by Maia Dylan
Her position on the stage gave her the perfect view, and she turned her head to look at Pettigrew. Her entire body filled with shock when she saw the look of maniacal glee on his face. He was staring at Angie, and Bella knew in that moment that he had set them up. Either just Angie or both of them. Bella wasn’t too sure, and in that moment, she didn’t really give a fuck. Angie was walking into a trap.
There was no place in her stage outfit where she could hide a gun, and that was something she had been painfully aware of from day one of this undercover op. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t help her friend. She just had to be a little more inventive. Running to the back of the stage, Bella ran for the pole she had just finished with, pushing off from the stage as hard as she could. Because they weren’t expecting it, no one pressed the button that would pull her and the pole a little higher and that worked in her favor.
When the pole swept out over the crowd, and over all those sitting between the stage and the VIP booth that were mainly her targets' bodyguards, they dropped to the ground giving her a free shot. She watched as her target began to lift his arm, weapon pointing at her friend, and she let go of the pole and threw herself at him. As she dropped, she thought she might have heard someone shout her name, but she ignored it. Adrenaline flooded her system, and she didn’t even feel the impact, but from the grunt of surprise and pain from the man beneath her, she knew her target had.
As soon as she could, she scrambled to her feet. The other ATF agents, who had seemingly not been aware of the danger Angie was walking into, suddenly leaped into action. Bella stood and faced Denny, who was staring at her with raw hatred in his eyes.
“You fucked everything up for me, you stupid bitch,” Denny yelled over the shouts in the bar. “This was going to be my last big score. Just one more, and I was fucking out of the game. Now, I’ll leave, but not as rich as I was supposed to be. But you'll still be one dead whore.”
Bella hadn’t engaged in the conversation. Instead she'd fallen back on her training and waited. Denny was much bigger than she was, and she’d seen him lay large men out with a single punch before. If he landed one on her, it would be all over. She had to fight smarter. She watched, moving with the man to keep him in her sights, and when he telegraphed his move, lifting his arm and drawing it back, she moved.
Most people's instinct would have been to duck or back away, but her training held and she stood strong. Bella stepped into him, confusing him, and he hesitated just a moment too long. Bella struck quickly, driving her fists in a quick four-count combination into his solar plexus as hard as she could, taking all the air from his lungs. Then, when he leaned forward, desperately trying to draw air, she jumped up to uppercut him under his jaw with her elbow.
She stepped back as he stumbled away from her, to give her room, then she jumped and spun, catching him on the side of the head with her heel. She landed and immediately dropped into a fighting stance, but she needn’t have worried. Denny dropped to the ground like a stone.
She turned to the crowd behind her, and was glad to see that Angie had the Asian man who had drawn on her handcuffed, with her arm locked beneath his, lifting them to the point of pain.
“Damn, Bella,” Angie said with a grin. “You sure know how to make an entrance, girl!”
Bella grinned and bowed at her. “Why, thank you, ma’am.”
“Bella,” one of the men from her division, Special Agent Harrison, came up slowly, a pair of handcuffs in his hand, his gun drawn on her, but from the red strip of tape around the handle, she knew it was filled with blanks. “We need you to keep your cover intact.”
“What! Why?” Bella hissed, her cheerful expression from moments before melting into anger. “It’s over. We have Denny, we have the Trinity—what more do we need to do here?”
Harrison shrugged. “Hey, mine is not to question why, mine is just to arrest your ass, get you out of here and back to the division for debriefing. Apparently, there was more to tonight than just the weapons.” Harrison nodded his head to the right, and Bella looked in that direction. Pettigrew was being handcuffed, too, and he did not look happy about it at all.
Bella puffed out a gust of air. “Fine! But you had better not make them tight, and if anyone takes a photo of me in this getup and puts it up in the staff room, I will cut you!”
Bella turned around and placed her hands behind her. Just as the handcuffs clicked into place, she heard someone calling out her name, and the voice filled her with equal parts joy and dread.
“Bella!” Hayden was struggling against two of the club’s bouncers, and Zac was currently tangling with one of the ATF team. Both of them looked disheveled, and Hayden had blood on his chin from a split lip. “Don’t say a damn thing! We’ll get our lawyer to meet us at the station. We’ll get you out!”
Bella opened her mouth to shout something back, but nothing came to mind. She couldn't think of a single thing. Her mouth was still open, and no doubt flapping in the wind, when she was led out the back of the club and into one of the ATF trucks in the alley behind the club.
****
“Where the fuck is she?” Hayden growled as he paced back and forth in front of her couch. It had been almost ten hours since they saw her being arrested and carted off like a goddamn criminal, and when they had turned up at the station with their lawyer, all they got was the goddamn runaround.
“Hayden,” Zac snapped from his position in the chair across the room from him, “would you sit the fuck down? Bella will not be happy if you wear a hole in her goddamn carpet. They said they released her without charges. She’ll be here soon.”
Hayden ran a hand through his hair in frustration. They'd started out with the best of intentions last night. They were going to wait for her to finish up for the night, then, rather than have her take a taxi back to their place, they had a limousine waiting outside the club. It was their anniversary, after all. They had only just stepped into the club when they heard someone shout out. When they ran into the dance area, they were just in time to watch the woman they loved launch herself off the fucking stage and dive bomb some Asian guy in the VIP area.
Zac and he had shouted her name, then rushed forward only to meet a wave of men intent on holding them back. Hayden lost count of the number of punches he’d thrown in those minutes, but he had kept an eye on their woman, and what he’d seen her do had been as unexpected as it was impressive.
“Did you see her turn into a pint-sized Bruce Lee?” Zac asked, unerringly matching Hayden’s own thoughts.
“Yeah, she dealt with that huge fucker, Denny, like a pro.”
Zac sighed, and he gave a goofy smile. “Yeah, she did. Hottest damn thing I have ever seen.”
Hayden was about to agree when he heard a key turning in the lock of the door. He held his breath as the door opened and Bella walked in. She was wearing a tracksuit that looked too big for her with ATF emblazoned across the front, and she seemed tired and lost. She didn’t seem to see him or Zac until she’d pushed the door closed. When her gaze lifted, she inhaled sharply.
“Hey,” she said breathlessly.
“Is that all you have to say? Hey?” Hayden shook his head, and watched as her expression turned wary.
When she started to fidget and bite her bottom lip, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He strode forward and pulled her into his arms, slamming his mouth down on hers in a kiss filled with all the emotions that had been roiling within him. Worry, anxiety, concern, and no small amount of relief that she was in his arms. When he’d released some of the tension, he stepped back, knowing his brother was just as anxious to hold her. He watched as his brother kissed their woman, sweeping her into his arms. Hayden followed them as Zac carried her to the couch and sat with her in his lap.
“Thank God, you’re okay,” Zac murmured once he broke their kiss.
Bella sighed as she snuggled into him and lifted her legs up onto Hayden’s lap. “I am. I’m okay. I went to find you at your place, but came back here when you weren�
��t home.”
Hayden groaned. “Baby, it fills me with joy to know that you came looking for us, but right now you need to tell us what the fuck went on at the club tonight, because it is driving us crazy.”
Bella nibbled on her lip more, and then pushed to stand up in front of them. Hayden shared a glance with his brother, and he had the feeling neither of them was going to like what she had to say.
“I need to tell you both something.” Bella spoke as she began to pace back and forth in front of them. “I’m not entirely too sure where to start. I mean, I've spoken to my superiors, and they have given me permission to tell you both not only what happened tonight, but also what I do for a living. We are allowed to tell our significant others our profession. I know that we aren’t married or living together or whatever it is that three people in a relationship such as ours do. Either way, you should both know that I do love you, and I figured you should know. I mean, this isn’t exactly the Secret Service, you know.”
Hayden jolted at that. He never thought the moment that the woman he loved told him she loved him would be in the same damn sentence where she used the words “Secret Service”.
“And they did promote me tonight, so that will definitely limit my undercover work in the future. But I'll still keep up the dancing, just not at a club or in public. I like the workout, and I do like the way you two watch me when I am working on that pole. Perhaps we can get one added in here, or maybe even at your place.” Bella stopped talking, and looked over at them in horror. “Not that I am assuming you'd want me living with you, of course. I mean, I do want that, but I'm happy to wait until you forgive me for lying to you both. Although, it was more an omission, than a lie, and I was bound to the oath of my division, and my office, and—“
Zac let out a shrill whistle, and Bella ground to a halt. “Bella, my love, although your ramblings are adorable, I am confused as fuck, and just need you to break it down a little for me.”
“Baby, just give us the headlines, not the whole story,” Hayden said dryly.
A delightful blush swept up her cheeks. “Sorry, I’m nervous. Okay, I’ll keep it brief. I'm a Special Agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.” Hayden sat back against the couch as his jaw dropped. “I've been working undercover at Essentials for the last six months. It was an operation to put a stop to some illegal arms trading that was taking place there, and Denny was one of the lynchpins in the syndicate. What came to light this evening was that one of our own was also involved, a man by the name of Pettigrew, who was supplying the weapons and was my superior. My partner, Angie, had reported him to the director for some incompetent decisions he had made lately, and they started looking into him and his partner. Pettigrew didn’t like that, and he set it up so that we would be killed in action when we put the final act of this operation into play tonight.”
Bella looked at him and Zac, waiting, and her expression was wary.
“Is your name actually Lucabella? Is this your place?”
Bella nodded quickly. “Yes! Everything I've told you about myself is true. My name is Lucabella Strand, and this is most definitely my place. I earn a decent wage with the Bureau, but there are quite a few of Mom’s medical bills still hanging over my head. Once they are cleared, then I might look for another place to live.”
Zac sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Is there anything else you need to tell us, love? Now seems like a good time to share it.”
Bella shook her head. “Not really. I think that’s about everything. Oh, I did get a promotion tonight, but according to Angie, it's one that is long overdue.”
Hayden laughed. “Then I guess we have another reason to celebrate.” Bella started to wring her hands in front of her, and her expression remained wary. “What’s bothering you, baby?”
Bella took a deep breath. “I’m worried about how you both feel about this. Even if you are okay with my reasons for not telling you what I truly did for a living, and you might think better of me because of the fact I was undercover at Essentials, I was an exotic dancer once upon a time. I earned enough to take care of my mom for as long as I could, but I got this assignment because of my past.”
Hayden knew her concerns were because of his accusations a month ago, and an ache settled in his chest. Not for the first time, he wished he could go back in time and cut out his tongue for making her doubt herself.
“Bella—” His intention was to beg her forgiveness again when the door suddenly burst in, interrupting everything. He leaped up from the couch, Zac beside him, but before he could move, a large man who stood at least six foot, with a receding hairline and crazed eyes, had stepped up behind Bella and wrapped a meaty arm around her neck.
“Bella!” Zac shouted her name, and both of them went to move to her aid, but stopped immediately when the guy reached up and pressed a weapon to her head.
“Don’t you fuckin’ move a muscle,” the man snarled. “Both you assholes get your damn hands in the air, and stay the fuck where you are.”
Hayden raised his hands in the air at the same time Zac did. He looked into Bella’s eyes, wanting to tell her with one look not to be scared, that everything was going to be okay, but the fear he expected to see there was nonexistent. If anything, Bella looked pissed off.
“Dougal, what the hell are you doing here?” she growled, and Hayden knew immediately that this was Mrs. Crowther’s son, the former building manager of the Monticello. Their lawyer was still trying to unravel how this man and his mother had been able to get him and Zac to buy a building they had no knowledge of, and were in the process of laying charges against them both.
“You and these two fuckers cost me big.” Spittle flew from the man’s mouth. “I never got my payday, and by God, I am going to get it. I gotta pay those men back, and you sure as fuck can afford to help me, Ma’s turned her fucking back on me, talking with your lawyers and helping the damn police with all their investigations. She’s telling ‘em that it was all my fuckin’ idea, and throwin’ all the blame at me. Well, I ain't goin’ out like that! You two are worth a fuckin’ fortune, and I know you love this little whore.” Dougal lifted his arm, and Bella grabbed at him as he strangled her before easing up. Hayden wanted to rip the man’s throat out through his nose.
“If you want her kept alive, then you will give me money. Lots of it. Ma told me that you guys kept fifty grand in your safe at work. Little Bella and I’ll wait here for you to go get it.”
“You hurt her—” Hayden growled, his voice deadly, “and there will be nowhere you can hide.”
“And when we find you, Dougal, and make no mistake we will find you—” Zac added, “we won’t leave anything recognizable behind.”
Dougal dragged Bella away from the door, and nodded in the direction of the hall. “Just go get the fuckin’ money and be quick. And you better not bring any fuckin’ cops with you either. I see one cop, federal agent, or fuckin’ dude dressed in a superhero costume, and I’m gonna blow her fuckin’ head off!”
Hayden’s blood began to boil, and he dropped his gaze to Bella’s, but he relaxed a little when he saw that she was calm and she even winked in their direction.
Zac shrugged. “Why, didn’t you know, Dougal? There is already a federal agent in the room.”
Dougal looked around the room in confusion, and Hayden couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his face. He locked his gaze to Bella’s beautiful face. “A federal agent that me and my brother love more than anything in the world, and we want her to move in with us and be part of our future as soon as possible. All she needs to do is take care of this little situation.”
Bella grinned back at him. “Give me one minute.”
Before Dougal could work out what in the hell they were talking about, Bella drove her heel down onto the instep of Dougal’s right foot at the same time she slammed the closed fist of her left hand right into his groin. She wasn’t messing around, and Hayden’s own balls winced in sympathy at the move at
the same time his heart rejoiced.
Dougal groaned, and the weapon wavered from Bella’s temple. In a smooth, practiced move, Bella reached for the weapon and lifted it up and away just as Dougal got a round off. Hayden shouted out, but the round slammed harmlessly into the ceiling. Then their diminutive Bruce Lee jumped up and knocked the bastard out, with a well-placed closed fist punch to the side of his head.
She had him on his stomach and in a pair of plastic hand ties in moments. She stood up, kicking Dougal in the side as she did so, and cleared the weapon with confidence, before setting it on her coffee table.
“Surely, I am at my douche-bag limit for the day,” Bella mumbled, as she wiped her hands on her jeans. “I mean, really, two assholes with guns coming at me when I’m unarmed all in the space of twenty-four hours? I might have to take to wearing my service weapon at all times.”
Hayden heard police in the hallway, being directed by the ever-vigilant Mrs. Thomas.
“That’s it!” Hayden grumped, as he stepped forward and plucked Bella up and into his arms. “You are moving into our apartment tonight. We will get someone to collect the rest of your stuff tomorrow, but you will be coming with us tonight, and we will not be letting you out of our sight.” He plopped down on the couch just as the police stormed into the room with guns drawn.
“There’s the guy you want, officers,” Zac said, pointing at the now groaning Dougal.
“That’s him, the little shit.” Mrs. Thomas smacked Dougal with her umbrella a few times before the cop managed to get her off him. “Take the fucker to jail and throw away the key.”
“Damn good idea, Mrs. Thomas,” Hayden said with a grin. “There will be fresh tulips for you every week for as long as you want them.”
Mrs. Thomas whooped with joy and grinned at him, her eyes softening at the way Bella was curled up in his lap, with her arms around his neck. “You just take care of our girl.”