“So you cuffed her to the bed?”
“I was trying to get her to fucking listen to me.”
He nodded and then snorted out a laugh. “Sorry, but it’s funny that you think you can get Florrie to listen to you.”
“I can. I just need to find what works for her.”
“Let me ask you this, if it’s not just fucking, where do you see this going?”
Where did I see this going? I wasn’t sure, not in this business. We probably wouldn’t be your average couple, going out to dinner and then tucking the kids in. How would that work? We’d both be gone, working jobs at the same time. The only way it would work is if we were on different teams, and then we wouldn’t see each other at all.
“Maybe you need to think about that a little more. Obviously, she’s the only one thinking in the long term.”
“Fuck,” I swore softly.
“Come on. We have bigger things to worry about right now. Like how you’re going to explain all this to Cap.”
He slapped me on the back and I stopped in my tracks. Fuck, there was no good way to explain this and keep Florrie happy.
I stepped out of the bedroom and followed Hunter into the living room where Cap, Craig, Burg, Chris, and Jackson were all standing.
“How is she?” Cap asked, rushing over to me, obviously distressed.
“She’s fine. It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“She was tied naked to a bed. How could it not be that bad?” Chris practically shouted.
“It’s not what you think,” Florrie said, emerging from the bedroom. “I had a lover over. We had a bit of a disagreement and I was left chained to the bed.”
Well, hell. I didn’t really like that explanation, but I guess it was better than nothing.
“So, the sensors went off when he left?” Burg asked.
“Probably.”
“No,” Hunter interrupted. “The sensors showed someone breaching the property, moving toward the house. It couldn’t have been him.”
The fucker turned and winked at me.
“It was probably me,” I fessed up.
“No, when I called you, you didn’t know yet that someone had gotten onto Florrie’s property,” Craig said. “Wait, how did you get here so fast? You beat us here and I was just telling you what happened?”
Staring at all the guys, I went with the only thing that made any sense. “I was already on my way here.” Florrie glared at me, but I rushed on. “She told me she was meeting a lover here tonight and I…” Sweat beaded on my forehead as I tried to come up with something, anything that would work. “I was jealous.”
“Of what?” Cap asked, confusion in his eyes.
“It’s been a while,” I muttered. Florrie rolled her eyes. I could see the way her brain worked, wondering why the fuck I couldn’t come up with a better excuse.
“So, what was your plan?” Hunter crossed his arms over his chest and grinned at me. “Are you turning into Gabe? Were you going to watch?”
“No,” I said quickly, not wanting anyone to think that I was into that shit.
“Wait, you were jealous…” Craig hesitated, “of Florrie or her lover?”
“Whoa,” Jackson chuckled, taking a step back. “Are you asking if he’s gay? Because we’ve been through this already with Gabe. Trust me, we would know if he was gay.”
He chuckled, glancing around the group, but then his eyes landed on me and he looked me up and down like he was waiting for me to confirm his suggestion. The problem was, if I didn’t tell him I was gay, then I was here for Florrie. And then she would kill me. There would be no chance for me to have a future with her because I would be dead. But Florrie saved me.
“For God’s sake, it was a woman. My lover is a woman.”
“What?” Everyone asked, including me.
“Yeah, I like both guys and girls. I had a woman over and it turns out it’s Alec’s old girlfriend. When she found out that I worked with Alec, she left me tied to the bed. Apparently, Alec gave her chlamydia and her husband found out that she was sleeping around.”
“You were sleeping with a married woman?” Chris asked. “That’s such a shitbag move.”
Shit, Florrie was making me out to be a manwhore.
“And who were you sleeping with to begin with that gave you chlamydia?” Craig asked.
“Another married woman,” Florrie chimed in. “This woman’s lover.”
“Wait,” Cap shook his head. “I’m confused. You were sleeping with a married woman who was lovers with another married woman, whom you were also sleeping with?”
I gritted my teeth together and glared at Florrie. “Apparently.”
“So, was this like a big ménage type situation?” Cazzo asked. “Were you sleeping with both of them at the same time?”
“Well, duh, asshole.” Burg slapped him on the back of the head. “If it was ménage, of course he was sleeping with both of them at the same time.”
“No, I meant, was he the filling in the cookie or was it more of a spectator sport?”
“God,” Craig groaned, “Please tell me you were the filling. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“Maybe you can participate on Alec’s next romp,” Florrie grinned. “Maybe he’ll find a few more women to sleep around with.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” Burg said.
“Yeah, this coming from the man that slept with a tranie,” I shot back.
“Hey, that was unknowingly and it stopped once I saw dick.”
“So, how did she find out that you worked with Alec?” Chris asked Florrie.
“Alec walked in on us together.”
“You lied?” Craig asked me. “You made it sound like you didn’t know what was going on.”
“Did you know your old lover was gonna be here?” Cap asked. “Is that why you came over?”
Florrie glared at me and I nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking of starting things up with her again.”
“With a Florrie sandwich this time?” Burg asked.
“Can we drop this?” I asked in frustration. “The point is that Florrie’s fine and we can all go home now.”
“So, are we worried about this lover coming back and stirring shit up?” Cap asked. “Do we need to do a perimeter search?”
“No, she’s gone,” Florrie interjected. “You can all leave.”
“Guess you had the right train of thought, coming over here when you did,” Hunter smirked. “Imagine what we could have all walked in on.”
“Well, you didn’t see anything and you never will. It’s over and you can leave,” Florrie cut in, glaring at Hunter.
“No, I think we should do a perimeter check still,” Hunter said. “You know, make sure this chick isn’t still on the property. I mean, the alarms were set off and we need to be sure this chick actually left. We wouldn’t want you to end up tied to the bed again.”
That asshole was fucking with me hard and I would get my revenge one way or another.
“I agree,” Cap nodded. “We’re not taking any chances.”
“What was this chick wearing?” Jackson asked.
“Nothing,” Florrie said quickly.
“She ran out naked?”
“She was in a hurry when she left. She didn’t want to see Alec.”
“Where are her clothes then?” Cap asked.
“She must have grabbed them on the way out.”
“Alec,” Cap asked. “Did you see anything to identify her? Do you have a picture?”
“Sorry, I don’t keep pictures of old lovers on me.”
“Maybe we should get the blue light in here,” Hunter suggested. “You know, find out where the samples are.”
“Excuse me?” Florrie said harshly.
“What? If we got a sample of her…cum… on file, we would have her DNA.”
“Alright, that’s enough. I’m fine. There will be no perimeter check. No DNA profiling. And definitely no one staying behind,” she said narrowing her eyes at me. �
�You can all get off my property now.”
“Florrie, you’re not staying here tonight. We’ll have new equipment installed tomorrow, but I don’t want you coming back before then.” Cap stared her down, waiting for to argue.
“She can stay with me,” I piped up.
“I think she should stay with me,” Hunter said, raising an eyebrow in challenge. “You know, because of Lucy. You’ll have another woman around.” Then he glanced at Florrie. “I don’t mind watching a little girl on girl action, as long as I get to participate.”
“She’s my teammate,” I bit out.
“She can stay with me too,” Craig suggested. He had been unusually quiet that whole time, which now that I thought about it, was very strange for him. Craig always needed answers, so why wasn’t he asking any questions? Fuck, he was probably onto us. Florrie was going to kill me.
“She’ll stay with both of you. I don’t want her out of your sight tonight.” Cap handed out orders, including ordering Florrie to pack a bag while Craig and I stood watch. She glared at me the whole fucking time.
“You okay, man?” I asked Craig as we waited.
“Yeah, it’s just a lot to take in. How did I not know that Florrie swung both ways? Or that you were banging married women? It just all feels off.”
“What part?” I asked, going over our story in my head and trying to figure out what part was wrong.
“The whole thing. I guess I never pictured you as the type to sleep with a married woman. I definitely didn’t see Florrie being gay. And how the hell did she let herself get tied up and how did you not catch the chick?”
“Bad timing, I guess. It all took me by surprise.”
“I guess. Something’s off though. I think we need to keep a close eye on Florrie for a while. It just feels like she’s not telling us something.”
“I’ll see what I can get out of her tonight,” I said, grinning to myself.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Alec
One year ago…
Stepping out of Chance’s house into the dark night, I pulled my gun immediately, ready to take watch for the night. Florrie and Morgan had seemed to bond inside while I was the odd man out. Craig wasn’t along this time around, leaving us short one man, but we’d be fine. The chance that Wes “The Broker” Hughes knew where we were hiding Morgan was slim.
“I’m going on a perimeter check,” I told Florrie. She nodded and took up her position in front of the door. I had just gotten halfway down the driveway when the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. Squinting into the darkness, I couldn’t make out anything. I glanced at my watch, noting that no sensors were signaling any problems. But that didn’t mean jack shit right now. Something was wrong and I was positive that we had to get the fuck out of here now.
“Florrie,” I said in my coms as I turned and headed up the driveway. She didn’t answer. “Florrie,” I tried again, but still nothing. My heart pounded in my chest as I raced up the long driveway. I stopped in my tracks when I reached the garage. Gathered around the front of the house were at least a dozen men, two of them holding onto Florrie. She had blood dripping down her face and her arm was wrenched up behind her back painfully. How had they moved in without us knowing, without alerting the sensors?
“Put the gun down or I put a bullet in her head.”
I held my gun steady. It wasn’t in me to surrender. Florrie knew this, glaring at me, telling me that I better not put down my fucking gun. Still, she knew that I wouldn’t risk her life. I glanced around quickly at the other men. There was no way we were getting out of this. There were too many of them and Florrie was already incapacitated.
“You don’t have a fucking choice. Do it now or I’ll put a bullet in her,” the man said, leaving me no options. I slowly lowered my weapon, but I didn’t give away that I had three other guns on me. Not that they couldn’t figure that out. What I needed was a plan. It was better to comply for now and give myself the chance to come up with something, anything to get us out of this clusterfuck.
“Don’t-ah!” Florrie shouted as they wrenched her arm.
“Stop,” I shouted. “I’m doing what you asked.”
“Tell us the codes for the house.”
“No fucking way.” I might put down my gun, but I wasn’t allowing them access to the house just like that. I needed to find a way to get ahold of Cap, but with coms down, they weren’t getting any of this.
A man stepped up behind me, slamming his gun down on the back of my head. The darkness spun all around me as pain ripped through my skull. I fell to my knees, catching myself before I fell completely and passed out on the ground. I willed myself to stay alert. I could vaguely hear Florrie screaming, but it was muffled. I looked up through blurry eyes to see Florrie’s face contorted in pain. They were gagging her so her screams were silenced. I shook off the pain and blinked rapidly, but I couldn’t clear my vision.
“Tell us the fucking code!”
“Fuck you,” Florrie spat and then whimpered in pain. The man grabbed my arms and yanked me to my feet. I was barely able to stand. He gripped my jaw, forcing me to look at Florrie.
“You want to see her killed?”
I blocked everything out as best I could, but it wasn’t enough. I still saw Florrie lying in my bed, her blonde hair spread out on my pillow. I saw her smile and felt her touch. I thought I could think rationally on the job, but not when they were hurting her. Anger ripped through me so fiercely that I lost it and tore myself from the man’s grip.
A blinding rage took over as I swung around, jabbing the man in the throat with my fist. He fell to the ground, clutching his throat. A second man came toward me and I pulled a knife, whipping it into his chest. They kept coming and I tried to fight, but with every fist to my face, every kick to my chest, I faltered just a little. The final blow to my head had me falling to my knees and then dropping to the ground.
Through drooping eyes, I saw Florrie drop to the ground just as I had. She was out. I saw a man in a suit approach the door and knock. I prayed that Morgan wouldn’t answer. My fingers moved down my vest, trying to find my phone, but a boot to the face had blackness creeping over me. The last thing I saw was Florrie passed out on the ground.
Alec Page 10
