by Maddie Wade
“I need you to move, Gunner.”
He wasted no more words but did as she asked, they quickly reached a rhythm that neither could control. Passion driving them both towards climax as hands touched and mouths kissed and licked until they were both wild, out of control, and it felt good. So good Lacey gripped his shoulders in fear she would splinter from the pleasure.
“Hold on to me, Lacey. I won’t let you fall.”
His words, the tender way he was protecting her even now, threw her over the edge as her body tightened and she felt him swell inside her and then he was with her, his movements jerky as he filled her with his seed and that was when the reality hit.
They hadn’t used protection.
His eyes moved up to her face, and she saw the truth in his eyes. They’d been so caught up, neither one of them had thought about anything other than the need driving them. A need that was no less there, not now that she knew what it felt like to be fucked by this brutal, gentle, man.
“I’m so sorry.”
The guilt on his face almost broke her heart. She didn’t know Gunner well, but she felt like she did. His history with his sister was only a part of why he looked so lonely and lost, there was more too it. She just hoped she got the chance to find out the rest.
As he pulled out of her, she felt an empty sense of loss in her belly as his walls came back down. Silently he walked to the bathroom and got a cloth to clean them both up, not letting her help when she reached for the cloth but tending to her himself. How could this man not see himself for what he was—a protector.
Lacey was surprised when he got in beside her and pulled her into his arms, expecting him to run from the intimacy.
“I’m clean.”
“Me too.” She hesitated over her next words, not quite sure how to tell him that tonight could have far-reaching consequences that neither one of them had been expecting.
“I’m not on the pill.” Lacey could hear every single sound in the room as the silence became deafening, yet he didn’t flinch or scream and shout at her, Gunner just held her.
“Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. I won’t let you down, Lacey.”
“Thank you.”
The words felt insignificant to her own ears, but they were all she had. It had been so long since she’d faced anything with someone having her back that she didn’t know how to express it. Not because she didn’t have people who loved her, but because keeping her anxiety quiet had become the norm to her.
“Don’t thank me, Cosmo, this should never have happened in this first place.”
Lacey tensed, angry that he would say something like that about an experience she knew she would treasure for the rest of her life whatever the outcome.
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Yet even as she spoke, she snuggled closer to him, and he held her tighter.
When Lacey woke the next morning, she knew he was gone, the cold sheets beside her evidence of that and the tears pricked for just a moment until she saw the note by the bed and realised he’d been true to his word.
Chapter 5
He’d always known he was a bastard but sleeping with Lacey without using protection was a new low, even for him. Gunner had left her in bed, knowing that if he stayed, he’d make love to her again. The attraction between them was too strong, and after his confession about his sister, he’d been too raw to resist what she was offering.
Even now as he watched her from afar, he didn’t know why he’d told her about Milla when he’d never told another living soul about her. Ever since yesterday morning when he’d walked away, leaving her with just a note to say he’d be in touch, he’d been watching.
Part of it was he needed to know she was safe; the other part was because he just couldn’t seem to help himself. He was up to his neck in danger, with threats around every corner and coming from multiple directions, and yet, all he’d done all day was observe her every move to make sure she was safe.
Now he watched her go through the gate to board the flight to the UK where Nate would make sure she was safe. He felt the knot in his belly ease that she was away from the menace of his life even as his chest ached with the thought of her so far away from him.
Shaking his head, he spun on his heel and jogged to his own gate to catch the short flight to Nuremberg. He had a job to do, and if he had any hope of surviving it, he had to get his head in the game. He would be meeting Deputy Director Osbourne to provide security for a meeting with his partner, whose identity he was still unsure of. This partner was facilitating an introduction to a contact called Samir al-Sadir.
Sadir had just turned twenty-one and was a sick son of bitch who was taking over the reins from his dead father, Miqdaad al-Sadir. Sadir was a drug lord, embedded in the foothills of Parwan Province in Afghanistan.
Eidolon had taken out Miqdaad and his network on one of their very first missions, and until recently he hadn’t known why, happy to know that there was one less asshole out there selling drugs and weapons.
Now he knew the real reason Miqdaad had to die, and it had been one of the reasons he’d chosen to betray Eidolon. Every second of that betrayal tasted like bile in his mouth as he thought of the things he’d done, not only to protect Milla but also to protect the man who’d been like a brother to him from a truth that would break him.
Eidolon and the men who’d become family to him were so much more than a Ghost Ops team. They protected the very fabric of the British Monarchy, handling missions straight from the hand of the Queen. A woman who was fair and kind and loved her people and her country unreservedly. Gunner had come to love his home country more than the wild beauty of his birth one—the memories of that hostile allure too painful for him.
Slipping headphones on his head, he settled back in his seat for the four-hour flight and closed his eyes. But he didn’t sleep, his mind playing over every moment he’d spent with Lacey both now and at Nate and Skye’s wedding. She’d changed since her attack, grown stronger but also more reserved. Yet with him, she’d been the woman he’d first met, comfortable to smile, confident and sure. Yet, as he pictured her even then, he knew she’d been hiding pain.
If he could go back and hurt Carmine Russo for what he’d done to Lacey, he would in a heartbeat. He didn’t give a shit about turning the other cheek or being the better man; he’d pummel the snot out of him.
As he disembarked, he grabbed the hand luggage from the overhead locker. Gunner kept his eyes peeled for Bás who should be there already and picking him up. Making his way outside, he felt the man who was even now a mystery to him, step up beside him, appearing from nowhere.
“Heard you had a spot of bother at the hotel in Düsseldorf.”
Gunner climbed in the back seat of the car and glanced at Bás who settled beside him. The guy in the front was one of the usual drivers who was more brawn than brain, but Gunner kept his answer vague anyway.
“Not really, just a damsel in distress.”
“You sure about that?”
Gunner knew what he was asking. If Gunner lost focus on this mission because of a woman, a body bag would be the only way he went home, and that was if there was enough of a body to bury. The thought hadn’t bothered him before, but now with the chance, however slight, that Lacey could be carrying his child, he had the desire to live more than ever before. He wouldn’t divulge that to the man beside him though, that was his to know, and his trust in the man only went so far. He knew more than anyone you couldn’t trust anyone.
“What is the plan for the meet?”
Bás cocked his head but let whatever was on his mind go and focused on the task at hand. Gunner had no clue what his end game was, but currently, it aligned with his own, and that was all he cared about.
“Osbourne is at the hotel. You’ll pick him up at two am and escort him to this address.” Bás handed him a slip of paper with an address on it. “I’ll be in place with the other parties.”
“We expecting any trouble?”
“W
e always expect trouble but no more than usual if that’s what you’re asking me.”
The car drew to a stop, and he and Bás stepped out and headed inside and straight for the elevator. Osbourne wanted to see him before the exchange, probably to issue a few more threats. Gunner had taken their beating to prove himself, but that didn’t mean Osbourne trusted him.
He felt his lip curl in disgust. The man was only out for himself, putting his own men inside the Palace as personal protection was perfectly legal but knowing what he did, Gunner had serious concerns about the safety of the Royal Family but who could he tell? Jack and Eidolon knew the score already, and without any proof, they couldn’t move in and take over without bringing the Palace in on this. With unknowns still at play, Jack would never show his hand.
He got off the elevator on the sixth-floor of the Imperial hotel and saw two men, obviously armed, standing outside the door to the only suite on this floor. They were wearing black suit jackets that only just hid the weapons they were carrying. As he approached the larger man, who he knew mostly spoke Latvian, stepped forward with a wand to make sure Gunner wasn’t recording. Next, he held out his hand and Gunner placed his weapon in the man’s hand.
It was laughable to him that these men believed he needed a weapon to harm Osbourne. If he wanted the man dead, he only needed his hands to accomplish that. Lucky for him, Gunner needed him alive for now.
Now satisfied that he was ‘safe’, Gunner stepped through the open door and saw Osbourne sitting in an armchair, leg crossed as he read some documents. He glanced up as Gunner entered and slowly moved to stand, placing the papers on the small coffee table beside him.
Osbourne was ex-military and still had the rigid bearing of a soldier. His shoulders straight, head high, eyes missing nothing. It’s what made him good at seeing threats and had allowed him to climb the ranks to where he was now. He was tall, over six feet with grey hair cut short and a bulky build that had most likely been muscle once upon a time. Now it was mainly blubber from too much beer and fine dining and not enough time in the gym.
“Mr Ramberg, thank you for coming. I trust you have fully recovered from your mishap a few weeks ago?”
Gunner tried not to snort with laughter. His mishap had been a beating that left him barely able to stand and with two broken ribs. All of it so Osbourne could ensure his loyalty to him and the cause.
“Fully recovered, sir.”
Osbourne nodded and began to pace for a moment. “Good, we have a lot to get done tonight, and I need to ensure you’re fighting fit.”
Gunner knew how to play the passive soldier, but his understanding had been that he was merely there as protection for Osbourne.
“I thought I was your protection tonight, sir?”
“Yes, you are, but as soon as this meeting is over, I have a job for you.”
Osbourne was watching him now, studying his reaction to whatever he said next. It was another test he had to pass. Now that they no longer had Milla to hold over him they were continually testing his loyalty. That they believed Eidolon had killed her and Gunner was out for revenge was a tentative play. Not because Gunner wouldn’t want revenge but because everyone who knew anything about Eidolon struggled to believe they would kill an innocent.
The autopsy photos and death certificate that Will had managed to leak online had helped, but there was still that shred of doubt no matter how small, that meant he was constantly being tested.
“What is the job?” He stood with his hands at his sides in a relaxed posture, but everything in him wanted to kill Osbourne for the way he’d blown up Gunner’s life.
He stepped forward and handed Gunner a flash drive. He took it, turning it over in his hands before his eyes moved back to the Deputy Commissioner in question.
“I need you to get me the plans for the Royal Tour next year with all of the security details.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“I guess you need to convince Jack that you’re sorry.”
“And if I can’t?”
Osbourne shrugged. “Then the pretty thing you spent the other night with is going to get hurt.”
Gunner made to move, his instincts to defend Lacey and pound this fucker to the ground, warring with his rational mind. He stopped the motion before Osbourne noticed and took the second while he sat back in his chair like some fucking lord of the manor to compose his features.
“There is no need to involve her. I have more than enough reason to hate Eidolon after what they did to Milla.”
“Exactly. Now, I have calls to make so I will see you later.”
Gunner was dismissed and not a moment too soon because he was fighting every impulse in his body to shoot Osbourne and be done with this shit. Only his desire to make right the wrongs he’d done helped him to bring his temper under control.
After collecting his gun from the guards at the door, he went back to the room he was sharing with Bás to wait for tonight. If the Irishman noticed his silence, he didn’t say, and Gunner wasn’t about to offer anything up voluntarily.
Around one-fifty-five they escorted Osbourne to his car with Bás riding in the front and Gunner beside the man in the bulletproof limo. His training had kicked in, and he was focused on tonight, having decided the only way to get past this next plan Osbourne had for him was to be straight with Jack and Alex, and pray they helped him for Lacey’s sake if not for his.
The location of the meeting was more of a barn than a warehouse. The surrounding farmland giving it a desolate feel, especially at night with the damage from the recent storm evident for everyone to see. It was the perfect place to meet. Out of the way, remote, with excellent access and sightlines. Whoever had picked this place was a strategist with military training he was sure.
“Who picked this location?”
Osbourne cocked his head as he glanced out of the window at the dark shadows of the landscape. “My partner did. Why?”
“It’s the perfect place for them to have an advantage.”
“You best be on your game then, hadn’t you?”
Gunner grunted something unintelligible and exited the car. He could feel eyes on him the second he did, the tingling in his neck a warning that he had multiple people watching him, most probably through the scope of a sniper rifle. Bás caught his eye, and he knew he felt it too. Gunner and Bás flanked Osbourne as he stepped from the car, and they ushered him quickly toward the barn where he could see soft light coming from under the door.
As they made it and the door opened, he let Bás move in first, with Gunner covering Osbourne’s back. The room was set up with portable floodlights similar to those used for a photo shoot with eight guards standing in a semi-circle behind a man-child of Arabic ethnicity who was obviously Samir al-Sadir. To his left in a bespoke three-piece suit, sat Fredrick Granger—Jack and Will’s scumbag of a father—and the truth Gunner had been trying to keep from them was finally glaring him in the face.
Chapter 6
Lacey stretched and rolled over in bed, taking in the sunlight coming in through her bedroom window. She could tell it was early, the August morning bright and full of hope, and she wanted desperately to share that hope. A new day full of promise and excitement, and it was all of those things but she couldn’t get rid of the melancholy at waking up alone in her hotel room three days ago had brought her.
She’d looked for Gunner but hadn’t been able to find him, his clothes and belongings already gone when she woke. The hotel wouldn’t tell her if he’d checked into another room so she’d had to reluctantly accept that he was gone and would call her—or not.
Nate had picked her up at the airport. He, Skye, and some of the other guys from Fortis and Eidolon had very kindly helped her move her stuff into her new home. She’d barely had a second alone since she’d arrived. Lacey swung her legs out of bed, and throwing on a cream silk dressing gown, she went downstairs to her beautiful new kitchen to make herself a coffee.
Flicking the switch, she mad
e herself some fruit and yoghurt, and taking her coffee went back upstairs to eat it on the balcony off her bedroom. Sitting on the rattan chair, she cupped the frothy latte and took her first sip of the sweet heaven that would bring the rest of her tired brain awake as she looked over at the view which had made her fall in love with this house.
The river Wye meandering in all its beauty was the most peaceful thing she could remember, and the body of water instantly made her think of Gunner and what he’d told her about his sister. It was hard not to let her heart break for the man who blamed himself for something which wasn’t his fault.
The love he had for his sister was so pure, and she hated that he couldn’t see himself how she saw him. Her body still ached in places from the things they’d done, and it made her want more. More of the bone tingling orgasms he could give her but not just that, although God knew the man was magnificent.
It was the way that despite his size and training, he never made her feel weak or scared or less. Not like Carmine had done—always telling her she was pathetic, throwing mock punches just to see her flinch and then laughing and putting his arms around her like it was all a big joke, but she knew it wasn’t. The occasional slaps when they had a falling out had turned to hits and hair-pulling. Never enough to mark her body, because that was his cash cow—her modelling career his ticket to the lavish lifestyle and the prestige he thought he deserved.
As the youngest in the Russo crime family, Carmine had been treated as the family idiot by his father and older brothers. He’d allowed their treatment of him to make him into a bully. It had taken her a while to see it, but by then she’d felt trapped, weak like it was her fault he behaved the way he had.
She could ignore the affairs he had, the call girls and the waitresses. If it meant he left her alone she was glad for it, but when he began to pursue the models she worked with, she knew it was time to get out while she still had the tiniest bit of strength. It had been what happened with Skye and Noah that had been the final straw. Carmine had hidden her passport to stop her flying home to support her friend when she needed her, and that was when she’d left him.