by Linzi Baxter
“Right there. Shit… yeah… I can’t hold back!”
My body arched when I went over the edge. Antonio continued his relentless pressure on my clit and continued to pump his two fingers in and out. I rode his fingers until the last wave of my orgasm faded. Then Antonio pulled his fingers from my folds and licked them clean.
I could feel my juices running down my leg. Even though I had come a second ago, I wanted my legs wrapped around Antonio’s body. I tugged at his arms to come up. “I need you inside me. Please, Antonio.”
Antonio climbed up my body and whispered, “Put me where you want me.” I reached between us and grabbed Antonio’s hard member. Antonio moved his hips and pushed in. We’d had a lot of sex since we reconnected, but every time, I felt so full when he thrust into me.
Our eyes connected, and the love that shone in his was so strong that I almost had to look away. “I love you,” I whispered. Antonio pulled back and thrust in hard, then he leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. “I love you too, Kitty Kat.”
I gripped Antonio’s shoulders and tried to get him to move faster. My body was close to going over the edge a second time. He hit my G-spot with each thrust. Antonio reached his hand between us and pinched my clit, which caused me to come for the second time.
My velvety folds clenched against his member. Antonio followed me over, thrusting deep inside me one last time.
After a moment, Antonio leaned down and took my lips before rolling me to the side and pulling me tight against his body.
“You were amazing, love,” Antonio whispered.
“You did all the work.”
Antonio ran his hand up and down my arm, and it sent shivers through my body. “God, I’m happy I have you back in my life.”
Not much later, I realized I had fallen asleep in his arms. He moved to get up, and I went to get up with him. But he leaned down and said, “Sleep, Kat, I’m going to go put our son to bed.”
6
Antonio
The following morning at the office was filled with paperwork. I missed the days when I got to spend time out in the field and not behind the desk. The reports that needed to be read were piled up, and I needed to figure out which case we would take next. Jacob’s report regarding Lily was in my hand when my office door swung open.
Asher came in and sat in the leather chair in front of my desk. Zane followed behind and folded his large body into the other chair. The smiles plastered across their faces told me why they were in my office.
“I heard you caught your wife trying to hide a dead body.”
“Do you guys do any work, or do you sit around and gossip like women?”
“It’s not every day you find out your sister-in-law hasn’t given up her side job as an assassin.”
I glanced at the picture on my desk. Kat sat on the back patio, her red hair pulled up into a bun. She wore a tight white shirt that accented her curves. Ant sat on her lap, and they had smiles across their faces. My kitty cat of a wife might be small, but she was lethal.
“She’s done.” I pointed at Zane. “You need to make sure Sophie stops helping her.”
Zane leaned back in the chair. “You’re under the impression we can stop Kat and Sophie from doing what they want. Even though they have been separated from each other for years, I can tell they are sisters. Those two have been on their own for most of their lives, and they think they have to take on the world by themselves.”
“Goddammit, she will listen.”
“I doubt it. But we don’t have time to argue about that. Yesterday, Asher and I went through the list of names John sent us. One of the names on the list was Nebula Brack. CJ looked into the guy more and discovered he was a radical hiding under the guise of a doomsday prepper. His arrest list is a mile long—domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, and failure to pay taxes. He used his cover as a prepper to store guns in his underground bunker.”
Nebula had been our only lead, and it was a dead end. We needed a break in the case. Juan needed to be taken out.
“I take it he’s dead?”
Zane tossed the folder in his hand on the desk. When I opened the folder, it was filled with pictures of an underground bunker and a dead man.
“We infiltrated his bunker. He’s been dead for at least twenty-four hours. I bet Sanchez was waiting for him when he returned. The place had been turned upside down. Someone was looking for something, but we’re not sure they found what they were looking for.”
Asher leaned forward to point at the man in the photo. “Whoever killed him, besides turning the place upside down, cleaned out the weapon room of the bunker. From the cases that were left, we’re guessing they took heavy-grade military weapons. We need to let the FBI know.”
If we did, the FBI would want to take over the case. There were parts of the case that weren’t top secret. Director Charles Westblack had been a longtime friend of our family. He would be angry with me when he found out I left him in the dark. But he would want to take over the case. If it were any other case, I would call it in. This one was ours to solve and Juan ours to take down.
Before I could voice my thoughts, Zane said, “We can alert Charles once Sanchez is dead. I don’t want any Feds butting their noses into this case. If we find something for the FBI, I will send Charles a report when we are done.” Zane had as much at stake as I did—probably a little more because of his brother.
I glanced down at the file. Things weren’t adding up. “Why kill the bomb guy before you know you have completed a mission? Or was he watching from the bunker and took him out because he was angry the mission failed? Doomsday people like that have cameras everywhere. Did you find any video footage?” I asked.
Asher flipped to a picture of the bunker’s command area. “Someone took a hammer to the camera’s DVR server. CJ is working on recovering data from the disc. He’s pretty sure he will have it by the end of the day.”
“Call me as soon as the video footage comes in. I’m having lunch with Kat. Zane, can you look at the Limburger case?”
Mr. Limburger’s daughter had been missing for close to a year, and the trail the police had found went dry. Mr. Limburger was a friend of my father’s and asked if AA Security could take a look at the case.
Zane nodded before he stood up from the chair. Before he exited the door to my office, he turned to tell me one last thing. “Make sure your wife doesn’t murder anyone.”
“Fuck off.”
Once Zane and Asher exited my office, I went back to reading the file about Lily. Jacob reported that she had multiple bruises. Her husband had tried to come after her while they were exiting the testing center the previous day. Jacob apprehend him and called the police. Kat couldn’t kill him if he was in jail. One less item on my plate.
“Goddammit.”
I wanted to have a quick lunch with my wife. Instead, when I came to the parking lot at the Women’s Center, I found Kat’s SUV with “Bitch” painted across the side. I needed to figure out if Juan did it or if Greg had gotten out of jail.
I reached into my pocket to grab my phone and selected Kat from the favorites. “Kat, I’m going to have to cancel our lunch.”
If I told her about the car, she would want to come out and see what was going on. I needed her to stay inside until I figured out who we were dealing with. I took a couple more steps toward the SUV and noticed the front tire was slashed.
“Okay. I’ll run to the deli and grab something.” Kat’s words tore my attention away from the SUV.
“No!” I yelled.
“Oh, when have I ever listened to you? I’m hungry. It will only take a second.” Kat didn’t wait for my answer. She clicked off the phone.
I didn’t have time to call her back. My phone rang again immediately, and Neal’s name flashed across the screen. Neal was the CEO of Black Hat Security. He was an excellent hacker, and when our caseload got too large, he helped us out. CJ’s plate was full with the Juan case and the video he needed to retriev
e. I needed someone to retrieve the video footage from around the Women’s Center.
I swiped across the phone to answer. “Hey, Neal. I was about to call you.”
“I was calling to see if you were joining us for poker night tomorrow?”
“Sure. What time?”
“Club Sanctorum at nine. Now, what can I help you with?”
Once a month, Brock closed Club Sanctorum for poker night. Club Sanctorum wasn’t the only thing in the building. Blackwood Security was on the second floor, and the top floor held three apartments. The place also had top-of-the-line security. I felt safe taking Kat there. She could meet up with the girls while we played poker.
“Could you pull up the security cameras near Ross Women’s Outreach Center?”
“Give me a second.” I could hear his fingers fly across the keyboard. “I can see you. What do you want me to look for?” Neal was as good as CJ, probably even better, but I wouldn’t tell my brother-in-law that. I would end up electronically dead or on the no-fly list.
“I’m standing next to Kat’s car, and it’s been vandalized. Could you look through the video from this morning and see if you can find out who did it? I’m going to call the police and file a report.”
“No problem. I will call when I have something.”
“Thanks. I owe you one. We’re short-staffed right now. Everyone is working on Juan’s case, and I’m hesitant to bring in more people from White Hat.”
Sophie worked at White Hat, and she would want to work on the Juan case. Anything she would find she would take to her sister or keep from me. I knew Kat and her sister wanted to be the ones to take Juan out. I didn’t blame them. But I didn’t want my wife or sister-in-law to get hurt.
“Why? You worried your wife will find out and kill them?” Neal laughed through the phone.
“How have you already heard about this?”
“It was announced in a group text.”
The friends in our inner circle needed to have more activities in their lives. Kat’s killing people was the least of my worries. I was worried we didn’t know exactly who was after her this time.
“Call me with what you find, and stop encouraging my wife’s killing habit.”
I was examining the tire when I heard the click of high heels. I knew who it was before I saw her. I wish she would have listened to me. Whoever vandalized her car could be watching.
I pulled her into my arms before she got too close to the car. “I thought I told you to stay in.”
“Why are you here, and why didn’t you want to have lunch?” She peeked around my shoulder and looked at her car. “I’m going to fucking kill him!”
She tried to pull out of my arms. I tightened my hold around her waist. “You know who did this?”
Kat rested her head on my chest, giving into my need to have her in my arms. “Well, no, but I will kill the person when I find out who it is.”
This was the reason I didn’t want her to see what happened. She didn’t think to call the police. She went straight to the need to kill the person who vandalized her car. “You promised no more killing. I called the cops, and here they come.” I pointed in the direction of the cop car. “You call the cops when there is an issue. You don’t take care of it yourself.”
Kat pulled away from my arms. She rested her hands on her hips, giving me her full attention. “I highly doubt every time you find something the cops should know about, you send them your report.”
I ignored her statement and greeted the detective that walked our way. “Detective Higgins, I would like you to meet my wife, Katherine Ross.” Higgins reached out his hand and greeted us both.
Detective Higgins had been with the local police force for thirty years. Over the past few years, we had worked a few cases with him. He was in his fifties and one of the hardest-working detectives I knew. Higgins would work overtime to make sure the bad guy went to jail.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ross. What can I do for you?”
I motioned for him to walk with me toward Kat’s SUV. “I came to meet Kat for lunch, and I found her car like this.”
Detective Higgins bent down to look at the tire and took pictures of the tire and the side of the car. “This looks like it was done in anger. Can you think of anyone you might have upset?”
“A few people.”
“How can such a lovely lady have a few people after her?”
I knew Higgins was joking with my wife, but his flirtations made me see red. I wanted to punch him in the face. “Stop flirting with my wife. We need to figure out who is after her.”
Higgins wrote the details in his notebook and put it in his front pocket. “Always a man straight to the point. Never any fun.” He pointed in my direction and winked at my wife. “If you ever get sick of Antonio, call me.”
“We don’t need your help,” I grumbled.
“I like getting a rise out of you.”
My phone vibrated with a text from Neal letting me know what he found on the cameras near the Women’s Center.
“A friend of mine pulled video footage of the perp. Video quality sucks, though. All he could see was a man in a hooded black sweater and a black cap, white, about five feet eight. Sprayed the car and went down the alley. You want me to send the video to you?”
Higgins looked like he would take me up on the offer at first. Then he sighed. “No, I will find the video the proper way. Your guy probably hacked some cameras. We’ll see if we can get video from the alley. In the meantime, stay safe, and let us handle the case.” Higgins didn’t wait for us to respond before heading back to his car.
“Will do, Detective,” Kat called after him.
The twinkle in her eye told me she had other plans, and she wouldn’t call the cops if something like this happened again. I wouldn’t be surprised if she asked Sophie to pull the video footage when I looked at my phone to respond to Neal.
“Why don’t I believe a word that came out of your mouth?”
Since she had already seen what I had tried to hide, I whisked Kat away for lunch.
7
Kat
Antonio, his brothers, Zane, Brock, and a few men I didn’t know were downstairs at the poker table set up in Club Sanctorum. Earlier, Antonio and I had walked through the club before heading up to Brock and Jessica’s apartment on the third floor. The club had been transformed for the night. In place of the spanking bench was the poker table. All the other BDSM equipment had been packed away.
The laughter in Brock and Jessica’s kitchen brought a smile to my face. Over the past few weeks, Bridget and Jessica had brought me into their fold. Being an assassin, I never had time to stop and make friends, and I hated to lie about what I did for a living.
I still hadn’t met Patty or Sam. Patty was Jessica’s twin sister and the future queen of Shialia. Her future husband used to own Club Sanctorum and Blackwood Security. When Patty had to take over for her father, who had disappeared, Patty and Sam gave everything to Brock. We were supposed to be headed to Shialia for their wedding in the next few weeks. But something had happened in Shialia, and the wedding was put on hold.
Jessica and Sophie sat at the island and snacked on a cheese tray.
“Red or white?” Bridget held a wine bottle in each hand. Each bottle had the Ross family’s name and crest on the label. My husband’s family had mastered every market I could think of. It was hard to fathom how much his family was worth. I was still dealing with the fact that I was worth a billion dollars from my own trust.
I pointed to her right hand, which held the bottle of white wine. “Fill it to the top. It’s been a long day.” I enjoyed my days at the women’s center, but it was hard to see what these women went through. I wanted to help everyone that walked through the doors. Earlier, a woman I had never seen before showed up with her three-year-old boy. Both the mother and son had black and blue marks on their bodies. It took everything in me not to head out the door and find the man who hurt them.
My afternoon had b
een spent checking her into the facility, and I made sure she and her son had everything they needed. The fact she had taken steps to get out of harm’s way made me feel better.
“Is not being able to kill someone wearing on your soul? I figured you and Antonio would be making up for years of no sex. How do you have time to kill people?”
Leave it to Bridget to get straight to the point without giving me time to have a couple glasses of wine. They had included me in the group text that talked about my habit of killing people. I chose to ignore the text messages. It was harder to ignore people who stood in front of you.
“I killed five people, and everyone has an issue.”
Sophie grabbed a piece of cheese from the tray before asking, “Only five?”
“Fine. A few more than five. Does it really matter how many? If you would have seen what happened to these women at the shelter, every one of you would’ve done the same. Lily came into the shelter last week with a limp and a black-and-blue eye. When her husband and his friend came after me for keeping him from Lily, I had no qualms about defending myself. I would’ve preferred to kill Greg, though, rather than the man he brought along.”
“Speaking of women needing help to protect themselves, when are you going to do another self-defense class? Tomorrow would be great. Your classes always help me relieve stress. Mr. Ross has been extra cranky at work, and it is driving me crazy.”
Tomorrow was my first day off from the women’s center. I had worked at the center nonstop for the past two weeks, and I wanted to spend my day off on some leads I had on Juan.
Bridget set down her apple juice. She kept Sophie’s and my wine glasses flowing with wine, but Jessica and Bridget were both drinking apple juice. “Don’t let my husband push you around. He’s under stress about the second baby.” She rubbed her hand across the bulge of her six-month belly. “Tomorrow would work great for me too. I need to get in as many classes as possible before I can’t see my toes again.”
“Tomorrow is not going to work for me,” I said.
