by Huie,Melissa
I nodded, and gave him a hard stare. “I can respect that, so I’m only going to say this once. Your sister is a big girl, and can handle herself. What happens between us is our business. But trust me when I say, hurting your sister is the last thing I will ever do.”
Cole met my stare, then raised his chin. “As long as you know that.” He released the death grip on my hand and slapped me on the shoulder, harder than necessary. “Why don’t you come by the gym tomorrow? We can see what you’re really worth, or we’ll find out if you’re still the same pussy from when we were in BUD/S together.”
I shook my head. “Let me see what I can do. I’ll catch you later.” I grabbed my leather jacket from the back of the couch and headed out the door, making my way to the truck where Sketch leaned against the hood, smoking a cigarette, while his cousin Pat puked his guts out by the tailgate. I raised my chin at Sketch, my intent clear as a bell. He gave a slight nod, which was good, because I was going to do it with or without his okay. I reached Pat, and my fist cocked back and hit his jaw faster than he could blink.
“Damn, man, what the fuck is that shit for?” he whined, holding his fat jowls with his meaty hand.
“That’s for even breathing in her direction.” I pulled back and hit him again, knocking his drunk ass clean out. “That’s for putting your fucking hands on her.”
“Shit. You’re helping me get him into the backseat.” Sketch stubbed out his cigarette and made his way over to the lump that was his cousin. I was half-tempted to leave the fat bastard there, but I knew that wouldn’t go over too well with Cole and Kate, so we hauled him into the backseat of my Chevy, then I drove the twenty-five minutes to my place in Edgewater. I was on autopilot. My mind, my thoughts, were filled with her.
Seeing her today was a shock to my system. I knew it would only be a matter of time before we ran into each other. I wanted to find her the second I realized the connection between her and my best friend, when I saw her picture in Sketch’s office. She was in a group shot with Sketch, Cole, and two other people that I knew were Shane and Megan. Her brown hair was shorter, lighter, and her body was leaner, but damn those eyes—those crystal blue eyes. The urge to go and find her was strong, but Sketch held me off, said that she was dealing with a lot of shit, and it was her story to tell. Because, obviously, she wasn’t the Kate Parker from Toledo, Ohio, that I met in Miami. Too bad I already knew who she was. I knew who she was the minute she moved into our apartment building.
I pulled up to the place I bought only a few months ago on Bayside Drive and cut the engine. “You crashing here?” I asked, getting out of the truck.
Sketch shrugged. “Nah, I got to get this fat bastard home.” He got out and I followed. He cupped his hands and lit another cigarette. “So…Kate, huh? You better know what you’re doing.”
I’d never been able to lie to him. He’d seen me at my worst. He knew the shit I’d been through and still, despite everything, had had my back since we were sophomores at Northern High School. When I’d first asked him about her, the first time I was at his gym, he didn’t tell me a thing, just said that there was some bad shit going down, that she was in deep, and that I needed to back off. That sure as hell wasn’t happening, so I pressed and asked questions. Pissed him off to the point that he threw me into a submission move that I was unable to get out of, until I gave him my word that I wouldn’t fuck with her, unless whatever drama she was in settled down. And doing that was hard enough. But luckily, my own life was messed up enough that it took my mind off of her, or at least, put her behind everything else, temporarily. Thankfully, it was something that only reached a plateau in recent weeks.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I can’t not talk to her, bro. Something is there, a connection between us. I feel it. And I think she does too.”
Sketch nodded. “You both have a lot of baggage. But if anyone can get past the bullshit, it’s you. But you have to tell her, dude.” He gave me the hard look. I knew exactly what he meant.
Pat had snorted from inside the car, and I threw him a disgusted look. “Yeah, I know.” I threw open the door and smacked Pat upside his bald head. “Wake up, fucker. Your stench is soaking into the car.” With Sketch’s help, we’d managed to haul his cousin into the back of Sketch’s pickup truck. I slapped him on his back. “I’m picking Aubrey up on Sunday, so I’ll see you then.”
I walked into the dark house and flipped on the lights as I went. My orange and white tabby, Harley, greeted me in the kitchen. “What’s up, fat boy?” I scratched him behind his ear and opened up the fridge. Nothing but beer, two-week-old pizza, and a bottle of ketchup. My plane from Miami had just landed that afternoon, and I hadn’t had time to get to the store yet, so I grabbed the beer and made my way into the living room.
I’d been in the most extravagant mansions, and the most desperate of hovels, and nothing had felt more like home than this. Even that apartment the military had rented for me down in Miami wasn’t home. This was a place I could raise my family—where I would be raising my family. The little three bedroom beach cottage had plenty of space for Harley, my daughter, and me.
Damn. I had a daughter. It still took me by surprise when I said it. One minute I was in the jungles of Bolivia, and the next minute I was on a plane, back to my parents’ house, with a brand new life. I didn’t find out about her until earlier this year. I’d missed her birth, and the first three months of her life. Who the hell knew how much more I would have missed, had the police not raided the house her mother was staying in. I gripped the neck of the beer tighter, remembering the night my mom had called me, her controlled voice my only clue that something was up. My gut immediately tightened, thinking it was my old man and his heart again.
But no, it was more life-changing. I had a three-month-old daughter, and her mother, my former girlfriend, otherwise known as Sketch’s sister Jennie, was arrested for child abuse, neglect, endangerment, along with a whole host of other charges like possession of narcotics, and intent to distribute. She was high as a fucking kite when they busted down that door, where she had left Aubrey covered in waste, and screaming in the back room. The only bright side was that Jennie was coherent enough to give her mother’s name as her emergency point of contact. Within hours, she was granted emergency custody. The scary thing? No one had seen Jennie in quite some time, and her family had no clue she had even been pregnant, much less who the father was. But Ana took one look at Aubrey and knew exactly who she belonged to.
I’d come as soon as I could, and there was no question in my mind that Aubrey was mine. She had my brown eyes, and her mother’s blonde curls. From the moment I’d held that baby in my arms, she had me hooked. My priorities changed. But I couldn’t leave my team behind, so I made the commute. I went back home as often as I could, spending as much time with my daughter as possible, and doing as much work as I could remotely. But I always had to make that trek south.
Miami was only supposed to be temporary. Everything about Miami was temporary. Except for Harley, I didn’t expect to bring anything back. Hell, my targets weren’t even supposed to make it back to the area. They were supposed to meet their maker in the Florida Everglades. And I was proud to say that most of them did, just not the main one. In my team, it was ingrained from the very beginning; don’t leave a trail, cover your tracks, and never let your brothers down.
The prep work I’d done on the case encompassed three years of my life—learning their movements, hacking our way into their network, planting someone within their lower ranks—taking a massive amount of manpower and a shit ton of money. But damn if we didn’t get close. So close, I almost tasted it. We’d planned for every possible contingency.
But I hadn’t planned for Kate. The moment I saw her in the gym at our apartment building, I was hooked. Hell, I wasn’t stupid. I’d checked her out in our database as soon as I got wind that the agent on the Cartel Task Force was coming our way. I knew who she really was, what her true purpose was for being down in Florida. But I didn
’t want to show my hand. Our missions were aligned, but mine was on a much grander scale. Separation between the two was an unfortunate necessity. I had to live for the mission. Pussy was great, but I couldn’t have a relationship, not when so many things were up in the air. I didn’t need a stage five clinger when I had to be on the move at a moment’s notice. Thankfully, she had the same mindset, which made her perfect. A hot ass woman like her, with her own life and career, who was happy with no strings attached sex? Sign me right up. And it stayed that way, for a while. I did my thing, she did hers, but somehow, her no-nonsense attitude, contagious smile, and juvenile sense of humor wore me down. And damn, that body rocked me.
But she was getting too close. She was fishing around in waters that shouldn’t have been, and I knew that soon, our two cases would combust together. The Cruz Cartel were basically the middlemen for the Syndicate, and the more Kate poked her nose around it, the more she’d find about the Syndicate, and that was not something that she needed to get involved in. We had too much riding on our case, too much effort and money invested, so she had to go. I knew her boss, Rapoles, was a complete dick, and wanted her out of Miami. She once tore him a new asshole because he couldn’t—or more likely, wouldn’t—see that Tommy Greene was their mole. So I made a judgement call. Looking back, maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but I did what I had to do and called in a favor. Rapoles owed me from the time I saved his son’s ass in a raid up in Michigan. It may have been a dick move, but it got her out of Florida. I didn’t expect her to stick around after getting an earful from the higher-ups. That was one thing Kate didn’t do, was stay where she wasn’t wanted.
I’d thought I could let her go. One more night of beyond amazing sex would be all it would take to get her out of my system. But after round one, I couldn’t let her go. She’d felt so right in my arms, like she belonged there. The decision to send her back to wherever Rapoles was sending her made my stomach feel like lead. I knew I’d thrown her off when I’d asked her to stay the night. But the thought of not being inside her, not having her in my arms one more night, angered the beast within. She was the calm, the relief from dealing with the scum of the earth. I’d started to need her more than I needed air to breathe, which had scared the shit out of me. I had never been that way, until she walked her pert little ass into the gym.
I drained my bottle. Checking my phone, I knew I had to go to bed, or there would be hell to pay tomorrow. Running a business alone is a ridiculous amount of work, but to put that on top of the work I was doing with the DEA and my team? Luckily, the bar ran itself, and Josh was pretty chill about what was going on. With our cousin and third partner, Jason, finishing up his season with the Tampa Bay Rays, I didn’t feel bad leaving the bar and restaurant in his hands.
I tugged my clothes off and left them on the floor in my wake, all the while stepping over a baby rattle, Harley’s catnip toy, and a used, empty bottle. Fuck it, I’ll clean tomorrow, along with the million other things I have to do.
I climbed into the bed, my mind instantly going to Kate in her bedroom. She smelled so clean, her coconut and lime scent so ingrained in me, and it took everything I had not to push her onto the bed and go to town. My cock hardened at the memory, and I groaned, taking it into my hand. The fragrance, the touch of her silky smooth skin, the suction of her mouth—all memories that I’d kept handy for times like these, when I wanted nothing more than to sink my cock into her slick heat. To bring her to the edge, but to keep that orgasm at bay until she begged for it. My strokes got quicker, and I finally came with a grunt, coating my stomach. No matter how fantastic the memories were, I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had her in my arms. And that would happen soon.
Chapter 4
Kate
GOD HELP THOSE who get in my way today.
With only three hours of sleep, I was in no mood to go to work. But knowing my accounting and reports needed to be submitted, I trudged over to my closet to get ready. I threw on a pair of black skinny jeans, a purple oversized cowl-neck sweater, and my three inch booties, all the while thanking the powers that be for casual Fridays. After I ran the flat iron through my hair and applied my makeup, I was somewhat prepared to face the crazies of the world.
I headed into the kitchen, thankful that Cole had had the decency to start the coffee maker after his morning workout.
“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Cole quipped as I walked in. I gave him the evil eye as I maneuvered my way around him for my travel mug, then filled it with the precious brew.
“Did we keep you up?” he asked, cutting up peppers and mushrooms for his omelet.
“Nah, between travel and this case, I don’t sleep very well.” Which wasn’t technically a lie. I sure as hell didn’t want to say, “Your buddy left me too frustrated, and my vibrator’s battery died!” I didn’t think that would go over too well. I grabbed the milk and cereal, and sat down at the counter with my Cocoa Krispies.
“What’s the plan for this weekend?” he asked, flipping his breakfast.
Shoot, I had no clue. The days had been running together. I pulled out my Galaxy S7 and checked my calendar. “I have no clue. Probably try and catch up on my sleep. Why?”
He looked up from the pan, and his brown eyes glinted with mischief. “Sleep when you’re dead, and take Monday off. We’re going up to Deep Creek for some riding, and one last party before the snow comes in.”
I shrugged. “Wait, can Megan even ride? I mean, I know she’s doing better and all with the hip injury, but what’s Shane gonna do? Sit her at the campsite while we go off and have fun?”
Cole flicked a pepper at me. “Look at you, trying to stir up some drama. Do you honestly think that Shane would leave Megan? After all the shit they’ve been through? Cut the man a little slack. They’ve cleared it with the doctor, and she’s good to go. She’ll be a little sore, but Shane’s already planned for a huge cabin with a hot tub. Plus, it’s not like she’s going to be alone. Everyone’s coming up.”
I snorted. “Deep Creek Lake? Even with all the shit that went down at Tommy’s house, Megan’s ready to go back?”
Cole shrugged. “Their therapist said it would be good for them to face that part of their past together. They’re going up there this afternoon, get a lay of the land, before we come in and crash their solitude.” I nodded. That made sense.
Hmm. A weekend in the woods, with my closest friends and family? That was exactly what I needed.
I grinned. “Sounds good. I’ll stop by the store on my way home from work and pick up provisions.”
“Good. I’ll grab Karla on the way out tomorrow morning, so we’ll head out early.”
This is surprising. Normally, Cole was the love ’em and leave ’em type, but for some odd reason, he’d been keeping this one around. Karla was a gym bunny, flirting when she should be working out, and loving up on all the guys, trying to be their friend or bed buddy, and had apparently taken quite the shine to Cole. She was okay, in small doses. Not someone I’d want to be around for an entire weekend, though. Granted, I’d never been the easiest person to get along with. I’d been known to be a little on the cold side, but this girl drove me bananas. Everything was so happy and cheerful, and…ugh. Gag me with a freaking spoon. She was so fake. That, and everything Cole did was brilliant. I knew my brother. We’d been family for twenty years, and he didn’t need a damn cheerleader. But, Cole liked her. And I was staying at his house, which he was letting me crash in rent free. So I’d ignored her loud shrieks of pleasure when she’d come over. Thankfully, it was an infrequent occurrence, so her joining us on the trip was something big for Cole.
I got up, put my bowl in the sink, and grabbed my bags. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll grab the earplugs too. There’s only so much of ‘Oh Cole, you manly man you’ I can take,” I mocked, dodging the dish towel he threw at me. I couldn’t help it. Mocking my brother made my day.
I was still chuckling as I pulled into my office building thirty minutes later. Thankfully, I was assig
ned to the Baltimore field office. Distance was definitely better, because of less pressure, less formality, and supposed less political bullshit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t far enough. Thanks to Tommy’s emergence as the next cartel badass, the political weight on my team, and my supervising agents, had increased tenfold. Not only was that an embarrassment to the federal government, but the leadership we were under.
My partner and I had had a feeling something was up, and we’d tracked as many leads down as we could, before Tommy was able to slip through our fingers. We’d broached the possibility of a wiretap and surveillance, but were denied repeatedly. Well, we proved them wrong, didn’t we? It took photographic evidence, and Tommy holding Megan hostage before they’d finally took me seriously. And even then, they were like, “We didn’t have enough information to make a formal complaint.” That was pure and utter bullshit. The Special Agent in Charge, as well as his bosses, couldn’t even think of their golden boy doing any wrong.
I got off at the tenth floor and worked my way through the maze of cubicles, hoping to get to my own little slice of real estate before Special Agent in Charge Rapoles realized I was in. I passed by his darkened office and heaved a sigh of relief when no one stopped me, and headed into my team’s cluster of desks, located in a big corner office.
Affectionately known as the Romper Room, the room was the command center for anything Cruz Cartel related. Ten of us sat in the hideaway, far more people than OSHA recommended, I was sure. Thanks to the immediate fallout, we were able to add to our ranks and bolster our efforts. But, as the months went on, that fell by the wayside. Now, it was like we were the red-headed stepchildren. Tolerated, and given a bone or two, but in the end, not really looked upon with pride, just with disdain.
