Cowboy Boots and Uncensored Behavior

by Acres, Natalie

“Just what I wanted…my buddy’s leftovers.”

  “If I remember correctly, you once said—verbatim I might add—‘that’s one of your hand-me-downs I wouldn’t mind trying on for size,’ and if I remember correctly, you were mighty smitten with her.”

  “Smitten is one thing. Wanting to marry one of your seconds is another story.” He released a hard breath. “Suzy, I apologize. You don’t need to hear all this shit, but damn it I’m not happy about this.”

  “I don’t mind.” Suzy winked. “In fact, I like Melody. The two of you are a match made in heaven.”

  Manny narrowed his gaze on his best friend’s wife. She was too smug and acted like she was sitting on the world’s greatest secret. “What the hell is going on here?”

  “What’s going on is you’re about to say ‘I do’ and one of these days, you’ll thank us.”

  “Don’t wait by the mailbox for that note of gratitude, Donovan.”

  “Should we tell him or let him find out on his own?” Riley asked.

  “Tell me what?” Manny searched their faces one at a time.

  “She’s a virgin,” Drew blurted out. “That’s just for starters.”

  “She’s a what?” Manny nearly went rigid with the statement, even though he figured they were deviling him. They wanted a rise out of him and by God, that little revelation earned them a standing ovation.

  Suzy laughed. “Come on now, Manny. You have heard of those before.”

  “Fuck no I haven’t. What do you mean she’s a virgin?” He turned on Brock. “They’re serious?”

  “Drew would know more about that than I would.”

  Drew shrugged. “I didn’t tap that.”

  “Did you try?” Suzy waved her hand in front of Drew’s face. “Forget I asked. Of course you did.”

  “You’re serious?” Manny tried to process the new information, but it was sort of difficult when he kept thinking about the first time he saw her. She had been seated on the floor next to the other subs positioned in front of their Doms during the opening act held at The Underground in Las Vegas.

  Her flaming red hair had tumbled across her ivory-toned shoulders when she’d turned her head to acknowledge him. Drew had introduced them, but she’d barely acknowledged him until he’d walked away and taken his post across the room. Once there, he’d watched her from afar, admiring the way she seemed to respect Drew’s wishes, but more than anything else, he’d savored the way she’d followed him with those daring green eyes, the eyes of a vixen, a real seductress.

  “She can’t be a virgin.”

  “Riley,” Brock muttered.

  “What does Riley have to do with her purity status?”

  “He processes our medical records,” Drew reminded him.

  He shook off the news of her virginity crisis and cursed his forthcoming ceremony. “How the hell am I supposed to pull off a man-and-wife act with a damned virgin?”

  “I don’t know, Manny,” Brock snapped, walking ahead of them. “But I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

  * * * *

  “You may kiss your bride,” the officiating minister finally said after a good fifteen minutes of some sort of love, honor, and commitment spiel.

  Manny turned to his bride and lifted her veil. “Was all this brouhaha really necessary?”

  “In my family, a girl only marries once,” Melody said, brushing a straying curl away from her cheek. She tilted her face upward and seemingly awaited the kiss to seal the deal.

  In those few passing seconds, Manny realized he was in trouble. He’d faced dangers in the past. He’d been on impossible missions with little chance for survival, but this operation—this upcoming task, would be the kind of assignment destined to leave one of them forever ruined.

  “Kiss your bride, Manny, and let’s get out of here,” Drew said, nudging him from the back.

  “Fuck it,” Manny muttered, framing her face and deciding then he might enjoy the damned kiss.

  His lips skimmed past hers and he meant to keep it brief, just kiss her for ceremony purposes then back out gracefully. To his dismay, he sort of liked the feel of her silken lips parting for his, the way her tongue fluttered right inside his mouth like a wicked claiming of sorts. He had to give the gal props. She made a solid effort to show him she fully intended to take her wife gig to the next level.

  At the thought, self-preservation kicked in and he backed away from her with a sharp curse under his breath. Her green eyes met his with a hint of devilment dancing behind them. “Well I guess I’ve underestimated my opponent.”

  “We’re on the same side,” he said, aware of the others watching them.

  “I’ll remind you of those very words…often.” Her full lips curved in a generous smile. “Game on, Mr. Mancini.”

  “Don’t get too comfortable with my last name,” he warned her, realizing their first kiss was anything but a flag to wave them ahead into matrimonial bliss.

  She was apparently prepared to dish out a comeback when a vibrating noise rumbled through the chapel. Manny padded down his pockets and cursed under his breath.

  His new bride bunched her white dress in her hands and thrust her shapely leg forward. “I never leave home without it.”

  His gaze dipped instinctively as if his mind already knew what kind of prize he’d find. He started at her bone-thin ankle and worked his way up her shapely calf, admiring the leg of a runner, of a woman who clearly worked out on a daily basis so she could one day drive a man—a man like him, no doubt—out of his ever-loving mind.

  “Longhorns are under attack,” Brock announced, cutting off his slow glide, a visual pursuit he’d thoroughly enjoyed.

  “Some operative you are,” Melody snapped, inching her dress higher and doubling the short train over her arm so she could free her cell phone from the sexiest damn garter belt Manny had ever seen. It might have been plain, but the fire-engine-red lace was enough to make Manny as hard as steel as the adrenaline rush of a pending mission sped through his veins.

  “We gotta move!” Brock shouted.

  Melody tossed him her phone and lifted up her dress, hurrying to the back of the chapel. He hurriedly read the text and fell right in behind her. David had sent out a signal for help. Apparently, their Parker, Texas compound was under attack, and no one there had been prepared.

  The second text confirmed who was on-site and unarmed—Scott, Cade, Drake, and Maria.

  “Fuck,” he muttered. He didn’t have to guess what they might have been up to prior to the attack.

  Melody’s dress caught on a hook when she rounded the chapel doors and headed to the dressing room. Manny smirked as he passed her and she cursed at his back.

  “Damn it, they need me, Manny!”

  He kept right on walking. They needed her about like he needed her.

  “You can’t go inside! The Longhorn Unit operatives think you’ve been pulled out!”

  He stalled then, aware of Brock, Riley, and Drew grabbing their personal belongings from the room he’d used to dress for his big day—and what a memorable day it was.

  He’d just married a woman he didn’t know. Instead of a honeymoon, he was about to send her into a combat zone, and for some reason, that fact greatly disturbed him.

  “She’s right,” Brock said, tossing him the keys to the SUV. “You’re the pilot on this one, but don’t fuck this up Mancini. I don’t want to explain why you’re still around when everything else was going so well.”

  “Of course it is, Donovan.” He snarled as his new wife threw her belongings in the back of the vehicle and tumbled in behind them.

  Grating out curse words when he caught a glimpse of her garter again, he whispered, “The last thing I’d want to do right now is piss you off when you’ve made a royal mess out of my life.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  If David hadn’t been covering them, they might have all been dead by now. Cade darted inside the pool house and hurriedly searched the closet for clothing. Coming up with a robe,
he tossed the garment over his shoulder, released a lever on the far wall and took a step back.

  Collecting weapons and other necessary gear from their secret room, Cade packed a duffle bag and sprinted out the same way he’d entered. He ducked behind a row of bushes and crawled to the spot where he’d left Drake, Scott, and Maria right after they’d been fired upon.

  “This is the best I could do,” Cade said, thrusting the housecoat in her direction.

  Maria quickly wrapped the bulky robe around her and tied the sash. Pushing her hands in deep pockets, she said, “Given the circumstances of our current predicament, I should probably be thankful.”

  Cade unloaded the guns and explosives while she filled her pockets with weapons and boxes of ammunition. The others selected a few firearms as well.

  “You all set?” Scott asked, glancing at her.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she fired back.

  Drake said, “Maria, we don’t have a live line to keep in touch. Make sure you watch yourself out there and—”

  “Drake, this isn’t my first rodeo.” She squeezed his arm. “Relax. I’ve got this.”

  Then, as if she had something to prove, the spunky vixen barreled out of the bushes, rolled to a nearby tree and sprinted across the patio.

  “Fuck!” Scott screamed. “She’s already inside!”

  “She isn’t the only one,” Drake said, tilting his head to the second floor and stopping Scott before he sped across the lawn and launched his tall form right into the direct line of fire.

  “Let me go, Davenport,” Scott grated out, pulling his arm free.

  “Just hang on a minute!” Drake snapped. “You won’t do her any good if you die trying to save her!”

  “Is that who I think it is?” Cade grabbed the small pair of binoculars and lunged forward.

  “What’d you get?” Drake asked, yanking his cell phone free of his jeans.

  “Can’t be,” Cade said, thrusting the field glasses at Scott. “Take a look at this. Check three over and five from the right and tell me who you see.” If anyone knew the players in the Esparza organization, Scott did.

  While Scott slowly worked the field glasses from left to right, Cade loaded their weapons and Drake hurriedly described their dire circumstances and current positions to the authority. “Donovan needs a confirmation on who we’re dealing with here, Zelmore.”

  “I can’t tell,” Scott said, gripping the binoculars still tighter.

  “Their ETA is ten minutes. You gotta give me something, brother.”

  Cade loaded a sniper rifle and crawled away from the other operatives. He searched the upstairs windows and awaited movement, ready to fire upon anyone who dared to show himself.

  Behind him, Drake said, “That’s affirmative. We have weapons but no lines. We’re flying solo here without communication. Maria is inside and—”

  Cade glanced over his shoulder when Drake paused. Relieved to find he was awaiting Scott’s final word, Cade turned back to the house, watching for movement and praying Maria would be safe.

  “We’ve got action on the far right, Cade!” Drake yelled.

  Cade took the shot. A light ping resounded. Seconds later a man fell forward. Glass shattered. The man tumbled off the roof and to the ground.

  Several of their uninvited guests appeared in different windows.

  “Affirmative!” Scott screamed, grabbing another box of ammunition. “We have company from Sicily, boys! Apparently Esparza’s sons are actively seeking a little retribution!”

  Cade cursed as he covered Scott. Zelmore wasted no time in entering the house. Blasts went off. Multiple shots were fired. Screams resounded.

  Drake kept in touch with the Donovans and announced their arrival while Cade fired off round after round of ammunition, unaware of what was transpiring inside. Were Maria, David, and Scott still alive or were they drawing their last breaths, awaiting assistance?

  Unable to maintain his post and wonder about the unknown, Cade snapped, “I’m going in.”

  “The authority said to stand down!” Drake called out to him as Cade made his way to the edge of the pool area, determined to storm the house as soon as he could. “They have one of the Remington brothers with them along with another operative, Cade! We wait for further instructions!”

  Drake could twiddle his thumbs if that’s what the authority ordered, but Cade didn’t sign on with the Underground Unit to watch the action from the outside. He had a job to do.

  His team was inside the house. More importantly, his woman was fighting a formidable enemy, an enemy born from hatred and nurtured in murder.

  He’d be damned if he’d let Maria face the Esparza organization without him.

  * * * *

  “What do we have here?”

  Maria whipped around and aimed her gun at a man she easily recognized as Gomez Gustavo Esparza’s son, the middle son if her memory served her, but not his deadliest. The Esparza dubbed as the brains behind the newly regrouped Esparza organization was too smart to step into the line of fire.

  “Lower your weapon, Miss Rodriquez.” His dark eyes narrowed.

  “That’s probably not gonna happen,” she told him, cocking the gun.

  Ferran Esparza cocked his as well. “No one has to die today. We just want to talk.”

  “You should’ve called before you stopped by. I would’ve made lemonade and we would’ve sat on the patio and basked in the sun.”

  “Perhaps then you would’ve dressed for company,” he said, clearly mocking her outdated robe.

  “Ah, you’re trying to insult me, and here I thought you might be more inclined to approve of my fashion statement.” She withdrew another gun from her housecoat. “With deep pockets, anything is possible. Ya know?”

  “You’re definitely your brother’s sister.” Ferran sneered. “My condolences, by the way. My sources tell me Marvio and Marianna both met their unfortunate demise just a few days ago.” Ferran narrowed his eerie gaze. “Tell me something, Maria. What did it feel like to pull the trigger and send your brother and sister back to hell?”

  “This question coming from a man who has likely slaughtered plenty of family members just to move up the chain of command,” Scott said, stepping out of the shadows and immediately securing a sharp blade against Ferran’s throat.

  “Mr. Zelmore,” Ferran grated out.

  “That’s what I like to hear.” Scott tightened the blade against Ferran’s throat and turned him about thirty degrees to the right, obviously moving him so he couldn’t fire straight at Maria. “Your show of respect may have earned you a sudden death, instead of a torturous one.”

  A wicked laugh fell from his lips. “I wouldn’t slice just yet, Mr. Zelmore. I have a surprise for you.”

  Scott stilled. His muscles bulged. The acknowledgement of danger existed in his frown.

  About that time, a body tumbled down the front steps.

  “David!” Cade screamed, leaning over the second-level banister. Drew Remington stormed the house along with Drake. They entered the foyer with their sniper rifles leading the way. A tall redhead rushed in behind them with her weapon drawn. The lines of determination were clear in her presence and noted in the way she handled her firearm. She gripped the piece with both hands, entering cautiously.

  “Ah what a pity,” Ferran said, eyeing the newcomer.

  Scott bit back his evident rage. “What have you done, Ferran?”

  “You’ll see,” he sang.

  Drake ran across the tile floor and slid to his knees, propping up David’s head as he attempted to speak.

  The woman, definitely an operative, knelt beside him. She held her ear to his mouth. “What are you trying to say?”

  Drake leaned in closer. His face went pale and he jerked back.

  “What’s he saying?” Drew asked, keeping his gun on Ferran, too, but frantically scouring the open second level above them.

  “Drake!” Scott bore down on the tip of the knife, drawing a speckle of blo
od from Ferran’s neck. “Say something, man.”

  “No. This can’t be.” He shook his head vehemently and ripped open David’s shirt. He glared at the boxed device on his chest.

  Maria gasped. The red digits of the timer were clearly seen from where she stood.

  “Oh God, no!” Drake scrambled away from David and stomped to the steps, apparently spotting someone on the second floor. He drew his weapon and fired repeatedly until another one of Esparza’s thugs tumbled over the banister and crashed to the floor, landing right beside David. He then pivoted left and yelled, “He’s wearing a bomb! You have to get her out of here! We have less than two minutes!”

  The female operative’s horrified look was enough to confirm suspicions, too. The dire straits of their situation became clear. She slowly rose to her feet and met Drew’s gaze before she glanced at Scott and shook her head. “There’s no way. I’ve seen this technology before. I’ve been working with Kevin trying to figure out how we can dismantle bombs like these, but there’s no way to disarm it after the timer is set.”

  Maria watched in horror as Drake returned to David’s side. “Ah man, I’m so sorry.” Drake dragged David outside where Riley and Brock joined them.

  Ferran’s grin widened as Scott slung him against the far wall. He grabbed one of Maria’s weapons and cocked the gun before he aimed it at Ferran’s forehead. Was he really about to use the last minute or so of David’s life to put this miserable bastard to death?

  Brock and Riley frantically worked with the harness secured to David’s body, creating quite the scene just outside the front door. Brock said a few words to David then backed away from him as if he had the plague—or a live bomb strapped to his chest.

  “You can’t just leave him here!” the redheaded woman screamed.

  “We have less than twenty seconds,” Brock said. “Back away, Melody. That’s an order.”

  “Our pilot said to get her out of here!” Riley screamed, obviously transmitting a message from Manny, regardless of how they wanted to disguise the fact.

  As if Scott finally grasped the seriousness of the situation, he grabbed hold of Maria’s hand, pushed Ferran ahead of them and yelled, “Run!”