by Tate James
From the corner of my eye, I caught Zed giving an irritated shake of his head, but too damn bad. There was no need to panic Seph by telling her what’d happened last night. We'd tighten up security today, and it'd never happen again.
Seph shrugged, accepting my lie as she sat down and handed me her hairbrush. "Thanks, big sis," she said sweetly as I started dragging the bristles through her mane. I used to braid her hair all the time for school, taking over after our mom had died, so it was an oddly nostalgic task.
I worked carefully, making sure the short strands were well disguised within a tight French braid while Seph helped herself to my coffee—a fact I only noticed when I finished tying off the tail of her braid and picked up my empty mug.
"I'll get you another," Zed murmured, kissing my temple as he scooped up my mug.
"Me too?" Seph asked, fluttering her lashes.
Zed just snorted and laughed and shook his head, but he did grab an extra mug, nonetheless. "You know you snore, Seph?"
Her mouth dropped open in outrage. "I do not!"
"Do too," he teased. "We could hear you all the way from my room."
I snorted a laugh, and she shot a glare at me.
"Oh really, Zed-man? I wouldn't have thought you could hear anything over the sound of my sister moaning. You know I had to turn my music up just so I could shower in peace this morning?" She cocked her head at us, all fucking attitude, but I was way too full of endorphins to give a fuck.
So instead I just grinned. "Oh, we know."
Lucas came into the kitchen then, looking half asleep with his uniform barely even on his body. His belt was still unbuckled and his shirt hanging open with the Shadow Prep tie slung around his neck. Scrubbing a hand over his sleepy face, he made a beeline straight to me and kissed me breathless before even saying good morning.
"Ahem," Seph fake coughed loudly. "You have an audience, Lucas."
He took his time pulling away from my lips, kissing me softly a couple more times before smirking at Seph. "Audience never bothered me before. Isn't that right, Zeddy Bear?"
Seph screwed up her face in confusion for a second, then gasped dramatically. "Oh my god! Ugh. You guys... Zed, I'm gonna take my coffee to go, thanks. Lucas, hurry up, or we'll be late for school."
Zed obediently poured her a travel mug of coffee, which she took with a quick thanks and sashayed out of the kitchen again, presumably heading to the garage to wait for Lucas to drive them both to school.
Lucas yawned as he buttoned his shirt slowly, then tucked it into his pants before doing up his belt. "Guys, I'm gonna fall asleep on my desk in the middle of algebra, and it'll be all your fault."
Zed gave a wicked laugh. "We'll leave you to sleep next time."
Lucas jerked like he'd been slapped. "Hell no. Best fucking reason to skip sleep ever." Then he swooped back in to kiss me again until I was all but trying to climb him.
"Get to school, Gumdrop," Zed ordered in a rough voice. "We'll sort out the security breach while you're babysitting Persephone."
Lucas gave a pained groan but kissed me again quickly before turning to leave. Zed barked his name again, making him pause in the doorway. Then he rushed back to grab the travel mug of coffee Zed held out for him.
"Thanks, big bro; you're the best." Lucas grinned and took off toward the garage.
Alone again, I turned to face Zed with a wide smile on my face. "You're such a soft touch, Zayden."
Zed snorted a laugh, coming back over to the island where I sat. "He earned it." He slipped a hand into the back of my hair, tilting my head back to kiss me softly. "I love how much you smile these days. It wasn't so long ago I was wondering if I'd ever see this smile again." He dragged his thumb over my lips, and I nipped it playfully with my teeth.
"I could say the same about you," I replied, gazing up at him with way too much dopamine drugging my stupid, girly brain.
He didn't seem to mind, though. He just kissed me again, slowly and carefully, as his strong fingers rubbed the base of my skull where I often carried stress headaches. "Dare," he murmured on a sigh as he ended our kiss, "you know how much I fucking love you? You're my whole damn world."
My heart fluttered, and I couldn't stop the stupid smile curving my lips again. Zed looked like he had something else he wanted to say. Something important. But heavy footsteps in the foyer had him stepping away with a hard exhale.
"Morning, Red," Cass rumbled, slouching into the room still decked out in Zed's bike leathers. He placed a hand on my lower back, leaning down to kiss me, then gave Zed one of those dude nods. "What happened last night? Got your message earlier this morning, Zed."
I shot Zed a grateful smile because I'd been too busy riding dick all damn night to message Cass myself and fill him in with Chase's visit.
"Dare had a late-night visit from our neighbor," Zed explained, keeping it brief.
Cass stiffened, and fury and violence rolled off him in palpable waves. "Fucking what?"
Zed clicked his tongue, heading for the fridge. "You hungry, Grumpy Cat? I've probably got some canned food in here somewhere."
The sound that rumbled from Cass was anything but amusement, and I laid a hand on his arm to try and calm the situation down. Of course, I forgot about the bandage on my hand, and Cass's eyes only widened further when he saw it.
"I'm fine," I assured him in a low, soothing voice. "I promise. He was just being a fucking creep. But it does raise the serious question of how to secure this place against any further intrusions. It was just fucking lucky you weren't here."
"Me?" Cass barked. "Who fucking cares if he saw me? It's you who—"
"I care," I snapped, cutting off his alpha-male, big-dick rant. "So settle the fuck down and help us work out what to do next."
Cass glared at me hard, like he could hardly believe what he was hearing. Then after a moment, his eyes softened and his shoulders sagged. "Fine. What are we working with?" His question was aimed at Zed, but his arm tightened around my waist, pulling me against his side as he stood beside my stool like some kind of personal bodyguard. A conjoined bodyguard.
Zed grinned as he laid out a baking tray with Portobello mushrooms and dressed each one with a dab of butter and a squeeze of crushed garlic. I despised mushrooms like they were made of pure shit, but Cass ate those big, flat bastards like they were made of Wagyu steak.
"I've placed a work request with my security firm this morning," Zed told us as he seasoned the mushrooms then slid them into the preheated oven to roast. "And I'm confident with their help we can get this place impenetrable."
"How can we be sure Chase doesn't have a mole in that company?" Cass rumbled. "He could have preempted this and is waiting for us to hand him all the access codes on a platter."
Zed tossed his tea towel aside and braced his hands on the counter opposite us. "We don't. Not really. But none of us have the knowledge or skill to install high-tech security devices throughout this entire house within the next eight hours, so where does that leave us?"
I drummed my fingertips on the side of my fresh coffee, thinking. "No, we don't. But... Dallas probably has the technical knowledge to do it."
Zed nodded. "I thought of him, but he doesn't have the equipment or the manpower. We're talking about installing motion detector alarms on every window, door, fucking air vent, of this entire house. It's not a one-man job."
"I could get him the equipment," Cass said thoughtfully, "if you have reliable manpower."
Zed gave him an exasperated stare. "How, Cass? You're dead, remember? You can't just call up your buddy for a favor."
Cass lowered one brow. "I have my ways. Do you have the manpower to make it work or not?"
Zed shifted his gaze to me, silently asking if we did. I pondered on it a moment, running through all the options in my brain and discarding each and every one. Agent Hanson's dying advice that someone in my trusted level of Timberwolves was a traitor had been lingering in the back of my mind and was now vetoing all the usual wolves I'
d call for a job like this.
But there was one option. Someone who owed me a few favors and wasn't affiliated with any gangs. Except I'd been very carefully, very deliberately keeping Seph well away from him since we'd moved to Shadow Grove.
"Rex," I murmured. "He's got the manpower in his shop."
Cass gave a grunt of surprise. "He does... Why would he do it, though?"
I tilted my head back to give him a smile. "I have my ways. Actually... as much as I hate to suggest this, Rex might also solve one of our other security issues."
"What's that?" Cass replied, his lips set in that grumpy line that was his resting Cass face.
Zed gave a huff of laughter, nodding his understanding. "Bratty little Persephone. She needs a new watcher."
Cass stepped away a pace and stripped off Zed's leather jacket, which he'd been wearing. "We can just call Archer back in," he suggested. "He's the best choice."
I scoffed. "He got her abducted because he was too busy arguing with Demi about his wife's boo-boo. No, I won't be calling him back in."
Zed gave a small shrug like he agreed with me, and Cass made an exasperated sound. He was too smart to keep pushing that issue, though. I didn't give two shits if Archer D'Ath was declared a saint next week, he fucked up. And when it came to Seph's safety, I wasn't the forgiving type.
"Look, I don't know what your connection is with Rex," Cass rumbled, "but he's bad fucking news."
I shot him a tight smile. "I know. But he'd also rather slit his own throat than betray me to Chase. As much as I dislike the guy, he's the best option we have. We can't keep Seph safe and go up against Chase. It's stretching us too thin already and endangering her. Chase still knows she's my biggest weak point, so that's where our reinforcements need to go."
Cass scrubbed a hand over his tattooed scalp. The designs on the left side were distorted now by the pink line of scarring, thanks to my bullet. But it just made him look sexier, if that was even possible.
"I thought Gumdrop was playing bodyguard to her," he muttered. "What happened to that?"
I grimaced. "He still is. At school. But he can't watch her around the clock. There will be plenty more times when he needs to be with us—with me—and he will ditch Seph if he thinks I need him more."
Zed nodded his agreement. "As we all would." His shrug was unapologetic. "I think you're right about Rex. Dallas can draw up the security plans; if Cass can somehow magically make the equipment appear, then Rex's boys can install it all—hopefully get it done before Seph and Lucas make it home from school."
"I think that sounds like a better option than relying on a potentially compromised security firm, don't you?" I tilted my head, meeting Cass's eyes. As much as I was used to simply making these decisions with Zed alone, I wanted Cass to be in agreement with us. We were a team, after all. In it together and all that crap.
He held my gaze for a long moment, then nodded once. "Agreed. Let's sort it out."
Flashing him a smile, I hopped off my chair and rose up on my tiptoes to kiss him. "I love when you see things my way, Saint. Makes me all turned on and shit." With a wink, I headed upstairs to get ready for the day. I already had a full schedule as it was, and I'd just added to it.
First things first, I needed to suck up the strength and patience to call Rex Darenburg. I could safely say I’d never expected to be asking that murdering prick for help, but here we were. Never say never.
40
My call to Rex didn't take long. He knew I wasn't really giving him an option to decline, so he gruffly announced his boys would meet Dallas at Zed's house around noon to install the equipment. The call to Dallas was just as quick; he advised that he'd send me a list of everything he needed within half an hour. How Cass planned to get it all, I had no clue. But I was also willing to trust him.
I was dressed for work and had applied my makeup with my calls on speaker. Cass appeared in the bathroom doorway as I finished curling my hair and just stood there watching me as I completed my well-practiced hairstyle, spraying it with a light hold, then gently combing the curls through so they sat in a vintage-Hollywood glam way. My wrist wasn’t looking too bad, so I’d swapped out the bandage for a couple of adhesive dressings. Much better for my range of motion.
"Did you need something?" I asked after several minutes of silence. He'd changed out of Zed's bike leathers and was back in his own clothes, black jeans and a dark gray T-shirt. In answer to my question, he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door with his heel before prowling closer.
"I always need something from you, Red," he confessed in a rough whisper. "Have I told you how painfully beautiful you are today?" His hands bracketed my hips, his body warm against my back and his eyes dark in the mirror.
I held his gaze, leaning back into his touch. "You haven't. I thought you hated when I wore my Hades skin."
Cass's answering chuckle was hot against my skin as he swept my hair forward so he could kiss my neck. "Hate it? Fuck no. Not even close." He pulled my ass back against him, proving that point with the thickness of his erection. "I know you need to go to work. But I want to play a game."
Surprise widened my eyes. "What game?"
His lips curved in a wicked smile against my neck, his eyes darker still in the mirror. "Do you want to play, Red? Yes or no."
I gave a soft groan, rubbing my butt against him like a goddamn cat in heat—as if I hadn't had enough fucking attention from Lucas and Zed last night. "Yeah, I'll play."
Cass flashed a grin at me. "Perfect." He gripped each of my wrists—being gentle with my injured one—and placed my hands flat on the vanity, toward the mirror. Then he slowly tugged my tight skirt up, giving me plenty of opportunity to change my mind. Not that I fucking would; I was all kinds of hot and bothered already just at the mischief in his eyes.
Licking his lips, he hooked his fingers under the elastic of my panties and dragged them down my thighs but left them above my knees. Then he pulled a bottle of lube and the magical vibrating butt plug from his pocket and placed them down on the vanity beside me.
"Cass..." I wet my lips and glanced from the toy to him as he squeezed a liberal amount of lube onto his fingers. "I have meetings today. Important ones."
Rumbling a sound of amusement, he spread the cold lube over my backdoor, making me gasp. "I know," he replied. "That's the point." He teased the lube all around my ass, then pushed a finger inside. "Well, one of the points."
My protests evaporated as he fingered my ass, stretching my tight muscles out and ensuring there was plenty of lube spread around. Then he confidently worked the toy into place as I panted and trembled with my hands braced on the vanity. My face was just inches from the mirror, leaving me nowhere to hide from how flushed my cheeks were or how hungry Cass's gaze was when he admired his handiwork.
Then he simply pulled my panties back up and rolled my skirt back into place, smoothing his hands over the fabric to erase some creases from where it'd been bunched over my hips.
"Cass!" I exclaimed when he coaxed me to stand back up straight. "You're not serious."
He spun me around to face him, dipping his head to kiss me deep. "I'm dead serious, Angel." He gave my ass a slap, making me yelp as my muscles tightened around the plug. "Keep that in while you work. Don't fucking remove it. Understood? Only I get to take it out." He kissed me again, harsh and demanding, claiming. It made me quake with need. I wasn't even going to make it to the office at this rate.
"Saint, you're not playing fair," I groaned, bending my body against his as my arms tightened around his neck. "I'm already so keyed up I could come just from walking down the stairs."
"Good," he growled. "You can come all you like, Angel. Just don't touch that plug. It's mine."
He kissed me again, then exited the bathroom with a smug-as-fuck grin on his face. Talk about the cat who got the cream.
"Shit," I whispered, clenching my butt and letting out a small moan at the foreign object I'd be taking with me to my meetings. Cass was tr
ying to kill me, no question about it. This must be payback for shooting him.
"Dare!" Zed shouted from downstairs. "You ready to go? We're late!"
With a string of silent curses, I grabbed my shoes and purse and made my awkward-as-hell way downstairs to meet up with him.
"You okay?" he asked when I hurried into the garage. "You look a little flushed."
My smile was tight, and I could feel the heat still sitting in my face. "Yup, totally fine. Let's go."
He squinted at me a moment longer, then shrugged and climbed into the driver’s seat of his Ferrari. As I took my own seat, I needed to hold my breath to keep from moaning out loud. Then it seemed like every damn corner, every fucking traffic light was designed to torture me.
By the time we reached Copper Wolf offices, I was sweating. Fucking Cass was going to get a nut-punch for this stupid game. And yet I was too stubborn to just end it.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Zed asked as we rode the elevator up to our company floor. "You seem really... on edge." Then his brows rose, and he grinned. "Oh shit, Saint edged you, huh? What a prick." He hit the emergency stop button, and the elevator ground to a halt.
"What are you doing?" I asked, peering up at him as he backed me into the corner.
Zed just smiled, his hands caressing my waist. "Offering my assistance, Boss. Want me to lend a hand? You've got three guys to pick from; you don't have to let him leave you hanging."
With a short laugh, I tilted my head back and kissed him longingly. "You have no idea how bad I want to take you up on that," I whispered. "But we really are late, and this is a meeting we can't skip."
He gave a groan of frustration, then kissed me back. "Fine. Rain check until lunchtime?"
I nodded firmly as he backed off and restarted the elevator. "Hell yes," I agreed. "Count on it."
The morning’s meetings were to sort out the mess Chase had created with our approaching opening for Timber. He'd screwed with our liquor and gaming licenses and filed all kinds of irritating complaints that’d caused us to waste a crapload of time organizing additional inspections, pest control, environmental impact statements, and noise pollution reports. It was a headache and a half, and there weren't enough bureaucrats in the Cloudcroft council to simply make it all disappear.