Broken Justice (Justice Brothers)

by Halliday, Suzanne

  He must have sensed her reticence and confusion because he just kept shuffling her along the path from the truck to the door of the casita before she could resist. Just like at the front gate, he punched in a security code on the entry keypad and pushed open the heavy wooden door. Just like that, Lacey’s world tilted on its axis again.

  Small but unique, the inside of the modest casita had Moorish arches, tiled floors, and low wood beams across the ceiling. A stone fireplace took up one side of the quaint living room and through another beautiful archway she spied a modern, tiled kitchen. The overall effect of the tiny home was undeniably welcoming and warm.

  Leaving her to look around, Cameron returned to the truck to grab her meager belongings. When he reappeared and walked through to the bedroom at the rear of the house, she followed in his footsteps. Tossing her bags on the high, queen-size bed he looked around and motioned with his head toward the en suite.

  “Bedroom, check. Bathroom, check. Kitchen, check. Everything is right here. It’s small but cozy and just a short walk from the office.”

  “I don’t know what to say. It’s really too much.” Lacey was struggling for composure. She wanted so badly to walk into his arms and let his embrace soothe her frazzled nerves. She didn’t though because even overwhelmed as she was, she hadn’t missed that Cameron seemed equally so. For some reason he was avoiding looking directly at her and had started nervously prowling the room making sure all the lights worked properly while flicking on the ceiling fan which he made quite the project of setting on low.

  “Th…thank you. It’s perfect.” Running her hands across a magnificent wooden armoire she tried to quell the upwelling of emotions that were clogging her throat. “I don’t know what to say, Cameron. You might have to pinch me so I know all of this is real.”

  Just like that he wasn’t avoiding her eyes any longer. In two long strides he reached out, pulling her into his arms. “I can think of better things to let you know this is real than a pinch,” and with those few words his sexy mouth swooped down on hers. Unlike the fevered kisses they’d shared previously, this one was tender, almost reverent.

  He used his tongue to trace her full bottom lip before sucking on the flesh in a way that elicited a quiet moan from her. When her tongue shyly swiped across his, it was Cameron’s turn to moan. About the last thing she expected after the day’s tortured silence and the way he’d pulled away following their wild night together was for him to kiss her like she meant something to him. Maybe he was going to let his guard down. She wished he would. There was something so special about the way they were with each other.

  Unfortunately, the kiss ended before her thoughts went much further. “If you need me, dial nineteen on the phone system and you’ll be connected with my private line. I can be here in minutes if ……well….. if you need me.”

  God, he was something else. He wanted to stay but she was certain he wouldn’t. He wasn’t ready yet and she knew he needed time to work out some of his issues on his own. She had to let him run this time but she was damn sure going to make certain he ran with a solid case of wood in his jeans. Reaching up she ran her fingers along the side of his beautiful, brooding face and across the sexy lips she wanted to devour. His eyes flared at her touch.

  “Last night was …… well, it was amazing. I’ll let you leave this time. But if you need me, I’ll be here.” The emphasis she placed on those two words was meant to give him something to think about as he walked away.

  He nodded just once at her words and then quietly left the room. She walked silently behind him to the front door where he turned around and fixed her with a searing look that left her breathless. One glance down the front of his jeans and her mind shouted, mission accomplished!

  “I’ll come by in the morning and take you up to the big house.”

  As the door clicked shut and she heard the sound of his truck starting up, Lacey turned back to the interior of the charming house and crossed her fingers.

  Letting himself in to the enormous Spanish Villa that dominated the property, Cam made quietly for the back of the main floor where he knew Alex would be holed up. While other guys fashioned man-caves, Alexander Valleja-Marquez, Don of all he surveyed, went the high-tech route with something a bit more cyber-geeky.

  The property that housed the Justice Agency assets was the hereditary home of the Valleja-Marquez family. The glorious hacienda-style villa at the heart of it all was a masterpiece of Spanish architecture. Alex had inherited the house and nearly six hundred acres of land years ago. He, of course, lived in the main house while Cam and Drae built separate homes set apart from the central compound.

  At the entrance to Alex’s tech-cave, Cam leaned indolently against the door-jam and studied the scene before him. As usual, the dark room hummed and throbbed with blinking lights and flashing screens. Classic rock turned low on the sound system hung in the air while at the center of it all, sat the man himself.

  Alex Marquez, the “Major”, hunched over a piece of machinery that appeared to be emitting a hologram. Typical. Dude always ran light years ahead from where most of the cyber-geeks were stuck. Seeing him dressed in a ridiculous pink golf shirt and an ugly pair of patterned pants, Cam smirked knowing he’d come here straight from the golf course. When Alex had something on his mind, he was like a dog with a bone. Distract him and he’d snarl. Fuck with him in any way when he was on to something and get your head neatly ripped off, shredded to bits, and then handed back to you on a silver tray.

  Cam also knew that even though he hadn’t announced his presence in any way, the Major was well aware that he was standing in the darkness. The guy had unreal spider senses, something he and Drae taunted him about unmercifully. That those senses helped propel their exclusive services to a realm where money was no longer an issue was a fact Cam never overlooked. The man was nothing short of a genius.

  “Are you going to lurk there all night?” Turning toward Cam with unerring accuracy, Alex gave him a one eyebrow raised look that said, Gotcha!

  Levering away from the door, Cam strode into the room toward his friend for a hearty hug and a bit of back-slapping. He’d noticed that Alex was favoring his bad leg, a sign of strain and discomfort. Going to him so he didn’t have to get up was an old habit, one that developed during the Major’s long rehab and the years that followed. They rarely spoke of his injury anymore. Didn’t have to. All of their lives had changed that awful day. The day that still haunted his dreams.

  Alex had been lucky to survive and although he was the one of the three who was left with visible scars, they’d all been pretty thoroughly fucked up in one way or another. Coming together as the Justice Brothers, a nod to their past, had started the real healing. This compound, tucked away in the Sonoran desert, had morphed over time into a small town that Alex oversaw with all the tight corners and command his rank as Major demanded. He was also something of a father figure, in addition to being a brother, if only in name.

  “Hi Alex. You look like bloody hell by the way.”

  Rubbing his sturdy hands through his mess of a haircut, Alex sneered at Cam although the twinkle in his eyes was genuine. “Blow me.”

  Slapping Alex on the back one more time, Cam moved aside and swung his hand out at the mess where they stood. “Jesus. What the hell happened in here? Looks like a hurricane blew through, dude.”

  “Yeah, it did. Nice try ignoring the elephant in the room. I’m damn glad you’re home and that you made it one piece. Okay. That was the polite shit. Now tell me what is really going on. You brought someone back with you. A woman? Explain.”

  Damn. This was a conversation Cam didn’t want to get into. Not right now, anyway. How could he explain something that he didn’t understand himself? Wandering around a workbench strewn with what, he didn’t know, while trying to act all cool and matter-of-fact was a lame stall, he knew. When he’d informed Alex during their phone call that he wasn’t alone, his announcement was initially met with deafening silence. Shocking Alex
was something hard to do. Best to just plow ahead. Make like it’s no big deal. Yeah, that’s what he’d do.

  “Uh, so …. let me see. Yeah. Her name is Lacey.” God dammit. He sounded like a bad kid reporting to Dad. Picking up some random device as he gathered his wits, he turned it over in his hand like it was actually of interest. Get your shit together, man.

  “She uh, she ….. well, the fact is I sorta rescued her.” Oh fuck, had he actually said that?

  “Wait a minute! You rescued someone?” The incredulity in his friend’s voice shamed Cam. When did acting like a decent person seem like such a stretch for him?

  “Watch it. I might be a prick but that doesn’t mean I’d stand by and let someone get hurt right in front of me.”

  The eyebrow rose again. “Uh huh. Go on. I’m listening.”

  Resting against the workbench, Cam’s arms folded against his chest. In a gesture similar to the one he’d seen Alex make just minutes ago, one hand crept up while fingers speared through his long hair before grabbing the nape of his neck. Alex seemed content to wait him out. He’d even lowered onto the massive desk chair that made him look like James T. Kirk in the Captain’s seat. Nothing like saying something without actually saying anything.

  He almost blurted out the part about how he’d been watching her before pulling the words back. No. Right now some things were best left unsaid. Stick to the facts, man. Just the facts. Alex wasn’t stupid. He’d know there was more.

  “Bunch of teenage thugs tried to snatch her bag. She fought back. Probably made it worse. Must have been the last thing those shitheads expected. I came upon what was happening as it spiraled out of control.”

  “Okay. Understood. Continue.”

  Jesus. This was starting to feel like a debriefing. “Anyway. Getting mugged was kinda the last straw. She was going through a tough time, you see.” The arched eyebrow on Alex’s face shot into his hairline.

  Unfolding his arms, Cam stood with hands on hips. “I knew Betty bailing on us for the foreseeable future was creating chaos so I offered her a hand, that’s all. She can get the office under control and get settled here. Win, win.” Shrugging like all of it was absolutely no big deal, he hoped that would be enough to satisfy curious minds.

  Alex, being Alex though, cut right through his bullshit. “How old is this woman?” The unspoken question in his delivery reverberated off the walls.

  The words, twenty-two, got stuck in his throat and went no further. When Cam didn’t answer, Alex snorted. “For fuck’s sake, Cam. This isn’t like you. Lacey is her name?” Cam nodded, then looked away.

  “What does this Lacey mean to you, bro? There’s like a shit-ton of detail you’re not sharing and last time I checked, getting to the bottom of things is what we all do for a living so how about you tell me what’s really going on.”

  Cam couldn’t answer. The problem was, he didn’t know what she meant to him. It was all coming at him too fast. He heard the surprise and concern in Alex’s voice but all he could think about was how he wanted to go back to the casita and take the Ponytail to bed. He’d pretty much thought of nothing else since he’d crawled from her embrace this morning.

  Being back at the compound only reminded him that he was not what would be considered ‘relationship material’. His life was vaguely dangerous at times, he kept to himself as much as he could, and he had so much darkness in his past as to qualify for disaster relief. None of that sounded like a guy who should be messing with a twenty something all-American beauty with her whole life ahead of her.

  Even so, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from picking up the thread of their intense sexual encounter. She’d been so willing, so receptive. He knew if he marched into her room right now he could have her panties in his pocket in moments. Could have her under him while he pounded into the wet, tight, warmth of her body. How did he get to be such a mess?

  Alex watched his friend intently. No one knew the man known as Cameron Justice like he and Draegyn did. They’d been through hell and back, the three of them. There were no secrets between them.

  They were complicated men. Who the hell wasn’t these days? Drae had trust issues and he, well Alex, was their conscience. Every dark and deadly event from their shared time on the battlefield was his to atone for, being the leader of the group, and not just because he’d outranked them in the end. There was a reason the Justice Squad had been successful. He’d been a master tactician. Focused on their mission. Ruthless. Responsible for countless lives – some of which were lost on his watch.

  He knew that the conflicted man before him wore the burden of some of those deeds like a hair shirt of penance. Cam’s castaway upbringing gave him a sense of not quite being good enough. Add that to some real-world blood, guts, and gore and it’s easy to see the recipe for dysfunction it all was. Cam truly believed he was an island unto himself where no emotion meant no regret.

  Alex said nothing. He simply waited. When Cam was ready to talk, he’d be there to listen. It was curious though. Him bringing anyone, let alone a woman, into the compound. He couldn’t wait to get a look at the mysterious Lacey. What would she be like, he wondered. What sort of female had it taken to stop Cam dead in his tracks?

  “Is Drae here?” Cam eventually muttered in a tone that peaked Alex’s curiosity.

  “Why?”

  “No reason. Just wanted to set him straight about a few things.”

  “Well, isn’t that fucking great?” Alex grunted. “First Betty runs off, then Mister Roboto joins the dark side, and now sibling rivalry. It’s awesome being me!” Cam’s look of surprise at the mention of Alex’s right hand assistant, Liang, was a reminder of the mess the business was in.

  “Liang’s playing with the big boys now? Shit Alex. Is that why the place is such a mess? How long’s he been gone?”

  “Don’t try and switch subjects. Yes, Liang is off to more lucrative pastures. A black ops team offered him the sun, moon, and stars. End of story. Now let’s get back to the grumbling about Drae. C’mon bro. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

  Cam pulled himself upright until all six foot four inches of his bulk seemed to be straining at the seams. This was getting interesting. “Look, there’s nothing going on. Yeah, I brought a woman back with me but she’s just a….friend. Drae needs to keep his dick in his pants where she’s concerned. That’s all. You know how he is.”

  Alex considered everything Cam just said along with his body language. Yeah, right – there’s nothing going on. Unless he was totally blind, something pretty damn big was happening right in front of his eyes.

  Nodding, Alex could only grimace at the mention of Draegyn’s track record with the fairer sex. The man had personally bedded nearly every available female on the planet. “Understood, man. Understood. He’s off doing the security for a concert tour. Y’know – that little putz with the saggy pants and screaming teenage fans? There’s a break coming up before the European leg starts. He’ll turn up soon I suspect.”

  “Alright, man. Thanks for the heads up.”

  “Cam, I’m here if you need to talk.” His friend’s hesitant nod was all the conversation he was going to get at the moment. Sometimes Mister Tall, Dark and Brooding was a pain in the ass. This was one of those times. A series of beeps and clicks from an array of computers happened at the perfect moment, giving Alex the opportunity to switch gears.

  Turning to see what was up, he murmured over his shoulder, “Bring Lacey ‘round in the morning. At least Carmen and Ria are still on the job. I’ll tell them we have a guest in the casita and to set an extra place at the table.”

  Cam shuffled to the door and then stopped, earning the return of Alex’s complete attention. He couldn’t wait to see what the man said next.

  “Uh, Alex?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do I smile?”

  Alex’s slack jawed, blinking response made Cam scowl.

  “That’s what I thought,” was all he said before turning to make his way from the
room.

  There was something about the desert at sunrise, as a million colors and hues lit up the harsh but beautiful landscape, that made Lacey feel, well….. happy. Peaceful. She’d pulled on a pair of jeans and a thin t-shirt before stepping onto the brick patio under the kitchen widows to survey her temporary home. The casita was perfect in every way. Small, homey and comfortable, just as Cameron had said.

  Luckily, she’d found a tin of organic tea in the cupboard that had been quickly turned into a hot, steaming beverage. She loved tea at sunrise. Never having learned to appreciate the black sludge some people drank first thing in the morning, she preferred the soft, subtle flavors of a good tea blend. She always had a stash of Dollar Store brand teas in her old backpack. This morning, her mug was filled with a red, tinged fusion of black tea and rooibos that had mercifully not needed a splash of cream or a spoonful of sweetener. There really wasn’t anything in the cupboard except some spices and a few other non-perishable staples. She’d have to stock some supplies, a simple task that filled her with excitement. The idea of making a shopping list made her giddy and light-hearted.

  She wondered what Cameron was doing. Half-expecting him to turn up at some point last night, she had finally given up waiting and gone to bed. No one was more surprised than she was when, hours later, she awoke to find the sunrise creeping onto the horizon. When was the last time she’d crashed so completely that she slept through the night? Oh yeah, she remembered. That would be the night before when she’d passed out cold in Cameron’s comforting embrace.