Stand & Deliver

by Rhenna Morgan

  Or maybe her mom was just too weak or unwilling to stand on her own. Maybe she’d lost so much of herself in her marriage she could no longer imagine herself as an independent unit. Whatever the case, Gia refused to fall into the same traps. She was strong. Smart. A whole person who didn’t need someone else to define her. But, having been with Beckett, she was starting to see how easy it would be to get lost.

  The water in the bathroom shut off and Beckett strolled back into sight, every gloriously muscled and tattooed inch of him on prime display. “You keep lookin’ at me like that and we’re not gonna be able to get any talking done.”

  She rolled to her back, enjoying the primal way he moved through her space. How he dominated simply by being. “Who said anything about talking?”

  “I did.” Rather than slip beneath the covers with her, he stretched out beside her, tucked her close to him and anchored one leg over hers, effectively caging her in. “You on the pill?”

  Whoa. As conversation starters went, that one was about as subtle as his right hook. She propped herself up on one elbow. “Why? Did something happen?”

  He grinned and cupped the side of her neck. “Condom didn’t break if that’s what you’re asking.” His gaze softened and he stroked the line of her pulse with his thumb. “But I wanna ditch ’em.”

  A whole host of flutters took flight in her stomach, just the idea of feeling him slide inside her unprotected sending goose bumps out in all directions. “Beckett, we’ve only been at this for five days.”

  “Been at this for almost three years. We just took too damned long getting to the good parts.”

  Her throat got tight and her palms got as sweaty as they had on her first protection detail, doubt and uncertainty clouding her thoughts. “I don’t know. I’ve never...” Well, shit. What was she supposed to say without looking like an idiot? “This isn’t exactly subject matter I’m familiar with.”

  God, she loved his smiles. Especially the one aimed at her right now. Full of teeth and so light she thought she’d float ten feet off the ground. “Me either.”

  She dropped back to her pillow and huffed up at him. “Would you be serious?”

  In an instant, he was over her, his weight blanketing her and his intense blue eyes locked on her. “I am serious.” He studied her, his gaze soaking in every feature of her face. “I’m not going to be with anyone else. You can try to be with someone else, I guess, but then they’ll end up with broken arms, legs, or both.”

  “Possessive much?”

  He cupped the back of her head and his gaze heated. “You have no idea.”

  And there were those ripples again, her breasts growing tight and heavy even as her sex threw out a hallelujah. “I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

  Admitting it was a risk. A huge one. Especially with thoughts of her mother and how she’d all but become a doormat for her father still fresh in her mind. But seeing the look on Beckett’s face as they registered—watching the shock and disbelief flash behind his eyes—the risk was worth it. “I’m also on the pill.”

  Hope.

  Triumph.

  Hunger.

  All three tangled in his expression at once. She hadn’t thought his voice could drop any deeper, but the words that came out rumbled a deep bass. “My woman’s a regular Girl Scout.”

  “Always pays to be prepared.”

  “I’m inclined to agree at the moment.”

  “And for the record, I was a Camp Fire Girl, too.”

  “Mmm.” He skimmed his lips against hers, the tightness when he spoke a stark contrast to the gentle touch. “So, we’re gonna do this?”

  “By do this, do you mean you’re gonna work the hustle out of me like you promised?”

  He lifted his head, all traces of humor wiped away. “No. I mean you’re gonna give me you?”

  Holy hell. Looking at her like that, open and completely vulnerable, she’d try to walk on water if he wanted. She swallowed huge, all her fears and whacked-out family history forming a painful knot that made the process almost impossible. “I’m going to try.”

  He cupped her face, his fingertips tangling in her hair. “You get I’m probably gonna be overbearing as hell?”

  “You get there’s a high probability I’ll slug you when you are.”

  His quick smile rained down on her like sunshine. “I kind of like that side of you.”

  “I kind of like your overbearing side.”

  Something sparked behind his eyes. An ornery twinkle on par with a little boy who was two steps away from getting away with something. “That mean you won’t get pissed if I tell you I tracked down Brantley Davis?”

  “My stalker?” She bit her lip, enjoying the banter and where this was headed too much to spoil it too fast. “Yeah, so did I.”

  He frowned. “You did?”

  “Um yeah. I’ve been doin’ this a while, too, Beckett.”

  He cocked his head a little, the deep furrow between his brows still in place. “You find the guy in Atlanta, too?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  The frown shifted to open suspicion. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

  This time she couldn’t hold back the giggle. “That I also know you put a man on the guy here in Dallas.”

  “Bullshit.”

  She rolled her lips inward, trying to hold in a full belly laugh. God, but he was funny when he was flummoxed.

  “How?” he said.

  “How, what?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “Because I was already following him. I saw your guy move in.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  She smoothed her hands up his arms and over his shoulders, hopefully imitating the calming touch he never hesitated in giving her. “Well, I’m a smart businesswoman. It didn’t seem prudent to waste my time and theirs.”

  “Good point.” Even though his words agreed with her, his voice sounded like he was waiting for a kick in the pants.

  “Then there’s the fact I hate tailing people.”

  He grunted, still obviously waiting for the surprise attack.

  Well, it was coming. And it was going to be interesting to see how things played out. “But I was also waiting to see how long it would take you to share.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You were testing me?”

  The belly laugh ripped free. “Testing you? Beckett, I’ve known you for three years and seen the lengths you and your brothers go to for people you care about. I knew what you’d do the minute I picked up the phone and said the word pizza.” She paused long enough to get her laughter back in check and traced the line of his hard jaw, enjoying the prickly sensation beneath her fingertips. “I guess I just wanted to learn how you’d handle it. If you’d treat me like a peer, or treat me like a woman.”

  “They don’t have to be exclusive.”

  “Not always, no. But Beckett, this time you treated me like a woman.”

  He studied her the way a man would when handed instructions in a foreign language. “I don’t think I can help that, gorgeous.”

  “I know,” she nearly whispered. As honest as he’d been he deserved the rest. “And to tell you the truth, even though I was a little pissed at first, another part of me liked it. I’ve never really had someone look out for me like that before. It was nice.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” She ran her fingertips through the short hairs above his ears. “But if you treat me like anything other than a peer at work, I’m gonna have to kick your ass.”

  The taunt worked, nudging his smile back into place. “You can try.”

  “Oh, I will.” She toyed with the chain that held his dog tags and let the moment settle around them. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

  He hesitated. Nothing huge. Just a tiny pause paired with an almost impe
rceptible squint. “Not yet.”

  Not yet. As in, Yes, but I’m not ready to spill. She let it sink in a beat. Wrestled every knee-jerk response that fired into submission. He was a smart man. Good at what he did and loyal to a fault.

  But so was she. “Don’t forget this is my deal, Beckett. I have a right to know what’s going on, and I’m experienced enough to deal with it.”

  “I know you are.” And he meant it, too. It was right there for her to see, respect and appreciation filling his steady stare. “Just give me this. Trust me.”

  Trust. That fragile thing her dad had shredded over and over with her mother. But Beckett wasn’t her dad and she damned sure wasn’t her mother. She nodded. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” He kissed her, a lingering one that did a superb job of soothing her more stubborn side’s feathers. Just when she’d thought he might’ve changed his mind and get to soothing her far more primitive needs, he lifted his head and frowned. “There is one other thing I should mention.”

  “Now?”

  “Now.” He leaned for the nightstand and snatched his phone, checking the display for the time and groaning at what he saw. “Actually, probably should have told you about thirty minutes ago.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Remember how I told you to block off today?”

  “Yeah? I thought you had work you wanted to do.” Or that he’d just wanted to stay home and roll between the sheets. With Beckett, either option was something to look forward to.

  He shrugged. “I fibbed a little.”

  This time it was her turn to frown. “Fibbed how?”

  “You’ve got about thirty minutes before my moms and all my brothers’ wives show up.”

  “Show up for what?”

  “I dunno. Whatever it is women do when they’ve got the day off.”

  A slow burn tangled up in sheer panic blossomed beneath her skin. She squeezed his shoulders, not the least bit bothered by the fact her nails were digging in a little deep. “You’re telling me I’ve got thirty minutes to get ready to spend the day with your mothers?”

  “Pretty much.” He rolled off her and planted both feet on the edge of the bed, well out of kicking distance. If he hadn’t beamed such a killer grin at her when he leaned in for a quick peck on the cheek, she’d have tried anyway. “Welcome to the family.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gia’s feet hurt, her mad money fund was shot to hell and she was pretty sure wherever her kidnappers were headed next was going to be an exercise in patience, but she honestly couldn’t remember a better day in her life.

  Sandwiched between Natalie and Gabe in the middle row of the black Escalade, Vivienne propped both feet on the center console between Sylvie and Ninette. “You realize once Axel finds someone to tolerate his ass, we’re gonna need a bigger vehicle.”

  Ninette glanced over her shoulder, checked for cars in the far lane and shifted like she was driving an Indy car instead of one of Beckett’s bulletproof security SUVs. The woman might have been old enough to be Jace’s mother, but she was striking in both appearance and attitude—long gray hair well past her shoulders, a model’s physique and a strut to back it up. “Already got a plan for that.”

  “We’re gonna rent a Hummer,” Sylvie said with an almost scary level of glee. Unlike her son, Axel, who always seemed to have an underlying, barely restrained edge even when he was outwardly relaxed, Sylvie was pure joy in human form. She twisted to Vivienne, her dark cherry hair twice as bold with the sunlight bouncing off of it. “One of those big stretch ones.”

  Natalie dug another dark chocolate almond from the stash she’d bought at the candy store on the way out of the mall and popped it in her mouth. “The way we go out, it’d be more cost-efficient to buy one and hire a full-time chauffeur.”

  “God,” Gabe said, “don’t give the guys any ideas. Ninette driving I can tolerate. Some dude named Charles would make me bonkers.”

  “It wouldn’t be a Charles.” Seated next to Gia in the back row, Darya’s Russian accent was just a tiny bit thicker after the glasses of wine she’d paired with lunch. “Knox and Beckett would hire a Rex. Or an Ace. A sharpshooter and a badass who’d rat us out at a moment’s notice.”

  Vivienne nodded in agreement. “Right, because shopping is dangerous business.”

  The comment drew an easy round of laughter, the same laid-back camaraderie they’d surrounded her with since they’d shown up on her doorstep.

  Outside her window, the Knox/Henderson exit sign whipped past and the Escalade’s big engine eased. She opened her mouth to see if she’d have any luck digging their big surprise destination out of one of them, but something Vivienne had said finally clicked in her brain and an entirely different question sprang free instead. “What do you mean, Once Axel finds someone to tolerate his ass?”

  Vivienne craned her head enough to beam a big smile back at Gia. “I mean the official Haven women count will leave us too damned crowded to keep taking the Escalades. We gotta have someplace left to haul all our loot home.”

  “Official Haven women?”

  The drone of the tires on the road softened as Ninette drew the vehicle to a stop, but otherwise the cab got quiet. Ninette’s eyes locked on Gia’s in the rearview mirror. “Beckett hasn’t talked to you?”

  “Talked to me about what?”

  Darya chuckled and shared a knowing look with the three women seated in the row in front of her.

  Sylvie twisted in her chair. “Ye mean ta tell me the bloody arse haesna told ye?”

  Ninette turned off the access road and cleared her throat. “Well, then. Guess we’ll cover that for him before we take her back.”

  Per usual this time of day, the upscale stretch of businesses and restaurants along Knox Street was swamped with those running late afternoon errands and others escaping their office jobs in favor of one of the many trendy bars. Usually Gia loved this part of town. If not for the food available, then for the excellent people-watching. Today, it didn’t so much as draw a spark. “Cover what?”

  Natalie’s smile was a mix of soft understanding and pure chagrin. “It means you’re one of us. Family.”

  “Jace calls it a claim,” Vivienne said with a low chuckle. “Which, on the surface, probably sounds like one step up from a guy hiking his leg and marking his territory.” She paused a minute, thoughtful, and the smile on her face softened. “But it’s really pretty sweet.” She met Gia’s gaze. “It means Haven’s as much yours as it is ours and no secrets.”

  She’d heard about Haven from Knox and Beckett—a sizable property north of Dallas owned by Jace and Axel that was only open to those inside their circle. A circle she now appeared to be a part of whether she wanted to be or not.

  Typical Beckett. Once he set about doing something, he wouldn’t rest until he made it happen on a spectacular level.

  “They don’t tell us all their secrets,” Gabe said dryly. “Only the ones that don’t kick their macho protective instincts into overdrive. Otherwise, you’re on a need-to-know basis.”

  “Oh, I’ve already experienced the joy of the need-to-know status,” Gia said. “Beckett put a tail on one of the suspects for the incident at the range last week and didn’t tell me until after the fact.”

  “Hey, at least he told you,” Gabe said. “If they get it in their head things could backfire and land on you, they’ll never breathe a word of it.”

  Sylvie leveled a pointed and very motherly look at Gabe. “Nothing wrong with a man protecting the woman he loves. You ask me, that’s putting your needs first. That’s what a good man does.”

  The woman he loves.

  She’d said it to Gabe, but the words moved through Gia with all the subtlety of an electric current. Which was silly, really. They’d officially been a thing for less than a week. Love couldn’t be a factor yet.

  “What did y
ou say when he told you?” Darya asked.

  “I already knew.”

  Ninette turned onto one of the less crowded blocks with more of a shopping focus than nightlife. Her words were spoken casually, but had a prodding edge. “How’d it feel when you found out?”

  “Him telling me? Or the fact that he did it?”

  Ninette pulled into a parking space and pinned Gia with a stare in the rearview mirror that was every bit as sharp as the no-bullshit looks she’d seen Jace employ a time or two. Like mother, like son. “The latter.”

  A good question. One she still wasn’t sure how to answer. At first, she’d considered telling the guy watching Brantley’s place to take a hike. But the longer she’d sat there and worked through the logistics, the more her irritation had shifted to something far more foreign. Kind of how she’d always imagined it would feel to have someone wrap her up in a soft blanket if she’d fallen asleep on the couch. Not that she had any experience with that scenario either.

  Gia leaned and stared out the window at the stylish Sur la Table marquee over the building. Better that than to give Ninette any more clues to work with. “The jury’s still out.”

  “Hmmm.” She put the Escalade in park and swiveled in her seat. “You know we normally have family night out at Haven on Wednesdays.”

  “Everyone takes a turn picking the food,” Sylvie said.

  “And the games.” Darya shifted so one leg lay cocked on the open bench seat between them and anchored her elbow on the seat back. “I don’t know why we even bother asking Knox what he wants to play anymore. He lives to trounce everyone in Call of Duty.”

  Gabe giggled. “He lives to trounce everyone no matter what game we play.”