"You finally set a date?"
"Yeah."
"About fucking time," he mutters. "And you aren't leaving my ass in Arizona. I'll be there."
"You better be here." I climb to my feet and gather up all the shit I need to drop off in Finn's office before heading back home to Mila. "Mila will kick my ass if you aren't."
Brady laughs loudly. "Now you're getting it, aren't you?"
"I'm getting it," I mutter. "She's got me wrapped around her little finger."
"It's fucking great, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I say, smiling. "It really is."
He chuckles. "You brought her home?"
"Yeah, I brought her home."
"Good," he says, pride in his voice. "It's about fucking time you saw reason and realized the best place for that girl is by your side. Hell, it's about time you realized what's important in life and stopped letting fear eat you alive."
He's not wrong. I gave him so much shit when he got with Carla because I didn't agree with bringing a woman into the kind of life we live. I thought he was making a mistake…not because I didn't like Carla, but because the shit we do doesn't always stay at work. People like Jose Guerrero and Elijah Noel have no problem using family against us. But I spent years keeping Talia out of Los Angeles to keep her safe, and they still found her. They still tried to hurt her.
I could hide Mila and the baby away on another continent, and they wouldn't be any safer than they are with me. They became a target the second they became mine. And the safest place for them is with me. It might stress me the fuck out to have them so close to the dangerous people I work with, but they'll be safe because I'll make it so. That's my purpose in life…to keep my girls safe, to keep them happy, and to cherish every second I get with them.
I should have brought Mila home months ago, but was too fucking afraid to listen to reason. I'm listening now though.
"Better late than never, right?" I ask.
"Fuckin' A," Brady agrees.
I lock up my office and step out into the hall, pulling the door closed behind me. My gaze lands on Octavio Hernandez. The LAPD detective and I have been friends for years, but his ground-eating stride makes it clear he's not here for a friendly chat. So does the thunderous scowl on his face. His big body is rigid with tension, and rage practically crackles in his dark eyes. He's pissed about something…and I'm guessing he's about to make it my problem too.
"Fuck, let me call you back," I mutter to Brady, frustration flowing through me. Judging by the look on Octavio's face, he's about to dump some bullshit into my lap I don't want to deal with. I just want to get back to Mila, but I owe Octavio a hell of a lot for all the favors he's done for me in the past.
"Later, brother," Brady says.
"Later." I disconnect and shove the phone in my pocket as Octavio makes it to me. "What's up, O?"
"We need to talk," he growls.
Fuck my life.
With a sigh, I unlock my office and then hit the lights before motioning for him to go in ahead of me. He stops in the middle of the mostly empty room and cocks a brow. "Since when did you work out of an office?"
"Don't ask," I mutter, still pissed about the fact that I got saddled with a goddamn office. The fuckers even put my name on the door. Finn's having too much fun with this shit. It's ridiculous. "What's going on?"
"I want Faith's detail pulled," he says.
I cock a brow, surprised. Faith Donovan, a bartender, is in protective custody after witnessing a gang-related shooting carried out by el Demonio about a week and a half ago. They shot up a bar in Los Zetas territory, killing seven and seriously injuring several others. Four members of Los Zetas and two of el Demonio's people died on scene. Faith was the only witness willing to talk, and Los Zetas isn't happy about it. If we pull her detail, they'll kill her. Octavio knows that as well as I do.
"What happened?" I ask, dropping my file on the desk and leaning up against the side of the heavy wood.
"Went to check in on her this morning, and found her locked in her room. Apparently Rick Sanders backed her into a corner last night and tried to kiss her," Octavio growls, his expression darkening.
"Against her will?"
He jerks his chin in a nod. "He wouldn't back off until Gunner heard her threatening to scream. When he walked in, Faith kneed Sanders in the balls, and locked herself in her room."
"Son of a bitch," I growl, rage whispering through me. Rick Sanders is one of ours…has been for a couple of years now. He's a cocky son of a bitch with a god-complex. Finn put him on Faith's detail after he popped off at the mouth about a raid. We thought pulling him out of the field for a hot minute would knock him down a few pegs. Apparently fucking not. Trying to hook up with a witness in protective custody is bad enough. Trying to force himself on her is a whole new level of fucked up. "Is she okay?"
Octavio's teeth grind together. "She'll be better when she knows she'll never have to see that motherfucker again."
"I'll take care of it," I promise him, already typing out a text to Finn to let him know what happened. Sanders will be lucky if he ever works in law enforcement again by the time we're finished with him. There's some shit you don't do. Attacking a woman is one of those things. "I'll start looking for a replacement for him today."
"You think she's going to want some other guy up in her personal space right now?" he asks, crossing his arms over his chest to glare at me. "We'll be lucky if he didn't undo any progress I've made with her."
"She's still not giving up anything else on Oscar Fuentes?"
He shakes his head, frustration channeling through his expression.
I eye him for a moment, the look in his eyes pulling me up short. Octavio is damn good at getting people to talk, but that frustrated look on his face has nothing to do with his job. I've seen that look before. It's the same one I saw every damn time I looked in the mirror when I was anywhere near Mila for the first four years I knew her. I wanted her when I couldn't have her and that pissed me off.
Faith Donovan is becoming more than just a job to Octavio…and he doesn't have a fucking clue what to do about it.
"How do you want to play this, O?" I ask him, not willing to beat around the bush on this. "If we pull her detail, Fuentes and the Zetas will come for her without hesitation."
"And if we don't pull it, what trust I've gained is gone and we'll never find out what she's hiding," he shoots right back at me, huffing out a frustrated sigh. He scrubs his hand through his crewcut hair and then down his face. "She knows more than she's saying, Roman. If she didn't, they wouldn't want her so fucking badly."
As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. Rumor on the street is that the Zetas are willing to pay a pretty penny for information leading to her whereabouts. Oscar Fuentes doesn't do anything without a reason. If he wants her, then we most definitely don't want him getting his hands on her.
"We can move her to your house," I suggest.
Octavio drops his hand to look at me, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched…but he doesn't tell me no. Which means he was already thinking it. Which means she's definitely becoming more than a job to him. Which means if the Zetas get their hands on her, Octavio might just be my next loose cannon to deal with.
Son of a fucking whore.
"Luke Santiago is watching Mila while I'm dealing with the Remi situation," I murmur, treading carefully. If he's feeling her, he's not ready to admit it yet, and I'm not stepping into that landmine. "We can put him on Faith too while you deal with your shit and I deal with mine. Whichever of us finishes first can take over from there."
"You trust Santiago to keep his hands to himself and stay out of her personal space?"
"Yeah, I do. Wouldn't have him watching my fiancée if I didn't. He's good people, O."
Octavio thinks about it for a minute, his indecision clear in his eyes.
"Santiago will keep an eye on her, keep her safe," I tell him, knowing there isn't another choice. I can't have Octavio burning Los Zetas territory to the
ground to protect her while Kincaid is burning Kaleo's shit to the ground to protect his girl. Until the gang war blows over, the last thing I need is my own team adding to the chaos. And I already fucking know I'm not going to be able to stop Kincaid if Kaleo goes after January again. I'm not even sure I'd try to stop him at this point. But Octavio? He's a different story.
"You've got a mass shooting to deal with," I remind him when he still doesn't say anything. "I've got Remi to deal with. If you don't want someone else in a safe house with her twenty-four seven, this is your next best option. Besides, maybe it'll do her and Mila both some good to have someone else to lean on while they're cooped up."
"Fuck," Octavio growls, pointing a finger at me. "Fine. But if he puts his fucking hands on her or even looks at her wrong, I'll break his neck."
"Deal," I mutter with a shake of my head. He would decide to fall in love at the worst possible time.
"Where you at?" I ask Kincaid, glancing up at the clock over the kitchen table. It's fifteen after nine, and he was supposed to be here already, but I haven't heard shit from him since he left my office.
"I'm…fuck. I can't go with you tonight," he says, his voice little more than a rough rasp. "I can't leave her."
"January?" I ask, keeping my voice soft. He sounds worse than he looked today, like he's burning alive and doesn't know what the fuck to do to make it stop.
"Tell me to walk away before I ruin her life," he whispers, pleading with me for something I think he already knows I can't give him. The only person who can absolve him of whatever guilt he's carrying over what happened when he was just a fucking kid is January. I don't think he needs to hear that right now though.
"I can't tell you what to do, Michael," I tell him, wishing like hell this could be easier for him. Hell, easier for both of them because I don't imagine she's handling this shit any better than he is right now. The shit they went through, the things they lost…I don't even know what the fuck I would do if it were me. If I lost everything the way they did, I don't think I'd still be standing, let alone fighting. Kincaid's been fighting for ten damn years though, dealing with the worst sorts of evil so people like January, people like his boy Titan, aren't collateral damage. He deserves happiness even if he doesn't believe it. He deserves a second chance, even if reaching for it hurts like hell. "But I will tell you that even if it's fucking hard, if you love her, finding a way to make it work is worth it. If she matters to you…it's worth it."
"Fuck." I wait for him to say something else, but he doesn't. He just breathes into the phone in ragged pulls of air for several long moments, and then he disconnects.
I drop my phone to the counter and tip my head back, cursing loudly.
Mila slides up behind me and wraps her arms around me, her belly bumping against my lower back. "Is everything okay?" she asks in that sweet little voice of hers.
"It is now," I mutter and turn around to pull her into my arms. She snuggles up against my chest and just lets me hold her for several beats. "You know how much I love you?" I ask, tipping her face up toward mine.
"I do," she says, smiling at me.
"Don't know what the fuck I'd have done if I lost you the day Guerrero shot you," I whisper, my voice husky from the weight of the emotion dripping from my words. Just having her in my arms makes all the bullshit better. When she's pressed up against me, it doesn't matter that Kincaid's on the verge of losing it, or that Octavio might not be far behind him, or that Remi is still out there, running free. When Mila's in my arms, everything else is background noise, I'm invincible, and I know that not a fucking thing has a chance in hell of taking this from me.
"You didn't lose me," she reminds me, pushing herself up onto her toes to brush her lips against mine. "I'm your warrior, and guys like him don't get to win, remember?"
"I do remember," I murmur against her lips before flicking my tongue across the seam in a silent demand for her to open. My hands go to her ass, boosting her up until her legs lock around my waist. Once they do, she kisses me with wild fervor, not stopping until we're both panting and breathless, my hair is all fucked up from her hands, and her blonde strands are just as messy from mine. I break away reluctantly and set her on her feet again. "I gotta go, baby."
"'Kay," she whispers, her face tilted up to me and a dazed smile on her lips.
"You gonna be okay to sleep without me?" I ask, worried the baby will keep her up again.
"I'll be fine," she promises. "Go save the world, Mr. Gregory, and then come home and claim your reward."
My already aching cock throbs at her words. I palm her ass and growl before leaning down to nip at her lips. "Your sweet ass better still be in that bed when I get home."
"Maybe it will," she says, dancing away from me. She tosses me a heated look over her shoulder. "Maybe it won't." With that, she saunters out of the kitchen toward the living room, that sexy ass of hers swaying with every step she takes.
I stand there, grinning like an idiot for a minute before I shake my head and stalk toward the living room after her. She's already lowering herself down onto the chaise, her Kindle in her hands. Luke is sprawled out on the couch, the remote in one hand and a beer in the other.
"You out?" he asks me, looking up from the Poker game he's watching.
"Yeah. Walk me out?" I cut my eyes at Mila, silently letting him know I want to talk to him privately.
"Yeah," he mutters, dropping the remote to the couch before climbing to his feet.
"Behave," I murmur to Mila, leaning down to kiss her lips and then her forehead. "I love you."
"Love you," she whispers as I head toward the front door with Luke in tow.
"What's up?" he asks when the door closes behind us. The scent of rain hangs in the air and low clouds hover overhead, obscuring the night sky.
"Rick Sanders tried to force himself on Faith Donovan last night," I tell him, pulling the keys to my truck out of my pocket. I plan on dropping it at the office and grabbing one of the undercover cars before I head to Remi's uncle's place for the night. I hope the rain holds until morning. The last thing I want to do is spend a night in a car with it storming. It's too fucking hard to see anything with rain slicking the windows and fogging them over.
"Shady motherfucker," Luke grunts and then takes a pull from his beer, eyeing me over the rim. "She's the witness from the bar shooting?"
"Yeah. Fuentes and the Zetas are making it known they want to get their hands on her. Octavio thinks—we both think—they want her for a reason," I murmur, leaning my shoulder up against a post on the porch. "Which means we're going to have to figure out why."
"Fuck," Luke mumbles.
"You willing to keep an eye on her while Octavio handles his shit?"
"Do I have a choice?" he asks, frustration glinting in his green eyes.
I shrug because we don't really have any other choice. I know he has his own caseload to deal with, but there's no one else I trust enough to protect Mila and earn Faith's trust too. Thanks to the gang war, Octavio has his hands full of open murder cases, and that's not even including the bar shooting. I've got Remi to deal with. Finn is still working with Ames to get Tristan cleared. Kincaid has his hands full. Luke is the only one left standing at this point who I'm willing to let anywhere near Mila.
"That's what I thought," he says and then sighs heavily. "You expecting her to be a problem?"
"Honestly?" I wait for him to nod before I continue. "I don't have a clue. She's scared and it's obvious she's hiding something. Whether she decides to cause us problems or not, one of us need to figure out what the fuck she's hiding. So it is what it is, man."
"Fuck, yeah." He purses his lips and then shakes his head. "Bring her on, I guess. You sure you want her around Mila with Los Zetas gunning for her? That's asking for trouble, and I'm thinking you already got enough of that."
"You aren't wrong," I mutter. My to-do list is getting longer by the day. If Kincaid is out for the time being and Luke is on security detail, I'll be looking fo
r Remi by my damn self. Not exactly ideal, but again…it is what it is. "I'm running out of bodies to throw in front of problems."
"You ain't lying," Luke says, his expression turning grim. "Never thought I'd see the day I was looking at my fucking brothers with anything less than respect."
"I feel you," I mutter, not liking the situation any more than he does. "Remi will get what's coming to him."
"And Sanders?" Luke asks like the name leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
"We're dealing with the situation."
"Good," he grunts and then shakes his head again. "What a fucking prick."
I reach out a hand to bump his fist, in complete agreement with him on that particular sentiment.
Chapter Six
Mila
"I have to tell you something," Roman murmurs, running his hands through my hair as I sprawl across his chest. Sweat is still drying on our bodies where we made love after he crawled into bed with me at dawn.
"Hmm?"
"I'm being transferred," he says.
"What?" I blink my eyes open, turning to look at him in wide-eyed surprise. "Why?"
"I requested the transfer."
"Roman." Disappointment flows through me. I can feel my face fall.
"It's time, Mila," he says gently, reaching out to run his finger across my bottom lip. "As soon as we locate Remi, I'll be leaving the gang unit."
"Where will you go?"
Nervousness dances through his expression and then he exhales. "Finn wants more time with his wife. I'll be taking over his job as SWAT Commander."
"What? Seriously?"
He nods, those gorgeous blue eyes so serious and worried.
"Roman," I breathe. Pride surges through me in a massive swell, bringing tears to my eyes. "That's amazing. I'm so proud of you."
Desire Me (Her Best Friend's Father Book 4) Page 8