Cowboy Boots and Uncensored Behavior

by Acres, Natalie

  Scott glanced over his shoulder and acknowledged the hard look of determination in Drake’s eyes. He was pissed and the mission had turned even more personal.

  Scott didn’t have to ask why. The proof was asleep on Drake’s chest, whimpering every now and then when Cade hit a bump in the road.

  “We should’ve killed them,” Scott muttered, returning his focus to the side mirrors.

  “Yep,” Cade agreed. “We had a prime opportunity to take out Marianna.”

  “We couldn’t start a war there,” Drake said softly. “We didn’t know how many of those suites were occupied with innocent bystanders.”

  “I was more concerned about Marvio and his pack of thugs. They could’ve been anywhere. That club is too large with far too many hiding places. He could’ve been in the shadows chomping at the bit for a grand finale.” Scott glanced at Maria once more. “We could’ve played right into Marvio’s and Marianna’s hands.”

  They drove the rest of the way in silence, taking several alternate routes. They finally pulled up to their Parker, Texas compound at a little past eight o’clock in the morning. Exiting the vehicle together, four doors slammed and they spread out immediately, at least ten spaces between them before they entered the house.

  As Scott watched the others scatter to check the various security measures, he couldn’t help but think of robots. Had the Underground Unit operatives been trained so well that they were nothing more than programmed humans, trained to respond one way or another to each and every circumstance in life?

  “All clear,” Cade called out from the second level.

  “Clear here,” Drake said, after he checked the master suite on the first floor.

  “I’m clear,” Maria announced, returning from the basement.

  “We’re all set.” Scott used his phone to check advanced surveillance options. Anything abnormal would’ve triggered an alarm before they’d reached the compound but he couldn’t risk taking their safety for granted. Maria’s sister had proven how lax they’d been at the club.

  They couldn’t afford another error. A mistake could cost them their lives.

  “I need a shower then we’ll call Donovan,” Maria said.

  “Too late.” Scott held up his vibrating phone. “He knows.”

  “Put him on speaker,” Cade said. “We might as well get this over with.”

  “Maria?”

  She nodded then shook her head. Weakened by what had transpired at the club, she looked helpless and Scott couldn’t stand to see her so shattered. She’d shown strength in the face of adversity, but at the thought of discussing the footage with Donovan, she crumbled behind closed doors.

  She was hurting and he was pissed. The rage brewing inside him was like a forest fire burning out of control, whipping one way and then another, picking up speed as time traveled. Soon, everything in its path would know its tremendous fury. Scott’s anger was deadly and when it came to Maria, nothing would stop him from exerting revenge.

  The phone continued to buzz.

  “Baby?”

  “Answer it,” she grated out in a hoarse voice.

  Scott hit the speaker option and said, “We can explain this one.”

  “Like hell you can!” Brock bellowed.

  “We met up with Marianna, the sister,” Cade explained.

  “Oh so let me guess. She’s the one you’re fucking in the home video?”

  A soft cry slipped from Maria’s lips and she shook off what must’ve been an unnerving moment. Covering her mouth with her small hand, she slumped to a nearby chair, gripping the arm as if it represented a lifeline.

  “Brock, we’ve had a long night—”

  “Of course you have, Drake,” Brock interrupted him. “Let me guess what you were doing. Fucking until dawn sound about right?”

  “Like you’ve never been caught with your pants down,” Maria muttered.

  Drake winked at her and mouthed, “That a girl.”

  “You listen to me, Maria. Pay attention. Okay? You’re still a rookie in my book. Just because you’ve proven yourself invaluable in certain situations, never forget this—you are a criminal’s sister. You have a lot to prove and no room for slip-ups.”

  “I understand that.”

  “Then what the fuck do I have on my computer right now?”

  Scott’s rage-o-meter spun in circles. He paced back and forth trying to decide the best way to broach the video subject. Before he had the opportunity, Cade said, “You have a recording of what Marianna used to blackmail us.”

  “I got that much, Livingston. Thanks. Now maybe you can tell me why I have this in the first place?”

  Cade hurriedly recapped their evening. He didn’t leave out much and his story mirrored what Scott might have told the authority as well, only he probably wouldn’t have covered the explicit scenes from the night. Donovan had more than enough proof to fill in the blanks there.

  “Did it ever occur to you that the gal from the fetish place might have been setting you up?”

  “Never.” Scott glanced at Maria. “I’ve been a customer there for years.”

  “Same here,” Cade admitted.

  “So you know this Dominique?”

  “Yes,” Cade and Scott said in unison.

  “And there’s no chance she double-crossed you?”

  “None,” Cade said confidently.

  “Anyone can be bought for a price,” Maria said, apparently convinced of foul play somewhere.

  “You and Marianna are carbon copies of one another. She surely knew what she was doing when she gave you a key to Marianna’s private suite.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking, Brock,” Maria said.

  “Can you be more specific about the threat?”

  “We had a choice, Donovan—you or a social networking site for home movies. I figured you’d see the tape either way so here we are.”

  “I didn’t watch it,” Brock said.

  Of course he didn’t. The man was so obsessed with Sydney, he probably had better things to do.

  “Thank you.” Maria breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That’s Kevin’s department. He watched enough to fill me in.”

  Horror stamped its mark on Maria’s face once more.

  “Did it ever occur to you to sweep the place before you used it for your own gratification?”

  “Why would it?” Drake asked. “We didn’t know we were going there. It was a—”

  “Spontaneous decision?” Brock grunted. “Apparently the Longhorn division as a collective group makes a lot of those. Maybe this will teach you a lesson.”

  “Brock, I don’t want that tape out. Marianna made her demands. Can we meet them?”

  “No,” he deadpanned. “We don’t negotiate with our targets. She didn’t even buy herself another night’s sleep.”

  “I understand.” Maria took a deep breath, probably coming to terms with what Brock meant. Her family would be dead long before dawn fell on a new day.

  A quick move might save them later. A tape could still leak to the social networking sites. Scott was willing to bet the footage had already been prepped for submission.

  “The only thing I can’t figure out is why Marianna would want to release an incriminating video when she looks just like you. Any ideas?” Brock asked.

  “I thought about that, too,” Scott said. “And I know why. She only showed us clips of what she had. She mentioned we’d each called Maria out by name so that takes her out of the equation in her twisted mind, but it’s more than that. She wants to discredit the Underground Unit. Think about it. If threats are coming in for all divisions, the cartel wants to make us look bad to more than the authority.”

  Brock said, “They’re going after our financial sources.”

  “That’s my guess. If they can discredit us in the eyes of the public and draw enough attention to our extra-curricular activities then it will be harder to come up with funding for future missions.”

  “It didn’t help ma
tters that you were in a private suite in an expensive lifestyle club. You may be right, Scott. They’ve tried to shut us down by beating us down or killing us off one by one. That didn’t work. If they can show where we are abusing the appropriated funds, we lose our backing and they can traffic their guns and drugs.”

  “Exactly,” Scott said.

  “That was a mistake,” Brock said. “Listen up, team. In light of this new…evidence…there’s a change of plans.”

  A brief silence followed. Cade, Drake, and Scott swapped glances.

  “We don’t play around once the threats start. To best protect our operatives in all divisions, we’re moving tonight.”

  Jumping the gun wasn’t necessarily the best recourse, but Scott agreed with this decision. It was in Maria’s best interest to shut down her brother and sister before they attacked first.

  “I’ll see who I can spare, but you guys will be short,” Brock said. “Jett and Riley are already on their way. Crue and Gabe, from the US-West division, will be in position soon. Remingtons are caretaking at the moment.”

  “Nevada?” Drake asked.

  “Yes,” Brock replied. “Manny needs the opportunity to recover without opposition from the outside.”

  “Good to know,” Scott said.

  Brock hurriedly covered the intelligence needed for the forthcoming operation. When he finished, he said, “Rest up, team. The concert is tonight. Considering the circumstances surrounding this event, there’s bound to be a lot of noise.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Maria sat in the padded, enclosed windowsill. She drew her knees to her chest and fastened her arms around her calves.

  Cade stood in the doorway for a long time just watching her, observing her from afar, yet close enough to carry on a conversation.

  Finally, she tired of the waiting game. “Is there something you want to say or should I let Scott know I have a new stalker?”

  Cade chuckled. “Can I come in?”

  “I’d prefer it. You’ve been standing there for the last five minutes and it’s starting to make me feel a little uncomfortable.”

  “Can’t a man admire a woman from a distance anymore?”

  “Not if that woman is mine.” Scott marched by him and gathered her in his arms. “Hey, baby.”

  Taking a deep breath, Maria thought about mentioning the pet name issue. Since they’d had their moment—a moment that wasn’t private, but theirs to own all the same—he’d begun to treat her like they’d picked up where they’d left off. At the thought, she pulled away from him.

  Cade followed her with this heated gaze, a gaze full of lust and need, a desire so deeply embedded now she detected something more than want there. He cared for her and she was a little surprised given the way he typically treated the women he’d taken to his bed.

  She could explain and understand her own feelings much better than she could analyze Cade’s. She’d watched over them. She’d been their shadow for nearly two years. When they’d had triumphs, she’d celebrated their victories. When they’d suffered loss, she’d cried right along with them.

  “I’m not one for playing the guessing game, Cade,” she said, standing in front of him. “What’s on your mind?”

  “You.”

  “Me.” She focused on Scott who seemed unmoved.

  “I wanted to see if you’re all right.”

  A sarcastic laugh slipped from her lips. “Am I all right?” She lifted her arms and let them fall to her sides. “My brother and sister are responsible for the demise of this team.” She shook her head and processed as she spoke. “They killed some of our men. They nearly destroyed you and Drake.” Her voice broke and she looked the other way, willing away the tears pooling in her eyes, scared if he saw them he would translate the meaning behind them. Unable to hide, she swiftly wiped her cheeks, swiping away the evidence of a broken heart, a confused conscience.

  She took a deep breath. “Just when I think the loneliness of being a shadow is destroying my identity, my boss thrusts me into the middle of a group who clearly detested the whole woman-shadow concept. Then, what happens? I fuck them.” She laughed, but her laugh sounded like a broken sob. “And where do I fuck them?” She dragged three fingers across her forehead. “In my sister’s damn private fetish club suite.”

  “Maria.” Scott took a step forward. “Don’t do this.”

  She waved him away. “But that’s not the best of it. Oh no. We fuck. We all have a good time. It’s obvious it’s a fling and we’re all in it for the sex. And then what happens? We find out we’ve been recorded. Now, here we are just hours away from negotiating a deal with my sister—one she thinks will save her—and we will be ordered to kill her, my brother, too, if we can find him.” She whipped around and faced Cade and Scott then, only to find Drake there, too. “I’m just swell. How the hell are you?”

  “It wasn’t just sex,” Cade said, marked concern in his furrowed brow.

  She shook her finger at him. “Ha. Now that’s a funny one.” She turned her attention to Scott. He wasn’t laughing. He didn’t look angry either, which was rather strange given his obsessive personality, at least where she was concerned.

  Cade went to her. “I’m putting my heart on display and you’re laughing at me?”

  “You really want to further complicate things right now, Cade?” She glared at him, hoping he’d show her that cocky attitude she’d seen him flaunt so many times. If he’d show her that self-assured rogue of a man, she’d show him what she had in return.

  “I care about you.”

  “Do you?” She walked over to him and touched the patch on his eye. He flinched when her fingers dipped underneath the black oval covering. She gave the leather patch a hard yank and the piece fell to the floor.

  He became stoic, rigid in fact. She could sense his agony and his quiet rage.

  Nearly stilled by the sewn flesh marking his eye, she forced herself to finish what she’d started. She gently rubbed the scar tissue and whispered, “Could you honestly look me in the eye and fuck me, knowing the woman behind the men who carved out your eye looks exactly like me!”

  “Stop this,” he grated out, grabbing her wrist. “You’re deliberately trying to push me away.”

  “And aren’t you the smart one, Popeye?” She deliberately took her sister’s throaty rasp, trying her best to sound like Marianna.

  Cade’s face drained of color.

  “Maria, that’s enough.” Scott looked at her with concern rather than anger but his voice was firm. “You’re hurting and we all understand but that’s not an excuse to lash out at those who mean something to you.”

  She turned on him quicker than a rebounding mad bull in the middle of a rodeo. “I’m hurting?” She balked at that. “And just why would I be in pain when today is the day I walk away from my family once and for all!”

  “Because they’re still your blood,” Drake said quietly.

  “And their blood will be on my hands,” she whispered, jerking as she said as much.

  Scott sneered. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  * * * *

  Scott’s exit rattled her. Cade could clearly see the surprise scribbled across her face yet she didn’t follow him. She didn’t plead with him to change his mind.

  Still, she must have known Scott was headed for the phone with every intention of calling Donovan and having her pulled out of the operation.

  Cade sat on the edge of the sofa. In the distance, Scott screamed. He was cursing like a sailor. Clearly, the conversation wasn’t going his way.

  “That’s why you didn’t try to stop him,” Drake said. “You knew Donovan would tell him no.”

  “He’s not pulling me off the case. I’d have to fuck Sydney for him to pull me off. Fucking the three of you clearly didn’t do the trick.”

  Cade shook off his original train of thought. “Wait a minute. You wanted him to take you out of this operation?”

  Maria dragged her fingers through her ha
ir. “It wouldn’t matter if I worked for the cartel and had been ordered to kill them both, my brother and sister will never fear me. I’ll always be able to get close to them. They trust me more than they trust one another and they’d forgive me if I asked for their forgiveness.”

  “Why?” Drake asked, immediately guarded.

  Cade knew that look. He’d seen it many times before. Maria was on dangerous ground now. Her siblings might have trusted her, but her recent lover did not. Drake didn’t give away his trust easily. Once an orphan, Drake had been tossed from one home to the next. Drake had once told the team, family was synonymous with ultimate betrayal. Considering what Maria had been hired to do, Cade couldn’t necessarily present a sound argument.

  “I was the kid who knew everything about each of them. When we were children, I was the only one out of twelve who never participated in tattle-tales. There were four girls and eight boys. Throughout life, I’ve known their secrets. I’ve been the one they could count on. My life has been about sacrifice and all of those sacrifices were made for them.”

  “They know who you are now, Maria,” Cade said carefully. “Don’t ever fool yourself into believing that because you had their trust in the past, you still have it now. Your sister would’ve gained enough intelligence from the conversation that took place in her suite before you and Scott arrived to more or less make a sound judgment call on where you stand.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what you might have said. They’d have to see the betrayal with their own eyes. They’d have to hear it straight from me.”

  “They know you’re employed by the Underground Unit. Do you honestly believe you can waltz right into your brother’s compound tonight and they won’t question you?” Cade shook his head. “If you believe that, you’re naïve.”

  “You would have to know more about our history in order to understand the level of trust established within our family.”

  “I’m listening,” Cade said.