How to Shield an Assassin (Unholy Trifecta Book 1)

by AJ Sherwood

  Ari let go of Harrison, a little quicker than he should have, as he wasn’t sure what to do with his body’s reaction to any of this. His hands still tingled from touching Harrison’s warm skin. His lower body was starting to react and even the coolness of the water wasn’t helping much. Why was he reacting this strongly to Harrison?

  At Harrison’s coaxing, Remi came into the pool. She went up into the same position and floated, Harrison’s hands under her back supportively. Then he slipped his hands free and she stayed afloat. The slow smile that dawned over his daughter’s face was worth every bit of Ari’s discomfort.

  Harrison, it seemed, was a natural teacher. He taught Remi how to swim next, and she did laps in the shallow side of the pool, gaining confidence with every lap. Ari swam alongside her, especially as she ventured slightly deeper into the pool. Ivan wouldn’t budge from the hot tub nearby, although he stayed angled so he could watch the show. Remi stayed in over an hour, tired but pleased when she finally agreed to come out.

  Pulling up a folded towel, Ari slung it around her, not wanting her to catch a chill or some pervert’s attention in her swimsuit. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a towel being draped around his shoulders too, the brush of Harrison’s fingers against his bare shoulders jolting through him. The only thing that saved Harrison from a punch in the throat was the man talking to him as he did it, alerting Ari to his presence.

  “Don’t you catch a chill either. It’s kinda cold in here.”

  Ari gave him an odd look. Was Harrison just oblivious to the effect he had on Ari? The man kept coming in close, as if he didn’t realize the contradicting tailspin it put Ari into every time. Hell, was the man even gay? Ari honestly couldn’t tell if he was or just one of those touchy-feely people who didn’t know what personal space meant.

  Passing them, Ivan threw over his shoulder, “I’m ordering in pie. Who wants some?”

  “Apple pie!” Remi cheered, following him immediately out the door.

  Ari shook it off and followed as well, flip flops lightly smacking as he went down the hallway to their room. He stayed hyper aware of Harrison following, but of course he followed—his room was across from theirs. Ari went through the motions of getting the chlorine washed out of his and Remi’s hair and them both into dry clothes before going next door to Ivan’s room.

  The thief was already ensconced in the king-sized bed, munching on a plate of pie, the TV on the wall cued and ready. Ari took one look at the screen and grinned. “Nice. New competition?”

  “As of yesterday. Kyou sent it to me.” Ivan shot him a sharp, questioning eyebrow. “Is Harrison going to be alright with this?”

  “I mean, all wrestling is a little gay. I guess we’ll see.” Ari was curious about it himself.

  Remi was not a fan, so she gave the TV a disgruntled frown, lip curling up, before she took her pie and settled in with a book at the only table in the room. It left the bed to the adults. Ari piled on next to Ivan, a pillow propping him up against the headboard, with enough space that Harrison could sit on his other side. He was of two minds about that but really, there wasn’t any other place for Harrison to sit.

  Harrison came in a minute later, although he had popcorn in hand. Wasn’t in the mood for pie, eh? He sauntered to the bed and slung himself into it, the bed bouncing a little with the impact. Traitorous mattress that it was, it bounced Harrison closer so that once again he was casually encroaching on Ari’s space as their shoulders brushed together. It was all Ari could do to not move and not react. Part of him really wanted to react. Although whether he’d punch Harrison for confusing his libido or kiss him was still up in the air. He rather wanted to do both at the moment.

  “What are we watching?” Harrison inquired, snagging a handful of popcorn from the bowl in his lap. “Wrestling?”

  “Turkish wrestling.” Ivan hit play. “Only sport the three of us can agree on. For obvious reason.”

  “What obvious—” Harrison stopped dead and watched for a minute. “Is his hand seriously under that guy’s waistband?”

  “Yup.” Ivan popped the p.

  Ari watched Harrison carefully from the corner of his eye. The mercenary’s eyes stayed glued to the screen, jaw dropping steadily as the two (rather attractive) men wrestled on screen.

  “His hand has to be on that guy’s—” Harrison shot Remi a look before modifying, “junk. Has to be. That’s not illegal?”

  “Not in Turkish wrestling,” Ari said.

  “It’s why we all like to watch it,” Ivan threw in, still cheerful.

  Harrison whistled, grin spreading over his face in a rakish way. “I just found a new favorite sport. How the hell did I miss this one?”

  “It’s too gay for most Americans.” Ivan’s voice radiated severe disapproval.

  Harrison snorted. “There’s no such thing as too gay. Oh man, oh man, I can’t believe that’s legal. I mean, he’s literally grabbing his ass, you know he is.”

  “Oh yeah,” Ivan agreed dreamily.

  Well. Harrison, it appeared, had no problem with anything queer. If he was straight, he was at least comfortable around it, which was just as well. Ari was unquestionably gay. So was Kyou. Ivan was technically bisexual but leaned so close to his own gender that he’d only ever had two female lovers. And considering his track record, that was a very small minority.

  “I did not bring enough popcorn for this,” Harrison mourned. “Tell me there’s lots of footage.”

  “Lots and lots,” Ari promised him, relaxing a hair. Seeing Harrison’s enthusiasm eased one of his concerns and sparked something Ari cautiously labelled as hope. He didn’t feel the need to be as defensive since Harrison wasn’t the type to be homophobic. He still wasn’t sure how to react to having the man’s shoulder pressed against his, but it was rather nice. He’d not had full on contact like this with a man in…god…he couldn’t actually remember. Ari found himself alright with the possibility of Harrison sitting like this for a while. Maybe, by the time the match was over, he’d have figured out what his instincts wanted to do with the man.

  13

  Carter

  Carter had a towel around his waist when his sister decided to call him. Her timing was always perfect that way. He grimaced, staring at the phone distrustfully, because it was late and for once they were in the same time zone. So if she was calling near ten o’clock? It couldn’t be good.

  Resigned to his fate, he answered blithely. “’Sup, sis.”

  “Carter. I need a favor.”

  “Well, I hope it can wait a few weeks, cause I’m in the middle of a job.”

  Maddison sighed, aggravated. “Well, cancel it. I need you.”

  “Funny how I might be the black sheep of the family but when shit gets real, I’m the one you call.” Carter couldn’t help but get the dig in. Their last family gathering, Maddison had screamed at him about being the only one in the family she was embarrassed by. (She’d also been completely wasted and coming out of a bad marriage, so he didn’t really hold it against her.)

  “Look, I really am sorry about that, alright? I don’t even remember saying it, that’s how drunk I was.”

  “Oh trust me, I am in no doubt about how drunk you were.” Carter found himself forgiving her, a little. Maddison was his only sister. He tended to cut her a lot of slack because of it. “Alright, maybe I can help you out long distance. Whatcha need?”

  “That bastard of an ex-husband threw me out of the house. I have the clothes on my back, my purse, and my car and nothing else. I literally can’t function like this, and he’s changed the locks. I can’t get back in.”

  Carter let his head hang for a second. “Are you sure I can’t shoot this sonovabitch?”

  “Don’t fucking tempt me,” Maddison growled. “The only reason why I’m staying as patient as I am is that my lawyer swears we have him dead to rights. And doing crap like this is only hurting him. But it does leave me in a sticky situation. Can I stay with you?”

  He let th
e towel drop, pulled on boxers, pulled up a pillow, and stretched out comfortably on the bed. He had a feeling this would take a while. “I’m not in Florida right now. But tell you what, I’ll give you the code to the garage. That’ll let you into the house; you can stay in my guest room until you’ve got it sorted.”

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I didn’t want to tell Mom and Dad. They’re already planning his funeral arrangements. I don’t want them in legal trouble.”

  This amused Carter. Mostly because it was true—he could see his parents taking that fight, but also for what she didn’t say. “But it’s fine if I’m in legal trouble?”

  “You do quasi-legal stuff all the time, don’t give me that. So…are you even in country right now?”

  “I am, but I shouldn’t tell you where or what I’m doing. It’s one of those quasi-legal things.”

  “Ah.” A pregnant pause. “Do I need to worry?”

  “Not this time. This time, I’ve got really professional guys I’m working with. Some of the best, actually. I kinda started off on the wrong foot with one of them—accidentally stumbled across one of his secrets—but he’s left my head attached. I think he’s forgiven me, since he agreed to work the job.” And he’d handled Remi several times under Ari’s eyes and neither Ari nor Ivan had taken offense. That alone told Carter a great deal. The men had apparently decided to trust Carter with Remi. He was honestly glad. Relieved, mostly, but glad too.

  “Wait. I’m hearing this little note in your voice. Is one of these guys hot?”

  This, at least, he could talk to his sister about. His brothers didn’t mind that he was gay. They just didn’t want to hear details. Maddison adored talking boys with him. It was one of the reasons why Maddy was secretly his favorite sibling.

  “Smoking hot. The other guy is good looking too, but super intimidating. I wouldn’t cross him in a dark alley. But the guy I’m talking about has that tall, dark, and handsome look.”

  “Yeah? Can you give me a name?”

  “Probably not. Call him Sexy.”

  “And is Sexy interested?”

  “I don’t…know? I find him hard to read. Some guys in my line of work, they have trigger reflexes. He initially struck me as that way, but I’ve seen him interact with his inner circle, and he doesn’t react with them.”

  “But he reacts with you?”

  “Has every time I’ve stepped in a little too close. It’s interesting body language I’m getting from him. Like, I’m seeing these little tells that he’s interested, and when I do come in close, he never moves first. It’s just that he initially flinches, then forces himself to relax. It’s totally instinctual on his part, that initial flinch. And it tells me he’s been hurt, and hurt often enough when a man comes in close, his first instinct is to throw his guard up.”

  It pissed Carter off, actually. Not towards Ari, but at how ingrained the reaction seemed to be. He hated that Ari had been hurt so many times, he felt threatened by another man in his personal space. Had no one properly watched this man’s back? Was there no one to shield him when Ari needed it? He forced his hand to relax before he accidentally broke his phone.

  Maddison sighed. “Oh god, I can hear it now. You’ve just flipped into protective mode.”

  “Excuse you, I have not.”

  “You totally, totally have. You really don’t get how much your tone gives away, do you? But I can tell. You like this guy, it upsets you he’s reacting like this to you, and you want to win him over.”

  Carter tried denial for a full second. It failed utterly. “How come you know me so well?”

  “You aren’t complicated, little brother. The reason why you’re good at retrieval jobs with kids is because your protective streak is legendary. I should somehow warn this guy about you. He needs to brace himself.”

  “Shut it, I’m not that bad. And it’s not like he needs protection, not really. He’s formidable in his own right. It’s just, I don’t think anyone’s really watched his back before. Even his friends seem to operate on the opinion he can handle himself alone.”

  “You don’t agree?”

  “Of course I agree he can. But no one should have to. Life’s hard enough, you don’t need to do it alone, without any backup or support. And I hate the way he flinches. Seriously hate it.”

  “Yup. Really should find a way to warn him. It’s probably too late now, though. He’s got your attention.”

  “Well, yeah,” Carter confessed sheepishly. “Although really, I don’t know how viable it is for me to try dating him.”

  “Whoa! Who said anything about dating?”

  “Maddy, I don’t like hookups, you know that. And this guy…he’s seriously worth so much more than a one-night stand. Anyone who wants a quick fuck with him needs their head examined. He’s more than that.”

  Maddison breathed for a few seconds. “Carter. Are you falling for this guy?”

  “No? I’ve only known him for two days, it’s too soon for that! I just really like him. I wish I could explain it better to you, but if I tried, I’d spill the beans about the secret I uncovered. And then he’d really be forced to kill me.”

  “That bad?”

  “That important,” Carter corrected. “I won’t risk either my relationship with him or what he’s protecting by talking casually. Not even to you, sis.”

  “Fair enough.” Maddison hummed, the sound she made when she was thinking hard. “If this goes the way you want it to, do you think you can bring him home and introduce him to the family? Is he that kind of guy?”

  Carter thought about it. Thought about Ari and Remi in his parents’ home. It was strangely easy to picture and emotionally satisfying in a way that was hard to grasp. “Strangely, yeah. He’s family oriented. It’s part of what’s drawn my attention. Whether he’d ever relax his guard enough to be okay doing that is another question entirely. But you’re jumping way ahead of the curve, Maddy. I have to figure out if he’ll even be willing to date first. And I’m a little leery of pushing my agenda there, considering the job we’re doing. Tensions are running kinda high on this one.”

  “You’ll have to tell me about it later, when the job is done. For now, though, I need to go. Text me that code, yeah? And keep me updated on this situation. I haven’t heard you this interested in a man in years. It’d be nice if you could snag a boyfriend who would understand you and your insane ways.”

  Carter snorted. He’d protest the ‘insane’ part but unfortunately he really didn’t have a leg to stand on when it came to sanity. “Yeah, I’ll keep you in the loop. And tell me if things get worse. I’ll come down and help you with the ex if you need me to.”

  “See, you say ‘help’ but I hear ‘bury.’”

  “Your hearing has always been exceptional.”

  Maddison snorted a laugh. “Love you, Carter. Thanks, bye!”

  Hanging up, he texted her the code, then stayed in that sprawled position awhile and stared at the phone thoughtfully. He hadn’t realized how much of all this he’d decided on until he got it out in the open like that. Talking with Maddison always helped him sort things out and put it into prospective. But apparently Ari really had caught his interest. Wanting to shield him so the man stopped flinching was only part of it.

  Staring upwards at the bland white ceiling, Carter considered his options. Just how should he approach this?

  He wasn’t really firm on any sort of game plan by the next morning. They more or less met in the dining room for a continental breakfast. Carter wasn’t really that hungry this morning so settled for toast and coffee. Remi already sat at the table with pancakes and orange juice, her father and uncle in line and filling up their plates.

  Settling in, he gave Remi a smile. “Morning.”

  “Morning, Mr. Harrison,” she responded happily. Then she paused and stared at him doubtfully. “I don’t know your call sign.”

  “Ah, that’s because I don’t have one. Mercenaries don’t really do call signs most of the time. We might ma
ke something up on a job so we can talk to each other over comms without giving away our identities, but we don’t take nicknames like your father does.”

  She hummed, thinking about this. “Hmm, okay.”

  Carter assumed that to be the only question she had this morning but she surprised him by staring at him hard. “You okay?”

  He stared back at her, not sure why she was asking. “Do I not look okay?”

  “You look confused.”

  This kid really was sharp. She must keep Ari on his toes. “I think I make your dad nervous sometimes. I’m trying to figure out how to reassure him.”

  “Oh.” Shaking her head, she corrected seriously, “He likes you. It made him happy you watched Turkish wrestling with him. He said you weren’t homo—homo—”

  “Homophobic?” Carter guessed.

  Her frustrated expression cleared up. “Yeah, that. It made him and Uncle Ivan happy.”

  Carter had more or less figured out the other two men were either gay or bisexual or something along those lines. The way they’d kept drooling while watching the wrestling match had more or less told him all he needed to know on that subject. But it was nice to have another confirmation. “Yeah, honey, I’m not. I’m gay myself.”

  Remi nodded, not surprised. “Figured. You want to be friends with Daddy and Uncle Ivan?”

  “I do. They’re nice guys.”

  She beamed at him, pleased, and returned to her pancakes.

  This kid was seriously so frank. It tickled Carter’s funny bone badly because he was never able to predict what she was going to say next. And what did she mean, it ‘figured’ he was gay? Was she merely going off what the adults around her were saying?

  Ari returned to the table and settled, eyes automatically sweeping over Remi and her plate. “Well, seems like we have an open day today while we’re waiting on the house and K. Ivan wants to stalk Knowles some more. Harrison, what do you want to do?”

  He’d thought about ways to tap into Ari’s trust last night and had a good answer at the ready. “I thought I’d help you and Remi walk through an exit strategy.”