“Fuck. She’s insane.” Hawk clears his throat.
“What’s next, whore, cunt? I don’t care what you say.” She pulls his hair, moving his head closer to where her face is. “Right now, I own you. You’re my bitch. And by authorities, I meant the FBI.” She releases her hold and pats his cheeks.
Luna pulls the last stick holding her hair. She draws a line across his neck with the sharp edge. Wilson’s eyes widen. “I’m losing my patience. Tell me where Esteban is?” Her voice is vicious.
“We found him,” Tiago announces.
Mason has the kid in his arms. “Hawk, call Aspen. Esteban is unconscious. He’s breathing, but we found some medication next to him. I texted her the picture. Tell her that I think they were drugging him. I want to know if we can do something to help as we drive him to the hospital.”
“You got it, boss.” Hawk takes his phone.
The boss looks around, arriving at one of the vans we drove. “Everyone pick up and let’s move this party. The forensic team should arrive here soon. Please, go through the house and take all the evidence that you can gather.”
“Santillan, what have I told you about littering the streets?” He shakes his head. “Untie his feet and pick him up. We’re sending him and his wife on a first-class trip to FBI headquarters.”
Luna does as she’s told and orders him to stand up.
“I can’t feel my legs,” Wilson complains.
“Oops.” Luna sighs, her shoulders slumping. “I might have damaged his spinal nerves.” She shrugs. “Who knows what happened; I’m not a doctor.”
Bradley grins at her. “You did great, kid. I think I like you more than your brother.”
The tightness in my body dissipates when she climbs in the van with Bradley. We have to clean the area, and I won’t see her for several hours, but I know she’s safe. And fuck, she was amazing. I have to have her. We have to have her on our team.
Harrison: You did awesome, little moon.
Luna: You weren’t bad, Harry. Thank you for having my back.
Thirty-Five
Luna
I toss my bag under my seat. The adrenaline is finally setting in after the longest day I’ve had since college. Thirty-six hours of continuous rush and zero sleep. I’ve drunk what feels like gallons of matcha green tea and coffee during the past couple of days. Closing the case wasn’t my responsibility, but after the past five strenuous hours, I’d rather have done the paperwork. After we arrived at the hospital, we spent several hours answering questions to the local authorities. I called Lucas to arrange the transfer of the Wilsons and spoke with Esteban’s parents about the rescue and his condition when we found him.
Thanks to the help of Aspen, Hawk’s fiancée, and who I discovered is a pediatrician, the hospital was able to treat him fast. Though the medication given to him along with sedatives was dangerous, they didn’t cause too much damage. At least that’s what the doctor said. When I meet Aspen, I’ll make sure to ask about all the medical terms they said during their conversation. The last time we checked on Esteban, he was sleeping peacefully.
Playing the part of the calm, never shaken agent wasn’t hard. But I was on edge. My nerves were on fire during those hours, as we came to learn that Tiago, Hawk, and Harrison were on a manhunt. Some of the cops in the city had aided Wilson since the beginning. The men were at large and armed with high caliber weapons. I concentrated on the job. A case isn’t closed until everything is settled. But the awareness that Harrison and my brother were still in danger didn’t settle well with me. Anxiety swelled up inside me, threatening to swallow me from the inside out. My lungs threatened to collapse several times. Breathing became almost impossible. I concentrated on the job, but not thinking about Harrison was a full-time job.
Relief arrived in the form of good news. They had tied all the loose ends and were on their way to Texas to meet Lucas and his FBI team, who are going to take care of Wilson and his people. Then, Harrison and the rest of the crew would fly to HQ. I had no idea what headquarters they referred to. The FBI, their company . . . are they going to New York or Seattle?
The lightness of knowing that everyone is all right balanced the weight of the stress and heavy work I experienced since we jumped on the plane. But soon, relief and tiredness invade my body. I yawn, closing my eyes briefly to suppress the need to break down into tears. It’s normal to collapse after going through an extreme physical and emotional journey, but I refuse to show the rest of the team any weakness. They might claim not to be like the FBI, but they are still men who can judge me for not looking strong and manly. Though, I would trade my regular job for one of these cases any day of the week.
“How are you feeling?” Mason asks, taking off his bulletproof jacket and shoving it in the overhead compartment.
My eyes concentrate on the impressive cut muscles on his arms. Although I’m more fascinated with his beautiful brain. I’m not attracted to him, but I can appreciate a handsome man. He’s tall, built, smart, and those slanted gray eyes and his mysterious pose make anyone around turn their heads to appreciate him.
I wonder how long he has been married. And what she does for a living and if they have a big family or is it just the two of them. I smile when I see him pulling his platinum ring from his wallet.
“As I said earlier, you did amazing, from beginning to end. I do wonder how you are feeling after being awake for so long?” He sighs. “We all took a nap, except for you and Harrison, who insisted on staying up as long as you did.”
“Exhausted,” I respond, finally taking a seat, putting on my seat belt.
Harrison’s actions were cute. That’s how I decided to compartmentalize it until we were done working. But I’m dying to see him and hug him—and kiss him. If there’s ever another case like this, we need our own room. But now I just have the urge to be with him. To make sure he’s all right. I haven’t talked to him or seen him since we left the hotel room. I touch my lips lightly, recalling our spark—missing it.
“We’re about to take off, everyone be seated.” The announcement comes right after they close the jet’s door.
“What happened to cordiality?” I complain this might be a private flight, but hello, where are his manners? United’s greetings are better than this guy’s.
“Wings has too little patience for us,” Mason responds quietly. “He’s one of my closest friends, and the best pilot I have. He does pretty much whatever he wants, but he always keeps us alive.”
“We will be taking off in a few minutes. The weather looks ideal for a late-night flight. We plan on landing in about seven hours.” He pauses, clearing his throat as he comes back to the speaker. “I’ve been informed by the other pilot that the team is still in Texas. I will update on their whereabouts as they update me.”
Everyone finds their seats and starts settling down. I pull my purse out, take out the NYU hoodie that Harrison loaned me and the wireless headphones he bought me on the way to the airport. I make myself comfortable. If I’m lucky, I might get a few hours of sleep.
“Where did you learn how to fight?” Mason asks, his face creased with a smile when his phone rings.
“Hello, my Nine, I miss you, baby,” he utters the words, and they sound like a chant, a prayer, an entire love song. “It’s over, yes . . . we found him. I thought of Noah and Seth too. Yeah, on my way. About seven hours, we have to refuel in California.”
He frowns when he checks his watch. “Breakfast, I should be there by breakfast. I can’t wait to see you either . . . love you more.”
“Sorry, I had to take this call.”
“Who are Noah and Seth?”
“My kids.” He taps the screen and shows me a picture of him with a gorgeous woman under his arm and three little ones with them. “Ainsley is my wife, Grace is our princess, Seth is the one in the middle, and Noah is our little one.”
“Wow, you have three kids.”
“Four,” he corrects me. “James, our oldest is in heaven.”
“Sorry,”
I say, pressing my lips together. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child.
“You have some impressive skills, what is it that you do at the FBI?”
The abrupt change of subject doesn’t surprise me. He’s shown that he’s a man with an agenda who is also reserved. Mason won’t feel too comfortable discussing his family until we know each other well, and he has a plan. Like Harrison, he wants me on their payroll. I just don’t know what I want to do with that offer.
“Profiling. My undercover work is minimal, and they’re trying to transfer me to Quantico,” I say simply.
This man knows more about me. He’s too precise and too technical to offer me a job on the spot if he didn’t have more information than what he witnessed for the past couple of days. Is he about to make me a formal offer? Should I accept? I’m not ready to analyze an offer, let alone accept it. Though, I admit that having the freedom to proceed as I feel best is liberating. Exciting and I dare say the refreshing sensation made me want to repeat it as many times as possible.
“And you have another brother, is that right?”
That’s not what I expected him to say. In fact, the words I was ready to say were, “I’ll think about it” after he offered me a position with him. Are we playing chess?
“Yes. Lucas,” I inform him. “He’s younger than Santiago but older than me.”
I’m puzzled about my brother. Why hasn’t he mentioned us before? I thought he loved us. We have to have a serious talk about this. Maybe he’s like our father and likes to compartmentalize everything, his family included. Neither one mixes one thing with the other. They never mix things together. Each part of their life is separate, like work, family, friends, love lives, and everything else. Lucas does it sometimes, but I don’t allow him to keep things away from me. I don’t care if he doesn’t share with anyone else.
“We might want to keep him working for the FBI. He can be a double agent. At least for the first year,” he speaks, looking at his phone. “He helped immensely today. Are your fighting skills part of what they taught you at the Academy?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Dad wanted me to learn martial arts, like the boys. That didn’t mean that I would fight, only that I could defend myself. He was hoping I’d be a teacher, like Mom.”
His eyes land on my face, they are wide. “I never thought of that. Fuck, what if Grace wants to do what I do?”
“You support her,” I advise. “Without giving her any shit about it.”
“I assume that your father isn’t happy with your choice.”
“I continued training with different martial art teachers and learned how to use weapons.” I touch my bracelets. Like him, there are things I’m not planning on sharing just yet. “I joined the FBI because I thought I’d be in the field, chasing bad guys.”
Lara Croft and Wonder Woman were my heroes back then. I wanted to be them. I believed that anything was possible. After years on the job, I know that anything is possible as long as it’s approved by my supervisor. That’s just after I had filed the necessary paperwork and as long as it follows protocol.
“The real world is different. I get to do some stuff, but not everything I wanted to do when I decided to join the FBI.” Pulling my hair into a low ponytail, I use one of the ties and say, “All my weapons are mostly jewelry. I don’t like guns. While working, I’ve used them only a couple of times, pretending that they are just jewelry and they slipped out of my hands. Tiago gave me these beauties.”
“You’re welcome,” Mason says proudly. “It took me a couple of years to design them. My sister who is a jewelry maker helped me with them.”
“They’re yours?”
“Tiago volunteered to find us someone to use them. He’s never given me a report on how they work.” He bobs his head a couple of times. “I assume they do their job.”
“I use them mostly when I’m training.” I stare at my bracelets, which are gorgeous. “Tell your sister that she’s amazing.”
“Thea will be happy to hear that.” He nods. “Send me your feedback so I can work on them. I’ll be searching for a way to get you an armor that you can use when you’re in the field.”
I swallow, nodding. Back at the house, I thought today was going to be my last one. The bullets hit Tiago, but if he hadn’t moved in front of me . . . I shiver. We almost lost him. Those seconds after he had been shot felt like hours. But thankfully, he was breathing.
“Tell me about your current case with the FBI.”
“I’d rather not,” I retort.
“That’s the wrong question, sorry.” He puts his phone away and pulls out his computer from his backpack. “Don’t you think we can solve it faster if you join me?”
“Who’ll pay you?” I fire back.
He doesn’t know my current situation, and I don’t want to discuss it with anyone until I know what’s going to happen next.
“Most likely someone in the Bureau will owe us a favor.” He shrugs. “That’s more valuable than money, trust me.”
He clears his throat. “I’m not asking you to decide now, but think about the offer that Harrison put on the table. You’ll be a good addition.”
Thirty-Six
Luna
My heart thuds inside my ribcage, threatening to jump as Harrison stands right outside the airplane holding a bouquet of flowers and a couple of metallic balloons. A sudden storm of emotions moves up my chest, expanding it as I take one step after the other. He’s here, waiting for me, safe. I break down in tears as every single event that happened since we boarded the plane finally hits me.
“Fuck, you’re exhausted, my little moon,” he says gently, harboring my body between his arms. “Did you sleep at all?”
I shake my head, trying to control myself but there’re only two things I can do, cry and hold onto him tightly. I bare my teeth, fighting to control those tears but they come faster as the rage travel through my veins. All these people are witnessing me breaking down.
“Harrison, make sure that the two of you visit the counselor before heading back to New York,” Mason orders. “Luna, this is the only time you can work on a mission without sleeping for so long. We have certain rules too. You have to take care of your emotional and physical health.”
I dry my tears roughly, pushing myself away from Harrison’s grasp. “We have to go back to New York, I have work to do,” I demand.
His eyes soften, he hands me the flowers. “I understand, but we can’t leave. Each of us has to file a report. You have to sleep at least for a few hours, and after what happened we are required to visit the therapist.”
“I didn’t shoot anyone,” I say with a steady voice.
“You killed one person using your weapons.” He touched my bracelets. “Fuck, you’re the coolest kid on the block now.”
He hands me the flowers, kissing my cheek. “Can we go home, sleep for a few hours and then discuss what’s next, please?”
“Home?” I look around. “This is Seattle. You live here?”
“I have a place here, and it’s also my home,” he comments, playing with the laces of the sweatshirt I’m wearing. “I like how you look with this, if you want, I have a T-shirt you can wear to bed.”
“Bed?” I sigh.
He wraps his arms around my waist. His forehead rests on mine. His soft breath caresses my face, and every cell in my body finally settles. “I’m going to kiss you when we get home,” he says, quietly. “I want to lose myself on your lips and erase the anguish I lived through while I waited to have you in my arms again. I need to feel the beat of your heart close to mine. There’s no name for what’s happening inside me, it’s beyond love. And I swear Luna, I don’t want it to stop.”
Yes, I want those strong arms wrapped around me, his breath caressing the side of my neck. Don’t stop it, never stop it. Let it blossom and spread through the entire universe.
✰ ✰ ✰
“I know what you’re doing,” Harrison says when we enter his apartment. His lips are re
d and swollen from all the kissing we did while his driver drove us from the airport. “You’re stalling the inevitable.”
“We have to talk,” I sigh, touching my tingling lips.
“Does it matter to you what I say? Or how I feel?”
“I—” I bite my lip as he comes closer to me.
His blue eyes blaze. He slips a hand behind my neck, leans in, and kisses me.
It’s slow.
Tender.
Delicate as the petals of the flowers I hold.
His lips fit perfectly with mine.
This kiss is different from the first one. I see as the elusive threads from his heart weave a strong bond with mine. A spark ignites the small flame as our tongues continue dancing. It grows, burning my body. My soul jolts as the blazing heat awakens my dormant soul filling it with passion. An unknown tune plays inside my head. It matches the rhythm of beats as our kiss intensifies. It’s a song I never want to end, a melody I want to continue for eternity as I’m consumed by him.
And then all at once, everything stops.
He sighs, moving his gaze to blink up at the ceiling for a few beats. Then, our eyes meet. Those magnetic blues are liquid pools of desire. “I want this to happen between us.” He runs a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. “I want us to be together. But once it happens, you have to know that I’ll never let you go.”
My brain fizzles. “I want to stay.” I find my voice, even when my legs are shaking, and my mouth only wants to continue swaying with his.
I’m desperate for his touch.
I need more from him.
I want to burn slowly as he caresses every inch of my body.
And I’m willing to give him whatever he needs in exchange.
I’ll give him everything.
“Please,” I whisper.
“Not here,” he says against my lips. “I want this to be special. To be perfect. To be ours.”
He leads me through the hallway toward a bright room. The bed is against a wall of glass. He takes the remote on top of the nightstand and uses it to lower the drapes to cover all the walls of windows. In only a few seconds, the place has darkened. With just another click, a softer light illuminates the room. Tossing the remote back where it belongs, he lifts his shirt over his head and tosses it to the floor.
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