Justice: A Billionaire Romance

by Lauren Landish

  "Stay frosty?" Andi asked, giving me a smile. As the 'ice' side of the red and white teaming, she and I both had nicknames from the cold side. "Looking at a new nickname?"

  I smiled and shook my head. "Not at all. Do you think Carter would ever let me live it down if I did? Every patrol would be an unending series of quotes from that damn song and cartoon. I just mean we stay alert, and we can both go home safely. You to a warm bed, and me to a soft one."

  "Speaking of which, are you getting anxious for it to not be just you?” Andrea asked.

  I thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Yes and no. I mean, I like Janet, of course. But not as a short term thing, you know?"

  Andrea studied me for a second, then laughed softly, shaking her head. "I never thought I'd see the day."

  "What?"

  "When my little brother becomes a man. Come on, we stay radio silent any longer and Mom's going to worry. Let's go."

  We left the base, the old MJT headquarters. The building was now just a strike base for us, our motorcycles parked inside the secured building. I wished we could have taken them up to Filmore Heights, but the mission tonight was to gather information, and they were too noticeable. We needed to go to the rooftops.

  Thankfully, our suits made sure that even a long gap between buildings was not a challenge. Back when Dad and Patrick had been doing this gig, they'd never jump a gap bigger than ten feet, which in all honesty meant they often had to meander their way through patrols, or move at street level a lot.

  But with the suits that Andi and I wore, even a twenty five foot gap was no problem. With a little device that we wore on our backs that acted like a miniature hang glider, it was a piece of cake.

  Outside on the roof, Andi and I turned our comm units on. "Checking in. Everything sound good, Mom?"

  “All good.” Mom was handling the computer coordination for us all tonight, while Dad acted as backup to Carter. Patrick was unfortunately out of town for the night, having been called to the state capitol for a meeting with the governor, and we wouldn't see him until the morning.

  "Mom, how's Carter?"

  "I'm just making the last of my load out checks now, babe. How're you two getting along?"

  "Just fine, Carter. You worry about yourself, we'll handle this,” I interjected. "Think you can avoid getting run over by a Boeing?"

  "Pretty sure, Riley. Think you can avoid getting your ass kicked by the Eighty-Eights?”

  I laughed, Carter wasn't going to rile me up that easy. "You'll see. Stay safe."

  I clicked off, looking at Andrea. "Ready?"

  Andrea nodded. "I'll take the lead. No offense Riley, but you’ve been out of the game for what, eight months now?”

  "No, I did one over Christmas vacation, but yeah, go ahead,” I said. Andi started off at a light jog, the two of us hopping rooftop to rooftop. It's much faster than going by city streets, since you move as the crow flies most of the time. In less than twenty minutes, we were standing on the gray slated roof of St. Timothy's Church, which gave us a commanding view of Filmore. I was slightly warm, but not too bad overall. While my Harvard dieting had cost me some muscle, I still had my endurance.

  We stopped on the steeply slanted sides and held onto the top of the peak, catching our breath. "Hey, you did pretty good," Andrea said. "I was worried."

  "Don't be," I replied. "I told you, I’m fine.”

  "Good," she replied back. Reaching into the pocket on the left side of the belt she was wearing, she pulled out a monocular. It enhanced the normal abilities of our cowls, which could magnify things up to three times and could even do night vision. "Hold on, let me check the area."

  I let Andi scan while I caught my breath. St. Timothy's is a geographic landmark of ours, one that we used nearly every time we patrolled the area. It was one of the tallest buildings in Filmore, and it also just had that sort of Gothic feel to it that made running around the city in skin-tight armored outfits not feel so damn ridiculous.

  Speaking of outfits, I was glad that mine had a different build than the rest. Carter and Andi may have not minded walking around like they were showing the world everything they had, but I was a little more circumspect. It’d taken me a while to figure out what to wear, but in the end I borrowed an old concept from Dad, wearing cargo pants that came in a black and white speckled pattern. They cinched at the ankle to match my boots, so it kind of gave me an old-fashioned militaristic appearance. When I dropped into an alley and started whooping ass, the look added to the intimidation factor. It was why I was considered the 'heavy' of the group by the criminal underworld, even though Carter certainly had busted more heads than me.

  Andrea on the other hand took after her godmother and giver of her middle name, embracing her natural sexiness and playing it up. I'd seen pictures of Tabby when she was in her twenties, and she was a heart-stopper. Even now, she was still beautiful. Andrea was in that mold, except she was also a bit like Mom. During the day, she was somewhat shy and reserved, only really opening up with her family. But when she was the Ice Princess — I wondered idly if she would rename herself the Ice Queen once she was married — she was bold, daring, and yes, more than willing to flaunt her looks, despite her protestations to the contrary.

  Andrea completed her check and pointed. "Looks like the Eighty-Eights are active tonight. Want to check it out?"

  I nodded. "Why not? It's been a while since I last played with those guys.”

  As we made our way towards the Circle K that was still the most noticeable hangout in Eighty-Eight territory, I thought again how ironic it was that the Eighty-Eights were still around. Patrick had targeted them first, and of the gangs in Filmore, they were the ones he hated the most. However, while the Latin Kings and Gangster Disciples had faded away, absorbed into the gangs that had replaced them, the Eighty-Eights maintained their presence. If anything, as MJT's policies took hold, a bit of gentrification had come over the neighborhood. Filmore Heights became more racially balanced, with it being nearly equal parts white, black and Hispanic, and the Eighty-Eights had increased their membership.

  We didn't land on the roof of the Circle K, it was too far of a jump down, we'd have left footprints in the roof. Instead, we stopped on the auto parts store across the street, which had replaced a tenement that’d been torn down years earlier. We set up our sensors and waited. "Hey Mom."

  "Yes Riley?" Mom said in my ear. We'd been checking in every ten minutes like we were supposed to, letting her focus on helping Carter. He was by himself, we could back each other up.

  "Andi and I have our sensors out, going to see what's up. How's Carter looking?"

  "According to him, it's quiet as can be. What do you say, Carter?"

  I could hear Carter chuckle, and a quick scuffle of movement. "No problems here. There's a series of warehouses that I want to check out, but so far everything looks nice and clean. What about you guys?"

  "We're going to see what the Eighty-Eights are up to," Andi said. "I saw some movement in their territory, thought they could use a little visit."

  "Stay safe. And remember, three days."

  I rolled my eyes. "Mom, they're getting lovey-dovey again."

  I could see a smirk on Andi's face, and even Mom chuckled. "Okay, you two go ahead. We'll be here if you need us."

  I tapped my comm unit, and looked over at Andi, who had a curious look on her face. "What?"

  "Do you really mind it when Carter and I are affectionate?" she asked suddenly. "You know you are important to me too."

  I laughed quietly and came over, taking Andrea's hand. “Of course not, I just like poking fun at you. The fact is, looking back, I knew you two were perfect for each other long before you acknowledged it. I think everyone did. It took Alex Young to bring it to light though."

  Andi groaned. "Alex Young. Now there's a name I never wanted to hear for the rest of my life...."

  Chapter Eight

  Two Years Earlier

  Andrea

  I grinned as
the fans roared around me. Sure, it was the last home game ever for the Spartans before they moved, but it hadn't been their choice. The league's realignment policy meant that teams had to be distributed not only in their divisions but in their television markets as well. With our area of the country having too many teams, the Spartans had drawn the short end of the stick, and were being forced to relocate to Las Vegas of all places. The owners hadn't liked it, and had in fact tried to block the move, but in the end, they lost. The owners had at least gotten one win, this was the last game for the Spartans as a team name ever. Starting next year, they were going to become the Las Vegas Centurions.

  "And now, your starting defense...." the public address announcer said, and the fans roared louder. The Spartans had missed the playoffs by one game, and it wasn't the defense's fault. The offense had been devastated by injuries, with the Spartans today starting a guy at quarterback whose last start was for Division III Wisconsin-Oshkosh, seven years ago.

  "At defensive end, six foot six, two-hundred-and-seventy-two pounds, from Modesto, California by way of the University of California, Los Angeles, Alex Young!"

  I wasn't sure whose cheer was louder, mine or the rest of the crowd's as Alex came down the tunnel and bursting onto the field. His long blonde hair waved in the bright winter sunlight, his megawatt smile that earned him legions of female fans beaming. Yes, Alex had tens of thousands of female fans, but he was mine. All mine.

  I still didn't believe it myself, that I was dating the most handsome professional athlete in the entire country, even before I'd graduated college. I'd met Alex at the beginning of the season during a Spartans press event that Tabby had gotten me into. I was a fish out of water, nervous around all these local celebrities. I saw four newscasters, a television actress, and more. Yet somehow I'd worked up the guts to talk when Alex came up to me, and we'd been dating ever since.

  "Jeez Andi, could you keep it down? My ears are ringing enough as it is, and we're in a luxury box," Barbara complained next to me. She was dressed vivaciously, and had come only because it was a family event. She was in college too, with her going back to Europe to continue her education soon. She wanted to get her master's, while Carter and I were content with getting a bachelor's and then adding on in a manner similar to what our parents had done, a lot of self study. Mom actually self-taught herself sociology in order to back up the false degree that 'Joanna' had earned from the University of Washington, while Tabby, in addition to her formal MBA, learned a lot about medicine from Mom, becoming a halfway decent medic as well as a business genius. Barbara was different, and so there wouldn't be too many more opportunities for the entire family to hang out together. "By the way Andi, you're missing watching your brother's game."

  "What is your brother doing?" Mom asked, leaning casually against Dad, her hand resting on his thigh. They were using the opportunity to, as they called it, "go dating" again. So they were both acting like they weren't in their forties, but instead back in the times before I'd been born. "Do tell me he's staying out of trouble."

  "If you look carefully, Riley's talking with two of the cheerleaders. Last thing he told me before going down was that he's taking one of them out after the game. I think the Asian girl," Barbara said, pointing.

  I looked, and sure enough, Riley was casually chatting with two of the girls. "Riley!" I yelled. "What is he doing?"

  "Probably trying to pick up a new girlfriend," Dad said. "You know how he is."

  Dad sighed, and took Mom's hand off his thigh. "You're right, I guess. All right, let me go gather him up."

  "Damn shame, that one girl looks cute," Barbara said in a low voice after Dad left. "Maybe if Riley won't do anything, I could."

  "Barbara Sophie McCaffery, behave yourself," Mom said with a laugh.

  "Yes Ma’am,” Barbara said in a resigned voice. Mom chuckled and took a drink of her champagne. Meanwhile, Barb looked over at me and stuck her tongue out, wiggling it. While she might not do anything publicly, most likely she'd be trying to hook up with exactly the same cheerleaders that Riley was talking to. She and him shared a sort of rivalry, although from what I could tell, Barbara had the edge in terms of seduction skills. It wasn't that she was a heart-breaker, far from it. She approached every partner with the clear intention that it was just for fun, probably just one time, and why not have some fun with it? Certainly not my style, but I wasn't one to criticize family.

  The game was great, Alex getting four sacks in a performance that was sure to earn him player of the week if not consideration for defensive player of the year honors. The highlights for the rest of the game consisted of Riley being brought back to the luxury box by Dad, and him promptly escaping again in order to go back to what he was doing. When both of the cheerleaders Riley'd been talking to disappeared only to reappear about halfway through the fourth quarter, I guessed what had happened.

  "Riley can get himself back from the stadium," Dad said, "and I'll have a word with him in the gym later."

  Part of me wished I could see that. Dad's idea of having a word with you in the gym would involve discussion for sure, but it would also involve a large amount of swapping punches and kicks, or occasionally escrima sticks and staffs.

  "Riley can get a ride home with me and Alex," I said, "if I find him."

  Mom and Dad nodded, giving me a hug before leaving. At the escalator I turned right while they turned left, heading for the parking lot. I was met at the security line by Gene, the GM of the Spartans who'd announced his retirement coinciding with the end of the season. He was actually staying on through the end of the playoffs, but this Sunday would be the last real day of work for him. "Hey Gene."

  "Andrea, you look more and more beautiful every time I see you," he said, giving me a hug. "How's your parents?"

  "All four are doing well," I said, knowing Gene was in on the joke. Among friends, it wasn't the McCafferys and the Bylurs, but a combined clan that differed only by legal name. The only reason those of us in the younger generation used the term Aunt and Uncle with the adults that weren't our genetic parents was to prevent scandal. "Tabby regrets not being here today, but she wanted Mom and Dad to have a date to themselves."

  "Well, if we'd made the playoffs, I'm sure that she would have been here for at least one game," Gene said, letting me go. "So what did you think of Alex's performance today?"

  "If it's the last chapter written in the Spartans history book, I'd say he gave it one hell of a exclamation point," I said. "And to end it on a win, too. I'm sure this whole city will appreciate that."

  Gene led me down to the locker room area, where the press was gathered to try and get quick interviews and sound bites for the evening news casts. Of course, Alex, being the man of the hour, was surrounded by microphones. He looked huge and muscular, his California beach-boy look beaming even with the last of the dirt and sweat dripping off his hair.

  Some of the second stringers were already coming out when Gene patted me on the shoulder. "I'll go tell Alex that you're here."

  I nodded my thanks and waited, smiling and waving politely at the players I knew. Some of the veterans had been with the team nearly long enough I remembered them from my kindergarten days, and even those on injured reserve had made sure to at least attend the final game of the Spartans.

  Alex came out about ten minutes later, looking amazing in his Spartans polo shirt and jeans. "Hey baby," he greeted me, swinging me up into a kiss. "Did you like the game?"

  "Of course I did," I said with a grin. Alex was so strong, it was nice to be in his arms. "You were a holy terror out there."

  "I had great motivation," he said, kissing me again. "I was looking forward to seeing you after the game, and I needed a win to do what I wanted to do."

  "Which was?"

  Alex led me down the hallway, towards the tunnel. "Have you ever been out on the field?" he asked, holding my hand.

  "Once, but it was a press event," I admitted. "You could barely see the grass there were so many other people
around the place. It must be different when you're playing."

  Alex tugged, pulling me along. "Here's your chance. Sure, the crowd will be gone, but the feeling is still awesome."

  I walked out with him, looking around. It was impressive, and at the same time kind of sad. The few lights that were still on left the field in dim shadow, while a few of the lights still on were mainly directed at the stands where staff were starting the massive job of cleaning up. "What do you think?"

  "I wish it wasn't the last time the Spartans were playing here," I said softly, holding his hand. "Especially as it means you'll be in a new city next year."

  "I'll be a free agent," Alex said lightly. "My rookie contract is up, and I was thinking of trying one of the other teams in the region. Your brother is thinking of going to Harvard, right?"

  "Harvard or Yale," I said, thinking of Riley. "Why?"

  "I was thinking of signing with New England," Alex said. "They run a good team, and their D-line needs help. I sign on there, and not only will I be on a playoff contender, but get top dollar too."

  Suddenly, Alex pulled me against him, kissing me hotly. "Come with me," he said when he finally let me go. "Come with me wherever we go. Be my lady."

  I was stunned. I mean, I adored Alex, and he was handsome, but leaving the city? I'd only been allowed to patrol for the past three years, and even still Dad hadn't allowed me to go out on my own. I loved it, and I loved the feeling it gave me. I'd even started to get a nickname on the streets, Ice Princess.