Brazen (B-Squad #1)

Home > Romance > Brazen (B-Squad #1) > Page 7
Brazen (B-Squad #1) Page 7

by Avery Flynn


  The question was would Bianca be doing that with or without him? It was one she didn’t have an answer for and didn’t have time to think about now. They had a mission to complete, a friend to rescue and a drug kingpin to force out of business. After that? Maybe her heart could take giving Taz a second chance.

  “Come on. We’re going to land soon and we still need to do a final team briefing.” She opened the door. “Let’s grab a coffee and get this show on the road.”

  Chapter 8

  Taz

  Taz leaned back against the kitchenette’s shelf and rubbed his palm against his newly shorn hair. After confronting Tamara with Camacho’s information about her arrest warrant, she’d spilled like an overfilled dog bowl. She’d confirmed everything the freelance investigator had dug up and filled in the blanks in ways that made him want to hurl. The situation with Tamara was worse than he’d figured, and the bar had already been set pretty fucking low.

  “So your claim is that your sister’s ex-husband was planning to auction off his own daughter’s virginity to raise cash for his little militia religious cult?”

  Tamara’s jaw tightened and her hands curled into fists. “Oh he wouldn’t call it that, but that’s exactly what it was.”

  “And what would he call it?”

  “An arranged marriage.”

  Shit. He did not have time for this. They were thirty thousand miles above the Pacific Ocean on their way to take out a drug dealer who’d outmaneuvered them at every turn and wanted to harm the woman Taz loved, and now he had to deal with a power-hungry lunatic willing to barter his own daughter for gold. It almost made him miss the good old days when he didn’t give two shits about anyone but himself. Of course, then he’d met Bianca and his whole world had changed.

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, he outlined his options. First, the authorities. His brother Keir had connections everywhere, but they’d already used up almost every favor owed in their search for the Genie’s Wish kingpin. Plus, it was going to take a lot to get someone true blue to overlook an active warrant. Still, if she had something concrete, he could find someone to listen.

  “What kind of proof do you have?” Taz asked.

  She shook her head. “Nothing that would stand up in a court of law, which is why I had to take Essie and run, why we have to keep running.”

  Okay, the authorities were a no go. Second option, the B-Squad. Since all of them were currently in the same jet as he was, that was a no go too. Third, Camacho. The freelance investigator wasn’t a team player, but he had the tools to keep Tamara and Essie safe until evidence was found showing how much of a danger Jarrod was to the girl. And if that didn’t come through, Camacho could help them get lost—he’d already done it with his own identity.

  “And the million dollars you tried to extort from me was supposed to finance this?”

  She didn’t avert her gaze, but her cheeks turned pink. “I have some money but not enough. I didn’t have any other way to get enough for the fake identities and to start a new life.”

  “You have the contacts for those?” He already knew the answer, but he had to ask.

  Her chin jutted up. “I’ll get them.”

  Sure she would. More like she’ll lose half the cash to a scam artist. Taz scrubbed a palm across his face. Pain from a sudden tension headache stabbed him right through the temple. Leaving Tamara and Essie to their own devices was not an option. He had to put a call into Camacho and bring him up to speed before they landed at Indulgence Resort.

  “Where is Essie now?”

  “Somewhere safe.” The statement came out sharp, but Tamara couldn’t hide the worried wobble in her tone.

  In over her head didn’t begin to describe the situation. If she’d only told him the truth earlier… “Why not ask for help?”

  She choked out a pained laugh. “Are you kidding? Who would help me?” She closed her eyes and exhaled a deep breath. “Look, we both know that I’m not a good person. I never have been. I’m selfish, mean and willing to do whatever it takes to get my way. Everyone sees me that way. Hell, it’s exactly how I see myself because it’s true. But my sister? She didn’t.”

  She raised her gaze to the ceiling and blinked several times before bringing her focus back to him. “She was the one person who saw something else. I owe her for not coming to help sooner. It’s my fault she was trapped with Jarrod as long as she was. She needed my help and I was too busy being a bitch to do her any bit of good.” Tears spilled over her cheeks in black-tinted rivers and the tip of her nose was Rudolph red. “I shouldn’t have tried to extort you but it was the only option I could come up with. Essie is a sixteen-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her—but only if I can keep her away from Jarrod. And we have to hide so well he’ll never find us, because he won’t give up. If he gets her back to Idaho, she’ll be married off to the highest bidder and then hidden away in a commune where women are considered living proof of Eve’s sin and made to pay for it every day. Please. She’s just a girl.”

  On the last word, Tamara’s voice cracked and her whole body seemed to curl into itself. For the first time since she’d waltzed off the elevator and into his living room, he didn’t think she was full of shit. Too much of her story rang true and fit in with what Camacho had already told him.

  In that moment, as her shoulders shook and she wept silently, she wasn’t the bitch ex-wife who’d turned Taz’s life upside down. Instead, she was the woman he’d met at a McDonald’s all those years ago when they were both sneak-eating a Big Mac. They’d bonded over the high-calorie pleasure forbidden for both of them—for her, because she was expected to win the Miss American Beauty contest in a few days, and for him, because he was in training for his next big fight.

  Obviously, she was scared, hurt and overwhelmed. She needed to know someone was in her corner and right now, for better or worse, that person was him.

  “Fuck me,” he groaned as he drew her into his arms. “We’ll figure something out to keep Essie safe.”

  Tamara looked up at him, her face a blotchy red mess, complete with running mascara, and gave him a shaky smile. “Thank you, Taz. I promise you won’t regret it.”

  She lifted herself on her tiptoes and leaned toward him just as he turned his head. The kiss she’d no doubt meant for his cheek, ended up on his lips.

  Right at that moment the curtain blocking the kitchenette from the rest of the cabin was flung open. Instinctively, he pushed Tamara back. Elisa stood there with a blonde woman who looked completely pissed off even though he had no clue who—oh hell.

  Tamara was wrong. He was regretting it already.

  Bianca

  Fury smacking both of her cheeks red, Bianca whipped the curtain closed, turned on her stiletto-clad foot and marched down the cabin to the large television screen embedded in the wall. Elisa followed on her heels while the rest of the team avoided her gaze. Vivi was in the cockpit, piloting the jet, but the intercom was on so she could hear everything that her former boss said. DEA agent Clay Blackfish was already on the screen, scowling as usual. Good. That made them even on the shitty mood continuum.

  “Where in the hell is Bianca?” the agent asked as he scanned the assembled B-Squad members, his gaze traveling past her in her Bethany getup.

  “Right here,” she said and sat down in a chair situated in the middle of the table directly in front of the screen.

  Clay’s dark eyes widened. “Well, fuck me.”

  “No thank you.” She flipped open the folder that contained all of her mission notes. “Can we get down to business now?”

  The agent chuckled. “Yep, it’s you alright.”

  No one on her end of the camera let out even a squeak of a giggle—the amount of tension in the room didn’t allow for that.

  “Holy crap.” Clay let out a low whistle. “Taz, if I didn’t already know the situation, I wouldn’t have picked you out of a lineup.”

  Keeping her chin high and her shoulders straight, she refused to peek over
her shoulder at the man she could feel approaching. If she closed her eyes, all she’d see would be him and Tamara locked in an embrace, which was pretty much the last thing she needed if she wasn’t going to ruin the ten pounds of contouring makeup Elisa had used to alter her appearance.

  “Blackfish.” Taz acknowledged the agent before sitting down at the table next to Bianca.

  She stiffened. She couldn’t help it. Knowing he might be accidentally still married to a woman he hadn’t seen in years was one thing, seeing him kiss her quite another. The pencil in her hand snapped. With exacting care, she sat it to the side and got another from the cup on the table.

  “After three days sitting bored off our asses on this boat in the middle of fucking nowhere in the Pacific, I was beginning to think this plan of Bianca’s didn’t have a one-legged dog’s chance of winning,” Clay said, interrupting her train of thought before she figured a way into the armory in the jet’s locked hull. “However, I have to say, seeing you two has upped my confidence significantly. I give this mission a solid thirty-eight percent chance of being a success.”

  “As always, I’m overwhelmed by your support,” Bianca said, letting Clay’s snarky pessimism roll off her back.

  It took twenty long minutes to go over the last-minute details with the DEA agent and the rest of the B-Squad. The latest rumors were that the newest formula of Genie’s Wish was its most powerful and was nearly ready for distribution. Every unsavory character with a power trip and a grudge was lining up for a piece of the action. Not surprisingly for those without any sort of ethics or conscience, having the chance to control your enemies by turning them into a walking zombie obsessed with sex, violence or risk was too good to pass up.

  “One last thing, Bianca,” Clay said before she could hit the disconnect button. “I know your friend was spotted at the resort, but I can’t give you more than forty-eight hours before we go in. Period. No exceptions.”

  She didn’t like it, but she didn’t expect anything less. The B-Squad’s relationship with the DEA was prickly at best and if it wasn’t for the fact that the feds hadn’t been able to get anyone anywhere near as close to the people in charge of the drug ring as Bianca and her team had, they wouldn’t have any relationship at all.

  “Trust me,” she replied, her finger hovering over the end-call button as she glanced over at Taz. “The sooner we can end this charade, the better.” And that went for the mission too.

  She pushed the button and the screen went blank.

  No one said a word as she pushed her chair back and stood up, the balls of her feet protesting. The sky-high heels weren’t really her thing, but they were the perfect exclamation point to the Bethany look—and that’s all that mattered. Her pulse picked up when Taz stood behind her, close enough that the woodsy scent of his cologne wrapped around her. Fighting its siren call, she surveyed the rest of her team. As soon as the jet landed in a few minutes, she wouldn’t see them again until all of this was over and they had Gidget.

  “Okay, it’s go time,” she said. “Remember to stick to the plan. You’ll wait for us to disembark and then take the private car to the marina. A chartered boat will take you to the Sutherland yacht anchored a few miles out to sea. Everything you’ll need is either in the bags we brought or already onboard the ship. If you’ve got any questions, comments or concerns, voice ’em now.”

  Lexie, Keir, Elisa, Duke and Lash didn’t move. Tamara raised her hand—the one with the big-ass diamond wedding ring on it.

  “I need to tell you something,” she said.

  Bianca narrowed her eyes and gave the other woman a look that should have sent her running. “This isn’t the time.”

  “Actually, it is.” Tamara’s gaze skittered around the cabin, but she stood her ground.

  “Tamara—”

  Tamara held up her hand, cutting Taz off. “No, she needs to know before you get off this jet. I was so concerned with doing what had to be done that I didn’t think about anyone else. My niece Essie’s safety was the only thing I could concern myself with.” She paused long enough to let out a shaky breath. “Taz and I aren’t married. I filed the papers years ago, but I got in a jam with some very bad people, and extorting money so Essie and I could disappear seemed like the only solution. I figured the money would be in an offshore account long before he discovered the truth about our divorce.”

  She gave Taz an apologetic smile before turning her attention back to Bianca. “I was desperate to save my niece—I still am—but I shouldn’t have done what I did. What you saw in the kitchenette wasn’t what it looked like. After I confessed everything to Taz, he said he’d help me get Essie to a place where her father could never find her and use her for his own gain. I meant to give him a thank-you peck on the cheek, he turned his head, you walked in…and once again I made everything worse. I’m sorry.”

  Bianca swallowed and opened her mouth. Nothing came out. And here Bianca had thought she couldn’t be surprised any more after Tamara had waltzed into Taz’s loft that morning.

  Divorced. Extortion. Hiding. Essie. The various parts of Tamara’s explanation bounced around inside Bianca’s head, never quite settling down to form a cohesive thought. Considering the absolute silence in the cabin at the moment, she wasn’t the only one having trouble processing the news.

  A bing sounded, followed by static on the intercom.

  “While I love a good dramatic moment as much as the next chick,” Vivi’s voice came out of the cabin’s speakers, “it’s time to take your seats and buckle up. We’re here.”

  Chapter 9

  Taz

  Indulgence Resort

  Bianca snuggled up, pressing her curves against him and walking her fingers up the inseam of his pants. Sure it was all a show for the concierge sitting across from them in the back of the limo, but his cock didn’t give a fuck. The rest of him was doing too much mental celebration about not being married to put up any sort of fight.

  “So what made you choose Indulgence Resort for your honeymoon?” the concierge who’d met them at the small airport asked.

  “One of my clients recommended it.” Taz’s voice was as hard as his dick. “Said it was very relaxing.”

  “Don’t lie to the man, sugar.” Bianca pivoted in her seat, the move hiking up the hem of her already short skirt, and rubbed her palm against the hard length of him trying to tear through his slacks. “We came to start off our marriage with a big bang—literally.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time, no matter your ultimate goal,” the man said, his gaze glued to the sweet curve of Bianca’s legs as it narrowed on the upward track to the part of her covered only by a tiny bit of silk. “As you know, this is a lifestyler weekend, and as such, it is clothing optional. Being nude is not required, but most of our guests enjoy the freedom of it.”

  “Sounds divine,” Bianca practically purred as she uncrossed and crossed her legs, playing the Southern sorority sex kitten part to the hilt for the concierge.

  He was going to rip the other man’s eyes out. Not now, but once this mission was over, he and the dweeb in the Indulgence Resort golf shirt were going to have a little nonverbal chat.

  To keep from acting on his impulses, Taz closed his eyes and spent the rest of the short ride to the resort’s main lodge imagining Bianca swimming naked in the pool or brushing off a few sand pebbles from her perfect tits as she reclined in a beach chair. The image was enough to make his balls ache. He wasn’t the only one, judging by the tent in the concierge’s khakis. Being around a naked Bianca by himself was one thing, but letting everyone else see every luscious inch of her? He fisted his hands. Not punching the concierge in the jaw took more restraint than Taz liked.

  The limo stopped outside a large glass building that gave clear views of the bright blue ocean on the other side of the narrow island, allowing the guests to be voyeurs from the moment they arrived. It was decadent, luxurious, and deviant all at the same time—exactly what the Indulgence Resort promised.
>
  Bianca

  Getting lost in playing Bethany was a lot easier than processing Tamara’s mic drop moment on the jet. However, alone with Taz in their bungalow overlooking the Pacific, Bianca didn’t have that option. So she took the coward’s way out and dipped into the bathroom to strip out of her clothes. Not that it mattered. Taz and the rest of the guests were going to see her buck naked soon anyway.

  She didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much about the past twenty-four hours that she did, so why should things change now?

  Shaking out her fake blonde hair so the tips grazed her bare shoulders, she took a deep breath and then opened the bathroom door and walked out into the bungalow bedroom.

  Taz stood in the middle of the large bedroom, the king-sized bed behind him. His shirt was off and his hand was frozen on the top button of his pants. “You can’t go out there like that.”

  The low growl in his tone set off a wave of desire that rolled through her naked body, stiffening her nipples and making her breath catch. She kept to the opposite side of the room as she crossed the bamboo floor to the bay window that overlooked the ocean.

  “Of course I can, and so should you.” She kept her face turned away from him, but her gaze was drawn to his reflection in the window anyway. Damn this man. He was worse than kryptonite. “Didn’t you notice everyone in the lobby who wasn’t staff was in the buff? If we aren’t, we might as well dress up in a neon sign that says undercover agents.”

 

‹ Prev