"Okay."
"You aren't going to fight me on this?" I ask. Even though she told me she wouldn't argue if I put a guard on her, I expect her to throw a fit like she did when I basically strong-armed Santa Cruz Police Department into putting Evan Arias on guard detail. Mila's been on her own for a long time and is independent as hell. She was not happy about having someone who wasn't me in her personal space all the time. She settled down once she got to know Evan, but those first few days were rough.
I didn't exactly like leaving another man to take care of my woman either. I trust Evan more than I trust most people, but it killed me to leave her in his care every damn time I had to come back to Los Angeles. She's everything to me, and I'm a possessive bastard. I don't want other men anywhere near her. She's too goddamn beautiful, too sweet. Un-fucking-fortunately, because of the gang war, I didn't have another choice. I had to be here to try to slow el Demonio down, and I couldn't leave her unprotected.
"I told you I wouldn't complain if you gave me a guard," she reminds me, her sweet breath dancing at my lips. "I'm not going to fight you on this if it means we're in the same city again for more than a day or two at a time. Whatever it takes to keep you from stressing out."
"Good." I close my eyes and breathe her in for a second, just reveling in the fact that she's standing in front of me. And then I pop my eyes open. "You ready to see the rest of the house now, baby?"
She nods eagerly, excitement sliding through her eyes.
I take her hand in mine and lead her through each room, showing her all the little details I knew she'd love. The house isn't massive, but with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, it's more than enough room for us. The first bedroom will be the guestroom once it's completely furnished. I turned the second bedroom into an office so she could work from home. I know she's eager to go back to work, but I'm not sure if she'll feel the same way once the baby is here in a few months. I have a feeling she's going to want to be with our daughter as often as possible. With a home office, she has that option.
"Roman," she whispers again, stopping right inside the door when we get to the nursery.
"You like it?" I ask, glancing around. I've slowly been stocking it with everything we need. She didn't know I've been buying two of everything she picked out…one for the nursery here and one for the condo in Santa Cruz. I wanted both of our homes ready for the day our girl arrives. The walls in the nursery here are a charcoal gray color. I paid someone to paint white trees with pink flowers and birds on one wall like she talked about. It looks good with the white furniture. A pink shag rug and accent pillows tie it all together.
The barre I installed for Lillian while she and Tristan were staying here is still in place, but removing it will be easy enough.
"It's exactly like I imagined," Mila breathes, stepping into the room to run her hand along the back of the glider. She practically dances through the room, stopping to touch everything. One hand stays firmly on her belly, a gentle smile playing at her lips.
My dick turns to steel as I watch her move from place to place.
"I can't believe you bought two of everything."
"I wanted the nursery to be ready." Her smile alone is worth the expense…but so is knowing our girl will have everything she'll need. Hell, she'll have everything she could ever possibly dream of. So will her mama. I'm already happily wrapped around Mila's little finger, and I know damn well I'll be wrapped around the baby's too. I can't wait.
"Your daddy is going to spoil you rotten, ladybug," Mila murmurs when she's looked at every single thing in the room twice. Her eyes meet mine, her smile widening. "Aren't you?"
"I'm going to spoil both of you," I vow, holding her gaze.
"Yeah?" Her eyes darken with desire.
I nod once.
Her tongue darts out to swipe along her bottom lip like she's trying to taste me on her. That little tell of hers has my blood flashing to steam in my veins. So does the way she squeezes her thighs together. I take two steps across the room toward her and sweep her up into my arms before storming toward the master bedroom.
I don't give her time to look it over before I'm laying her out on the bed, eager to get her naked and get inside her again. My tongue duels with hers in an erotic dance, first in her mouth and then in mine.
She latches onto me, her legs locked around my waist and one hand playing through my hair. A loud moan breaks from her lips when I grind my cock against her pussy.
"Fuck, I need in you," I grunt, biting her bottom lip hard.
"Yes." She tugs at my hair and then scratches her nails down my back, writhing beneath me. She's not gentle with those little claws of hers, which sends a bolt of lust ripping through me. I know what she's after.
"You want to play?" I grab her hands and pull them up over her head, holding her down. I buck my hips, grinding against her pussy again. She mewls her pleasure into my mouth, practically purring like a kitten. "You want me to fuck you hard this time, baby?"
"Yes, please. I need you, Mr. Gregory."
Ah, fuck.
She really does want it rough.
I rear back to rip my shirt off over my head.
My phone starts blaring through the room.
"Goddammit," I growl, dropping my head back to glare up at the ceiling. For a minute, I consider ignoring the phone and fucking Mila like she's begging me to do…but I can't. Until we find Remi, I can't afford to ignore the damn thing.
Mile whines softly, her legs falling from around my waist.
"I'm sorry, baby," I murmur, reaching out to run a fingertip down her cheek with one hand while I drag my phone from my pocket with the other. The number flashing across my screen has a furrow growing between my brows. Why the fuck is Nazario Leyva calling me?
"I have to take this," I tell Mila, knowing he wouldn't be calling me unless it was important. The orphaned Colombian cocaine prince has little use for cops…and even less use for me. Not that I blame him. To help Tristan, I tracked the man's wife down and trained a gun on her until Leyva agreed to help us stop Elijah Noel. It wasn't my proudest moment and didn't win me any points with the man.
"Answer it," Mila says, giving me an understanding smile.
"I'm sorry," I murmur again before putting the phone to my ear. "This is Roman."
"I have a lead for you," Leyva says without preamble, his voice hard. "Someone broke into two of el Demonio's warehouses last night. I believe it was the dirty cop you're looking for."
"Shit. Did you see him?"
"I did not," Leyva says. "I couldn't risk getting close enough to scare him off, but I did place a tracker on the car he parked down the road. It's been sitting in the same spot all day. I could not find what he might have taken from the warehouses."
"Fuck me." I glance down at Mila to see her staring up at me with her eyes still dark with desire. The sight sends blood pumping toward my cock again. I briefly consider saying to hell with Remi Pledger, but then an image of her pale and still in my arms flashes through my mind, and I know I can't do that. Until Remi is gone, the threat Pedro Francisco poses still stands. She isn't safe.
"Send me the coordinates," I bark into the phone, silently cursing Francisco, Remi, and every gang member in this fucking city.
"It's going to cost you."
Of-fucking-course it is. Leyva may not be a traditional thug, but he's a thug nonetheless…a very rich, very dangerous man. He could own the cocaine fields in Colombia if he wished, but he prefers to keep his feet planted on American soil with his American wife. He runs a drug empire from his mansion in Calabasas. The only reason he's helping us is because it suits his purposes at the moment. He wants this city rid of el Demonio as badly as we do.
"What's your price?" I growl, climbing to my feet to pace.
"An answer to an interesting question," he says, his deep voice an amused rumble.
I know what he's going to ask before he even says the words…and I can't give him that answer.
"Is the rumor about Francis
co's heir true?" he asks, exactly like I knew he would.
Oscar Fuentes—current leader of Los Zetas, the Mexican mafia's street gang—has been sniffing around, asking questions about Selena Ortega for the last couple of days. I don't know where Fuentes got his information from, but I don't like that it's spreading. As much as I want to find Remi, doing so at the expense of Selena Ortega's safety isn't an option. Leyva knows it as well as I do. If anyone were to confirm the existence of the little boy she gave birth to a week ago, they would never stop hunting her. Declan Carter, a fellow cop and close friend, is still in Tennessee with her, but not even his protection would save her or her infant son from Francisco's enemies if her location leaked.
"I can't give you that answer," I tell Leyva, keeping my voice level.
"I thought not." He chuckles. "You have a soft spot for women. You would not have pulled the trigger on my Brynna either, would you, Agent Gregory?"
"No," I grit out, though I think he already knows the answer to that question too. Like I told Selena Ortega months ago, I don't hurt women. I don't kill innocent people. Kincaid knew Leyva would give us what we wanted without question if he thought Brynna was in danger. He takes no chances with his wife. We exploited that knowledge and did what we had to do to secure his cooperation.
Mila shuffles around behind me, sitting up in the bed. She climbs slowly to her feet and then pads toward me. Her hands land against my abdomen as she wraps her curvy body around me, cuddling up against my chest. I hold her closely, wishing like hell I didn't have to leave her already.
"I'll send you the coordinates," Leyva says, his voice dropping to a menacing growl. "But do not ever threaten my wife again, Agent Gregory. You will not like the result."
I let his threat slide, knowing damn well I owe him that much. I'd tear apart anyone who dared point a gun in Mila's direction. I killed Guerrero when he did it. Just the thought of someone else targeting her has me tightening my hold on her. I can't blame Leyva for feeling the same way about his wife.
"You might want to move Ms. Ortega," Leyva says after a brief pause. "I have no interest in Francisco's heir, but I can't say the same for Oscar Fuentes. Francisco has a lot of enemies in this country. If they believe what Fuentes is selling, they will never stop looking for that child."
"Noted."
Leyva disconnects.
"Motherfucker." I run a hand through my hair, tugging on the strands as frustration flows through me.
"You have to go?" Mila guesses, tilting her head back to look up at me.
"Yeah. Fuck," I curse, trying to rein in my temper. My girl is finally in my arms again, looking too beautiful for her own good. The last thing I want to do is leave her to chase down Remi, but I don't have a choice.
"It's okay." She smiles up at me. "At least we'll be sleeping in the same bed again tonight."
"Jesus," I whisper, swooping down on her to kiss the shit out of her. I don't let up until she's breathless and trying to climb my body. Then and only then do I ease off. "Do you have any idea how fucking much I love you?"
"I think I do," she says, touching her lips. Her green eyes are wide and dazed with desire.
I can't fucking wait to find Remi and get back to her.
Chapter Three
Roman
"Finn, man," I growl an hour and a half later, thrusting a hand into my hair and tugging. "I don't need a fucking office."
He smirks at me from behind his massive desk, clearly enjoying this way too much. He leans back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his bald head. The movement pulls his shirt taut over his muscular arms, stretching the seams to their limits. "Suck it up, buttercup," he says, that smirk growing. Amusement dances in his brown eyes. "Once you take over command of the SWAT team, you're going to be spending your down time behind a desk. It comes with the territory."
"Fuck." I should have known there was a caveat to this transfer. He’s always been way too willing to let me go. Now I know why: The fucker wanted to torture me. I'm not built for office work. I like to be in the field, doing what I do best. Sitting behind a desk was never part of the plan. I assumed I'd spend the majority of my time training with the team. Guess I should have paid more attention to the fine print.
"We can always shred your transfer paperwork," Finn offers, though he's still smirking. The bastard.
"No," I growl and rise to my feet. As much as I don't want to be stuck in an office, I want off the gang taskforce even more. I'm not interested in going undercover anymore. I did it for ten years and I'm over it. Now that I have Mila, I just want to enjoy my life without the constant stress and worry. Leading the SWAT team isn't exactly a stress-free position, but it's infinitely better than working with gangbangers and cartels all day, every day. "Give me the fucking keys."
Finn tips his chair forward and plucks a keyring off his desk before tossing it to me.
I flip him off and then shove the key into my pocket, muttering under my breath about not needing a fucking office. If I didn't like Finn, I'd tell him what he could do with the key and the office it unlocks, but I owe him for not losing his shit while I was helping Tristan. At one point, we weren't sure who was working with el Demonio, and Finn joined the list of suspects. I'm still not sure how he feels about that, but he hasn't made a big deal of it…and I'm glad as fuck it wasn't him.
He's been a friend as well as my boss for a long time. Had he been the one who put Mila on Jose Guerrero's radar, I'm not sure what I would have done. Actually, I do know. I would have killed him exactly like I plan to kill Remi, but it would have broken my fucking heart to do it.
I'm pissed enough about it being Remi, and we were never close. He was a teammate, someone I trusted with my life…but he wasn't a friend. I don't think he had many of those. Everyone I've talked to since learning he was working for Francisco has had the same story. Remi didn't share a whole hell of a lot. No one knows much about him beyond the fact that he was, seemingly, a good cop. He was close to retirement age and salty as fuck…but he did the job and didn't complain.
How he got mixed up with Francisco, I don't know. At this point, the how and why of it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, he made a choice that put my family in the sights of a psycho and his gang. He put his team in danger. He betrayed his badge and his brothers, and he did it for one of the most sadistic motherfuckers out there.
Lillian Riley is a tiny thing, with a heart about as big as Mila's and a steel rod in her leg. She's brave as hell and one of the strongest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. She deserved his loyalty and respect. Instead, he helped Elijah Noel kidnap her, hold her hostage, and then beat the hell out of her. When I find him, he'll pay for what he did to her. He’ll pay for what Guerrero did to Mila…and then he'll pay for it again in whatever life comes next.
"Any news from Kincaid?" Finn asks.
"Not yet," I murmur, though I'm not surprised we haven't heard from him. Michael Kincaid isn't someone who shares what he's up to. He does what he thinks needs to be done, and that's that. There's no asking for permission or begging for forgiveness with him. That's one of the reasons I want him on our team so goddamn badly. He knows his shit and he isn't afraid to do what has to be done. "I'm going to take him with me to chase down this lead on Remi."
"Good." Finn crosses his bulky arms over his chest. Surprisingly, he doesn't warn me again that I need to bring Remi in. We just keep dancing around the subject because we both know it isn’t happening. "Keep an eye on this Kaleo situation, will you? I have a feeling the shit is going to hit the fan."
I have a feeling he isn't wrong. Kaleo is one of the reasons Kincaid’s girl’s family was murdered. I don't know why he let Kaleo live back then, but I have a feeling he won't be extending the son of a bitch the same offer this time. Not when the gangbanger has been sending his boys into Kincaid's neighborhood after his girl, January.
We need Kincaid on the streets, not in a jail cell. And with Curtis Kaleo involved, we might not be able to keep that fr
om happening. He knows Kincaid's secrets too. And that motherfucker is as shady as they come. He'll spill the truth all over the place if he thinks it'll save him. It won't. Kincaid is going to bury him alive for fucking with his girl. But Kaleo isn't bright enough to realize he's woken a sleeping giant.
He'll learn soon enough.
"Knock, knock."
I tip my head back to see Jason Ames standing in Finn's doorway. He's light where Finn is dark, but they're two fucking peas in a pod when it comes to this job. They protect their own and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. I respect them for that.
Ames does not look like a happy camper as he surveys the office. His jaw is hard and anger glints in his mossy green eyes. The shadows beneath make it obvious he's gotten very little sleep since I last saw him two days ago.
"Come in and have a seat," Finn says, ushering him inside.
"I'm not staying," Ames says, though he steps inside the office anyway. He jerks his chin in a nod to me before looking at Finn. "I'm on my way to talk to your boss, see if he can't move this shit along a little quicker."
"The DEA is still fucking around on clearing him?" I ask, knowing that's what he's pissed about. He wants Tristan and Lillian back in Seattle, but the DEA here is holding up the process. They're pissed Tristan quit, leaving them to deal with the mess they created.
"Fuck yeah," Ames growls, his eyes narrowing. He leans back against the wall, crossing his arms. "Lillian was discharged from the hospital about an hour ago, but they still haven't cleared him. They claim they're still waiting for the M.E. to finish with Noel's body."
"Fucking ridiculous," Finn snorts with a shake of his head. "We all know how Noel died."
"Exactly like he should have," I mutter. As far as anyone in this room is concerned, the son of a bitch got off easy. I would have cut the motherfucker's dick off and fed it to him. I know he didn't rape Lillian, but he certainly tormented her and Tristan both with the thought for long enough. He deserved everything he got and then some.
"True story." Finn climbs to his feet. "I'll go with you. See if I can't help hurry this shit along." He strides around the desk toward Ames before shooting a glance at me over his shoulder. "Keep me advised on this lead."
Desire Me (Her Best Friend's Father Book 4) Page 4