by Ana Night
Rome held the door for Juno who walked inside to find Neil and Bones there as well. He looked at the big pile of crates, nearly groaning because he knew it’d be hard work to load them into the truck. He was doing it for Rome but Serrano was so gonna owe him for this.
“Let’s get to work,” Neil said.
Chapter Thirteen
Juno
HIS BIKE rumbled beneath him. He loved how powerful, how free, riding made him feel. He turned onto the straight, long stretch of road and opened her up. He’d needed it. Needed the adrenaline pumping through his veins. It’d been too long since he’d last let loose and he finally had a day off plus Rome wasn’t gonna be home for at least a few hours. It’d been the perfect time.
Yesterday, they’d managed to fit all the crates in the truck and then Neil had taken off in it. As they’d left, Rome had set off the alarm to ensure the cops would come to let the workers out. Bones had called Auggie who’d sounded much too excited about deleting the warehouse’s security footage. Juno wasn’t too worried about the robbery coming back to them. Serrano and Rome hadn’t seemed the least bit worried and when he’d asked about it, Rome had shrugged and said Neil would take care of it. Whatever that meant.
He slowed down as he neared the city area and stayed under the limit as he took the road he knew by heart. He drove through the clubhouse gate and parked his bike. He pulled his helmet off, a wide smile on his face as he took a moment to just sit there.
He dismounted and put his helmet on the seat of his bike. He pushed through the door to the clubhouse, intend of raiding the kitchen for whatever sweet stuff Polly or Auggie had put in the fridge.
His steps faltered when he saw King and Saint walking across the room heading toward him and the door.
“You think I should go alone?” Saint asked King.
King stopped, a contemplative look on his face. “No. Fuck.” He glanced around, his gaze landing on Juno. “Take Juno with you.”
Juno felt his brows rise. “What did I do?”
He didn’t get an answer, both men walking past him to the front door. With a sigh, Juno followed. Once outside, he headed for his bike only to be stopped by Saint yelling, “Cage.”
Groaning, Juno abandoned his bike and followed Saint to the dark gray SUV. He got in and glanced around, surprised to find a children’s seat in the back. When Saint got behind the wheel, Juno arched a brow at him and asked, “Why is there a car seat in the back?”
Saint grunted and turned the key, then drove out of the gate.
“Seriously,” Juno said. “Where are we going and why?”
“Remember a year ago when we had that crazy multiple level five? Joker, Gabe, and I drove two kids to Jersey,” Saint said. “We’re going to pick them up.”
“What? Why?”
“Don’t know. Something went wrong at the place they were staying. Now they’ll be with us for a while.”
“When you say us…?”
“Hopefully, with Nash and me. If I can convince Nash to take them in.”
Juno snorted and arched a brow at Saint. “As if you have to convince him of anything. I guarantee you, after they’ve been there a minute, he’s gonna want to keep them.”
Saint shook his head. “I’m not sure if I should be happy about that or not.”
Juno glanced down with a smile on his lips. Saint was fucked and he knew it. Though he sincerely doubted Saint wouldn’t want to keep the kids, too.
The drive didn’t take much more than half an hour as they were picking the kids up in Edgewood, in front of a supermarket. Saint turned into the parking lot and drove down the third row of parked cars where they’d been told the kids would be waiting.
A man in a red cap stood by a parked car to their left with two kids next to him. A girl and a boy. The boy was a head higher than the girl and they both had blonde hair. Saint stopped the car, so Juno guessed that was them. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. Saint was out of the car before him, walking around it with fast steps.
“Zayne,” the little girl yelled and ran to him.
Saint dropped to his knees and opened his arms. She jumped into his embrace and something warm spread in Juno’s heart. It was probably the cutest thing he’d seen in a long time.
The guy with the kids let out a sigh and said, “I give up. She hasn’t said a damned word the whole way and now this? She’s all yours, man.”
Juno’s lips quirked. Guess they didn’t need to use the codeword they usually did.
While Saint and the girl were talking, the boy walked up to the car and opened the door to the backseat and got in. Juno stared after him for a moment before turning back to the guy in the cap, only to find him staring, too.
“I kid you not, they haven’t said a thing to me the past three hours,” he said with a shake of his head.
Saint walked up to him and held out his hand. “Thank you for bringing them.”
“From watching her react like that, it’s my fucking pleasure, man.”
Juno gave the man a nod and walked back to the car. He let Saint buckle the girl in and opened his door to get in. He sat down and turned in his seat, smiling at the boy as he said, “Hi. I’m Juno.”
The boy glanced up, a skeptical look in his eyes for a second before he said, “Miles. That’s Emma.”
“Well hello, little Miss Emma,” Juno said with a wry smile
Emma met his smile with a big one of her own.
“Hi,” she said. “Are you a friend of Zayne and Gabe’s?”
“I don’t know if I would say friend,” Juno said, drawing the word out. He received a glare from Saint until he added, “More like brother.”
He caught Saint trying to hide his eyeroll and chuckled. Saint got behind the wheel and turned to the kids to say, “Let’s get you guys home.”
Rome
He used his key to unlock the front door to the apartment Neil and Marco were staying in. He stepped inside and closed the door. Yelling had him pulling his gun and moving to one side of the hallway. He made his way to the living room where the voices seemed to come from.
“Well fuck you very much, you piece of shit,” Marco yelled.
“Marco…” Neil tried, his voice sounding strained.
Something shattered and Rome had no doubt Marco was the one who’d thrown it. With a sigh, Rome holstered his gun and walked into the living room to find them standing at opposite ends of the room. Neither of the men acknowledged him but he knew they were aware of his presence.
“Get out,” Marco yelled and pointed toward the front door. “Pack your shit and leave.”
“Marco, calm down,” Neil said and took a step closer to him.
“No. You need to fuck off. You don’t get a fucking say in my life, Neil. You fucked that up years ago. So don’t even try with me. I know where your loyalties lie and it’s certainly not with me.”
“What’s going on?” Rome asked before either of them could yell some more.
Marco snapped his head toward Rome, his expression a mix of hurt and anger.
“He’s not here for me. His priority is the fucking cartel ‘cause he’s working. Been working the whole time,” Marco said, his voice laced with pain.
Rome reached for his gun and turned his gaze on Neil who was shaking his head.
“That’s not the whole story and you know it,” Neil said to Marco, showing more sincerity and pain than Rome had ever seen from the man before. Neil was usually a closed book. Expressionless. Untouchable. Not right then.
“I love you, Marco. I would never use—”
“You’d better be gone by the time I get back,” Marco snapped and set off toward the front door.
Rome stared after him. He wasn’t even sure what the hell he’d walked in on. He turned to Neil, his eyes narrowed.
“Did you really—”
“Of course, I didn’t.” Neil shook his head, pain clear in his gray eyes. “I would never let my job interfere with Marco’s safety. I should’ve told him e
arlier, but you know how he is. That fucking temper.”
Rome was only too familiar with said temper, so he got it. He didn’t like it, but he understood.
“What are you gonna do about it?”
Neil sighed heavily before saying, “Nothing. He wants me gone, so I’ll go. I can keep him safe from afar. Have for years.”
Before Rome could yell at Neil or tell him what an idiot he was, Neil turned and walked out of the room. Rome squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before following Neil into the bedroom. He glared at Neil while the man threw clothes into the small suitcase he’d put on the bed.
“Are you seriously just going to leave?”
Neil stopped, his sigh loud as he turned to Rome.
“He doesn’t want me here.”
“That’s bullshit,” Rome growled.
Neil looked at him with surprise, and, yeah, he got that because he hadn’t exactly been the most supportive of his relationship with Marco, but he’d gotten to see a part of Neil he was sure most didn’t. The part filled with heartbreak but also love for Marco. He’d seen the protective side of the man, the thing that made him believe Neil would never intentionally hurt Marco and that was enough for him.
“The years you two were together were the happiest of his life,” Rome said, even though he hated to admit it.
Neil nearly smiled but then his expression hardened. “Until they weren’t.”
Rome shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. He needs you. Even if he says otherwise.”
“Neither of us can live with the uncertainty. With being bound to something else.”
Rome’s heart squeezed painfully. That was exactly the hurdle Juno and he were going through. Juno was bound to the Kings and Rome was bound to Marco. Even if Juno said he would choose Rome over them… He could never ask that of Juno. There was only one solution and as far as he could tell, only Neil had the opportunity to actually choose it.
“Then quit,” Rome said.
“It’s not that easy, Rome,” Neil said with a shake of his head. “You don’t just up and leave the Agency.”
“Then find a way out.”
Neil was the only one who could.
“As I said; it’s not that easy.”
Rome arched a brow at Neil. “Are you saying you would do it if you could?”
Neil opened his mouth, then closed it and squeezed his eyes closed. He dropped his head forward and ran a hand through his hair.
Neil took a deep breath and turned away from Rome. His voice was low when he said, “Do you really think I haven’t thought of it? That I haven’t tried? There’s nothing I won’t do for him. Quitting would be the easiest decision I’d ever make. But it won’t matter. He blames me for his sister’s death and rightfully so.”
“You didn’t kill her,” Rome said.
“Might as well have. I’m responsible,” Neil said and turned around, meeting Rome’s gaze. “She came to me for help and because of it, she was killed.”
“That’s not why she was killed, and you know it,” Rome snapped.
Why was he defending the spook? Against the spook himself no less. Shit was weird. He hadn’t been right since he’d met Juno. Except maybe he was actually more right now than he’d ever been before. Juno had done something to him. Opened up a part of him he didn’t know existed. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about it. Well, he wouldn’t cry. Maybe yell. Or punch something. Usually, he would’ve liked that something to be the spook. Not today, though.
“He needs you. Fuck, I think he loves you,” Rome said. “I want him to be happy and I know you can do that for him. Even if you don’t believe it yourself.”
Neil turned his gaze on his feet and didn’t say anything, so Rome walked up to him and got in his space, forcing the man to meet his eyes.
“He’s a stubborn bastard so you just have to be more stubborn than him,” Rome said.
“Easier said than done,” Neil mumbled.
A snort escaped Rome. “No kidding.”
Juno
He was sitting on one of the benches in the club’s gym, watching Skinner with a few of the outreach kids. The kids all seemed to really like him and, for some reason, they also tended to listen to him. It was quite nice to see.
After a while, he ended up just staring into space, his thoughts jumping from Rome to Serrano to Alvaro and back again. Alvaro had to know about the stolen shipment by now. Hell, he should’ve known for hours. So why hadn’t he made a move?
“What’s with you?” Scar asked as she sat down next to him.
Juno turned his head, meeting her narrowed eyes. “It’s too quiet. I don’t like it.”
Scar arched a brow at him. “I take it you mean with the cartel?”
Juno nodded and said, “Yeah. It’s been over a day with no contact of any kind.”
“You think they’re planning something,” Scar said. “Something bad.”
“How could it be anything but bad when a cartel is involved?”
Scar shrugged. She stood and crossed her arms as she looked down at him with a raised brow.
“You gonna sit on your ass all day or are we gonna spar?” Scar asked.
Juno’s answer to that was getting up and walking to the ring. He ducked under the rope. Most days he’d be training weights at that time but sparring with Scar sounded like a much better outlet. His fighting skills relied mostly on brute strength and he preferred to use his gun compared to his fists. Scar on the other hand was a veteran who’d been a high school wrestling champion before joining the military. He was gonna get his ass kicked but he’d give it his all.
Scar got into the ring, carrying helmets, mouthguards, and gloves. She threw Juno a helmet.
“Don’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours,” she said, a mocking smile on her lips.
“How thoughtful of you,” Juno drawled.
Scar shrugged. “I’m gonna wipe the floor with you, so I might as well be a bit considerate.”
Juno flipped her off, though they were both chuckling. They put on their gear and got in their corners.
“Ready when you are,” Scar said, her voice sounding garbled from the mouthguard.
Juno raised his fists in front of his face to let her know he was ready. Scar charged him, surprising the shit out of him. She was legit running straight at him as fast as she could in the small space. He was too stunned to even land a punch as she jumped at him. The next second, he was on the floor, Scar’s legs wrapped around him while she held him in a choke hold.
He tapped the floor and Scar let go with a chuckle. Juno laid on the ground for a few seconds before he managed to get himself into a seated position. He spat out his mouthguard and glared up at Scar.
“What the fuck was that?”
Scar’s lips twitched and there was amusement in her eyes as she looked down at him. “That was the great Juno taken down by a girl half his size.”
Before Juno could say anything to that, Wildcat walked up to the ring, glaring at them as she asked, “What the hell are you two idiots doing?”
“Nothing,” Juno and Scar yelled.
Wildcat looked at Juno with an expression that clearly stated she didn’t believe them.
“Well, stop it,” Wildcat said before walking away.
Juno snorted. As if.
He glanced up at Scar whose gaze was still on Wildcat.
“You still wanna hit that?” he asked.
Scar sighed before turning to him. “Maybe I do.”
“Really, Scar? She’s too dry for you.”
“She is not dry.”
“Booring.”
“Take that back. My Kitten is not boring.”
Scar ducked, somehow having spotted the boxing glove thrown at the back of her head. It hit the ring post and fell down.
“See?” Scar arched a brow at him. “Not boring.”
“Call me Kitten one more time,” Wildcat growled as she came walking back up to them.
Scar put a hand over her heart an
d gave Wildcat her best innocent look.
“I didn’t call you Kitten. I was talking about getting a kitten,” Scar said.
Wildcat didn’t look convinced but much like everyone else, she believed Scar to be sweet and timid and not at all as devilish as she really was, so she just sighed, took the glove back from Scar and shook her head before heading off again.
Scar turned a triumphant grin Juno’s way.
Juno pointed at her accusingly. “It’s only because you hide your crazy so well.”
“Maybe I should teach you,” Scar said, then pursed her lips in thought. “On the other hand. That won’t be as fun for me to watch.”
Juno moved in fast and swiped her off her feet. Unfortunately, she was a quick little firecracker and managed to take him down with her. Juno somehow landed on his back and a second later, all air left him when Scar landed on top of him. The second he managed to breathe again and met Scar’s gaze, they both burst into laughter.
Scar moved off him and he pushed himself up, still laughing until he had to duck out of the way of another glove, which then had him laughing again.
“Get out of my gym,” Wildcat yelled.
Scar glanced toward Wildcat, then turned her gaze on Juno, a lovestruck look on her face.
“I’m gonna marry that woman,” she said.
“Well, good luck convincing her of that.”
Scar shrugged. “She doesn’t have to know until it’s too late.”
Juno tsked and shook his head. “It’s always the quiet ones.”
Rome
By the time he left the apartment, it was around dinner time so he stopped by Serrano’s to pick up some food, knowing Juno wouldn’t have eaten yet. Walking inside, he glanced around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, except for Marco not being there.
He waited for the hostess to come back from seating a couple and gave her his order. She wrote it down on her nifty little tablet which sent the order straight to the kitchen.
“Oh, and Nicole, do we have the tiramisu today?” he asked.