Halfway Between

by Jana Leigh

  The men got right down to business. Introducing the rest of the team, they were all previous FBI and knew their shit. Joel insisted on being in the room, and was sitting in a comfortable recliner in the corner that was provided. The nurse they hired checked out both him and Drake with quick deliberation.

  Harper sat back and listened. Tank strode up to her and smiled. She instantly liked him more. “Ma’am, these are yours,” he said quietly but it was loud enough to draw attention from everyone in the room.

  “Uh…okay?” she said, looking down at a large envelope with a lawyers stamp on them.

  “They are from the bosses' lawyers. Basically, these are notarized documents that when it is safe, this home will be listed in your name under Bret Forensic Consulting. The keys and info are all in there, maintenance and upkeep as well as pay for your employees have been set up in a corporation under your name. The total holdings are in there. If you have any questions here is the card for Bailey and Noah, they are the administrator of the fund for right now.” Tank laughed at her mouth hanging open.

  “There they go, should have known they would do this.” Alex laughed.

  “Huh?” Harper said stunned.

  “Honey, you saved one of their boys' life, they take care of their own. Don’t argue or mom gets a little snappy,” Alex drawled.

  Harper shook her head and then went and sat down at the table. She wanted to put her head between her legs because this shit just didn't happen—at all. Who were these people? She glanced and Drake and Joel were watching her closely, as if they knew she was having a freak-out moment.

  She stared at a dot on the wall for a few moments when suddenly both Drake and Joel were in front of her pulling her up. “Come on, darling, they are a force to be reckoned with, let's get this sorted out now,” Drake said.

  Harper could only nod as they led her through the door and into the library. She collapsed yet again in a chair and just stared.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Joel asked, putting a hand on her leg.

  Drake sat on the other side and did the same thing. “Hey, talk to us.”

  Harper sat for a second and then finally gathered enough brain cells to speak. “Who are these people? No one does that, like no one—ever.”

  Drake chuckled and named Dallas and Noah’s company. Her eyes grew, everyone knew their names. Shit, this is who Alex’s family was. They were in Forbes every year, close to the top of who is who. She never knew they were in a ménage, but it didn’t surprise her seeing the rumors that flew about the two men, but it made a lot more sense. He explained they adopted all of them over the years, and Bailey considered them part of the family. She referred to them as their boys, if they ever needed anything it would suddenly appear, it was a little freaky how they knew so much about them.

  “Listen, when that whole thing happened with the team overseas, when everyone died. Bailey was frantic, not only for Alex, but for all of us. She understood that most of us had little family, what we did have was brought to the hospital in Germany where we were recovering. Hell, Tulu, Mason's mom, is like the grandma to the entire family these days. They welcome only those whom they see worthy of being in the fold, and I hope you are prepared because by you saving Joel and me the other day, you are in that fold,” Drake said.

  “And what does that exactly mean?” Harper said cautiously, it had to be too good to be true, they wanted something from her. But she needed to know the playing field before she could even make her next move.

  “When our parents were killed, mine and Brian’s, Ginny, one of Alex’s aunts, stayed with us for a month to make sure everything was settled. Her and her husband, Andre, went through the entire process with us, made sure we had counseling, settled paperwork, and hell, Ginny went shopping for us and cooked our meals. But the love they shared came at a time when we needed it the most. I will be forever grateful,” Joel said.

  Drake leaned over and opened up the envelope that Tank handed to her. Silently he looked through the papers and he grinned when he saw the information. How the fuck did they do it he didn’t know, but he would be forever grateful to them. He handed her the papers and began to explain to her and pointing out the major points to get her panic out of the way.

  “Okay, this first one is the promissory deed to the house. It shows this is your business headquarters. See they rezoned it so you wouldn’t have issues. They promise to actually set up a different section on the backside where your employees can stay overnight in rooms, if you are on a huge case. Some of these rooms will be turned into office space, only the second floor will be private, there are plans to turn it into your sanctuary. They also included the cook, the maids, and the chauffer in this agreement. Look at the bottom, there is nowhere to sign, this is a gift, and will only require your signature if you decline the offer,” Drake said.

  Harper stared at the documents and allowed Drake to explain, her heart was beating so fast, the only thing she could think of was how the hell would she be able to pay the taxes, and the electric bill on this monster.

  “The next paperwork is your business they formed for you. Bret Forensic consulting. This is the business plan for your approval. Obviously, this is the main location of the business, however, the actual headquarters is located in Healing, Wyoming, where on the land that Alex owns they separated a good chunk of land and are building a house with a separate office. That way you have somewhere to go when you need to get away. They do give you an option to refuse this part, and are more than willing to take back the land and move everything here. They are just giving you options. They have the number of employees you would need to get this up and running, and they have set up your startup account. This is the balance as of right now,” Drake said and pointed to a number that Harper couldn’t even fathom, there were too many zeros. The account was solely in her name, and there was a black visa in the file already, just needed to be set up.

  She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. She just stared at the number. Ten million dollars as a startup fund, were they fucking out of their minds? She had no idea how to run a business, she didn’t have a degree in that. Of course, they thought of everything as Drake continued to explain, she already had an accountant, and business manager, and five other employees just waiting for her to tell them where she wanted them stationed. Either place was fine with them. She had all of their contact info, but right now, it was Noah and Bailey who were listed as contacts to help set this up, they only needed the word and the business would be set up and running for when this shit was over. Fuck, they even included a resignation letter to the police department if she needed it.

  “I need a few moments here, guys. This is too much,” Harper whispered. Both men sat quietly, not leaving but just allowing her to think. Her brain wouldn't process all of this information at this moment, she finally had enough sense to take the papers and begin at the start to figure this out.

  In the war room, as it was now dubbed, even if Harper owned the place they didn’t care. Thane stood at the main screen and allowed his eyes to follow the search he started. With access to all of the files they finally needed, maybe they would see something everyone else missed. The computer was running probabilities that certain missions were connected to this. So far, they had found the bombing, and Marie’s death.

  “Boys,” Vince said, coming in from the room where he was making phone calls for the last few hours. “I have a clue.”

  All of the men stopped, they hoped that meant they were going to finally find out why he was brought into this. Mason pushed a button and told Drake to get his ass back in there. It was moments before the three people walked into the room. They could see that Harper had been crying, but the two men stood by her side, even though Joel looked like he was going to fall over, as they stopped and waited to hear what was going on.

  “I found her,” Vince said grimly.

  “What is going on?” Thane demanded.

  “Amani Faisal, the Ambassador of Rhutain is no longer the
name of the woman I knew, apparently she legally changed her name and was offered the Ambassador's spot in the US Embassy of Rhutain right here in San Diego. She has been here for twenty years give or take. There was a situation in her home country where several death threats and attempts were made on her, so the US offered to help and they brought her here, so she was not in the public eye so much. Her name is Amani Moghodan, she has one son that is here with her. Previously he was stationed with the NATO armed forces as a high-ranking official when he decided he wanted to help his mother here. NATO gave him permission to retain his status and be assigned here at the embassy. I can’t see there is anything shady in what is going on with her. However, she is the woman I gave the blanket to, and her son has to be the one that was born, the timing is right. His name is…” Vince said.

  “Major Dario Moghodan,” All of the men said and Vince and the others outside the team stopped and listened.

  “Yeah, that is right, she also has a son named Diego, not listed since it was from a previous marriage but is currently in the United States on business, staying with his mother. Different last name and everything. Now, we may have a problem with this one. From what my contacts can tell me they know next to nothing about this man, it's quiet in the background. No one even knows who his father was. ‘No information available’ it says when searched,” Vince said and shook his head sadly. “I had no idea what was going on, she was such a warm and loving woman. But anyway, I need to know if I should call her? I have the number.”

  “Not yet, we need to find out everything about this group first. Dario will be the easiest as we actually know him,” Thane said and looked at Drake who nodded and moved to the computer.

  “How do you all know him?” Harper finally asked. There was a long silence before finally Gage stepped up and said.

  “We have known him for a while, when we had to go overseas for a mission, he was our NATO contact. Thane and he are closer. Dario was the head of the extraction team that came in after the suicide bomber hit. He grieved right along with us at the loss of the men, even came to Germany a few times to see us. I had no clue his mother was an Ambassador. He was the one who carried Sam to the Hellos,” Gage said and looked at the others.

  “Oh,” Harper said and went to the computer where Drake was sitting and put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. She withdrew and went to Joel, and sat with him at a smaller table with laptops, both silently began trying to get information through their contacts. The room was silent as they all focused on what was going on.

  Chapter Nine

  The next few days had been a whirlwind of activity. Harper had decided to accept the offer extended to her from Alex’s family after she received notification the shooting was declared clean but she was put on administrative leave due to a pending investigation of her job as a whole. She sent in the resignation letter that same day, and moved on. She wasn’t going to keep fighting with the assholes. So she had been busy setting up contacts and letting the appropriate people know she was opening her own business, as well as getting information from the FBI’s database.

  The men had been calling everyone they knew to figure out if anything fit together. Tomorrow they were meeting to discuss what all of these clues actually meant. Joel had been in contact with his agency, although not letting them know where he was, trying to set up a time they could talk to Frank, so far he refused to say a word.

  It had been a long day before they had taken a break from it all. They had been given a snack and a light meal right in the room from a completely lovely woman who was apparently her cook. The computers were still searching, making small discoveries, and they were beginning to get a small picture but it was nowhere close to where they needed to be. Vince had left to call Tulu, the others were sitting in the dining room with her, speaking quietly about nothing of significance as they were brain fried.

  Drake and Joel had been attentive to her moods, and knew exactly what she needed before she even said anything. It was weird, and she found it comforting.

  However, she also felt herself becoming more and more attracted to each of them as they shared information about their pasts. It was driving her nuts because the thoughts of a ménage were right there in her face. Especially when she saw a few of the guys’ video conferencing their spouses. She saw the cutest little babies, and saw the love they had. It made her jealous, which was a completely new feeling for her. Also it made her want to actually settle down. Harper was in the whole reflective mood where she wondered if she could actually do that. She was a bitch, and high maintenance because when she got pissed it involved guns. Not that she was psychotic, but going to the shooting range gave her a release. In fact, that was her only request in the whole business deal. She wanted her own range in the back section of both properties.

  She wanted to go to Healing and see what the town was all about. But from what she heard, she wondered if it was going to be the best place for her to regroup, and it would be a great place for her headquarters because it was remote and all of her employees said they would like to travel. Consulting was a traveling type job. The only thing she hesitated about was the fact that both Drake and Joel intended on living there as well. Drake had explained his ranch, and Joel was going to be based out of there from now on. He requested a transfer to the closest FBI headquarters.

  She ate and snuck glances at the men. They were going through so much, now wasn’t the time to be starting a relationship, but she couldn’t seem to help herself from thinking about them.

  Smiling shyly as the men came into her room later in the night, how could she have ever thought that choosing one over the other would have ever made her happy? She saw them as individuals, but also as a team. She wanted to wake wrapped safe and warm in the cocoon of their bodies, she would finally sleep soundly for the first time in a very long time. Harper opened her mouth to ask them to stay when Drake shook his head.

  “Don’t ask, just say yes,” he whispered and she shivered, Harper looked down, how in the hell had she gotten the sexy nightie, she didn’t know, but she did know she liked the feel of it. Maybe when she focused again she would ask Tank where the closest lingerie shop was. He looked like he would know that. Oh, back to her daydream.

  Drake’s arm tightened a little as he pulled her back against his body and nuzzled her neck. “Come here, baby,” he sighed into her ear. “Joel is going to help us out getting you relaxed. Because after tonight, I don’t think I will ever let go. You feel so good, like you were made for me.”

  To prove his point, he pulled her hips back onto his raging erection, grinding his cock slowly against the soft flesh of her ass. Harper’s body immediately started humming with excitement, and she felt wetness gathering between her thighs, the muscles of her pussy beginning to pulse.

  “Ah, looks like you are enjoying that,” Joel said as he leaned forward to kiss her, pushing his tongue deep into her mouth and tangling it with her own.

  Harper moaned a little, and Drake leaned over to bite her ear gently, reminding her in a soft whisper that they needed to be quiet. “I love your sweet sounds, but I need to hear you scream our names and you will, before the night is done you will be begging us to take you.”

  Harper felt the hands running over her silky body. She moaned a little when Joel leaned in and nipped at her lips. He grinned a little and then took her mouth in a forceful kiss. She wrapped one arm around his neck, reached behind her and grasped Drake's shirt, making sure he was close.

  They explored her, Joel with his mouth on her lips. And Drake with his mouth on her neck, her shoulder, and finally pulling back enough to whip the gown over her head, cupping her breasts from behind. Joel let loose of her lips long enough to look down and see his best friend run his thumb over her nipple.

  The cool air chilled her skin before Drake warmed her with his hands. She was a fireball of need as she allowed herself to feel for the first time. This was what she wanted and had never had, a connection with her lovers.

  Joel
ran his hands over her hips and her belly, before moving back down again. She felt the heat in his hands as he touched her almost reverently.

  “You are even more beautiful than I thought,” he said as he ran his hands up her body to cup her breasts, his thumbs grazing over the stiff peaks. While Drake took the chance to turn her to the side, so they could drive her crazy together.

  “Let us show you how beautiful you are,” Drake whispered into her ear, gently nipping the sensitive skin on her neck.

  Shyly, she nodded her consent. They moved to the bed where they helped her lay down in the middle and then stood before her and began to pull off their clothes. Her breath left her as she watched them move. Shirts, pants, and finally underwear. Her eyes must have grown large because they both chuckled at her and then crawled in on either side of her.

  “Just think, these are both for you,” Joel whispered.

  “We belong to you,” Drake said and kissed her. When he pulled back, Joel again captured her lips with his, holding her jaw firmly in his large hands, pressing his talented tongue more deeply into her mouth.

  Drake’s hands moved down her body, lifting one leg over his so her pussy lay open to his attentions. His fingers tangled in her wet curls, circling her clit gently, before he plunged one into her dripping pussy.

  Harper squeaked in surprised delight, and Joel pushed his tongue farther into her mouth, still teasing the stiff peaks of her nipples with his hands. As Drake continued to push a finger in and out of her aching pussy, Joel slid lower down her body to pull the stiff peak of her nipple into his mouth. He rolled his tongue around the areola. She moaned again but found a large palm gripped firmly over her mouth. She smiled against the hand and then nipped at the fingers.

  An evil little chuckle sounded just before Joel returned the favor and bit her nipple. She yelped behind her makeshift gag, and he quickly soothed the pain with his tongue.