by R J Gray
"Just for today?" Evie asked softly.
"Just for today." Teagan placed her hand on Evie's knee and squeezed gently. "That is all you have to do, sister. Be strong just for today. We will deal with tomorrow, when it is today. Can you do that for me? Can you be strong just for today?"
"I can." Blowing out a breath, Evie nodded. "I can. Just for today."
"That is all I ask."
Chapter 9
"It should be a relatively quiet night tonight," Octavius said. "We've got a team on Montgomery and Evie as they dine at the senator's house. The senator's security has that mostly covered. We have another team at his house. Otherwise, when we get this paperwork done, we can head home ourselves. I have a triplet who will be writing lines until we get off work."
"It might be a quiet night at work, but it is never a quiet night with the girls, is it?" Luca asked.
"Not with these three," Octavius confirmed. "How is it going with Teagan?"
"Slow, too fucking slow," Luca said.
"What are you waiting for?" Octavius asked.
"The right moment? I don't know. There is something about her. Damn." Luca hated feeling vulnerable.
"She's driving you mad, isn't she?" Octavius asked.
"God, Oct, my palm has never itched to slap a woman's ass so badly in my life. Teagan is driving me up a damn wall. I could list fifteen things I would have paddled her for just this week alone. The woman doesn't know her worth and keeps putting herself in danger." Luca scrubbed his face with his hand.
"You aren't used to someone giving you a taste of your own medicine, huh, boss?" Octavius chuckled loudly.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You were in charge of us, a leader by assignment, respected by choice. We'd follow you anywhere and lay our lives down for you. But we are conditioned to take orders, and you were trained to give them."
"Teagan is a cop; she's trained to take orders, too," Luca argued.
"She's a detective. She's pretty much on her own most of the time; her boss explained all that. Weren't you listening?"
"I heard him," Luca growled. Luca had heard every word. He had been more than impressed with the amount of respect Teagan's boss and team had for her. It was obvious her boss and coworkers loved her.
"Teagan's not used to being led. She's like you. She gives orders, doesn't like to take them."
"Well, she needs to start."
"Why?" Octavius turned away from the computer screen to look at his best friend.
"What do you mean, why?"
"You aren't her boss, Luca. You have zero authority over her. Why should she listen to you?"
"Because I love her already, and I want her, dammit. I want Teagan to be mine." Luca's eyes narrowed at the satisfied smirk on Octavius' face.
"Why don't you try telling her that and see what happens?"
"I have told her," Luca said.
"Have you? In those words?"
"Those exact words, no. But she knows how I feel. I've made it clear."
"Maybe she needs to hear those words exactly."
"Maybe she needs to feel my hand on her ass," Luca countered. "She has until tonight to decide whether or not to be with me. I let her know in no uncertain terms, if she doesn't tell me no by tonight, and she puts her life in danger again or sticks her nose where it doesn't belong, I'm going to punish her."
"Maybe," Octavius emphasized the word, mimicking the tone of the previous sentences, "she needs both." Before Luca could respond, a knock came at the door.
"What?" Luca barked, causing Octavius to raise his eyebrows.
"Hey, boss, we have a bit of a problem over at Montgomery's," Jason said, poking his head in.
"So much for a quiet night," Octavius said, rising.
"What, now? Isn't he at a dinner at the senator's house? We've got a team on him and Evie there, right?" Luca asked.
"Yeah. Sleazy and Evie are locked down. It's a problem at his actual residence."
"If someone's trying to break in, why are you calling me? You know what to do," Luca said.
"It's who is breaking in, boss. I thought you'd like to handle this one personally," Jason said cryptically.
"What exactly is going on?" Luca was annoyed. It wasn't like Jay to be vague or play games.
"It's Teagan."
"Fuck," Luca said, getting out of his chair so aggressively, it fell over, crashing to the floor.
"Roger that. Want me to take care of it? We have a team on site," Jason said, eyebrows rising at Luca's reaction.
"No, I've got this. Just keep eyes on her until I get there, and tell Tim to keep her in sight but don't approach. Let me know where she is and if she gets into any more trouble."
"Roger, boss," Jason said, turning to head back to the monitor.
"Remember how I just said my palm has never itched so badly?" Grabbing his keys, wallet, and phone, Luca spoke over his shoulder to Octavius. "It's itching more now. This time, though, I'll be scratching that itch."
Octavius' laugh followed Luca down the hall.
It was colder than Teagan had expected, as she pulled her coat collar up higher on her neck. She stepped carefully into the boot prints already in the snow. Luckily, the guard's feet were huge, and she could easily sink into the indentations without leaving a trail. Her stopwatch would begin once she was inside the master bathroom. Having scoped out the house plans, she had come up with an escape route. In order for it to work, they'd have to time everything just right. Teagan wanted to run through it before presenting it to Evie and Ro.
Before long, she had made it to the back door. Slipping the key that Evie had given her into the deadbolt and flipping the lock, she turned the doorknob, relieved when it opened. There was only so much a couple guys walking around could see at a time. Closing the door softly, Teagan edged down the hall, close to the wall. She counted each door as she passed by them until, finally, she was at Evie's room.
Evie had her own private room in her fiancé's home. It was a foreign concept to Teagan. She had never personally known anyone with this big of a house, but it was also weird that they wouldn't be sharing a room. Isn't that what couples did? Teagan made a mental note to ask Evie about it. Turning the handle, she slipped quietly into the room. As she looked around, she took in the expense the room radiated. The carpet was thick and plush, the furniture a dark, deep mahogany, and the bedding was the finest she had ever seen. The room was decorated with an air of classy elegance. It was perfectly clean and organized, everything in its place, just like her sister.
There were two additional doors in the room. Teagan went to the first one and opened it, stepping inside to another entire room. She glanced around, and her jaw dropped. It was a closet bigger than her bedroom. Row upon row of beautiful, name brand clothing hung all around her. The clothes were organized by type and then by color. She shook her head at the large, lighted vanity full of what she knew had to be expensive makeup, likely worth more than her yearly salary.
After sticking the first camera in the closet, she moved back into the main room and made quick work of placing the next one. A door closing startled Teagan, and her hand went to where her gun rested on her hip.
"Pull that gun on me, little girl, and see what happens." Teagan relaxed at the sound of Luca's voice and dropped her hand.
"Luca, you scared the ever living—"
"Don't even think about finishing that statement or any other statement." He walked over to her, grabbed her hand and snatched up the cameras.
"I can explain."
"Cameras, Teagan, really? Where did you put them?"
"Luca, look, they need to stay."
Luca interrupted her by turning her in a half circle, bending her over his arm and swatting her butt in rapid succession several times.
"Ow! Damn it! That hurts!"
"Where are the cameras, Teagan? If I have to ask you again, my belt is coming off."
She looked over her shoulder at the large man standing behind her. When she m
et his eyes, she felt a rock drop into her stomach. She walked around the room and, with shaking hands, took down the two cameras she had barely managed to put up before Luca had intruded.
"Now, let's go." Luca grabbed Teagan's upper arm firmly and started to walk. He walked right down the hallway and out the front door. He didn't stop when the cold wind hit them in the face, taking her breath away. He marched her right down the sidewalk and up to his car, opening the front door, and motioning for her to get in.
Teagan dug her heels in then, shaking her head in refusal. "I need to get my car; it's around the corner."
"I will have Tim bring it to S.E.A.L."
"But, Luca—"
"Not another word, Teagan. It is taking every ounce of discipline I have in my body not to bend you over the hood and take my belt to your ass for the stunt you pulled back there." The fury was clear in Luca's tone. Teagan decided to remain quiet. She climbed into the car, and Luca reached over her, belted her in and then walked around to the driver's side. The door slamming spoke volumes.
There were many thoughts going through Teagan's head during the drive. She could feel the tension in the car between them. Luca was radiating anger. Today, was the day she needed to give him her answer. The struggle had kept her up most of the night. His texts and phone call hadn't helped. He'd called her just to say goodnight the night before, and they had ended up speaking for hours before he ordered her to sleep. She found herself looking forward to his call, his next text. She had enjoyed telling him about her day and listening about his. They laughed and joked. She told him of her hopes and dreams for the future, and opened up more than she had to anyone ever before.
Luca challenged her to be a better person, encouraged her to go after her dreams and aspirations. In just a few short weeks of knowing each other, they had developed a connection between them. There was no hiding the physical attraction. She was surprised, however, at the moisture gathering between her legs from his dominance and the threat. Being threatened with a belt should make her angry and defensive, not incredibly turned on. Yet, here she was.
Teagan was surprised when Luca pulled the car up to the gates of S.E.A.L. They parked, and without a word, Luca came around, opened the door and held his hand out to her. She didn't hesitate before putting her hand in his. It dawned on her then, even with his threats, she wasn't scared of him.
Once inside the conference room, Luca started berating her. Teagan scowled back at him, her hands on her hips.
"Teagan Anne, I am furious with you right now. What the hell were you thinking? You are a police detective, for God's sake. You know you could be arrested, lose your entire career, and go to jail for breaking and entering? What if they had come home early?" Luca rounded on where Teagan stood until he had backed her against the desk, her palms flat on the surface behind her, bracing herself.
"Technically, she wasn't breaking and entering. She had Evie's permission to be there and her permission to put up the cameras," Ro interjected, sticking her head into the room, Octavius not far behind her.
"Rowena Gypsy Erikson, do you mean to tell me that you knew about this harebrained scheme?" Octavius advanced on Ro like a lion on its prey. Grabbing her by the upper arm, he let loose a flurry of swats upon her behind before all but dragging her to stand next to her sister.
"I called her to come over when you left to get Teagan," Oct explained to Luca.
"Let me get this straight, all three of you knew about this plan? Including Evie?" Jason asked, joining the party.
"Yes, sir," Ro muttered.
Jason cursed under his breath.
"Do you care to tell me why you were trying to bug Montgomery's house?" Luca demanded.
"No. Not really." Teagan shook her head
"I told you we should have told them," Ro said, glaring at Teagan.
"It would have been much better on your behind had you followed your instincts," Octavius said.
"You leave her out of this. It was my idea. You can't punish her for something she didn't do."
"Luca, get your girl," Octavius growled.
"Teagan, that's enough. You should be worried about your own punishment."
"Great. Two controlling assholes."
"Little girls don't curse at their Daddies," Luca said, his tone dropping. Teagan should have taken note of the warning signs, but she didn't. She had turned defensive and was turning the tables.
"You aren't my Daddy!" She stomped her foot.
"As of one hour ago, I was. You didn't tell me no, did you, little girl?"
"I…" Teagan looked at Ro with wide eyes.
Ro shook her head. "Don't look at me. I'm in enough trouble."
"You were going to tell me yes, weren't you? Don't you lie."
"Yes. Dammit, are you happy now?" They both ignored Ro's squeal of joy.
"Teagan Anne, I don't like to repeat myself. Little girls don't curse at their Daddies."
"Well, maybe their Daddies shouldn't act like assholes, then!" Teagan glared around the room, her angry gaze landing first on Luca before moving on and lingering on Octavius. She was so busy shooting daggers from her eyes at him, she didn't notice that Luca had closed the gap between them.
"That's enough, Teagan."
"Maybe I'm not ready for it to be enough." She snapped her head back around to face him. "He was mean to my sister. I have the right to defend her! She didn't even do anything wrong!"
"We've been over this. Octavius isn't mean to Ro. He was firm, yes. But he's fair."
"He put a child lock on her phone! That's the definition of mean."
"You care about Ro, correct, Tea?" Octavius stood and walked over to the pair.
"Obviously, more than you do, jerk-face."
"Teagan!" The growled warning from Luca chilled her. "You will not disrespect Octavius." He turned to his friend. "She'll apologize."
"I will not!"
"Teagan," Octavius started, his tone gentle, paternal. "I put a child lock on Rowena's phone because she demonstrated that she was incapable of being responsible with it. She's been up until all hours of the night and early morning reading family case law and texting with her sisters. Her immune system crashed from lack of sleep. She's been disrespectful and exhausted. I gave her three chances, and now, she's paying the piper. Eleven o'clock is plenty late enough for her to talk to you."
"What if there's an emergency? Huh? Did you think about that, Mr. Control Freak?"
"Teagan Anne, so help me God, I've had enough. Not another word out of you."
"Yes, Teagan. I did think of that, "Octavius said. "The call option on her phone is therefore never turned off. As for her being punished for something she didn't do, she has to be held responsible for her part in all of this. She knew you were putting yourself in danger, she schemed right along with you, and she should have told me." He stepped back and took his wife into his arms. "We don't have secrets."
"But, Octavius—" Teagan started, but Luca stopped her by taking her hand and squeezing.
"You have done a great job in distracting from the topic at hand. You never answered the original question. Why were you bugging Evie's room?" Jason asked, finally speaking up.
"Because, dammit, the bastard is beating her!" Teagan didn't think; she just announced it. The room became eerily silent.
"Are you sure?" Luca asked first.
"Yes," Ro said. "I've seen the bruises. They are low, where her clothes will hide the mark, but they are there. From what she's told us, he's been doing this for some time. He's put her in the hospital before."
"I'm going to fucking kill him." The ice-cold fury in Jason's voice sent a shiver down Teagan's spine. For the first time, she could see the SEAL beneath the sweet, geeky exterior.
"The cameras were to catch him in the act? That was your plan?"
"Part of it. We were going to blackmail him to stay away from her," Ro said.
"Ro!" Teagan gasped.
"Breaking and entering and blackmail? If I hadn't met your boss, I would be
questioning your legitimacy as a sworn officer of the law." Luca frowned at Teagan.
"That wasn't exactly the plan," Teagan defended. "The recording was merely insurance in case he came after her after we got her out of there."
"Yeah, we had it all planned out. We would sneak her out in the middle of the night and only use the videos if we had to!" Ro sounded proud of herself. Teagan groaned again.
"In the middle of the night?" Octavius echoed.
"Their harebrained scheme keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Luca asked.
"You don't understand." Ro did a little half-foot stomp, stopping when she saw Octavius' raised eyebrow.
"No? Tell us," Octavius said.
"I didn't want him as a brother-in-law! Can you imagine him as the uncle to our children, Daddy? Can you see our kids running around their Uncle Sleazy? All the Cheetos fingerprints on his pristine suits?" Ro pleaded her case to Octavius.
"Brother-in-law? God. No. I don't want that man anywhere near us or our children," Octavius agreed.
"See! I knew you'd understand." Ro's triumphant smile was short worn.
"What I understand is that my wife's sister is being abused, and instead of coming to me, to us, whose jobs are professional security, to help keep her safe, the three of you decided to come up with your own scheme and put all three of you at risk. Do I allow my little girl to put herself at risk, sunshine?" Octavius walked over to standing directly in front of Ro, lifted her chin, and searched her face.
"No, Daddy."
"If we are done here, I'd like to take Ro home and continue our conversation there. We will need to get together in the morning and come up with a better plan to help Evie."
"I don't want her alone with him until then," Jason said.
"That's not possible," Luca said.
"The hell it isn't! I'll go pick her up myself, right now," Jason answered.
"No, Jason. You know better. You'll put her at further risk. We need an operational plan. Not someone going off halfcocked. It's what's best for Evie. You will wait." It was the same tone of voice Luca had used on her at the house. The no argument tone. But, unlike Teagan, Jason didn't stop.
