“And hopefully get information on Caleb,” Noah said, dropping into step with Storm.
“Or maybe this guy will have Caleb and we can bring him home,” Allison offered. Trailing after the group, she disappeared into the hotel.
They spoke so casually about his little brother in their efforts to help and he stepped back, abruptly gazing at the revolving glass door.
Did they seriously think it was going to be that easy? Did they not understand he’d been searching for almost a fucking year? A sound caught low in his throat and the world suddenly felt too fucking small. He couldn’t breathe. Rubbing at his chest, he spun but Alex was there. He sidestepped, but the man crowded in close, backing him up until the side of the hotel met his back.
He looked everywhere but at Alex until strong fingers caught his chin. His hands came up to fist in the man’s shirt.
“What?” His tone belligerent, heart pounding.
“Quit taking off. You don’t need to take this on alone.”
“Because now that Phoenix knows about Caleb, they’ll just magically find him!”
“They’ll give us the numbers.”
“It’s fucking ignorant!”
“You need to calm down and breathe.”
He swallowed, their gazes locked, held. “I can’t. I’m so fucking angry.”
“I know, but if you let your emotions get the best of you, it’s going to get you killed.” Alex’s hand squeezed the back of his neck hard and Micah let his eyes close for a brief moment.
He wasn’t anywhere near quelling the anxiety that roiled in his stomach. But he knew it wasn’t Phoenix’s fault or Alex’s, and blaming them wasn’t going to help a fucking thing.
“How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“How do you stay so focused when the world is falling apart?”
He moved his hands and curled them around Alex’s forearm, his fingers brushing the tattoo of Caleb’s name. When the man tipped his dark head down, Micah set his forehead to rest near Alex’s temple.
“That isn’t always the case, baby,” Alex whispered on a rough sigh. “Not by a long shot.”
Alex
He led Micah into the hotel and followed him up to the room. They entered the common area. It was empty.
Micah whirled on him when he closed the door. He saw the boiling turmoil in the man’s gaze and when Micah came at him, Alex was ready this time. He caught the man’s shirt in his fists and yanked him close. His head dropped swiftly and he took Micah’s mouth in a hard and rough kiss. One hand lifted to grip the back of Micah’s head, cupping his hand so that his fingers sliced through silky strands of hair. He groaned, a harsh sound escaping, and the kiss turned slow, torturous, and hot. His cock strained against the inside of his jeans and he ground against Micah’s answering hardness.
The opening of a bedroom door tore Micah from his arms and Alex wanted to snarl. The man stared at him through fierce eyes, with a hand covering his mouth. The door that had opened closed quietly behind them.
“Micah…”
Micah shook his head and turned, hurrying across to a room, disappearing inside, and shut the door.
Alex sighed heavily and glanced around. None of the other doors were open. He headed to the mini bar and poured a drink and downed it in two gulps before pouring another.
An hour later, he still stood staring bleakly at the dark city lights.
The text message came in and wasn’t totally unexpected.
Can you call?
Yes, give me a few hours. He typed the reply.
Softly, he knocked on Micah’s closed door, and when there was no answer, he cracked it open to see Micah sprawled on the bed. Alex moved quietly and sat in a chair near the bed. The man lay on his back, one arm flung high, the other resting against his stomach. He froze when Micah shifted and turned on his side, flinging his arm wide before settling again. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep and he wondered if the man was going to have another nightmare.
His gut clenched at the thought. Exhaustion and worry had etched deep grooves into Micah’s face and he wanted nothing more than to smooth the lines away with his fingers.
Shrugging off his jacket, he dropped into a chair near the bed, tiredly watching Micah until his eyes drifted closed, taking a brief moment.
“Alex?”
“Yes?”
“Will you take me to school today?” Caleb asked.
“Of course.”
“Can I drive?”
“I suppose since you have your permit now.”
Caleb laughed and snatched the keys before striding to the door.
Alex jerked awake to the sound of Caleb’s laughter fading and rubbed a hand at the back of his neck, then squeezed, kneading the tight muscles. He half smiled remembering the day Caleb had gotten his learner’s permit. There had been no peace until he’d handed over the keys each morning. And he’d acquired a few more gray hairs, but Caleb had accomplished driving to school with him in the passenger seat. Alex couldn’t have been more proud. It had become their routine when he was home. Caleb would drive his truck to school, Alex would go to work from there, and Caleb would walk home each afternoon.
Micah turned over on the bed and Alex waited patiently until the man stopped shifting about on the wide hotel bed. Finally, Micah settled into a somewhat normal slumber. Blinking his burning eyes, he stood and pulled on his windbreaker more to hide his gun than against the weather. Opening the door, he slipped out and closed it before stepping into the sitting room and toward the door.
“Leaving so soon?” a voice said from the dark, and then the light flipped on.
“I’ll be back.” He tossed the man sitting on the couch a quick look.
“Where you going?” Storm asked.
“I’m stepping out front. I need to make a phone call.”
“Fair enough.”
Alex gave the man a quick nod and left.
Alex
“Petrov and Gashi are in Colorado looking for buyers to off-load some of their product,” Wolf said over the phone Alex had pressed to his ear.
“I found that out earlier.” Alex sank against the wall into the shadows. He’d walked further than he’d planned and stood in the alley behind the hotel. “It’s just as we suspected, Vladimir chose Mez to be his second-in-command,” he added.
“Then we have a problem.”
“I know.”
“I don’t need to remind you that he’s lethal,” Wolf told him.
He squeezed the phone as realization dawned. “You’ve come up against him before.”
“I know what he’s capable of,” Wolf agreed very quietly.
“If Vladimir and Mez aren’t here, where the fuck are they?”
“My guess is they’re together making plans. I’ll call someone and see if they can dig up anything else out there where you are.” Wolf disconnected the call.
Alex plunked his head back against the wall. If Vladimir unleashed Mez, it was a good thing Rossi had hired Cobalt Security to watch their families. Phoenix couldn’t be in multiple places at the same time. They did have an advantage with Wolf in on this, the man’s skills were unparalleled and he’d as good as admitted he’d come up against Mez before.
He suddenly stilled against the wall, letting the shadows keep him hidden. He slowed his breathing as the shadow drew nearer to where he stood.
“Not very stealthy,” a voice came from nearby.
He side-eyed the man standing to the right of him. “Was waiting for you to get closer.” Alex flashed the knife he held tucked in his palm.
“Nice,” Rush said, stepping further out of the shadows. “Not many people see me coming.”
“Same. Maybe that’s why I noticed.”
“Maybe,” the man said and tipped his head.
“What are you doing here?”
“Followed you from the hotel.”
“Doesn’t answer my question.”
“I saw the kiss.”
Alex was
silent.
“You weren’t too secretive about kissing Lash in the middle of the hotel suite.”
“Not one of my better choices,” he said quietly.
“What, the place or the person?”
Alex crossed his arms and tipped his head back but said nothing.
“You love him,” Rush said quietly.
He looked up at the dark sky and the stars shining so clearly above them. “Love was never our problem.” He was at a loss for words for a moment and then finished with, “It’s…we’ve become…difficult.” That was putting it lightly, but he couldn’t think of another damned word to use.
“Yeah but you work well together. I saw the way you took him on during the 98th street bust and I saw the way you calmed him down outside of the hotel earlier.”
“That’s about all I can do,” Alex admitted. “Try and defuse the situation and calm him down.” He rubbed at the short hairs growing on his chin. “He doesn’t listen to me and I can’t… I can’t fucking protect him.”
“Why do you feel like you need to? I mean, he’s a grown ass man, he doesn’t need you to protect him. Why would you think that?” The medic’s brow furrowed.
“I’m hardwired that way,” he growled.
“Wanting to protect someone isn’t a bad thing. But letting it drive every fiber of your being is.” Rush saw too much.
“I’m working on it,” he admitted. After struggling his whole life with trying to keep control, it wasn’t something that was easily let go of. “It’s not easy.”
It was a short walk around the building to the hotel doors. They entered the lobby and headed upstairs. Before they reached the door, Rush drew him to a stop.
“I’m here if you need me. I’m not just a medic. I have a degree in psychology.”
Alex grunted, the sound was grim. “Great. Now you’re trying to shrink me.”
“Nope. If I wanted to shrink you, I’d pull out my trusty laser gun and zap you in the ass,” the man replied dryly.
He chuckled at Rush as he opened the hotel door. The man was funny as shit and Alex enjoyed his sense of humor.
“See? There they are,” Allison announced, bringing his head up and eyes around to see Storm, Noah, Allison, and Micah in the suite’s sitting room.
Micah’s eyes were shooting daggers at him. Alex’s smiled died. He looked at Storm, who just shook his head. He then glanced back at Micah, who glared at him and Rush. Micah stood abruptly and left the common area. Disappearing into his room, the man shut the door very quietly. Rush snickered and made his way to the tiny bar and fridge area.
Alex frowned and headed to Micah’s door. He knocked softly.
“Not now,” came clearly through the door. He opened it anyway and ducked the object that slammed into the wall near his head. The book fell to the floor and Alex nudged it aside, stepped in, and closed the door.
“We didn’t…” He paused.
“Didn’t what?” Micah glared at him.
Was this jealousy? He opened his mouth to speak, but Micah jumped in.
“Did you go investigate that address?”
“You know I wouldn’t do that without you,” he said, easing closer. Something more was going on.
“You took off after telling me not to!” Micah snapped and growled.
“I was just out front and ended up around the hotel.” He frowned and took another careful step closer.
“What for?”
“I went to check a lead on Vladimir. If it didn’t pan out, I wanted to spare you.”
“Quit trying to spare me,” Micah ground out.
“I will, I promise,” he murmured, watching Micah’s pupils expand, his words stumbling in the face of his promise.
“It… pisses me off,” Micah whispered.
“Love…”
“Don’t call me that.” Micah swallowed, turning his back on him.
He moved cautiously across the room until he stood just behind Micah, their reflections bouncing off the darkness beyond the lowly lit lamp.
Micah never made anything easy, but fuck, he was so fucking worth it.
Alex slid his arms around Micah’s waist from behind and bent to nuzzle the man’s neck.
“Don’t… do that either,” Micah groaned and spun.
With hunger, Micah fisted his hands in his hair, clenching tightly, and Alex welcomed the slight pain.
The kiss was fucking explosive. Just as the one had been earlier, but this one they weren’t going to be interrupted. Micah latched onto his mouth with his teeth and sucked at his tongue. The spitfire bit at his lips and Alex chased the man’s mouth until he caught it, thrusting his tongue deep and ending the chase until they both groaned. His head lifted after several minutes, his chest rising. Micah’s lips were parted, wet, the man gasping for breath.
He dipped his head and brushed his lips softly into the man’s skin near his jaw one more time.
“We need to talk,” he murmured against the man’s warm skin. He drew back and pushed the hair from Micah’s face.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Micah said with a deep release of breath.
Alex wasn’t sure where to start, but Micah didn’t seem to have that problem. The man went right for the jugular.
“Quit trying to protect me,” Micah said again and squinted at him. “You know that’s what drove us apart, don’t you?”
He stared at Micah. “I’m sorry.”
“I know you only wanted to protect us, but you can’t protect us from everything and it was driving you crazy and then me. That’s why I left. Alex, you do know there are things in life that you have no control over.”
“I know,” he said gruffly.
“And that sick fuck taking Caleb is one of them.” Micah paused. “And I’m the other.”
“I was so…” He racked his brain to find the right word because driven seemed mild.
“Consumed.” Micah supplied. “I know that’s how you deal with things you can’t prevent, but I was dying inside and I needed you.”
“I’m so fucking sorry,” he rasped, and tried to tell himself that Micah was right, it hadn’t been his fault, but he couldn’t help it, he blamed himself. He should have protected his family and brought Caleb home, but in his all-consuming drive to recover Caleb, he’d ruined his relationship with the only man he’d ever loved.
Micah sighed, brushing his fingers through the hair that fell over his forehead. He closed his eyes at the touch.
“I never meant to drive you away,” he said hoarsely.
“I never meant to hurt you either,” Micah returned softly. “I could have handled things a lot better.”
“We’ve come through a lot together,” he reminded Micah after a moment of silence. “More than most people do in a lifetime.”
“We have,” Micah agreed and dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed. The man let out a hard breath and shoved his fingers through his hair to yank back the dark strands.
“Once we get back home, we should find time to sit down and really talk,” he murmured roughly.
Micah nodded and dropped his hands to his knees and squeezed his fists. “Searching for Caleb…It’s like we’re fighting a war all over again.”
“We are at war,” Alex murmured, taking a seat next to Micah on the bed.
“It’s not the same as the one we served in together.”
“No, but you were the best thing to come out of that time in my life.” Alex let his eyes trace the curve of the man’s face.
“So were you,” came the soft reply.
It gave him hope.
“I heard from my contact that Vladimir is definitely not in Colorado,” Micah said into the silence.
“Supposedly, Vladimir is with Mez somewhere in the States,” he said, going with the sudden subject change. He knew working things out was going to take time.
“I wish we knew where,” Micah replied.
“My informant is working on that.”
“So is mine.”
/> He squinted at Micah.
“We need to work on our communication,” he smirked.
Micah smirked back. “Yes, we do.”
“At least tonight was a start.”
Micah went to respond, but a knock on the door interrupted.
“You guys coming?” Storm growled.
“Yes,” Micah called out. Then the man reached for his hand and Alex found their fingers laced together. He caught and held Micah’s glittering gaze and imagined for one tiny moment they were still together.
“Let’s go see about that address,” he said roughly.
Micah
The address his informant had provided had panned out. According to the desk clerk, Petrov had checked in for an extended stay. Phoenix staked out the hotel and over the next three days, kept surveillance on Petrov.
He glanced over at Alex. The man hadn’t moved from that same spot for hours. Alex was a seriously patient man. Micah had at least eaten something and let Rush take over the binoculars twice. Not Alex, though, he was driven. Again. He huffed a quiet sound beneath his breath and turned back to the window. Baby steps, he reminded himself.
He zoomed in the binoculars, gazing down at the hotel that Petrov had disappeared into.
“So far, no trace of Gashi,” Noah said from where he sat at a table with a laptop open.
“The guy could be lurking around,” Alex said.
Micah was starting to think his informant had been wrong. Perhaps Gashi wasn’t here in Colorado.
“Maybe,” he said.
“I have an idea,” Storm said.
“What’s that?” He tossed the sniper a glance.
“The hotel clerk said they are going to be there for another three weeks. That means they might be trying to sell off some victims. How about we pose as a buyer?” Storm suggested.
“You’d do that?” Micah stared at Storm.
“Of course.” The big man frowned at him.
“How about a couple as buyers?” Allison offered, striding to the bar and snatching a bottled water from the small refrigerator.
Storm looked at her and tipped his head. “Husband and wife would look more legit.”
“That could work. Then we can arrest them on the spot,” Rush said.
Destruction Page 10
