by Apryl Baker
“Look, I did some checking. Los Muertos has a major hold in this city now. There are very few who don’t owe allegiance to them. This guy is one of the last holdouts.”
“What makes you so sure they won’t hear the name Kincaid and turn us over to ensure they remain the last holdout?” Kade was nervous. He admitted it freely. Walking into gang territory without police backup was not cool. It reminded him of how he’d felt every single day he’d been undercover. The fear of being discovered as a police officer had been as real as the fear of being turned over to Los Muertos now.
“They probably would if they knew our names were Kincaid.” Conner got out of the vehicle and left Kade to follow him.
Dammit. Kade got out. They didn’t bother locking it. If the people here wanted to steal it or strip it, locking it wouldn’t deter them.
“I’m here to see Andrew about a purchase.” Conner stared hard at the man in front of him.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“The Executioner. Who the fuck are you?”
The big man shrank back from Conner. What the fuck? And why did he call himself the Executioner?
“Go on in.” He moved aside and allowed the brothers entry.
Inside, it was like walking into a memory. He’d been in a few manufacturing houses down in Miami. They seemed to be the same everywhere. Rows of tables were set up with people cutting powder and filling small distribution baggies. Another long row of tables held stacks of money being counted and sorted. On the opposite end, armed men lounged, laughing and joking, their whores being quiet or entertaining whichever man whose lap they sat on.
Conner bypassed all this and headed for the staircase at the back. Kade followed him, trying not to stare too much. It would make them nervous, and they’d start asking questions.
They hurried down the darkened hallway at the top and came to a stop at the door at the end, guarded by two more men. Conner told them the same as the first two, claiming to be the Executioner. He and Conner were going to have a serious talk about that name and why it terrified hardened drug dealers.
Inside, Kade was shocked to see a very nice office. No crumbling walls, but new plaster. It was clean, efficient, and tidy. The black man who sat behind the desk, looking at his laptop screen, wasn’t what he thought the leader of this particular organization would look like. It wasn’t a gang, necessarily, but a drug distribution ring that probably did business with most of the gangs in the city.
“Andrew.”
Andrew looked up, the diamond stud in his ear winking in the light. His head was shaven clean, and the barest hint of a five o’clock shadow outlined his face. He looked more like a Wall Street trader in his expensive suit than a drug dealer.
“You have me at a disadvantage.” His voice was cultured, deep, and his tone warned any fuckery would be met with hostility.
“I’m the Executioner.”
Something flickered in Andrew’s eyes, but Kade couldn’t place the emotion. It wasn’t anything good.
“And what brings you here, Executioner?”
“None of your people.” Conner sat, but Kade remained standing behind him. “I need weapons that can’t be traced.”
“What kind of weapons?”
“The kind I can’t get off the street. I need heavy artillery, automatic weapons that are clean. They can’t be attached to any other crimes.”
“Why would you need…”
“None of your business. I came here because you were highly recommended by mutual friends. If you can’t provide the service I need, I’ll look elsewhere.”
“I didn’t say that. I was just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.” The flat, cold tone made Kade shiver. Who was this man, and what had he done with his little brother?
Andrew tilted his head in an acquiesce. “So it did. When would you need the weapons?”
“Within the next few hours.”
Andrew’s nose flared. “I can have everything you need by nightfall.”
“No.” Conner stood and tossed a scrap of paper on the desk. “You have three hours, or I move to the next person on my list. A list of everything I need is on that paper along with an untraceable cell number. Call before time is up, or the deal’s off.”
He turned and walked toward the door. Kade wasted no time in hurrying after him. They strode down the hall, the stairs, and out the door. Their SUV sat where they’d left it, in one piece. He breathed a sigh of relief. He really hadn’t wanted to replace the vehicle. There were a lot of extra bells and whistles that were extremely expensive.
Conner drove away and headed down several more side streets before emerging into the flow of traffic.
“What the hell was all that, and why did you call yourself the Executioner?”
“Nickname I picked up in the service.” He rolled his window down to let in some fresh air. “That was a business negotiation. Andrew Tolliver is someone who can get what I need when I need it. He just needs motivation to do as he’s told. Losing that much money is motivation enough.”
“We need to go back to why the word ‘executioner’ scared the shit out of those guys.”
Conner shrugged. “I’m a scary-ass motherfucker. You know this.”
“That…”
“Leave it alone, Kade.” His brother glanced at him, those black eyes looking more like those of a demon than the person he knew. “I’m not going to answer you, and it’s only going to piss me off. Leave. It. The. Fuck. Alone.”
Kade was quiet the rest of the way back to the office. Conner asked if he could borrow one of the company cars to take care of a few more errands. He said he’d swing by the hospital and get Kade when it was time to pick up the shipment.
No wonder Angel had been scared of his brother. Kade was a little afraid too. What happened to him in Afghanistan? Executioner was a nickname. God only knew what he’d done to earn it. At this point, he wasn’t sure if his brother could come back from the dark place he was in…or if he even wanted to.
His head spun with all the problems currently invading it. He pushed everything out and focused on one thing. Matthew. Once they got his son back, he could figure out a way to help Conner. Make him remember the man he used to be. Kade knew his brother would never be the same man as before, but if he could find a way to bring out glimmers of the old Conner, he’d live with it.
That was a problem for next week, though, and one he’d need all his brothers’ help with.
Today was about Matthew.
And they would be bringing him home.
The smell of food woke Angel. She was starving, having only picked at the food Nikoli brought her. She’d been too upset to eat. Now, though, her stomach growled.
“I’d recognize that growl anywhere.” Kade leaned down and kissed her. “Hungry much, little mama?”
She laughed and opened her eyes. “Starved.”
“Good. I picked up your favorite from Joe’s. I still can’t believe Nik convinced him to move his shop here to New York.”
Joe’s was a restaurant Nik fell in love with back in Boston. It was his and Lily’s go-to place when they wanted to have good food and not be bothered. Angel remembered Nik telling her he’d taken Lily on their first date there, not because he thought she’d like it, but because it was the one place he figured none of her friends would be. Much to his disgust, her best friend, Adam, had shown up.
“Well, when you have millions of dollars and offer to invest in the restaurant to get the owner, who is also your good friend, to move, I’m betting it doesn’t take too much persuasion.”
“Kid was a multi-millionaire by the time he was twenty.” Kade shook his head and rolled the little hospital tray over to her bed. He’d set out the classic Reuben sandwich, fries, and a bottle of Coke. Her stomach let it be known quite loudly it needed to be fed.
“He earned it, though.” And he had. Nikoli worked his ass off for every ounce of success he had. Her stomach growled again when the smell of the food hit her n
ose.
“I forgot how much your stomach talked when you were pregnant.” Kade pulled up a chair and unwrapped his own sandwich.
“Hey!” Angel stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m eating for two. I’m allowed to be starved all the time.”
“You eat as much as you want, baby.”
“So, you’re still going to love me when I look like a whale from all this food you’ve just given me permission to eat as much of as I want?”
“I will always love you, no matter what you look like. You could gain four hundred pounds, and I’d still love you. I might haul your ass to the gym every day, but I’d love you.”
And that was why she loved him. He would love her no matter what. It was the simplest truth there was. He’d proven it time and time again.
“You’re perfect, Angelique Renee Kincaid.” He took her hand, kissing the palm. “Don’t you know that? You are absolutely perfect to me.”
Her heart melted. This man. God, how she loved him.
“You’re going to make me cry.” She blinked back tears.
He smiled, the warmth bleeding out of his expression forcing the tears to erupt. Had to be the hormones.
Angel took the tissue he handed her and blew her nose. She’d been prone to crying at the drop of a hat the last few weeks. Combined with her queasiness, she should have guessed she was pregnant. Her gaze landed on two suitcases standing against the wall across from the bed. “What’s with the suitcases?”
“We’re booked for the ten o’clock flight to Miami in the morning. I packed a few things earlier for both of us. I thought we go straight to JFK from here when they release you.”
“I thought you might try to sneak off without me.” She wiped her eyes with another tissue.
“I thought about it.” He took a swig of the root beer he’d gotten for himself. Nasty stuff. She had no idea how he could stomach it. “But then I knew you’d just lose Watkins and come by yourself.”
“You got that right.” She would have done exactly that, calling Kade a bastard the entire way. It was her favorite curse word to describe him. When he’d first come back into her life, that was what she’d called him. He’d forced her to let him keep her safe under police protection, never bothering to tell her he planned on being that police protection. At least it had forced them to deal with the past and for the truth to come out. It ended up with them back together as it always should have been.
“Why fight the inevitable?” He shrugged and bit into his sandwich. “I thought maybe we could swing by the old house and then the graveyard while we’re there.”
She froze, fry mid-way to her mouth. “Is it safe?”
“No, but I plan on having police protection while we do it.”
Kade watched the hope spring to life in her eyes. He’d called his old boss at the BAU and explained the situation to him. The man had agreed to send two agents to help him and coordinate with Miami PD. Since Mathew had been kidnapped, his boss said it fell under the BAU’s field of expertise. The agents would meet them at the Miami police department tomorrow.
“I really get to visit Peter’s grave?”
“Yes, baby, you really get to visit your brother’s grave.”
“But what about the police here? Won’t they want to question me before we leave town? I did see that poor nurse…” She broke off, wrapping her arms around herself. It pained Kade to see how much she blamed herself over the nurse’s death. It wasn’t her fault, though. The cartel didn’t leave witnesses behind.
“I already called and spoke to the detective. He’ll be here first thing in the morning to take your statement. Watkins kept them from questioning you when they came by earlier.”
“You did a lot while I was asleep. Did you and Conner get your business taken care of?”
Kade nodded. He wasn’t going to tell her about the crack house or going back to collect more weapons than he’d ever seen in his life. And how the fuck Conner came up with that much money blew his mind. No, he wasn’t telling Angel any of that. She’d only get upset, and then she’d blow up on Conner. His brother scared her, but when it came to protecting her family, she was a holy terror herself.
“I got dessert too. Milkshakes from McDonald’s, but I thought it would do.” He pulled the envelope from his jacket pocket. “I have something else for you too.”
He handed her the envelope and watched her forehead crease as she tried to make sense of what she was reading. “It’s the DNA results. He’s ours.”
“I didn’t need this to know he was mine.” Angel folded the paper, put it back into the envelope, and handed it back to Kade. “I knew it the minute I saw him. I should never have doubted myself.”
“A mother knows her child.” Kade smiled softly. “Scoot over.”
“Didn’t they threaten to ban you from my room if they caught you in bed with me again?” Angel laughed when he shrugged. Leave it to her husband to flaunt rules.
“It’s not like I’m going to finger fuck you. You’re recovering from a concussion and shock.”
“Who says I’m too ill to be finger fucked?” The idea excited her, especially with the nurses coming and going so often. She’d always been an exhibitionist. Her past as a stripper attested to that. Kade, though, was as prudish as they came, and she loved him more because of it.
When she scooted over, she moved a little too fast. The walls spun slightly. Not as bad as before, but still enough to make her close her eyes.
“That says you’re too ill to be finger fucked.” Kade slid in beside her, his arm pulling her close. “Tomorrow will be soon enough for fucking.”
“Spoilsport.” She cuddled into him and reached for her sandwich at the same time, feeling more content than she had all day. She was tucked up against her husband, good food, her child safely growing beneath her heart, and with a plan to rescue her other child. She knew it would be difficult, but she could handle difficult.
“I was thinking that as soon as we get Matthew back, we should renew our vows.” Kade filched a fry from her plate. “What better way to solidify our family than to go before God and recommit ourselves and our family?”
That had to be the sweetest thing he’d ever said to her. Kade knew how religious she was. Sure, she never pushed her religion on anyone, and she didn’t really talk about it, but her parents had ingrained a healthy respect for the Church in both her and her brother, Peter.
Kade grew up in the Church, but he didn’t really think about it as much as she did. For him, he knew God existed, but he didn’t go to services, and she suspected he rarely prayed. Not because he wasn’t raised to be devout. He’d just suffered a lot in life that steered him away from prayer and churchgoing. This offer from Kade spoke to his love for her more than his love of the Church.
A tear leaked out, and she brushed it away. Damn hormones.
“Hey, now, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He swiped at another tear that escaped. “I thought this would make you happy.”
“It does.” She hiccupped. “I don’t know why I’m crying. Stupid hormones.”
“I know our first wedding wasn’t what you wanted. It was in front of the justice of the peace with your brother and Jasmine as witnesses.”
“And a white summer dress from Target. Not even close to a wedding dress.” She remembered that day vividly. It had been pouring down rain. At the time, she thought it was a bad omen, and later, after the losing the baby and Peter’s murder, she’d thought she should have listened to her instincts about the rain. Rain, however, was not a bad omen. It was a very good omen, so in retrospect, that good omen had brought her and Kade back together again.
“I think Peter grouched about that dress more than you did.” Kade chuckled, and it vibrated through her. She loved his laugh. It made her want to grin all the time.
“He was pissed about the whole thing. He wanted me to have a church wedding but gave in when you said your family couldn’t come.”
“I did a lot of lying back in those
days.” The somber tone that slid over her this time made her tense. He had lied so much back then. She’d never really known him, only the pieces he allowed her to see. “I wanted so much to tell you everything, but my handler wouldn’t let me. I was scared shitless you’d leave me when you found out the truth, so I didn’t push him.”
“I would have left you.” Angel turned so she could look him in the eyes. “I was a stubborn, hotheaded ass who thought I knew everything. I would have left, and Peter still would have died. Stop blaming yourself for everything. We can’t change the past. We can only move forward and try to make the future better than what we left behind us.”
“You are a wise woman, wife.” He swooped down and kissed her. Her toes curled when he deepened the kiss, and she wanted to yank him back the moment he withdrew. “Ah-ah, woman. Do you want me to get kicked out?”
“No.” She settled back against him, aroused and knowing there wasn’t a damn thing Kade could do about it. Bastard.
“Then stop acting like a spoiled brat.” He took the sting out of the words with a kiss to her temple. “Eat, get some sleep, and tomorrow we’ll be on our way to Florida.”
“If it’s a boy, I want to name him Peter.”
Kade was silent for a moment. “I think that’s a great idea, baby. Peter Ronin Kincaid.”
“Your father’s name?” Angel asked, surprised. She was certain he’d want to add in his own name.
“Yes. I’m worried about him. He’s had this ongoing cough for a while. I think Dimitri talked him into going to the doctor, but I’m afraid. I want him to meet his grandson named for him in case he’s sick.”
“Then we’ll name him Ronin Peter. We don’t want the kid picked on and called names. Peter was tormented in school over his name.”
Kade laughed and hugged her. “Thank you, baby.”
“You’re very welcome. Now, let’s eat before my stomach claws its way out to reach the food.”
They settled in for the night, and Angel couldn’t really think of anything but tomorrow and the flight to Miami. She would have her baby back soon.
And if anyone stood between her and her son, God help them.
