Taking It Slow (Code of Honor Book 4)

by Reese Knightley

  “How old were you?”

  “Sixteen.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Spencer shrugged and sipped at his drink. “Thanks. It was a long time ago.”

  He wanted to ask about Spencer’s mother, but feared it would stop the soldier from talking.

  “Why’d you join the military?”

  “Escape.”

  He held Spencer’s gaze. His eyes were a mixture of crystal and sky blue.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, at a loss.

  “Don’t be. I’m glad I joined. I love it.”

  “I’m glad.”

  Another moment of silence passed while Spencer held his gaze. “Did you have a hand in them approaching me for Fury?”

  He didn’t hesitate. The truth mattered. Honesty was the foundation of trust.

  “I did.” Liam continued and told Spencer that he’d been in charge of Fury right out of the gate. “I thought you’d be a great fit for the three-man team and I wasn’t wrong.”

  Spencer finally nodded and said, “I’m glad.”

  “Me too.” He let out the breath he’d been holding.

  Fuck, was he ever glad. Having Spencer as part of Fury kept the soldier close and God help him, that was all Liam wanted.

  Spencer’s shoe nudged his and he jumped.

  “Another root beer?” Spencer laughed.

  “Sure, I’ll come with.” He scooted out of the booth and stood, throwing a glance toward the teens. They didn’t even notice until he lifted a hand, and then Wesley’s head popped up.

  “Going for a refill, need any?”

  Wesley smiled and nodded, pointing to the three empty glasses.

  “Sorry you asked?” Spencer laughed and led the way down the small hallway to the open window where drinks were ordered.

  “Nah, I figured they’d suck those Cokes down.” He smiled, coming to stand behind Spencer at the window. The man’s aftershave filled with spice and something all Spencer went straight to his head and dick.

  Smiling, he pulled a credit card from his wallet and went to hand it to the clerk when Spencer’s body went tight.

  He was roughly shouldered aside.

  “You got the last round, I’ve got this one,” Spencer growled, sending him an annoyed look.

  Liam sighed, backed up, and leaned against the wall, watching as Spencer counted out the cash. He had to clench his teeth to keep quiet and not argue.

  Tucking his wallet away, Spencer approached him.

  “I can pay for our drinks.”

  “I know.” He turned his face away, because he knew he’d look skeptical. “I just like to splurge on you both.”

  “I’ve noticed. Don’t think I didn’t see the new jacket Wesley’s wearing,” Spencer said tightly. The easygoing man from a few moments ago was gone.

  “Hey, Adam had two of them. Wesley admired it. What was I supposed to do, Spencer? Crush him because you think everything I do is a handout?” he answered sharply.

  “Fuck.” Spencer lifted the heels of his palms and pressed them to his eyes.

  “What are you afraid of?”

  “That you’ll try to change me.” Spencer’s hands dropped.

  “I wouldn’t change one hair on your head.”

  Spencer ran a hand over his shorn head. “What hair?” The soldier gave him a sexy smirk.

  Laughter jerked out of him and he shook his head.

  “Ass.”

  With a wicked looking smile, Spencer moved in, taking him by surprise, and gripped the front of his button-down shirt in a tight fist.

  Liam’s breath left him in a whoosh of sound and Spencer’s eyes turned dark like a stormy night.

  “You drive me crazy,” Spencer muttered, tugging him sharply forward and God help him, Liam went. Only stopping when his chest barely brushed Spencer’s.

  Their mouths were only an inch apart, breath mingling, his eyes locked on Spencer’s, and for the life of him, every thought in his head flew out the fucking window.

  But he waited, mouth dry for Spencer to make a move. It was one of the hardest things to do in his life. No, scratch that. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he waited.

  “Liam,” Spencer husked a sexy growl and closed the distance.

  When his lips touched Spencer’s, Liam cupped Spencer’s face. Heat exploded between them. Angling his head, he closed his mouth over Spencer’s lips and took the kiss that was offered.

  Lips crushed amidst silent moans, and tongues tangled with harsh breaths. Spencer tasted like nirvana. He raked his fingers over Spencer’s shorn head and cupped the back of it to keep his mouth locked on lips he’d been dying for. The kiss grew heated and he groaned, gently grinding his groin against Spencer’s, feeling the man’s answering hardness. Spencer sucked on his tongue and ground against him.

  “Turner, your order’s ready,” the clerk yelled through the window like a splash of cold water.

  With a gasp and a yank, Spencer broke the kiss, pupils blown. Liam knew his own had to be. He licked at his lips and swallowed.

  “I guess that’s us,” he said stupidly.

  Spencer suddenly laughed, it came out hoarse and choppy, but it was definitely a laugh.

  Liam grinned and spun. No way was he making a big deal out of this. He didn’t want to spook Spencer, but fuck if his heart wasn’t full of so much hope that it hurt.

  Spencer

  “I’m unavailable for three days. I can meet you then.”

  “This is the second time you’ve blown me off. You don’t have a say in this, so you better remember that.”

  “Stop fucking threatening me. I hold you responsible for what happened to Wesley,” he had snarled over the phone at Mayer.

  Silence greeted his words. He knew Mayer had to be frothing at the gills from that remark, but the agent had been the one to place Wesley with the foster home that turned out to be more abusive than the shit he received at his own house.

  Spencer had made the mistake of going off on the guy, and Mayer had been hell bent on taking his wrath out on Wesley. Mayer had known he’d do anything to keep Wesley from foster care. When Mayer suggested he pay him to keep Wesley out of the system, Spencer wanted to tell the guy to fuck off, but he hadn’t. At first, it hadn’t been as much, but the amount kept going up and he knew it was the crooked motherfucker’s way of turning the screws.

  Spencer sighed. He’d put off paying Mayer’s last bribe because of rent and the guy wasn’t happy.

  “I’ll be out of town in three days,” Mayer had bitched. “So, I’ll send Donald to pick up the money. You better be there,” the fucker spat and hung up.

  CPS agent Donald Wheeler was Mayer’s partner or some shit like that. The fucker was even nastier than Mayer, if that was possible.

  “Spencer, you in place?”

  Eagle’s voice jogged him back to the darkened warehouse. He’d worry about how to come up with the money later.

  “Copy,” he whispered from his surveillance spot.

  They’d discovered a warehouse owned by Rocco Bowman in New Orleans.

  “Link?”

  Silence met Eagle’s inquiry.

  “Link? Check the fuck in.”

  “I’m here, lost com for a minute.”

  Eagle’s sigh of relief came over the mic.

  “Let’s get this party started,” Spencer grunted and slipped from his hiding place and through the darkened alleyway that ran along the length of the warehouse.

  He smiled thinking of Liam’s rough voice only a few hours ago telling him to watch his fucking back.

  It had been eight weeks since he’d kissed Liam.

  Eight weeks of spending the weekends at Liam’s place with the three teenagers. And eight fucking long weeks of him dodging the subject of the kiss.

  He’d initiated the kiss, and he knew Liam was probably waiting for him to say something, but when he tried, the words dried up. He needed to man the fuck up and admit he had feelings for Liam, feelings for the billionair
e. But he wasn’t just a rich man, no, Liam was so much more than that.

  Liam had won the court case and had obtained full custody of the twins. Spencer was glad. Adam and Jessica deserved a good home and he couldn’t think of a better one than Liam’s house. It may be large and expensive, but it was filled with love and laughter.

  Cutting the padlock to the rear entrance, he slipped inside the pitch-black building and pulled the door shut. It was completely different to the noise going on outside or even two buildings down. Supposedly, this place was where Rocco kept his stash. If they could get their hands on Rocco’s goods, they might be able to lure the mob boss out of hiding.

  “Heard a nasty rumor, Spencer,” Eagle drawled into his ear.

  Spencer tensed and his heart lurched. How the fuck had they found out about Liam?

  “What’s that?” He kept his voice flat.

  “You been working a second job.”

  His breath stuttered out with relief and he snorted under his breath. “Who told you?”

  “It’s a joke going around the mess hall.”

  Spencer ran crouched down along a row of tables and paused at the end to survey the area. “What joke?” he whispered.

  “Mall cop?”

  Link hooted with laughter.

  Spencer silently groaned. There’d be no end in sight with razing from the rest of the guys on base.

  “Fuckers,” he muttered and lunged forward, making his way around the dark perimeter.

  Eagle snickered and then added seriously, “As long as you’re alert here, I don’t give a fuck what or who you do on your off time.”

  Link laughed loudly. The asshole didn’t need to be quiet. Link was sitting sipping a cup of coffee in the restaurant across the street, keeping a watch on the front entrance. The noisy restaurant with live entertainment and laughing locals echoed in the background.

  Eagle, on the other hand, was coming in the warehouse from the side entrance,

  “It won’t affect shit,” he hissed when Link’s laughter grew. He had been completely ignoring Eagle’s attempt to get him to admit anything about Liam.

  It didn’t matter, Eagle said it anyway on the next breath.

  “Heard you were sleeping with the colonel.”

  Just about ready to take a step, Spencer froze. “Untrue.”

  “What do you do at his place every single weekend?” Link asked.

  “None of your fuckin’ business,” he hissed and made his way across a wide section and toward an office.

  “We’re just friends,” he argued.

  They were so much more than friends. At least to himself, he could admit he’d fallen hard.

  Eagle snorted.

  “Of course, you two wouldn’t know anything about that since you don’t have any friends,” he muttered, checking the doorknob. It was locked. He took out his tools, jimmied the door open, and ducked inside the room.

  “I got friends,” Link said, sounding disgruntled.

  Eagle only laughed. “Way to deflect, Spence.”

  “I win. Now shut up,” he growled and woke the computer up on the desk. It wasn’t locked. He slipped a flash drive into the computer and started copying data. Eagle arrived at the office in the next moment.

  “Got anything?” Eagle asked.

  “Copying files now.” He nodded to the computer.

  Eagle grunted and spun toward the file cabinet. Easing open a drawer, he pulled documents out and started taking photos. It wasn’t anything they’d use to arrest Rocco. That wasn’t on their agenda. They needed the information to hopefully find the guy because everywhere they turned, Rocco stayed hidden. The man sent doubles to execute his tasks. Even here, in a warehouse filled with barrels full of drugs, Rocco wouldn’t even be close.

  Tucking the flash drive into his pants, he and Eagle made their way out through a side door. Once they were a block away, Eagle put in a call to the local police about the drug location.

  They wanted to make Rocco’s life as miserable as possible so the mob boss would fuck up. Then, they’d catch him.

  “Let’s call it,” Link said.

  “Mission over,” Eagle agreed, taking the flash drive from him. “I’ll get this into evidence.”

  It was a five-hour flight back to LAX and then another hour Uber ride to the base.

  Spencer left them and made his way back to where he’d parked his truck.

  “We’re heading out for a bite to eat. You want to come, Spencer?” Eagle’s voice came through the mic.

  “No, I have a few errands to run.”

  Link snickered on a chuckle. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

  “Fuck off,” he mumbled and jerked off his vest and dark pullover before sliding on his button-down shirt with the mall security logo on the front. “Some of us have responsibilities.”

  There was a long moment of silence. “Hey, Spencer, if you need a loan, man, I’m here,” Link offered.

  “Same with me,” Eagle added.

  “Nah, I’m good, but thanks, though.” He smirked. “I’ll see you guys two days from now.”

  They had a few more warehouses to hit. They had to keep up the pressure on Rocco.

  “You better get some fucking sleep,” Link muttered.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he snorted, then jerked the com from his ear and started his truck with a boom.

  Working two jobs sucked ass, but it made his financial situation easier.

  Liam

  He gazed around the small diner and found Logan in a booth in the far back talking on his cell phone. Making his way over, he slipped onto the squishy red seat and grabbed a menu.

  “Coffee?”

  He glanced up and smiled at the server. “Please.” She filled his cup and took his order when Logan signaled he’d already ordered.

  “I don’t care how much it costs, I want him found,” his brother growled into the phone.

  Liam glanced up from stirring his coffee at his brother’s tone of voice.

  Logan had flown in from Colorado on a business trip. Whenever he was in town, they met up for lunch or breakfast and Logan stayed at the house for however long he was there.

  Logan ended the call and took a swallow of coffee.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Someone from Justin’s staff is missing.”

  “Missing?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who?”

  Logan looked away and then back, and then down at his coffee.

  “Logan?” he frowned.

  “Macy.”

  “Who’s Macy?”

  “A server at Bailey’s Café. Just a young kid. According to Justin, he’s had a rough start in life. Now, he’s been missing for going on two weeks.”

  Liam studied his brother, who looked out the window, avoiding his gaze. Okay…there was more to the story, but he let it go.

  “I’m sure if you have the team on it, you’ll find him in no time.”

  “Yeah,” Logan rasped, and turned from the window to sip at his coffee.

  “How’s it going with the kids?”

  “Good now that Rick is out of the picture.”

  “Jesus, what a tool,” Logan said.

  Their server returned and Liam ordered the breakfast special.

  When she left, Logan eyed him a long moment.

  “What?”

  “How’s Spencer?”

  His hand tightened on the handle of his cup. “He’s good.”

  “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

  “So?”

  “He reports to you.”

  “We’re just friends.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Honestly, nothing has happened. According to Spencer, we can be friends but nothing more.”

  Logan frowned. “Why?”

  As usual, his brother was blunt.

  “Something about me having money and he doesn’t.”

  Logan seemed at a loss for words at that. The server came back with their food an
d the silence went on while they both ate their fill.

  “I’m here for you.”

  A lump grew in his throat and he took a swallow from his refilled coffee cup before he spoke.

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t give up on him.”

  “What do you mean?” He frowned.

  “Answer me this. Is he attracted to you?”

  “How should I know?” he said, irritated. The one kiss they’d shared had been weeks ago.

  Logan squinted at him. “Don’t be stupid.” It was said like only a big brother could.

  “Bite me,” he said, and was reminded of Spencer whispering bite him during the movie and smiled.

  “No. So, I’m going to take that as a yes, he is attracted to you.”

  “Yeah, he is. I think so. No, actually? I know so, but he says our lifestyles are too different and we can’t be more than friends.”

  “Sometimes, people say one thing, but they really mean another.”

  God, he hoped that was the case. He closed his eyes and then opened them and smiled. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

  “You’d have to move him.”

  “I’ve already thought of that. Colonel Schneider said Fury could report to him.”

  “You told this Schneider you were interested in Spencer?”

  “No, I just put it out there that I might be making some changes and would need Fury to report to someone else.”

  Logan nodded. “Can you live with that? Someone else calling the shots for Fury?”

  “If it meant I’d have Spencer in my life? Fuck yeah.” He’d hand Fury over in a heartbeat if it meant having Spencer in his arms.

  “So, now you need to convince Spencer to give you a shot.”

  “I’ve tried.” He shook his head. “He knows I’m interested in more than friendship. The ball is in his court. It has to come from him.”

  Logan tilted his head in thought. “You’re right.”

  He shared a smile with his brother.

  “When do you head back?”

  “This afternoon.”

  “I want to come out and see your new setup.”

  “Anytime, baby brother.”

  He snorted at the baby comment and gave Logan an annoyed smirk even though he wasn’t.

  Logan grinned.

  Spencer