Craving Justice (Sons of Sydney Book 1)

by Fiona Archer

  Heat flooded her face. Seth chuckled and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

  Maybe it was the cheekiness of the female customer that spurred her on, but as he began to turn away, Harper gripped his belt, holding him in place. “When you turn up Saturday, be prepared to get dirty.”

  Seth raised his brows in silent question, but she simply released her grip on the belt. “Until Saturday, handsome.”

  A slow smile spread over Seth’s face, and he headed out.

  Harper watched as the wide expanse of his back disappeared out the entry door before she turned and collected the dirty cups. She glanced toward the customer who’d called out earlier. Two middle-aged women, both dressed in smart office attire, smiled at her, one giving her the thumbs up sign, the other wearing a huge smile.

  Harper couldn’t help but smile back.

  After all, a gorgeous guy with a killer Aussie accent had just kissed her in a way that would leave any woman wanting more. And since they were having lunch Saturday, more wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Why wouldn’t she smile?

  Much later, after she and Jinx had dissected everything to do with Seth—such discussions were mandated in BFF law—Harper grasped just how much Seth had gotten under her skin in a way she liked, even craved.

  Craved.

  Lordy be, but there was no other word for her condition. She was totally craving Seth Justice.

  When she was with him, sharing a laugh, discussing interesting topics from books to current events and everything in between, and of course, those kisses, she experienced what felt like a shot to her bloodstream of Seth’s personal elixir, created solely for the purpose of leaving her wanting more.

  Heaven help her if she ever needed an antidote.

  ****

  That Saturday afternoon, Seth emptied another bag of soil mix into the six by four foot hardwood framed garden bed. “When you said we’d be getting dirty, this wasn’t what I imagined, you little minx.”

  Not that he minded. There was a certain satisfaction in tired muscles earned from building something tangible in comparison to lifting weights in a gym.

  “No?” Harper looked up from under the brim of her straw sunhat. “Did I forget to say we’d be starting my veggie garden on the roof terrace? I can’t imagine how else you’d think we’d be getting dirty.”

  Oh, yeah. Definitely getting a spanking.

  He dropped the empty bag of soil mix beside the large, elevated bank of foliage plants and shade trees. Harper’s little green oasis stood out against the backdrop of gray buildings that hid the view of Puget Sound. Flowers in white, red, and orange dotted among the greenery. What were those big leaf plants? She’d told him earlier…hostas? Their foliage in various shades, from grays to variegated greens added more color.

  Seth dumped the last bag of soil into the piled bed, leaving the rich, loamy mixture ready for raking. “Next time, I’ll know to assume nothing.”

  “Hmmm.” Harper nodded and pressed her lips together as if pondering the meaning of life. “Always a good practice.”

  He waited until she bent over to retrieve a seedling tray of zucchini. “That, and I’ll change the rules to suit myself.” Without warning, he swatted the left cheek of her denim-covered arse.

  “Hey!” Harper twirled around, her adorable lipstick-free mouth wide open. One gloved hand squeezed the seedling tray at the sides so it resembled a bow tie, while the other clutched her backside.

  Perfect.

  “You can’t do that kind of stuff out here.” She speared him with a fiery gaze, the picture of an infuriated garden nymph with her pink T-shirt and orange canvas sneakers marked with splotches of dirt. Wisps of hair fell about her face, defying the constraints of her now lopsided bun. Bloody adorable. He didn’t know whether to kiss her nose or tease her further.

  Ah, bugger it. He’d always been a fan of spice in his diet.

  “Sweetness, the dirt covered imprint of my hand proves otherwise.”

  She twisted this way and that, brushing her bottom with the same desperation she’d probably wave away a wasp. Seth laughed so hard he didn’t hear the approach of the men behind them.

  “Is this your version of interpretive dance?”

  Seth turned at the sound of a male voice. A tall guy, the one with the blue stripe in his hair, Seth recognized from the café on Thursday, stood near the door to the stairs.

  “No, I’m just…” Harper tossed an annoyed glance at Seth and sighed. “Never mind.”

  Another male, same age as the first, with brown hair, about six foot, held a garden spade in his hand.

  More workers? It seemed he and Harper had company. So, the little coffee girl wanted a buffer for their date? Considering the high-impact nature of their time together so far, he couldn’t blame her. His job now was to make her feel safe enough to desire being alone with him.

  “Great timing, guys. We need to get these veggie beds finished.” She grabbed a bundle of bamboo stakes and stacked them against one of the beds. “Let me make the introductions. Seth Justice, meet Nitro Jackson”—she waved first to the taller guy and then his friend—“and Ryan Davis. They rent the apartment above mine.”

  Seth tugged off his gloves and shook hands with both guys, all the while wondering how a bloke working in a café could afford to rent an apartment in a prime area near Pike Place Market. “Good to meet you.” He kept his expression blank under Nitro’s assessing stare.

  Ryan moved to stand next to the teak outdoor table and chairs that were shaded by a huge blue canvas umbrella. “I finally get to meet the Aussie Nitro talked about.” His smile was relaxed along with his open manner. “Sounds like you had a bitch of a day on Thursday.”

  “Ryan,” Harper warned softly.

  “He’s fine, luv.” That explained Nitro’s study. It wasn’t one of curiosity, more challenging. “That’d be an accurate description of events, Ryan, but I’d add it was made worse with Harper being dragged in to the mess.” Seth pinned his gaze on Nitro. “I’m guessing that pissed you off.”

  “It did.” The barista rested the end of his shovel near his work boot as he stared at Seth.

  “Good. I’m glad she has people around her who care. As do I.” Seth wrapped an arm around Harper’s shoulders and pulled her close, feeling her stiffen in surprise and, after a few seconds, relax enough that her body brushed against his. All of which Seth could tell from Nitro’s eye movements didn’t escape the man’s attention. “What you need to know is I’m going to catch the fucker responsible and make him regret the moment he drew his first breath.”

  He felt Harper’s gaze on him. And no wonder. His tone of voice was uncompromising. It was time those around her understood that when Seth said Harper was under his protection it wasn’t because he wanted to get laid.

  Nitro’s gaze glinted with the keen insight of a hunter. “If we can help, let us know.”

  “Damn straight,” Ryan added.

  “Appreciated.” Seth nodded. “If you’d keep an eye out for anyone lurking around, especially at odd times, that’d be great. But don’t be a hero. I’ll give you mine and my brother’s numbers. He’s a cop.”

  “Yeah, we, uh, read that somewhere.” Ryan looked a little sheepish at his own joke.

  Seth chuckled. “Okay, I asked for that one. But joking aside, while it’s unlikely whoever took the photo of the café Wednesday night will turn up again, if he does, I don’t want you approaching him.”

  Harper turned slightly under Seth’s arm to face him. “Did Heath manage to get a look at the CCTV?”

  Seth sighed. “Yeah, but the guy was wearing a hoodie and baseball cap. Dressed all in black and hunching his shoulders, likely trying to disguise his height.” Christ, he hated seeing the bright happiness wash out of her face, replaced by a frown. He squeezed her shoulder. “You’re in a secure building, and you have neighbors who are aware of what’s happening.”

  He didn’t share that Heath and Adam were planning additional safeguards, like in
stalling micro cameras, especially in the foyer and hallway areas. With Adam’s skills, he could crack her door’s security code, so Harper would be none the wiser. And if the hacker could retrieve sensitive data like Adam’s black ops history, he could gain access to her building with ease.

  But his brother’s plans were information to be shared later; like say after Adam had the deed completed.

  “Come on, woman, you said you needed these veggies planted, but all you’ve done so far is gasbag while I’ve done all the hard yakka.” At everyone’s blank stare, Seth explained. “Yakka’s Aussie for work.”

  Harper snorted. “Oh, please. That’s why you’re here. That and because I’m considering learning a new language, and thought I’d try Australian.” At his mock scowl, she laughed, the light joyful sound matched by the smile reflected in her eyes. “Guys, I told him he needed to bring a list of everyday word translations, but he welched.”

  Nitro chuckled as he grabbed the rake and started evening out the soil in one of the two beds. “We’ll be like explorers discovering a new land. When we don’t understand something, we’ll start pointing to everyday things to see if he nods.”

  “Bloody yanks,” Seth grumbled.

  “Aren’t you one, too?” Harper asked as she studied a tray of seedlings. “You were adopted by an American and moved here.”

  Seth followed after Nitro and used one of the sticks of bamboo to make a line in the soil for the zucchinis. “I got dual citizenship. We all did.” As much as he had wanted to start a new life, keeping his roots had been important. His history reminded him of where he started and how much he wanted to achieve.

  Ryan followed Harper’s lead by planting some of the tiny green shoots. “How old were you when you moved here?”

  “Sixteen.” Adam had been close to eighteen. Zach was a couple of months younger, and Heath had just turned seventeen. “By the time we got to know Aurora and Dillon and for all the paperwork to be settled, it was close to a year before our adoption was finalized.” It would have been longer without the strings that were pulled courtesy of the political influence wielded by Aurora’s family.

  Nitro finished raking the second bed. “What was it like, coming to a new country as a teenager?”

  Strange. Terrifying. “Like arriving on a new planet where everyone spoke a version of English, but everything else was foreign. Nobody played the sports we knew, people spoke with different accents, even drove on the other side of the road. Light switches that flipped up meant ‘on’ when back in Oz that was ‘off’.” He shrugged. “It was the little things I noticed the most.”

  And the only ones who understood were Adam, Zach and Heath. Dillon had tried to put himself in their shoes, but he was an American who had grown up with a loving mum. There was no comparison. And then there was his power struggle with Adam.

  “Ryan and I checked you out online,” Nitro said as he grabbed some bamboo stakes and assembled them into tripods on top of the soil. “Cool story how you all got here, saving a life and getting a new chance.”

  “We were fortunate.” Seth picked up the tray of bean seedlings, his finger tracing the vine-like shoots. So fragile, yet they’d grow strong in the soil. Amazing what care and the right environment yielded. “Aurora was an amazing lady. The best mum I could have had.”

  And he’d told her as much—once he’d gathered up the courage. A life filled with rejection meant that kind of declaration was like skydiving without a parachute, especially for a teenager. His first jump was the day before they were due to fly to America. He’d been sitting on his hotel bed. Everything he owned had fit in a small suitcase Aurora had bought for him, including new clothes. She’d sat beside him, showing him some recent photos of his soon-to-be home in Seattle. He’d kept his gaze glued to the pictures.

  “When we get there, can I call you Mum?” His voice had sounded strangled, as if fighting against his body to be heard. He couldn’t risk a glance at Aurora. If she said no…

  A gentle hand turned his face toward hers. The love shining in her soft blue eyes robbed him of breath. “I’d be honored, Seth.”

  When Aurora Justice had adopted four rough and tough Aussie street kids, she had not only saved their lives, but had given them a precious gift for teenagers living by their wits—hope.

  Seth pushed away the invading sadness at the reminder of his loss. That wasn’t for today. Aurora had demanded her sons rejoice in life and grab each opportunity as it presented itself.

  To do so, he asked some questions of his own.

  “Nitro’s an interesting name. There a story how that came about?” Seth turned to Harper, surprised at her giggle.

  Nitro pointedly ignored Harper as he answered. “A science experiment gone awry in my dad’s garage when I was fifteen.”

  “He burned it down.” Ryan said, unfazed by his friend’s answering glare.

  “Technically, the structure was salvageable.” Nitro lifted a shaggy leafed herb from its pot and shook the roots free of dirt. Unfortunately, that just happened to be over Ryan’s head.

  “Idiot.” Ryan brushed soil out of his hair.

  “Nitro, the back half of the garage was missing. You landed in the swimming pool.” Harper’s gaze twinkled. “He and I grew up next door to each other, Seth. Two squares in the round hole of the country club set. Both sets of parents probably thought we were switched at birth with their real offspring.”

  Nitro came from money. That could explain how he could afford to pay the rent on a barista’s wage. Trust fund, maybe?

  “I was in the same class at school as Nitro.” Ryan placed potted herbs around the edges of the bean filled bed. “But unlike these two, I hit the lottery with my parents. My dad designed album covers in the seventies and eighties, what he calls the golden era before technology killed vinyl, and my mom is a former model who partied with Rod Stewart. Considering I’m twenty-six and doing my residency in Neurosurgery at Harborview Medical Center, I’m the responsible one in the family.”

  Seth glanced at Harper. “You have interesting friends, coffee girl.”

  The garden nymph heaved a sigh. “Honestly, I’ve tried for years, but there’s no shaking them.

  Nitro rolled his eyes. “Please, having us around makes her day. We’re part of her pack of strays. We should have T-shirts made, except Magda would refuse to wear one, and nobody’s brave enough to argue with her.”

  “Magda?” Seth looked around the group.

  “My chef,” Harper sent Nitro a warning look. “And she’s lovely, if a little temperamental.”

  “A temperamental chef? Who’d have thought?” Seth raised his brows.

  Harper laughed. “Magda and Carol are legends getting the orders out with the help of my crazy team. But I like to putter and taste test and generally get in the way.” She shook her head, sending her lopsided bun into a perilous nose-dive on the side of her head. “Magda would skin me like a fresh caught rabbit if I ruined her operations.”

  He couldn’t hide his smile at her serious tone. “Sounds like Magda’s a force to be reckoned with.”

  Nitro snorted. “Ex-Soviet Red army. Probably a bodyguard to some aging Communist leader. Stands six feet tall and I swear she could break your neck with her thighs. And after last Thursday she’s eager to meet you.”

  “Nitro...” Harper’s gaze focused like a fiery beam of displeasure on her friend.

  The younger man shrugged. “Well, it’s true.”

  “I’ll keep Harper in front of me as a shield at all times.” He laughed as he caught her attempted punch in his arm, and kissed her knuckles. There was something about her hand, the softness, the way it fit so easily into his, that he liked and made him keep hold of it even when she tried to tug free.

  Ryan straightened from the garden bed. “Good idea. Magda’s got a soft spot for her boss.”

  He’d know all he needed to about Magda once he read all of Adam’s reports.

  During the meal at Dillon’s Thursday night, the brothers had w
orked out a preliminary plan of action. That included deep background checks of Seth’s employees and some associates, Harper, her employees and Fox.

  Seth didn’t hold an ounce of guilt about checking out other people’s private lives. Not with his family under threat.

  According to Heath, so far, they’d found no red flags, or else Adam would have taken action. But apparently, Stanton Fox had gone to great lengths to keep many of his business dealings and friendships private. That had hooked Adam’s interest, which meant his brother would keep digging.

  Nitro may have done his Google search of Seth, but that would be amateur hour compared to Adam’s meticulous findings.

  “Hey, Seth, help me shift this will you?” Nitro stood next to a large terracotta pot holding a miniature lemon tree.

  “Sure.” Seth walked over, catching the seriousness of the man’s gaze. He stayed quiet, waiting for Nitro to share.

  “I could handle this with a trolley, but I wanted to talk, and I don’t know when my next chance will come.” Nitro bent and grabbed the rim of the pot, his voice low so only Seth could hear.

  Seth nodded and they maneuvered the heavy pot a few feet closer to the roof’s three-foot high brick wall. “What’s on your mind?” He glanced to his right. Harper and Ryan were caught up in resetting the pots of herbs before planting them in the soil.

  “Harper’s dad is a bastard. You know that.” Nitro gave a chin lift when Seth didn’t speak a denial. “He puts himself first. Always. Won’t give a damn Harper was fucked over with that Facebook shit. All he cares about is that it’s another embarrassment, one he holds against Harper as much as you.”

  “Worked that out already, mate.” Seth grabbed a watering can and drenched the soil, keeping busy if Harper looked their way.

  Nitro rearranged a couple of smaller posts of succulents in front of the tree. “Then whatever your plans to catch the fucker responsible, remember Stanton Fox is an interested party because of the post against Brooke-Porter Digital. He’ll be watching. And Seth, I’ve seen him destroy men’s careers over shit that anyone else would shake off. The guy can take offense like a drunk takes a piss.”