by Helene Gadot
"Just photograph everything, we can sort through it later."
Ridley bit back the annoyance filling her. "I know. You already said."
He grimaced. "Sorry. This makes me nervous."
"Really?" Big, bad biker was nervous sneaking around the bad guy's office?
Hilarious.
"Yes. You know in the movies when the characters are always sneaking around somewhere they're not supposed to be?"
She finished photographing the contents of the first drawer, careful to put everything back just the way it was. "Yeah. It's a common occurrence in movies and TV."
Maddox kept his back to her. "It always makes me super anxious. I can barely stand to watch."
Ridley sucked her cheeks into her mouth and ducked her head to hide the hysteria bubbling up inside her. Big bad biker boy gets scared during sneaky scenes.
"You're laughing at me, aren't you?"
"Nope." The word came out in a high-pitched squeak.
He turned to scowl at her. "It's not that crazy. I'm a Legion member. We don't do a lot of sneaking around in places without probable cause."
"Maybe if you did, you'd have a better arrest record."
Maddox sniffed in offense and turned back to the filing cabinets. "Our arrest record is stellar. Usually we don't need these sort of methods."
"Then why are you using them this time?" Ridley moved on to the third drawer. Nothing helpful had caught her eye, but she was focused more on getting pictures of everything instead of reading it.
"Because we want this guy no matter what it takes and we can use you as our anonymous source if we find anything."
"Smart."
"It was Reese's idea."
She grinned. "Of course it was. Who knew the pretty surfer boy was the brains of the operation."
"You assumed it was Beckett?"
"Of course I assumed it was the tech geek."
He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Aren't you the one who gets offended at stereotypes?"
"Yep."
"And you don't see the hypocrisy?"
"Of course I see it. Shut up."
"Just saying."
"Well, stop yapping and focus on getting the photos taken. You never know when someone might check out the office. Remember we're not supposed to be here. We could get caught. And then we're in trouble and you'll get yelled at by your Legion commanding officers." She ducked her head to hide her amusement.
"You might be a bigger asshole than Cormac."
She snorted as she opened the fourth drawer. "No one is a bigger asshole than him."
"I don't know. You two definitely have that in common."
Finally, she found stacks of paper. Something here must be useful. "How dare you? I'm nothing like that British bastard."
"Whatever you say."
"Now who's being the asshole?"
Maddox's phone chirped, and he cursed when he read the message.
She glanced up in concern. "What?"
Panic covered his face. "He's on his way back. Shit, you jinxed us."
Her heart thudded, and she hurried through the papers. "It was all your chatter distracting us. We could have been out of here ages ago."
"Hurry up."
"Fine. Fine. Calm your tits."
Maddox huffed and their whispers were replaced with the flash and click of their phone cameras. She picked at him for it, but his nervousness had infected her, making her pulse race and hands clammy.
If she got caught here with a Legion member, her past could catch up to her and that could not happen.
The last drawer was locked. Dammit.
Maddox's phone chirped again. "They trailed him and he's almost here."
She yanked at the drawer with a curse. "Wait. This drawer won't open."
"Leave it. We need to get out of here now."
It could have just what they needed. "It's locked for a reason. And I haven't read everything, but from what I did scan, there's nothing here to help us nail him legally."
"Fine. Hurry. I'll see if they can stall him."
"Good. Do it." Ridley pulled her lock picks from the pouch strapped to her waist and got to work.
"Malia doesn't want to use the force field and tip her hand, they have no options. He's inside the building. We need to go now." Maddox hovered over her, anxiety straining his voice.
"Hold on. He's got some impressive kind of lock on this drawer. Almost got it." Her pick slipped, and she cursed.
"We can always come back. Come on."
She snarled, the frustration making her testy. "If you're that freaked out, go. I can use my illusions to hide."
"I'm not leaving you. I just want you to hurry up."
"I am." The lock clicked, and the drawer slid open.
Ridley sorted through the contents, confused by what she found. "What the hell is this?"
"Photograph it, leave it, and let's go."
"I am. I am. Good grief. Next time I break in somewhere I am not coming with you." She re-locked the drawer and returned everything to her pockets.
A keypad beeped out in the hall and she exchanged an alarmed glance with Maddox.
Shit. She took too long.
32-Ridley
Maddox slammed into her, shoving her into a closet, closing it behind them both. RIdley cast an illusion to keep their voices muffled.
"This probably isn't going to work as well as it does in the movies." Ridley tried to ease into a position not quite so shoved up against him.
Maddox made himself as small as possible which wasn't small at all. "You know this is usually when the hero and the heroine share their first kiss."
"We've already had our first kiss."
He stared down at her. "Then this could be the moment when we realize we're in love."
Ridley opened her mouth to reply, but snapped it shut when someone walked into the office door. She cast them back into shadowy figures just in case whoever was in there with them opened the closet.
She set her phone to record any overheard conversation, hoping he'd incriminate himself. Maddox shifted his weight, his chest brushing against hers. His scent of fresh rain and salt and citrus filled her nose making her dizzy. He tasted just like that. It was a scent and taste he'd imprinted on her mind.
His green eyes caught hers and she lost herself in them like she was in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by thick trees and dripping leaves. Ridley swallowed hard, her heart thudding in her ears with a heavy drumbeat.
Maddox's pierced brow quirked, and he searched through her with his green gaze. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, trying to combat the sudden dryness of her mouth. Maddox inched closer to her, his size taking up most of the room in the tiny closet. She was surrounded by him, by his scent, by his want. His want danced up against hers, driving them together, making her dizzy and breathless.
She tilted her head back to see him better, her recording phone forgotten in her limp hand at her side. He reached up to grip her chin between his fingers, his movements slow and careful, like he was dealing with a wild animal he didn't want to scare off.
It was a bad idea, kissing him. It would make everything more complicated than it already was, and it wasn't fair to him with the stirrings of attraction she felt for the others too, even stupid bloody Cormac. It was an especially bad idea when their target was right outside the door, rustling through his desk.
But her body refused to listen to her brain as they drew closer together. A storm gathered in her stomach, a tempest only he could calm. Anticipation shivered through her, raising goosebumps across her flesh.
Cursing and slammed drawers from the room broke them apart with wild pulses and wide eyes.
Right.
They were supposed to be focused on the knave in his office.
He was alone and clearly not making any phone calls. They needed to get out of there and find out if there was anything in the photos they took. He also seemed like he was in for a stay.
She flicked through illu
sion ideas, wishing she could warn Maddox.
Before she had the chance to cast it, someone knocked on Gregory's door. She grabbed Maddox's arm, and they both leaned closer to the wall to listen.
"Come in."
The door opened and a female voice spoke. "Hello, darling."
Gregory grunted. "What the fuck are you doing here, Lani?"
His wife. What the hell was she doing there?
"You said you'd meet me for a late dinner, but I found out you were with your whores at your club." His wife said the words in a petulant tone, but there was real anger behind it.
"You need to watch your tone." Apparently, Gregory heard it too.
Lani scoffed. "Like you'll touch me here and tarnish your reputation."
"My reputation isn't one of sweetness and light." His words were a warning, a dark one.
Ridley's grip tightened on Maddox's arm.
"No. It's of ruthlessness and criminality," Lani said.
"Exactly. No one here will care if I need to teach my wife a lesson to remind her of her place."
"I want a divorce."
A cruel laugh echoed through the room. "No."
"Am I going to disappear in an accident like your previous wives?"
Ridley wished she could see through the door and watch their conversation. Everyone knew the deaths of his wives weren't accidents, but there was no proof. He was too clever, too careful.
It sounded like his chair careened into the wall behind him. "If you don't shut your whore mouth, maybe."
"Fuck you. I'm not staying in this toxic relationship. And I don't want your filthy money either. We're done."
Ridley lurched towards the door, knowing exactly where this was headed, but Maddox wrapped his stupidly huge arms around her, trapping her against him.
"Wait. Just wait." He whispered the words in her ear so quietly she barely heard it.
She didn't want to wait. She wasn't going to hide in the closet while that asshole beat on his wife again. Her body trembled as Maddox surrounded her with his. Flashbacks played in her mind like a horror movie with interrupted streaming.
Of her mother, bleeding and defiant, standing over Ridley to protect her when she was only a small child. Years later, the two of them trying to fight back, but they were helpless against his powers, unable to strike the slightest blow before he used his strength to teach them the futility of fighting back.
That was when she'd decided to cast the illusion they were dead. She was almost eighteen and headed to college, but she couldn't bear to leave her mother alone with him to take all of her father's rage. He'd believed it. He'd cried and raged when he realized he killed both of them for all of two minutes before he started plotting the cover up.
She'd had to keep the illusion going for days, rarely getting a break to rest. She forged documents saying they were cremated and then she and her mother had escaped, spending one beautiful month together before they split up.
Maddox released his grip on her once Gregory's wife slammed from the office, never giving him a chance to touch her. "We need to go. Now."
Maddox used his power to start a fire somewhere, triggering the alarms and sprinklers. Gregory cursed and gathered some things from his desk and fled, muttering about incompetence.
Ridley and Maddox slipped through the building unseen in the chaos, not speaking under the shadow illusion until they reached the next street over.
Ridley wasn't sure what they had on their phones, but an idea for a backup plan formed in her mind. "We need to talk to the wife."
Maddox nodded. "Agreed. Want to go to Wailana Coffee House for pancakes?"
Her stomach rumbled with hunger at his words. "The macadamia ones with coconut syrup?"
"Obviously."
"Hell yes. I haven't been there in ages."
33-Reese
Maddox and Ridley had been a bit more successful than Reese and Cormac in what they found at Gregory's second office. His files were all clean, nothing pointing to his criminal enterprises. The only thing that even remotely would work was the recording they'd gotten of him threatening his wife. But even then, he was careful and a good lawyer would get it thrown out. Especially since it was illegally obtained.
"We've got nothing." Ridley all but growled the words as she prowled back and forth behind the table, fury radiating off of her in waves.
"You mentioned talking to the wife and I think you're right. She's pissed enough at him, if we get to her we can probably turn her." Maddox watched her with concerned eyes.
Ridley nodded, but avoided his gaze. Something happened between the two of them. Reese just wasn't sure what. The recording caught their whispers, but they couldn't make out what they were saying or doing over the fight between Gregory and his wife.
Reese had played lookout, flying above the building while Cormac waltzed inside under his invisibility. A few of the knaves in Gregory's inner circle had been loitering around, but nothing they could use to arrest the lot of the bastards.
They'd been working on taking this bastard down for months, and they kept running up against wall after wall. It was starting to stress them all out. Everyone was slumped and frustrated with defeat. They needed to reboot and release the stress.
They needed a party.
"We're having a barbecue tonight. Beckett will cook." Reese shot a taunting grin over at Beckett.
"I will?" Beckett scowled.
Reese shrugged. "I can try my hand at it, but last time, you yelled at me and then wouldn't talk to me for almost seven hours."
Beckett slapped his hand on the table, knocking over a pile of papers. "Because you ruined my very expensive and best pan. After setting the kitchen on fire."
Yeah, that was his bad.
"And I apologized. Then you told me I was never allowed in the kitchen again because I was a menace to cooking and to you."
"Which was true." Beckett glared.
"Then, who else is going to cook? You know Cormac will refuse because he hates everything and Maddox is almost as bad at it as me."
Ridley shook her head. "Don't look at me. I eat all my meals out."
Malia laughed. "That's why she's best friends with all the local restaurant workers. She can't even make those microwavable meals. The last one she tried exploded."
Reese grinned. "Soul mates."
Ridley's cheeks flushed with red and she resumed her pacing, still clutching one of the files in her hands. Reese frowned at Maddox, confused at what was going on with her. Maddox grimaced and shook his head.
They definitely needed this party.
Reese widened his eyes, pleading with Beckett to agree. "Come on, Beckett. Make something delicious. Malia, you can invite your girlfriend. We need a night off so we can look at all this shit with fresh eyes."
Beckett sighed. "Fine. I'll cook. But you have to clean. And Cormac is in charge of drinks."
Cormac pushed back from the table. "Fine by me. I like playing bartender."
Beckett snorted. "You like drinking."
Cormac shrugged and shot a wicked grin at Reese. "You should invite your sister."
Ridley spun to face Reese. "I'd love to see her again."
"I don't know if that's the best idea." He glared past her at Cormac for the suggestion. They just discussed what a terrible idea that was.
Ridley scowled. "I can always contact her and ask if she wants to come."
Shit. "She... uh... she doesn't know we've met."
"You're ashamed of me? That hurts."
"No. I just..." Reese groaned. "I'll call her."
"Now, this is going to be a party." Cormac clapped Reese on the back, an evil gleam in his eyes.
"Don't be a dick to Reese." Ridley shoved Cormac's shoulder.
"Why? You were being one to him."
"Because he doesn't want his sister and I to hang out. Even though we got along wonderfully when I put her asshole ex into a coma."
Cormac snorted. "Do you blame him? You've met her. She's..." Cormac thre
w a glance at Reese. "A lot."
"What a nice political description." Ridley scoffed.
"You fussed at me last time I was rude."
Ridley turned to Reese. "You're worried we'll gang up on you, aren't you?"
"Maybe." Sort of. And he wasn't worried, just hesitant and nervous. Reese and his sister still struggled with trust and communication, so this wasn't going to help. But the longer he waited, the worse it would get. "It's fine. She'll be happy to come and see you."
Ridley eyed him seriously. "If it's too soon, it's okay. I was just giving you a hard time."
Some of his anxiety melted away. "No. No, I swear I'm good with it. She'll be pissed as hell at me if I keep it from her. She'll want to see you."
"As long as you're sure?"
"I am." Reese smacked a kiss on her cheek. "Promise."
She jerked in surprise, eyes wide.
He gave her a cheeky grin which grew as her cheeks flamed red again. All this blushing was new. He wanted to see how often he could make it happen. He wanted to see how far down her body that flush traveled and then kiss every inch and watch it spread.
Cormac snorted as Reese cleared his throat and discreetly adjusted himself.
Malia stood. "I'll go see if Katy wants to come and I need to change. I'm fragrant after spending all night in the same clothes going over useless photographs."
Ridley smiled. "Text me when you're on your way."
Malia waved and headed for the front door. Ridley stared after her with a furrowed brow.
Maddox touched Ridley's elbow. "I was hoping you could help me with my bike."
"I just fixed it last month. Are you saying I did shoddy work?" She placed her hands on her hips.
"No. But I jacked up the steering and now I'm having some trouble."
She sighed. "Yeah, I'll take a look. But you really need to take better care of that beauty."
"Why, when I have you to fix whatever I break?"
Ridley huffed and stalked from the room, Maddox trailing with a smirk.
Reese sighed and pulled out his phone, pulling up his sisters info. His thumb hovered over the call button until he finally pressed it, a premature wince pulling at his face.