“I have no idea. I’ve been asking myself the same thing, but I’m worried she wants to use Tamera somehow,” Dante said.
“Like…how?”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. He didn’t want to say it out loud that he suspected Shonda wanted to sell her own kid. It sounded too far-fetched. Ridiculous.
“I don’t know yet. I need to do some digging. But she threatened you specifically, and I can’t focus on doing what I have to do if I’m worried about you and Tamera and Lanore.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m going to find some protection for you.”
She smirked and crossed her arms, doubt all over her face. “I don’t need protection. I’ll be fine. I’ve got June and Rusty, and Shonda’s not going to do anything to me at work.”
“What about on your way to and from?”
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
He took a deep breath to calm himself. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“What’re you going to do, escort me everywhere? Move in to protect me?”
“If I have to.”
“And what about your family? I have a hard time believing you’d leave them to take care of me, or that they’d want a stranger living with them.”
She was right. Although he was sure Grammy would welcome December, it could be awkward, and definitely crowded in their small apartment. And if he stayed with December, he’d be worried sick about his family, even if he knew there was someone he trusted with them. He could have the other guy—whoever it ended up being—guard December. He glanced over at her in denim shorts and a tank top with a plaid shirt tied in a knot at her waist. Those bare legs were enough to convince him whoever he had guard her must be happily married.
“You should come stay with us,” he said. The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.
December laughed. “I appreciate the offer, but I doubt your grandmother is going to want some strange woman invading her home.”
“I’ll figure something out. The point is, I need to know you’re all safe. It might be inconvenient for a while, but will you do it for me?”
She held his gaze for a long time, thinking. He did his best to convey his concern and sincerity. Even Rusty turned his puppy eyes on her and wiggled and whined.
“How about this instead: I’ll check in with you at regular intervals, and if anything looks suspicious we can reassess?”
He didn’t like it, mostly because he couldn’t control it. She didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. Still, he couldn’t force her, as much as he wanted to.
“Fine. For now. But if there’s even the hint of anything weird, we’re going back to my plan.”
Her answering smile brightened the room, and made his heart skip.
“You got it,” she said.
Dante closed the space between them and, leaning over Rusty, just inches from December’s lips. “I worry about you,” he said, his voice husky with concern.
Her eyes darkened with emotion, and a little relief seeped into his heart. Maybe she took him seriously after all.
He hovered close to her for a moment, drowning in the depths of her eyes, then covered her lips with his. When December scooted down under him and wrapped her arms around his neck, the anxiety buzzing in his veins cooled a few degrees.
December gave Rusty a shove with one of those bare legs, and the poor dog yelped as he hopped to the floor.
When her leg went around his hip and pulled him down, he gave in and pressed his body to hers. A groan filled the air between them. It might have been his. Or hers. It didn’t matter.
He lost himself in her scent, kissing and nipping at her neck, and running his tongue in a line from behind her ear to her collar bone, then into the valley between her breasts. She arched her back like a stretching cat, giving him easier access. This time the moan was definitely hers. It sent his cock into overdrive.
Slipping a hand under her tank top, he took a deep, steadying breath. Damn, her skin was petal soft—not that he stroked a lot of flower petals—and he’d give just about anything to strip her down and bury himself hilt-deep in her right now.
But he had work to do.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Why’d you stop?”
“I left Lanore and Tamera alone.”
December closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. With his hand still on her warm belly, the thrum of her heartbeat—excited a moment ago—began to slow as she got control of herself.
“You’re right,” she said, looking him in the eye. “Go to your family. Keep them safe.”
His heart swelled at her compassion. He’d been lucky to find her, and if his luck held she’d stick around. But there were a lot of ifs they had to get through between now and then.
“Thank you,” he said, removing his hand from under her shirt.
She grabbed his face and kissed him hard. “Don’t think we’re done with this, though,” she said.
“I’m counting on it.”
Chapter Seven
The next day December went through the motions of filling orders for cupcakes, and decorating cakes like a machine, her mind a million miles away from her actions.
A dozen different problems played on a loop in her head. She worried that Tamera had to go through this mess. No kid should be afraid of her mom, for God’s sake. She didn’t like Dante digging around into Shonda’s life, either. What if he uncovered something really bad and Shonda came after him? Okay, he was a SEAL and could probably handle it, but it still had her worried. Which led her to wonder if Shonda would really try to intimidate her, and that had her looking over her shoulder all day waiting for something bad to happen. She and Dante had only gone out once. They weren’t really even a couple, at least not officially, though it certainly felt like it. So why would Shonda threaten her? At the restaurant, she’d accused Dante of trying to find another mother for Tamera. Shonda was obviously disturbed, which meant of course she was capable of all kinds of crazy stuff.
Dante had said she threatened people he cared about, and if he cared about her, she was in danger.
Then the hotness on the couch took a turn in the loop in her head, and a satisfying warmth spread through her insides, pooling between her legs. Man, she couldn’t wait to get him into her bed. Or couch. Or floor. Or wherever she could get him naked. She’d take him however she could get him.
But then she wondered if she wanted to get involved with a guy who had so much baggage and drama, which made her worry about what Tamera was going through again, and the whole loop started over.
Before she knew it, the day was gone and she couldn’t remember what she’d worked on despite a pile of completed orders impaled on the “done” spike.
At least she’d accomplished something.
When she got home, June was gone, so December changed from her frosting-covered clothes, put a leash on Rusty, and headed out into the early summer evening for a walk.
Despite exhaustion from standing all day long, she still had excess nervous energy to burn. Maybe if she walked fast enough, she’d be ready to pass out when she got home.
The air had a hint of crispness to it, and smelled like rain on the way despite the clear sky. In a few months the muggy heat of mid-summer would grab and hold onto all the worst smells of the city, making dog-walking doubly unpleasant. But for now the cool air and the way the evening light made everything look both sharp and blurred, helped to calm her after being cooped up in the bakery all day.
A few blocks down the street, she noticed a tall black guy stopped on the sidewalk, fiddling with his phone. He glanced up at her, and when their eyes met, he went back to his phone.
For an instant, she considered crossing to the other side of the street, but she checked the urge. She was probably just being overly-paranoid after what Dante had told her about Shonda.
It was probably nothing. Just a guy on his phone.
She continued walking, but reached f
or her keychain where she kept a canister of mace, just in case. Except about a month ago she’d removed it from the keychain when she wore a pair of tight jeans out one night, and she’d never remembered to put it back.
“Damn,” she said under her breath.
As she walked, she stayed as close to the curb as possible, allowing the few other people she passed to stay between her and the buildings. Rusty sniffed happily at everything and peed on whatever he could manage to lift his leg to before she yanked his leash and he trotted on to the next thing.
When she approached the man, she thought she’d get past without incident. She kept her eyes in front of her and didn’t acknowledge him.
But then he said, “Ma’am?”
She kept walking. She didn’t want to seem rude, but now her every nerve stood on end and she was scared. Suddenly she wished Rusty was bigger and more intimidating. Maybe a Great Dane or a Labrador Retriever.
The man hurried to catch up and fell in step beside her “Ma’am? My phone died and I need to call my wife. Can I borrow yours?”
December’s heart thundered in her chest. On any normal day pre-Shonda threat, she’d have stopped and talked to the guy. She wouldn’t have seen him as a danger. He could have asked anybody on the street to use their phone, but he’d targeted her.
She had to stop because if she kept walking she risked him simply following her.
When she stopped, she turned to face him. He towered over her, and while generally he looked harmless enough, there was a sharp glint in his eyes that made her shudder.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t actually bring my phone with me. There are some shops a couple of blocks over that way,” she pointed in the direction she meant. “You could try asking to use one of their phones.”
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
She smiled, glad she’d misjudged, but just as she turned to keep going, he spoke again.
“Nice dog.”
She crinkled her brow. Why would he continue the conversation? “Thanks.”
“I hope you’re careful with him. It would be sad if something happened to him.”
With that he smiled, gave her a little salute, and crossed the street right in the middle of the block, dodging a couple of cars as he did.
She watched him go, incredulous. He’d just threatened Rusty. Hadn’t he? Or maybe she’d imagined it, and he’d just been solicitous. People stopped her, or commented on Rusty all the time. He was adorable and attracted attention. But the man’s words had a hint of threat to them, which made December wonder if he was connected somehow to Shonda after all.
Was he supposed to just be watching her? Or had his purpose been to threaten her? Or scare her?
Whatever it was, it had worked. She felt watched, threatened, and scared.
Or maybe, as she watched him now striding down the blocks toward where she’d told him to find the shops to ask for a phone, he was just a weird guy out for a walk. The city was full of weird people. She’d certainly run into her share of them.
Either way, she suddenly felt the urge to be locked safely in her apartment, so she turned Rusty around and headed home.
Dante sat in a pickup he’d borrowed from Jay down the block from a nondescript building in a shady industrial neighborhood. The cover of night time hid him as he staked the place out.
He’d spent the last few days tracking Shonda’s moves and associations, and his work had led him to this location. Now he slouched in the darkness watching the building with his night vision binoculars. It wasn’t much to look at; a shabby, featureless brick block with blacked out, wire mesh windows, and one naked bulb hanging over the gray metal entrance.
There’d been a few people in and out, but no Shonda or Andre. Maybe the whole thing was a dead end. Even so, he’d stay and watch for a while longer.
Yesterday he’d called all the guys on his team to find out if anyone was available to help protect his family, and Tyson “Suede” Monroe had volunteered. Dante was relieved to know there’d be someone he could trust without question helping him. Suede was also the tech master on their team, but when Dante had asked him about doing some digging into Shonda’s digital and financial trail, Suede had recommended John “Tex” Keegan from Wolf Steele’s team. Apparently the man was a legend who could do anything.
So, partly to keep himself awake and partly to use his time wisely, he dialed Tex as he kept an eye on the building.
“Keegan,” he said as he answered the phone.
“Tex, this is Chill Winters. I’m on Suede’s team, and I’m a friend of Buck’s. I’ve got a situation and Suede recommended you for an assist,” Dante said, cutting to the heart of the matter.
“You got it. Anything for a brother.”
“My brother divorced his wife and was granted full custody of their daughter, but then he died. In his will he requested I be named her guardian. I’ve taken a leave to care for her. Anyway, the ex-wife—Shonda Winters—has challenged the guardianship and we’re set for a custody hearing. The problem is, she’s behaving like she’s got something to hide, and like she knows she won’t be awarded custody. She’s threatening me and my family and my girlfriend.”
“Sounds bad.”
“It is. After she made specific threats, I’ve arranged for protection for my family, and I’m doing some digging into Shonda’s life. I figure information’s a good weapon. The more I know, the better I know what I’m up against. That’s where you come in. Can you dig into her digital life and financial trail? I can do the boots on the ground surveillance, but I need your expertise for the other stuff.”
“No problem, man. If she’s like most people, it’ll be pretty damn easy to track her. People don’t know how much their lives are an open book if you know how to read it.”
Talking to Tex was another relief for Dante. He spent a few minutes giving Tex Shonda’s pertinent information, and Tex promised he’d report back in a day or so.
Dante sat for another hour watching the building, and somewhere in the neighborhood of three in the morning, after there’d been no activity for several hours and just as he was about to call it a night, a windowless white van turned a corner ahead of him and shut off its headlights before turning into the driveway of the building. It flashed its headlights twice, then the light above the entrance to the building flashed twice in response.
Nothing shady about that.
Then the van followed the driveway around the back of the building and disappeared from Dante’s view.
He had two choices: creep the pickup truck around the back of the building and risk being seen, or sneak out on foot to get a look at what was going on. The risk in his second option was getting caught without being able to retreat. He’d armed himself with his trusty KA-BAR, refraining from bringing any firearms. This wasn’t a military mission where killing the enemy was an option. Of course, if they struck first he’d defend himself, but until then he had to be careful. He could fight off several men at once, but if they had guns, that was a different story.
In the end, he opted for the second choice because it gave him more flexibility.
Keeping to the shadows between streetlights, he cut to the back of the building in time to see three men—one with an AR-15 standing guard, one shutting the back door of the van, and one leaning out of the back door of the building before pulling it shut behind him.
Dante had been too late to see what—or who—they’d loaded off the van into the building, but the whole situation gave him a bad feeling. Instinct told him it stunk, and if investigating Shonda had led him here, she was involved in something illegal as hell.
The big question remained, how did she plan to involve Tamera in it?
Not at all, as far as Dante was concerned.
He hadn’t learned anything specific for a night’s work, but he had more information than he’d started with, including the van’s license plate which he committed to memory so he could call it in to Tex tomorrow.
Until then, he hur
ried back to the pickup so he could head home and get some sleep. Suede would be coming in tomorrow, and he had his derby date with December—something he had no intention of missing. He couldn’t wait to see her in shorts, skates, knee pads, and a helmet brawling with a bunch of other women. Just thinking about it turned him the fuck on.
The next day Dante met Suede at the airport. He was happy to see his friend, but just as glad to have the help. Now his family would be safe at all times until their court date next week.
“How are the rest of the guys?” Dante asked as they crawled through traffic.
Suede chuckled. “Same as always. Compass, team lead extraordinaire, spends all his free time learning new stuff. I don’t know where he puts all that info. We keep telling him he needs to get out more, but the man’s a machine. Hung tried to set him up with one of his leftovers, but Compass just be like, ‘naw, I got some studying to do.’ Hung was actually hurt.”
“Hung’s got more women than he knows what to do with. Least he can do is share,” Dante said. He could just imagine how horrified Cory “Compass” West would be by Terrell “Hung” Hull offering to set him up with the girls he’d gone out with and already left behind. Compass was straight and narrow, by the books, and surprisingly shy around women.
“Well, you know, he’s hung and word gets around. Apparently size does matter to a lot of women,” Suede said.
Dante laughed. Man, he’d missed his buddies. “What about the others?”
“Big Bad’s recovering from surgery to remove some shrapnel from an old injury. From what I hear he’s an asshole. Like a caged dog or something. And Beast is still Beast.”
Wolfe “Big Bad” Jarrett was known for his sense of humor and balls-to-the-wall attitude, but Dante wouldn’t want to be the one to tell him he had to sit still for any length of time.
And Damian “Beast” Caine, well, the man was still over the top even after getting married.
“Thanks for coming, Suede. It’s good to see you. I appreciate the help.”
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: December Chill (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sealed With A Kiss Series Book 4) Page 7
