by Bex Dane
He swooped an arm behind my back and mashed my boobs against his chest. "If you had a girl you loved, would you plop her down in the middle of a sting in New York City?"
I opened my mouth to fight back but… "A girl I loved?"
He tilted his head to the side. "Okay, a guy you loved."
A guy I loved? "Um, I would absolutely plop you down in the middle of a sting in New York City. You're the best person to be there."
He stared at me and blinked. "You saying you love me?"
"Are you saying you love me?" I asked back.
He spun us and dropped to the bed, pulling me down on top of him. I managed to keep the sheet over my front, but my back was exposed. "Are you asking me if I love you?" His deep voice rasped.
"I'm not going to Boston." I tried to change the topic.
He sat up and adjusted my legs until I straddled him. I wasn't done fighting yet, but his big hot body made my stomach flutter so I stayed put. He grinned up at me. "We're not talking about that anymore. We're talking about love."
I shook my head. "That's not something you talk about."
"No, but you do. And since it's important to you, it's something I wanna talk about too."
"Okay."
His face softened and his eyes warmed, but he didn't say anything.
"And?"
He looked down between my legs and tugged my hips forward with a soft grunt. His eyes grew hot as he watched my naked sex, covered by only a thin sheet, slide over his hard cock in his jeans. A tremor rumbled through my core as I let him rub me how he wanted. He brought a hand up to my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. It was sublime. I broke the kiss.
His hand kept pressure on my neck, so I spoke close to his lips. "This is not talking."
"Oh, we're talking."
"With words, Falc. We're having a fight and talking about love. Not making out." I pulled free of his grasp and sat up straighter.
"We're not having a fight. You're going to Boston, or we're going back to handcuffed to the bed. Not optional. Not metaphorical."
I growled at him. "You would really handcuff me to the bed while you go out and execute my sting operation?"
His eyebrows drew together. "Whoa. Your sting?"
"Yes. I did all the work."
He chuckled and looked down. "You helped, babe. You did good finding the girls, but we did all the work. We are the ones who are gonna approach, convince the girls to leave with us, and get them out safely."
I stared at him through narrowed eyes. He really thought he had the harder job here? "And I'm the one who will have a huge team of women waiting to help them. I am the one who'll face their tears, suffer with them as they accept what's happened, and cry with them when they realize all they've lost and could regain."
He chewed his lip and his big warm hands caressed up and down my thighs. "You're right. You have the harder job. I could not handle all that."
"Exactly. I can and I have many times."
He nodded and pulled me in for a wet kiss. Did I win? It felt like I won that one.
He ended the kiss and his gaze bore into mine. "I sit you down on my lap like this and tell you I want you to do something that will keep you safe, I'm telling you I love you."
My heart jumped into my throat.
"First and only woman I'll ever love."
My lips pressed together, an ugly cry brewing. Falcon talking so openly melted my heart.
"You saying no, you want to take a risk I'm not comfortable with, that's like saying no to letting me love you. That's the way I'm gonna show it. By keeping your safety in mind in everything we do."
He looked so completely vulnerable and sexy, telling me he loved me in his own special way.
"Now, do you love me, mi paloma?" The corner of his mouth quirked up.
I nodded. "I do."
He took that in then said, "Then you come to Boston with me tomorrow and run the operation from the base there. Get your girls to cover you here, but you'll be with me in Boston." He squeezed my thighs. "Because I love you."
Engage full on ugly cry. No holding it back. Big wet crocodile tears dripped from my eyes. "I love you too, Falcon."
"Good."
Chapter 26
Falcon gave the sting and set up the same careful attention he gave to everything. He reserved extra hotel rooms in Boston in case we needed the space and installed the doors, cameras, and alarms he always used for my rooms.
I had helped him and his team arrange forty meetings with escorts with possible connections to Ivan's ring. Dallas trained and provided eighty men for the night.
The setups in New York and Atlanta were double this size. If all went well, we'd have as many as two hundred victims rescued tonight. If we didn't get shut down by the authorities, we'd plan another sting of the same size in the Midwest and one more on the West Coast.
I gasped when I first saw Falcon's disguise. He'd let his beard get scraggly and untamed for his trip to Veranistad. He wore a stretched-out double extra large threadbare tee under a tattered old flannel. His jeans looked like rejects from the eighties and had mud stains on the knees. His hair was dull and tied in a bun instead of hanging loose or a ponytail and his eyes were brown. My commando defender with big muscles had transformed into the construction worker down the street. A guy you might see drinking at a bar downtown.
"Wow. You look absolutely ordinary."
"Well, thank you."
"How did you do that?"
"Told you I'd worn a lot of uniforms. When blending in is important, I can do that."
I patted his chest and felt the iron strength hidden under his loose clothes."This is perfect. You won't scare the women, and they'll be able to trust you."
"Yeah." He scanned the conference room full of people.
Fifty women who had been rescued by me waited as volunteers to help with the intake and transition of the victims. Isabella ran up to me and gave me a warm hug.
"How are you, darling?" I kissed her cheek.
She smelled like flowers, her hair shone bright, and she wore a beautiful navy-blue dress. "I was doing good, Aida. Holding down a job. Then Sergio found me." She lowered her head.
Oh no. Her old pimp. "Did he hurt you?"
"No. He said he's disappointed in me. Wants me back in his stable."
"You talked to him?" I looked up to see concern in Falcon's eyes. His agreement to all this had been tentative, knowing we'd piss off a lot of pimps by convincing their girls to leave.
"He's not a bad guy. I mean, I left him hanging with one less girl," Isabella said.
Oh my God, the number these guys did on these women. "That is not on you. It's on him."
"He's worried I'm going to turn him in to the cops, but I told him I wouldn't."
Oh lordy. This was not good. "Don't talk to him again, and if he comes near you, call me or Falcon right away."
She nodded. "Okay."
"I'll check in with you tomorrow." We had to start tonight's activities or the guys would miss their appointments. "Thank you for being here to help. It's going to be difficult and rewarding, I hope."
"I'm so excited to be part of this." The smile returned to her beautiful face.
"Why don't you ask everyone to take a seat so we can go over the plan for tonight? Pass these out for me, will you?"
"Of course." She took the stack of papers with scripts and procedures in both English and Spanish and handed them out to everyone.
I stopped when I saw Torrez and Soraya, Rogan and Tessa, Zook and Cecelia, Dallas and Cyan, Diesel and Blaze, and Thorne and Matteo enter the room. The guys all wore loose-fitting casual clothes, like Falcon had worn. Except Blaze, who had his hair combed forward like a geek. He wore big turtle-rimmed glasses and a cheesy buttoned up Polo shirt and high-belted pants. Oh, how funny. It worked though. Guys like that often sought to pay for sex. They were usually a lot smaller and less gorgeous, but his disguise would suit our purposes.
"This is a surprise!" I opened my arms and rece
ived warm hugs from the women.
"We wanted to be here with you tonight." Soraya spoke for the group.
"I know, but don't you guys have to get going?" I asked Rogan.
"We have some time," Rogan responded as he glanced at his watch.
"Alright. Take a seat. We're going to start soon."
As they joined the group, Falcon leaned down to whisper in my ear, "You're on, babe." He kissed my cheek and backed away. He stood behind me in the doorway.
"Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. Tonight isn't going to be easy. In a few hours, broken women will walk through that door." I looked back at Falcon watching me and my heart warmed. He loves me. "Their choices and dignity have been stripped from them. They've been violated and brainwashed. Seeing them will open old wounds and you will cry." Tessa, Soraya, Cecelia, and half the women in the audience were already wiping at their eyes. "If you don't cry, you're stronger than me. There will be pain and healing, for all of us. Always be patient. Expect every woman you encounter to be terrified for her safety for betraying her pimp. She may lash out at you. She won't trust you, but she will remember every word you say. It may be the first kind words she's heard from anyone in years." Well, shoot. I had to stop and wipe my eye. I chuckled inside at my own weakness. "Please use the script we handed out. We've found that these are the words that will get the best response. You are safe. I know you feel scared because I have been where you are. My name is Aida, and I'm here for you."
I took a deep breath to gather myself. This was so hard, but we had to be strong.
"You are safe." A sweet voice came at me from the door, interrupting my speech. I didn't turn around. My stomach fluttered. The voice continued, "I know you must be scared. I've been where you are. My name is Claudia, and I'm here for you."
Not one muscle in my body moved. That voice took me back. I was fifteen again. I was scared and hiding next to Primitivo's truck as bullets exploded inside my home. My heart was torn from my body as I boarded a boat without her. My soul slowly shriveled as I realized Tivo would never return with her. And finally, just a few days ago, in front of Primitivo's father, I mourned as I accepted her death.
But now. Now, her voice called to me. A mother to a daughter.
I'm here for you.
Could she be here? I only needed to turn around to see. My hands trembled. My breath came hard and shallow. Falcon's warm touch on my back woke me from my stupor. I looked up at him. "Is it really her?"
He nodded. "Turn around, mi paloma."
His hands on my shoulders forced me to pivot. I closed my eyes and when I opened them. I saw her.
My mother.
Her eyebrows crunched in worry. She looked older. Her hair gray, but lord almighty, my mother was standing in the doorway, her arms halfway up, waiting for me to accept her.
I was fifteen and lost. Confused. My own eyes stared back at me in her face.
Falcon's warm breath hit my ear. "Go to her, babe." The pads of his fingers pressed to my back. His light touch propelled me like I was on ice skates in a vacuum.
I made it to my mom and embraced her. "Mama?"
"Magdalena." She made a sharp sound stuck between a laugh and sob. "I have missed you so."
"Mama?" I pulled back to touch her face with shaking hands. I couldn't see through the deluge of tears. A nervous laugh escaped my throat. "It's really you?"
"Yes, yes, dear. I'm here and I love you." Her smile turned down into a grimace of pain.
"No." My head fell to her shoulder, and I let the tears stream down. She wept into my shoulder, her hands around me, her arms pulling me close. She smelled good. Unfamiliar yet also exactly like my mom. My fifteen-year-old self hugged her and absorbed her warmth. My mother was alive. And slowly, as we embraced and cried, I grew up. My withered fifteen-year-old soul came to life and bloomed into a thirty-seven year old woman about to explode with love.
"I love you, Mama. I love you."
"Yes. It's okay, my Lena. I love you. We're back together now. No one will separate us again."
We stayed like that for a long time, only the two of us locked in an embrace. A sniffle and a cough caused me to stir. She squeezed my elbow and lifted her head. Her eyes glanced to Falcon and the crowd I had completely forgotten.
"Oh, um." I turned to face them with my arm around her waist. "This is my mom."
Teary eyed women clapped for us. The men didn't cry, but the emotion coming off of them filled the room. This sent me into more tears. Falcon put an arm over my shoulders and dropped a reassuring kiss on my temple. "Isabella, can you take over for Aida?"
"Sure. Of course." She came up and hugged me. "Congratulations. I wish I could find my mother too."
"Yes. I know."
"Let's go over here and talk," Falcon said. "Isabella will carry on for you." He guided us both over to a table in the corner. I did not let go of my mother's hands. They felt fragile and wrinkled, but she looked incredible. She had a simple gold band on her left finger. "Are you married?"
"Yes. I have a husband and three half-siblings for you to meet. Not tonight. I flew in alone. It was sudden. As soon as I heard Guillermo was dead, I came to you right away."
"You knew where I was?"
"Not until recently. I saw you in the news when you won the award."
"You didn't contact me?"
"No. I'm so sorry. I was scared of Guillermo and Manuel."
"I understand."
"No. It's not forgivable. I should've sought you out sooner."
"It's okay."
"I thought they were targeting you," she whispered.
"No. Ivan," I replied. We couldn't really speak freely here.
"Yes. I know that now. Falcon found me and told me they were all dead."
I smiled at him. "You found her? How?
"After you won the Latina Choice Award, she started following you online."
"Lots of people follow me online."
"Diesel and I went through all of them, narrowed them down to women your mom's age, and contacted them."
"You contacted all the women my mom's age who follow me?"
"Yes."
"That must've taken forever."
"Patience and persistence. She filtered up to the top because she checked your website several times a day."
I looked back at my mom. "You checked my website?"
"All day long. I wanted to hear everything about you."
"I'm sorry for everything." I squeezed her hands. "I looked for you for many years. Falcon did too."
Her mouth turned down in a frown. "I looked for you too."
"Where were you?" I asked her.
"Manuel sold me to one of Ivan's handlers. My husband helped me escape. We moved to California."
"You were in California? I'm there all the time," I said. So close.
"We could have crossed paths," she said with bitter regret.
I touched her face. "Well, now we're together."
"Yes." She smiled. "Now, from what I understand, you have an elaborate rescue operation planned tonight."
I nodded.
She patted my hands. "Let's get to work. I'm here to help."
I grabbed Falcon's face and pulled him in for a kiss. "Thank you."
He smiled. "Sorry it's late."
"You're amazing. It happened as it was meant to be."
"I'm happy for you," he whispered in my ear.
"I love you so much right now," I whispered back.
"Same, mi paloma. Same."
I stared into his staggeringly beautiful eyes. How could one man be so gorgeous and sexy and sweet all in one fabulous package?
"We need to get going," he said as he glanced toward the guys gathering by the exit. He made eye contact with Helix, who would stay with me tonight.
"Please be careful," I said.
"Be ready. When Alpha Squadron has a mission, we come through."
"We'll be ready."
I kissed him goodbye and watched him walk over to Rogan
and the guys, who had already kissed their wives goodbye. They headed out the door casually. This was easy work for them.
Chapter 27
Falcon
We gathered in the lobby for a last-minute briefing. I was going over the procedure when Lachlan Cutlass walked through the hotel main entrance with another dude.
What the fuck was he doing here? Last thing we needed was the FBI involved in this.
Rogan greeted him with a chin tilt and we formed a small group away from the other men. "What're you doing here, Cutlass?"
"FBI wants in on your op," he replied.
"There is no op," Rogan lied.
"No bullshit, Rogan. We know what you've planned and we want the pimps."
"Who's this guy?" Rogan asked about the other guy he came in with.
"This is Detective Colt Lacy. Boston PD." Lachlan aimed his thumb at his friend.
Rogan looked to the ceiling. "Fuck. No. No feds, no cops. We're just talking to a few girls, trying to convince them to start fresh. Nothing for you to see here."
"We want the pimps," the detective repeated Lachlan's idea.
"We get the cops involved, this whole op goes belly up," I said. "The girls get arrested, they get scared, we lose them. Not the purpose of this mission." We knew the feds would probably be watching us tonight, but we'd bet on them not interfering. Chance we took.
"You guys have penetrated deep into a ring we've been working for a long time. You get the girls to turn and testify, we don't prosecute them for prostitution, and they get witness protection if they want it." Lachlan laid a tempting card on the table.
Rogan looked to me for an answer. I raised my eyebrows. It wasn't a bad idea. I wanted the pimps too. Getting the girls out always seemed weak to me, but the best we could do without the authorities on our side.
"If we get a deal going with the feds, we could make a much bigger impact," I said to Rogan.
He narrowed his eyes at Lachlan. "The feds giving away Wit Sec now for hookers? Not high profile enough."
"It's privately funded. A bunch of celebrities set up the funding for a protection agency for sex trade workers. The girls will get first-class treatment, counseling, identity relocation if they ask for it." He grinned because he knew he had a rock-solid offer.
