Red Hot Steamy Romance Boxed Set: A Steamy Military Romance Series Collection

by Penelope Wylde

  Chapter Two

  “What I think we meant to say was, we’ve given it some thought and we’ve seen the small gestures from you to make us believe you’d be interested in something more than just…how should I word it?” Reece paused a moment.

  “Traditional.” Caden threw out the word as if he had a hard time chewing it. He took her other hand. “Today we were going to ask you to stay after work so we could have a talk. Hell, it’s against all our work ethics, but there’s just something about you, Abigail, that makes us want to throw the rule book away.”

  Reece ran his free hand through his dark hair and let out a deep, rugged sigh. “Before we go any further maybe we should just focus on this clusterfuck of a mess, then we can sort out what is between us later.”

  That had her brows pinching and her thighs pressing together all at once. Talk about mixed signals.

  Why was he throwing on the brakes? She cocked a brow and pinned Reece with a curious stare. “Are you not going to ask what I want?”

  His voice pitched to a sultry low husk that had her body humming. “What do you want, Abigail?”

  The intercom buzzer from the downstairs security team went off beside them and broke the building tension.

  Caden growled before he placed my hand in Reece’s and stood to answer the incoming message. Her pulse skipped a beat. The sound pulled something inside her to the surface that made her feel dirty and naughty at the same time. Like she wanted to find out what sex on the conference table pinned between her two bosses would feel like right that second.

  Reece picked up on the sudden war of emotions inside her because he took that moment to lift her hand to his lips and press a soft kiss to each knuckle. “Let’s get this figured out and then we’ll have all the time in the world to answer all those questions I see in your eyes, sweet Abigail.”

  That seemed like the right thing to do. She nodded once and offered a small smile.

  “Will you pull up those images again? Let me see if there’s any information I can find and get the investigation started. While I do that, give me the rundown again on when you received them.”

  Abigail did as Reece requested, pulling up the images for the second time. “I was down at the coffee shop about four blocks from here when this hit my company email.” Abigail scrolled past the images of her coming back from the lake after her ritual weekend skinny-dipping and the one with her self-pleasuring then stopped on the one where it showed all three of them grabbing lunch after a long morning with clients last week.

  “After the surprise wore off at seeing images of my naked body, I noticed the sender’s email address. Or lack of, anyway.”

  Reece nodded.

  In the picture Caden was holding the door for them, looking back over the crowded sidewalk while Reece ushered Abigail inside the restaurant with a hand on her lower back. She remembered the day because both men had been so attentive to her over their shared meal. They asked her about family and her goals and even touched on the subject of kids. Abigail worried her lower lip and looked down at the picture again. How could someone intrude on such a private moment? For what reason?

  Her breath died in her throat and fire exploded throughout her body, her mind racing with a myriad of worst-case scenarios. Only she didn’t have any worst-case scenarios in her past. No current boyfriends or jealous friends. She had too little of one and not enough of the other to even ping on her radar.

  Reece peeled the phone from her fingers and shut it off. “You don’t need to look at these anymore, Abigail. Is this why you were late this morning?”

  She took a calming breath before answering. “Yes and no,” her voice came out only half as shaky as she felt.

  “The images pissed me off, sure, but what I found when I got to my car after my coffee run scared the crap out of me.” Her foot bounced in place and Reece rested a hand on her knee. “You’re safe, now, Abigail. Take another deep breath and walk me through what happened. Slowly.”

  She nodded and her eyes zeroed in on the soft contact of his skin on hers, thankful for the anchor. “Whoever took those images also left a nice little note keyed into the paint of my hood.” This time, there was no stopping the tears that burned her eyes. She dragged in another deep breath to steel her jittery nerves before continuing. Silence settled over the room, and she knew both men patiently waited for her to continue.

  “What message, sweetheart?” Caden coaxed her in a strained, worried tone. He returned to where they sat a couple of feet away from the intercom phone.

  “Pronto Morirás,” she said in a thin whisper. Abigail pulled her lip between her teeth and forced the tears away. The men were the tough-guy types. No telling how they would react to a woman crying.

  Abigail clamped down on her emotions, slipped her hand into her jacket pocket for the other half of the message and held it out for both men to see.

  “The words mean, ‘you will die soon’. And if this is any clue to go by, it will be a quick death.” She dropped the silver-tipped bullet in Caden’s palm. “Sorry. I know I should have called or something and not touched it, but at the moment I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m sorry, guys. I think I might have gone a little crazy when I found that bullet on my car and that message.”

  Freaking bat-shit-crazy was more like it with the way she’d grabbed the bullet and peeled out of the parking lot so fast onlookers jumped out of her way. She’d had no real idea what to do but come to work, thinking she could figure something out before quitting time.

  “Son of a bitch,” Caden drawled out through gritted teeth, scrubbing a hand over his face.

  Reece slammed his fist down on the table and stood, sending his chair flying backward. The brute force left a dent in the opposite wall. “What a way to bury the lead, Abigail. You should have told us that little detail first, damn it.” His face flushed an angry red.

  Banked anger rippled just beneath the surface. The veins in his neck throbbed. “And stop biting your damn lip, for God’s sake, and look at me.” He kneeled next to her and encompassed her face with both of his hands. His thumb grazing the place on her lower lip where she had a tendency to bite. A stupid habit she picked up from her older sister as kids because she wanted to be cool. Years later and the habit still stuck around.

  A shock of energy rushed her and she inhaled sharply. He felt the zap of energy too, because his eyes lit, acknowledging the exchange between them.

  “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” His words were a rough whisper. He pushed away and stalked over to the window and the view that had held her attention for the better part of the day. She watched as he rubbed a hand along the outside of his right thigh out of habit.

  According to the gossip girls of the office, Abigail found out soon after starting her new job that the injury he sustained, and that forced him to retire from the Marines, gave him a slight limp. By all accounts, he had become a hero that day by saving four members of his unit, including Caden.

  She shifted in her seat and stole a glance at Caden sitting beside her. Anger simmered just beneath the surface, but he held it in check. A tendon in his jaw twitched, his eyes leveled on the floor by her feet. When she moved, his gaze shot up and pinned her with a heated look. Anger swirled in the depths of his eyes, but she saw fear there too. Fear for her?

  She knew neither of the men would hurt her, but she couldn’t help but think that they were a force to be reckoned with when ticked off. The tension in her shoulders eased a fraction.

  “He’s right, Abigail, you should have told us sooner. Now we might have missed any chance of nailing the person behind this quickly.” Caden remained seated beside her. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees as Reece had earlier, but instead of holding her gaze he dipped his head, effectively hiding his eyes.

  Regret crept in. Abigail realized she didn’t like it when he hid his eyes from her. What a time for a revelation.

  Her pride bristled at what they said, but they were right. And this was no time t
o act scared no matter how much this shit made her want to run for the hills. They dealt with this stuff day in and day out. Death threats were just another day on the job, but she wasn’t equipped for this. She rubbed at her eyes, tired from a choppy sleep the night before.

  Wait. Last night. Abigail shot up and grabbed her phone from the table. “Last night I received a phone call. Actually, three. I didn’t connect it until now. They were all hang-ups and I thought it might have been my ex-fiancé or some prank. Now I’m not so sure.” Abigail flipped and swiped until her recent calls tab popped up on the screen. “Here’s the proof.” She handed the phone to Reece with a sigh, hopeful that it was something they could use. She wasn’t up to date on all the high-tech things that went into tracking people, but even she understood how the phone system worked.

  “You think your ex has something to do with this, Abigail?” Reece stepped back from the window and closed the distance between them in three strides.

  “Who knows? Once upon a time I didn’t think he’d beat me, but now I wouldn’t put anything past him. The restraining order is still in effect, but those are as useful as toilet paper in a rainstorm.”

  Her pulse skipped and her jaw dropped open at the sound of fierce rumbling growls from both men. The fire in their eyes said everything she needed to know about what they thought of douchebag men who hit women.

  And she smiled. In a fucked up, dirty cave-man way their chivalry made her body tingle in all the wrong places.

  “Caden, we have our first name for the list of suspects.”

  As much as she liked their protective ways, her gut said Steven wasn’t the one behind all the threats. She held back from saying anything—second-guessing the man would be a mistake.

  Abigail turned her attention to Reece. This close she could feel his heat surround her again. Her inner tigress purred, wanting more of whatever it was about him that had her so calm in his presence.

  She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest as Reece spoke to Caden. “Call Tech, get our best guy up here and have them bring a secure company phone on their way up.”

  Caden peeled off from them and moved over to the speakerphone, relaying orders to their team.

  “Abigail.” Reece said her name on a long, drawn-out breath. She understood his frustration. After all, she was the one marked for death by some lunatic. She worried her lip. Her gaze on anything in the room but the man now sitting directly in front of her. “You keep biting your lip like that and I’ll do exactly what I’ve dreamed of since the day you walked into my office, Abigail Torres.” His voice was a grave whisper of intent.

  A shiver of desire rushed her. Talk about straightforward.

  For the second time today Abigail swallowed hard, only to find her mouth completely dry. This time, it was out of pure shock. Reece Sterling just issued her a warning and she was tempted to see what he had to offer as a punishment or prize, depending on what his dream involved. She hoped something that would take her mind off the twisted events of the day.

  Abigail licked her bottom lip, soliciting a deep, throaty growl from Reece. His eyes heated and he settled his big hand over hers where they rested on her lap. “Don’t push me, darling. Once I’ve had a taste you won’t be needing a fake dick ever again.”

  “That sounds like a promise.” She couldn’t pinpoint what made her say it, but once the words left her lips it was too late to do anything but wait for an answer.

  His hold tightened around her hands. Before she could get her answer, Caden walked over and kneeled beside her. Both men surrounded her again, their nearness a delicious combination of comfort and relief. She was safe here. She needed to remember that. And Reece’s threat of something promising...she smiled inwardly.

  “I just explained the situation to Walter Reid down in Tech. We’re getting the ball rolling on identifying who the hell’s behind the threats on your life, but they’ll need your phone for that. In the meantime, you can use this.” Caden passed a new cell phone to her. “We stock a few here in the office for clients that require immediate action.”

  Heat tinged her cheeks and she cringed.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  “Those pictures. Oh my God.” Disgust left a nasty taste in her mouth, “They’re going to be out there for everyone to see.” She clasped a hand over her scarlet-colored face. It took all she had to show them the violating images, now the guys in Tech would know what she looked like after going skinny-dipping and what she looked like in black lingerie sucking on a dildo while getting off with a vibrator.

  She talked with them on a regular basis dealing with one thing or another for Reece and Caden. Now she would never be able to look the Tech team in the eyes again. Maybe she should find another job?

  “No, they won’t, sweetheart. I sent the pictures over to our secured phones a few minutes ago in case they are ever needed and erased them from yours. Tech only needs to know what happened, not see the evidence.”

  Reece picked up from there. “That’s step one. Now we need your car. I assume it’s parked in the employee parking lot?”

  Abigail nodded. She had to wait for the car insurance man to come and look at the key scratches in her hood, which landed her a good hour and a half late to work. “It’s in the underground parking of this building, you can’t miss it. It’s the only one with a black bag taped to the hood.”

  Caden moved over to the phone again to make a call with a grimmer look on his face than before.

  Reece stood, to pace the small patch of hardwood floor between the table and the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Do you have any other family in town or close by besides your sister?”

  “No.” Her sister, the only family she could speak of, lived almost three hours away in San Diego. Too far for a commute and she didn’t want to bring her into this if it would put her in danger as well.

  “Then you’re coming back to the house with us tonight. It’s too dangerous to be on your own.” Reece’s words held no room for debate. Her ego bristled again and she tightened her fingers in her lap. What was it about men—especially military men—and their belief everyone would fall in line with what they thought was best? Her father had been that way before he’d died. Her mother knew how to maneuver around his controlling tendencies, but Abigail never understood why she put up with it in the first place.

  A small voice told her to tread carefully and phrase her words just right.

  But she didn’t listen.

  “Mr. Sterling, are you trying to get me in bed?”

  Surprise flitted across his face, quickly replaced with a sizzling heat before doused with a stone-cold stare, but he couldn’t hide the slight tilt to his lip. “And I thought I was direct, Miss Torres.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and held his gaze firmly. It was amazing to watch the myriad of emotions right before his usual cool, calm and collected took over. What was he so afraid of? Almost six months and the last hour was the first time he’d even hinted at something more than the secretary and employer relationship. Why the change?

  Caden, on the other hand, was the smooth talker of the team. He cut in from his place by the phone. “We have a lot to discuss, sweetheart. But your safety takes top rack right now. Everything else has to wait.” He nailed her with a heated look that gave her a good indication of what ‘everything else’ entailed.

  They have this tag team duo down to a science.

  “That’s a promise.” Reece cut in this time, and she enjoyed the way his gaze caressed her ample curves. She watched the golden specks in his dark brown eyes dance with banked emotions.

  “I realize you guys are worried, and I am too, but there has to be some other way. I refuse to be run out of my home over a few pictures.”

  Reece’s mouth hardened into a firm, stubborn flat line again. He had the look down pat.

  Abigail stood. Suddenly the room seemed too small. In a breathy voice she continued, “I do happen to have the state-of-the-art home security system thanks
to company benefits.” She plastered on a fake smile for their sakes. Or hers. Maybe both. Her insides quivered with a foreign mixture of fear and lust.

  If she was going, now was the time. She wanted the two Marines more than her next breath, but pursuing the attraction they obviously shared wasn’t the wisest decision. Especially now. They’d have to figure something else out. “I know a hotel close enough for a cab ride.”

  Both men shook their heads in unison. “What Reece said is true—you can’t be alone, Abigail. Not for a while anyway. Let us find out what this is all about first. It could be a prank from your asshole ex gone overboard or it could be something graver than that and carry even more weight.” Caden made his way back over to them. “We don’t know who is responsible for this, and leaving you on your own wouldn’t settle well with me.”

  “Or me, for that matter. You have to realize this is more than just a few pictures. You’ve been issued a death threat. That shit isn’t taken lightly by anyone, especially when it involves you.” Caden tossed a reprimanding glare at Reece who shrugged it off before continuing. “Are you willing to put yourself in danger for your pride? Or have us sitting outside your house all night because there’s no way in hell we’re going to leave you out in the boondocks all alone?”

  “In case you forgot, you two have a trip to prepare for. Speaking of…” Abigail glanced at the big clock hanging on the back wall. Late afternoon had slipped into early evening. “The flight leaves for Puerto Vallarta in a little over seven hours. You can’t miss this meeting because of me. You’ve been working on closing the contract with your first international client for three weeks now. I don’t think rescheduling with the governor of Jalisco is a wise move. And sitting outside my house will do nothing but set you back in everything you’ve worked so hard to build. Besides, living in the country isn’t like living on another planet.”

  Irritation ate at Abigail’s resolve. They knew how to layer on the guilt and fast. As much as she’d like to put her foot down, she had a sneaky feeling no matter where she stayed, if it wasn’t at their place, they’d be right where they promised—outside wherever she ended up, watching over her like two stubborn burros.