew would look like, the baby she’d miscarried the day the police burst in and arrested her brother, Peter. Kade had been the arresting officer.

  This little boy was not Matthew. Her gut twisted at the words, and her body protested. The similarity to Kade was uncanny, and he had her eyes. The exact shade. But he wasn’t her baby. Her baby died before he was even born. Twenty weeks. Fetuses that small did not survive.

  He was not her baby.

  “Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked, her hand coming up to stroke his hair. “Did you get hurt?”

  “Dios mío!” The little boy was lifted off her, and a hand thrust down to help her up. “Thank you, señora!”

  She let the man pull her up, still unable to stop staring at the boy, who stood still and silent, his green eyes vacant. The bright curiosity of before had fled. What was wrong with him? “You should have been watching him. I saw him from across the street and barely made it over here in time.”

  “You are right, of course. I was on the phone and not watching. It’s a mistake I won’t make again.”

  Yeah, right, she thought sourly. He’d be back on his phone in five minutes, ignoring his son again. That was how men like him operated. She’d seen enough of his kind in the bar where she’d worked back in Boston.