Promise to Defend

by Diana Gardin

  That takes another two minutes, but when her voice comes through our coms with the information we need, it’s a relief.

  “Okay, guys. You’ve got a group of four standing near the front door, no heat images in the middle of the building, and four in the back. The smallest heat signature is the one I’m guessing belongs to Olive, but it’s only a guess.”

  I freeze. “Is she in the front or the back?”

  Sayward doesn’t pause. “The back.”

  Ghost speaks. “Okay, so I’m going to assume the four in front are guarding the door, and the three in back are holding her captive.”

  “Oakes will be in back with her. And I’m guessing that means the other signature in the back belongs to Albert Margiano himself. He seems to take a personal interest in killing women.”

  The team around me all nod their heads, in complete agreement.

  Bennett speaks up. “OK. We’ll bomb the front door as a distraction. And a lucky bonus could be taking out some of the guards in front with the explosion. The building being on one level is good; there’s not much chance of bringing down the ceiling all the way in the back if the explosion I create is small and localized enough.”

  Grisham turns to face Jacob. “You really gonna let this guy blow some shit up?”

  Boss Man is evaluating Bennett, really looking at him closely. I can see the older man’s intense blue eyes picking him apart, summing him up, deciding if we can use him or not. After a minute, he nods. “Let’s go with that plan. Cause a diversion, we’ll split up. At the cue, two of us will enter quietly at the back while the other four take out the guards at the front.”

  Grisham takes over, looking at each of us in turn. “Brains and Swagger, you’re at the back. The rest of us will go in at the front. The only mission at this point is to get in, grab Olive, and get out. We can take Margiano out later, especially now that Olive is going to be able to testify to the fact that she was kidnapped with an intent to kill. He’ll go down.”

  Nodding, my heartbeat hammering against my rib cage, I rub my hands together. “Let’s do it.”

  “Lock and load, boys,” says Grisham. “Get it done.”

  Hurrying around to the back of the warehouse with Brains on my heels, I draw my Sig and when we’ve arrived at the warehouse’s back entrance I take up a position on one side of the door while Brains stations himself on the other.

  “We’ve got this,” he says quietly. “We’ll bring her home.”

  I nod. “We’d fucking better.”

  Jeremy slyly grins. “So this Bennett dude likes blowing shit up? Where’d you find him?”

  “He’s a good guy. He doesn’t have to be here, but he’s doing it for me. I’m going to owe him after this, but he’s the kind of guy I won’t mind owing a favor.”

  Jeremy nods his understanding. “Roger that.”

  Bennett’s voice comes over the com. “Here we go. Three, two, one…”

  The sound of the explosion rips through both our communications and the cold, dark night. The sky lightens, and I shoot the lock on the thin metal door. Kicking it in, Jeremy and I enter fast and low. Making our way through the warehouse space quickly, we turn this way and that to make sure there’s no one hiding among the aisles of boxes. With the sound of raised voices, we follow along until my breath catches when my Red comes into view.

  She’s just on the other side of the metal shelf I’m looking through, and she looks terrified. Tearing my eyes off of her, I take into account the fact that Mick Oakes is holding her from behind, and he has a gun in his hand. He’s holding the muzzle against Olive’s head.

  “Hurry up, you stupid idiot!” Albert is shouting. He takes on quick glance toward the front of the building. “Do it now!”

  Stepping out from behind the edge of the shelf, I aim the Sig at Mick’s head. “You don’t want to do shit, Mick, besides put down your weapon and let Olive go.”

  Her big blue eyes go wide when she sees me, instantly filling with tears. “Ronin,” she whispers.

  “Yeah, sweetheart. I’m right here. You’re gonna be okay.” I lock my eyes with hers, making sure she stays with me and stays calm.

  I’m proud of my girl. I know she’s scared to death, but she’s holding it together. She sucks in a breath, and I turn my attention back to Mick.

  “Let her go. If I understand you correctly, this isn’t what you want. You want her standing next to you while you lead the family business into the future, right? Can’t have her if she’s dead.” Planting my feet, I put a tiny bit of pressure on the trigger. I will fucking murder him if I get the chance to, but I don’t want to have to shoot with Olive standing there.

  Still concealed behind the shelf, Brains’s low voice comes over the com in my ear. “Wheels. We need a sharpshooter back here. Oakes has a gun against Olive’s temple.”

  The fury inside me centers in my stomach, but a trickle of fear makes its way into my heart.

  I could lose her. This could be it, I could lose her at the hands of this animal, and I haven’t even gotten to tell her that I love her. Fuck, I’m so in love with her.

  The realization hits me with a force I’m not expecting, and my hands tighten their grip on my gun.

  “Put it down, Oakes.” I growl the words. “She’s not going to die today.”

  Mick’s eyes are dead, but I can see his fear in the tremble of his hands. Whether he’s scared of me or his uncle I’m not sure.

  Margiano moves then, and he’s fucking spry for an old man. He makes a grab for Mick’s gun, and the gunshot rings out before I can blink. Margiano goes down.

  It wasn’t my shot.

  Oakes’s hands fly up, and Olive rushes toward me. Moving my Sig to my left hand, I catch her with my right, and whip her back around the huge, metal shelf.

  Olive grips my neck so tightly it hurts, but I don’t give two fucks how hard she squeezes me. Over the sound of her sobs, I speak urgently into her ear.

  “Are you hurt, Red? Shot?” I want to give her a full checkup, but she won’t let go.

  Her head shakes, and somehow her grip gets even tighter. “No. No. Oh, my God. Ronin…”

  Brains’s voice echoes in my earpiece. “Margiano is down, but breathing. I’ve got Oakes. Get Olive to the Suburban, Swagger.”

  But Boss Man’s voice barks a new order. “Everyone get to the Suburban. Cops will be here in five. Oakes comes with us.”

  Holstering my weapon, I lift a shaking Olive into my arms, and nothing has ever felt as good as her heat and warmth against me. She buries her head in my neck, and I stroke her hair as I carry her out of the building.

  “Fucking hell, baby. I thought…I’m so damn glad you’re okay.”

  She takes a shuddering breath and lifts her head. Her eyes glittering in the darkness, she stares so deep into me, I think she can probably see my soul.

  “You came for me.”

  My response is immediate. “I will always come for you.”

  With a sniffle, she curls into me, and I carry her into the night.

  32

  Olive

  Ronin carries me into the condo. It’s like he’s afraid to let me walk. When we returned to NES, he told the guys he would debrief in the morning and plucked me into his arms from the Suburban, placing me in his rental car. When we arrived in the condo’s parking garage, he scooped me into his arms again and carried me to the elevator, not putting me down once we were inside.

  As soon as we enter the condo, I stroke the back of his head until he looks at me. “I’m okay, Ronin. You can put me down now.”

  His thick eyebrows pull together as he searches my face, like he’s still looking for any sign that I’ve been hurt in some way. Finally, he sets me down on my feet but circles his arms around my waist.

  “Thank you.” The words fall out of my mouth before I can think about it, but he deserves my gratitude. He deserves so much more than my gratitude.

  He shakes his head, cupping the side of my face with one big hand. His thumb bru
shing across my cheekbone, he stares into my eyes, and I fall right into the depths of his. “Never thank me. I promised you I’d keep you safe, and that promise was almost broken tonight. They never should have gotten their hands on you.”

  My cheeks burn, because I know that part of it is my fault “I shouldn’t have left Rayne and Jeremy’s.”

  Still stroking my cheek, his body heat keeping me safe and warm, Ronin doesn’t break our stare. “Why did you?”

  “I just felt like…like I didn’t want you to deal with M.J. without me. Deal with M.J. for me. There was this sour feeling in the very bottom of my stomach…I couldn’t explain it. I had to get to you…I suddenly felt like I needed to be with you more than anything. God, Ronin…I don’t know if it was instinct or what but I just had this feeling you were in danger.”

  Glancing down, I’m kind of ashamed of myself. I created so much trouble. If I’d just stayed the course he wouldn’t have had to come rescue me.

  “Red, look at me.” His voice firm, Ronin’s other hand cups the back of my neck.

  I glance back up into his eyes, and they’re so full. Of whatever emotions he’s feeling, they’re written right there in his eyes.

  “When I found out that you were just feet away from me and taken away, I was fucking terrified. I knew I was going to go after you, but Red? NES was always going to go after the Margiano family. And I’d just found out that Albert Margiano is the man responsible for Elle’s murder. I was going after him regardless. But getting to you was my priority. I’m so goddamn sorry you got mixed up in all of it.”

  I gasp, one hand flying up to my mouth. My fingers tremble. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Ronin.” It was M.J.’s uncle the whole time…the man Ronin had been looking for? Shivers of revulsion, sadness, rage, roll through my body in waves of emotion.

  “Oakes said something that had me making the connection. So when I found out they’d taken you…shit, Red. I knew I didn’t have much time to get to you. And there was so much I still haven’t said.”

  Hope blooms inside my heart. “What haven’t you said?”

  Ronin steps in closer, his broad, hard chest, touching mine, our breaths mingling in the sliver of space between us. “For so long, I thought the only thing I had to live for was making sure that Elle’s killer was brought down. I wanted that person dead. I could have done it tonight, you know? I could have killed Margiano, he was right there.”

  I start to shake my head, to tell him that he wouldn’t have done that, but the dark look that crosses his expression stops me. And, deep down, I know that Ronin could have been capable of that. And I would have understood if he’d taken that road. He’s fought this battle for seven years, blaming himself for not being there for his wife when she needed him.

  “But I couldn’t focus on that. Not when you were there, and that bastard was holding a gun to your head. The only thing I could think about, the only thing I could see, was you.”

  Something inside me melts, going all soft and gooey, and I know with every fiber of my being that I belong to this man.

  “Margiano’s gonna be brought to justice, and I’m damn glad, but now there’s something in my life that overshadows that desire for revenge. Do you know what that something is, Red?”

  His lips touch mine, and a rocket goes off inside my body. Every single muscle tenses, urging me to get closer to him, and my arms wind around his neck. Breathless, I shake my head.

  He kisses me. His mouth crushes mine, his tongue delving inside my mouth and stroking mine, once, twice, three times, I turn into a puddle in his arms, melting against him, but just as I’m ready to climb up his body, he pulls back just slightly. I almost moan from the loss of his kiss.

  “You,” he whispers. “It’s you, Red. I love you.”

  Desperate need overtakes me then, and a wicked impatience I’ve only ever felt with Ronin. “Show me.”

  His hands drop to my waist and he picks me up like I weigh nothing, and I wrap my legs around his waist. My lips find his again, and I’m vaguely aware that we’re walking but I don’t care where we’re going. I only care that I’m with him.

  Placing me down on the bed in the guest room, he steps back and points at me. “Stay there. But be naked when I get back.”

  I roll my eyes. “You may love me, but you’re still McBossy.”

  Tilting his head to the side, he chuckles while scanning me from head to toe. “You’ll like it. I’ll be back in two minutes. No clothes, Red.”

  I salute him.

  He turns, but instead of leaving the room, he goes into the guest bath and closes the door. Within minutes, I can hear the sound of water running in the bathtub.

  My curiosity is begging me to go and listen at the door, but instead I strip out of my clothes. Now that Ronin isn’t directly in front of me, I’m actually dying to get out of them. I’m pretty sure I’ll never wear this particular outfit again. In fact, I might burn it. I want the stink of the warehouse off of me, right along with the recollection of what happened tonight.

  I want to surround myself in Ronin until the memory fades.

  When the door swings open again, I’m perched on the edge of the bed, my legs crossed in front of me, totally bare just like Ronin asked.

  I’m all ready to open my mouth to let him know that I’m only out of my clothes because I wanted to be, but it slams shut again when I catch sight of all the miles of hard, bronze muscle laid out before me. Ronin folds his arms and leans against the doorjamb, completely naked. His green eyes, deep and dark with want, scan me, touching me in every place he’s about to touch with his hands. I’m eating up the vision of him at the same time, and all the words disappear from my head as my mouth goes dry.

  “Good girl.” His voice is nothing but a low, sexy rumble, and the intensity of his stare heats me up from the inside out.

  Ronin holds out a hand, and I rise off the bed like a puppet on a string. His puppet. I know that I’d do absolutely anything he asked right now, and I’d be so happy doing it. Instead of being terrified by that thought, I’m aroused by it. Being the center of Ronin Shaw’s attention leads to only good things. Very good things.

  My eyes bounce around the bathroom as we enter, growing wider and more astounded everywhere I look. The tub is filled and with a thick layer of bubbles floating on top. Lit candles are littered across the countertop and in the wide corners of the Jacuzzi tub. When I look at Ronin, the flickering light catches in Ronin’s eyes as he drags me closer to him.

  “This is…” My voice trails off as I glance around the bathroom again.

  He helps me into the tub, and follows behind me. We both settle into opposite corners, and he pulls my bare feet up onto his thick, hard thighs under the water.

  Leaning back, his gaze is dark and hooded. “I’ve been thinking about this since the first night you stayed here. I was on the other side of that door, but as soon as I heard you singing and realized you were in this big bathtub all alone, it was all I could do not to join you then.”

  The hot water siphons away all the ugliness of the night, and I lean back and sigh, unable to take my eyes off the man across from me. He’s so beautiful it hurts, and he just told me he loves me.

  He loves me.

  Suddenly finding space and distance between us far too much, I crawl across the soapy tub until I’m straddling his lap. My thighs fit perfectly on either side of his, and my arms slide around his neck. His nostrils flare, and he leans forward to take my bottom lip between his teeth.

  I sigh and grind down on him, my clit landing on his impressive, hard length. We both groan and he thrusts his hips up to meet mine, my arms tightening around his neck as I try to draw him closer.

  “You love me,” I gasp as he reaches up to pull the band from my hair. When it tumbles out around my shoulders, Ronin buries his hands and tilts my head, kissing me deep and hard and long.

  When he pulls away, I’m gasping for breath and grinding down on his cock with all I’m worth. Ronin’s mouth
leaves mine only to bite down on my shoulder, and I toss my head back.

  “I fucking love you. What do you want, Red?” His words are a low growl against my skin.

  I lift my hips and whimper. He positions himself at my entrance, and I sink down on him. The delicious fullness, the stretching that the hard length of his cock gives me, makes me groan and bury my head against his wet shoulder.

  He thrusts up hard, and I cry out because it’s the most pleasurable pain I’ve ever felt. Before Ronin, I didn’t even know the two words could coexist.

  Cradling my face in his hands, he stares at me while he thrusts, over and over again, and the thread of love that’s slowly woven between us grows so thick the emotion of it all is hard to bear.

  “I love you, Ronin.” I’m deliberate with these words. I want him to know that they’re true, that I feel them all the way down to my soul.

  And that no matter what happens from here on out, I’m his.

  Epilogue

  Ronin

  “How do I look?”

  Olive twirls in a slow circle in front of me, showing off her costume. I take her in, my eyes feasting on the gold, shimmering dress hugging tightly to every single one of her curves. It’s short, much shorter than anything Olive would normally wear out, and I’m already getting off on a fantasy of pulling off the stilettos and running my tongue all the way up her legs later tonight.

  In fact…I stalk toward her, yanking her closer to me so she can feel just how much I want her right now. My hands snake up the backs of her thighs. My fingers gloss over the garter holster on her left leg and the toy gun stuck inside it.

  “You look so fucking sexy,” I murmur, staring into her eyes. “I don’t want to go to the Halloween party anymore.”

  She swallows, leaning into me, gazing right back into my stare like she’s on exactly the same page. “Jeremy and Rayne will kill us if we don’t show.”

  I lean down and run my nose along the shell of her ear before tugging the lobe between my teeth. I seem to have a biting fetish where Olive is concerned. It’s something I never knew I liked, but she always tastes good enough to eat.