by Vella Day
“I guess you could call us that.”
“I’m still staying.” Or was she being too stubborn for her own good?
Trax shook his head. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
In one second, he pulled her to a stand and tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. He clasped the back of her legs and walked to the door, acting as if she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes.
She pounded on his back with her good hand. “Put me down, you brute.” This wasn’t happening.
“Dante, grab her purse and some toiletries, and I guess some undies. No telling how long she’ll be with us. We sure as hell don’t need her walking around naked.”
Like she ever would. Surely he was kidding. He exited the door, walked down the porch steps, and deposited her in the backseat of his black SUV. She fumed. This was the last straw to a totally shitty day.
As soon as he walked over to the driver’s side, she unlocked the door and raced out.
He was by her side in a flash. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, I don’t like being kidnapped.”
“I asked you nicely, ma’am.”
He picked her up around the waist with one arm and placed her on the backseat again. She was about to climb out again when he slapped a set of handcuffs on her wrists and attached the other half to the overhead handle.
Oh, shit.
Chapter Four
Dante tossed her suitcase and purse in the back of the SUV and climbed in next to her.
“Hey, sugar. Don’t worry. This is for the best.”
Even though Dante seemed to be the more reasonable one of the two, she wasn’t happy in the least. “Aren’t you worried I’ll turn you in to the authorities for kidnapping?”
He reached toward her face and she moved closer to the door. “Sugar, don’t be like that. We are the good guys.”
“Good guys don’t kidnap innocent women.”
He chuckled. “You are not innocent, sugar. You just tried to murder someone. Besides, I was lucky to find that peashooter of yours in your robe pocket. Now that it’s safe and sound in your top drawer, I can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Dante was being overly dramatic.
“I wouldn’t have shot you.” She was only pissed at Harvey Couch for ruining her life.
“In our line of business, we have to suspect everyone.”
That was probably true. She jiggled her wrist. Her hand tingled. Jerk had cuffed her right hand, the one with the cut. “Can you undo me now? My hand is throbbing.”
Dante reached across the front seat and held out his palm for the key. Trax slowed the car as he extracted the key from his hip pocket and handed it to his brother. As Dante leaned over her, she inhaled his spicy scent. Maybe it was the smell of fresh rain, but he did something to her insides. He uncuffed her, and the moment she lowered her arm, pinpricks shot up her arms.
He grinned and sat back on his side of the seat. “So tell us about yourself.”
Her mouth dropped. “This isn’t a date. I’m being held hostage. Maybe I should know who the hell you are.”
He laughed. “Bro, we are going to have so much fun training her.”
“Training me to do what? Don’t even think about making me in to some vigilante.”
That got a chuckle out of him. “I wasn’t talking about you joining forces, but if—”
Trax lifted a hand. “Just shut the fuck up, okay. I need to think.”
When Dante mouthed I need to think and scrunched up his lips, she almost laughed. Bad men didn’t have this sense of humor. Dante, she trusted. It was Trax who gave her pause.
Nothing she could do now, so she settled back against the seat. She couldn’t even decide whether they were rich or poor, but the car, the clothes, and the fact they owned a business implied they weren’t some dirt bags living hand to mouth. Because Dante was rather quick to retrieve her purse, she figured he didn’t live too far from town.
She looked out the window, needing to remember where they took her. Once they passed through downtown, Trax continued toward the commercial district. The area was mostly rundown, but it was dotted with a few nice places.
It wasn’t until he turned down a back alley that her nerves shot to high alert. “Where are we? What’s going on?” She scooted to the far end of the seat. If she thought she could actually get away, she might have tried to run.
“We live here.”
“Here?” It was a bunch of old three-story brick buildings. There wasn’t a residence in sight.
Trax parked. Dante pushed open his door and rushed to her side. Was he being a gentleman or did he think she’d run? Regardless, she appreciated the help because the minute she put weight on her knee it buckled, but she recovered quickly and held out her wrists.
The interior light illuminated Dante’s face enough to see him quirk a brow. “Sugar, we’re not going to cuff you. You couldn’t get away if you tried.”
The challenge pumped up her adrenaline. “Maybe while you’re getting my stuff out of the back, I’ll take off.” That was assuming her legs would hold up.
“I’d like to see you try. Trax would catch you in five seconds.”
That was probably true. “He some kind of runner?” Stupid comment but her brain wasn’t working.
Dante leaned close and winked. “He’s faster than a werewolf in heat.”
She swore Trax growled a response. “Let’s get the lady inside in case we have any prowlers.”
Their conversation creeped her out, but in truth, her life was in danger. Dante grabbed her gear and motioned for her to follow Trax. At least the rain had stopped, but the sky remained overcast.
Trax stepped up to a metal door and leaned forward. A green light glowed, and a whirring sound emitted for two seconds before the door clicked. Okay, that was cool. Maybe they did own a monitoring company.
Trax pulled it open. “Ma’am.”
Apparently, she wasn’t getting out of staying with them, though at the moment, she might have more peace of mind being here. Her biggest concern was keeping her thoughts off these two amazingly hot men and her unexplained attraction.
She stepped into a dark alcove. A second later, light flooded the hallway. A handrail traveled up twenty steps and led up to another door. Liz placed her right foot on the step. When she pushed up, her knee ached. She had to balance on the wooden handrail but couldn’t grasp it.
“Aw fuck.” Trax swooped her up in his arms and jogged up the stairs.
Her pulse shot skyward. Given the steep angle, her head rested against his rock solid chest. As amazing as it was to be in his strong, virile arms, his irritation pissed her off. “I can walk.”
He finally made eye contact, and she swore his lips turned up. “I know, but I want to get inside sometime tonight. I’m starving.”
So it was all about him. At the top of the steps, he leaned her against his flexing chest to get the key into the lock. Only then did her hip bump into something very large and very hard. No freaking way he had a hard-on.
When he pushed open the door, she expected him to unceremoniously dump her on her feet, but instead he crossed the room with her in his arms. While he hadn’t touched a switch, the lamped turned on automatically. Dante had mentioned something about having sensors everywhere and now she believed it.
Trax set her on the sofa. “Don’t move.”
She wasn’t sure where she would go even if she did. They were in a humongous loft apartment that was very upscale. Two of the walls were brick and shot up fifteen feet, giving the place an expansive feel. Ductwork and pipes crisscrossed the ceiling, which made her believe she was in a bigger city than Gulfside. Across from the living room sat a large, modern kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Her heart ached as she remembered how much her mom always wanted a kitchen this grand but had never been able to afford it.
Besides the large colorful paintings adorning the walls, what struck her was how neat the
loft was. Maybe it was that few personal affects appeared anywhere.
“Do you live here year around?” Maybe this was a kind of safe house.
Dante set down her suitcase. “I’ll answer that. Yes. And before you ask, Trax is OCD so don’t make a mess or he may have to spank your ass.”
“His hand ain’t going to touch my ass, ever.” Holy shit. Did that come out of my mouth?
That got another round of laughter out of Dante. “I told you, bro. She’s a live one.”
This whole time, Trax was removing what looked like packages of frozen vegetables from the freezer and not answering.
Dante shrugged. “When my brother gets focused on something, it’s best not to disturb him.”
Her stomach grumbled, and Dante slid down next to her. “What say we order a pizza?”
At that moment, she might have decided that Dante was her dream man. “You a pepperoni type or a veggie man?” Please say you like meat.
“I like my food tart and spicy. Just like my woman.” His eyes sparkled and for a brief moment, she thought he might even kiss her.
She licked her lips.
“Beer?” Trax asked, breaking the tentative connection between them.
Dante cleared his throat and jumped up. He turned toward her. “You?”
“I don’t think that’s wise with my head.”
“How about some aspirin?”
She looked at Trax. “Would that be okay?” She couldn’t remember what the doctor had said.
“Sure.” He poured green vegetables on his plate and shoved them in the oven. “Dante, why don’t you put our guest’s stuff in my room.” He moved his focus over to her. “I’ll sleep on the coach.”
Now they were being overly nice. “I can sleep on the sofa. You shouldn’t have to give up your room.”
Dante retrieved her stuff. “Don’t argue with him, sugar. Once Trax decides on something, there’s no changing his mind.”
He disappeared into what she assumed was Trax’s room. He turned back to preparing his meal.
“Why don’t you like me?” Yes, she’d felt his hard cock, but he rarely looked her in the eye and certainly didn’t try to make this ordeal easier for her. Had it not been for Dante, she’d be a complete mess now. Except for a dad who didn’t even bother to come to his ex-wife’s funeral, she had no family to speak of.
“Ma’am, it is my job to protect you, not entertain you.”
Wow. That was harsh. “Just asking.” Although he’d said the words with control, she suspected he might be hiding something.
Dante slipped down next to her and handed her two aspirin and a glass of water. She needed to pay more attention. She hadn’t even heard or seen him come out of the room. She swallowed the pills.
He pulled out his phone. “So the works is good for you?”
It took her a moment to realize he was asking about the pizza. “Can you add bread sticks?”
He smiled, something that seemed so easy for him. “I can order you anything you want.”
“How about Harvey Couch’s head on a platter.”
He grinned and looked up at his brother who was still hiding behind the center island. “Trax, I’m telling ya. She would make a great operative.”
The pizza place must have been on his speed dial because he only pressed one button. When he told them his name and said one order of the usual and hung up, she figured he lived on the stuff.
“She lacks a few of the necessary parts.” Trax briefly glanced at her.
Now he was being sexist. “So only men work in your groupie thing?”
His shoulders stiffened. “My groupie thing is a well-organized collection of highly specialized men.” He inhaled and his gaze shot down to the left as if he was debating adding something else. “You might as well get used to some of their names in case they stop by. We don’t want you frightened.”
“Well, thank you.” She really wasn’t planning on staying past tomorrow.
“General Armand leads our group. We call ourselves the Pack. His job is to ferret out the bad shifters to make sure they don’t draw attention to themselves.”
Dante leaned closer. “By the way, we call those people, Colters.”
She scrunched up her face. “Why Colters?”
“Legend has it a long time ago there was a man named Jack Colter who turned bad. He broke off from his pack and began to rob banks. Those who went to the dark side were called Colter’s men. From then on, we’ve called those bad shifters, Colters.”
“Interesting.” She returned to Trax’s comment about a general heading his group. She was impressed that a military man would run the organization. It didn’t surprise her that Trax would take part given he was a marine and all. “What would happen if these Colters got caught by the authorities doing something illegal, like drug smuggling?” She had no idea if the FBI knew about the existence of shifters and were just keeping the public in the dark.
The corner of his lip lifted. “It would be bad. Because it’s really hard to kill them or even drug them, as you found out, a lot of humans would get injured or killed if the two engaged in a shootout.”
“I don’t get it.”
He ran a hand over his short hair. “Unless a bullet hits a werewolf squarely in the heart, he can repair his body so fast, it won’t even slow him down. This makes werewolves highly dangerous to law enforcement, which is why we have to stop these bastards before the FBI or the local police find them. We have the poison bullets. The authorities do not because they don’t know werewolves exist.”
That did make sense. “You keep calling the Colters, bad shifters. That implies there are some good werewolves around.”
“There might be.”
That wasn’t an answer. Trax slipped out from behind the counter and headed toward his room. She figured he was going to collect some of his stuff for the night.
She faced Dante. “So who else is in this organization?” One name wasn’t enough for her inquisitive mind.
“I doubt you’ll run into many in the group, but there are four other men who do exactly what we do.” He leaned closer. “Or rather, what Trax does. I was telling the truth before. I mostly run the store, and our resident vigilante prowls the streets making sure it’s safe for people like you.” His voice was laced with pride.
“Who are these other men?”
“Drake Stanton and Kurt Wendlick are partners, along with Clay Demmers and Dirk Tilton.”
She’d never remember their names. “Are they ex-military, too?”
“For the most part.”
Trax came out of his room carrying some clothes, a pillow, and a blanket. “Dante, you’re a slob.”
“What else is new?”
“You just dumped her toothbrush on top of her clothes.”
Dante looked over at her. “I was in a hurry. Sorry.”
She placed her good hand on his leg and heat shot up her arm. Immediately, she withdrew her arm to her side. She didn’t need to be thinking with her pussy when she needed her brain right now. “It’s okay. I’m thankful you brought some clothes.”
A light above the entrance door flashed. Dante jumped up. “Pizza’s here.”
That was quick. From the noise, he took the stairs two at a time. She expected to hear the door open sooner than it did. He was probably checking to see if the pizza guy was legit. His feet pounded on the stairs again and he reclosed the upper door.
“Let’s eat!”
The spicy smell of tomato, cheese, and bread made her stomach grumble even more. Dante picked up a stack of napkins off the counter and brought them over. “Water?”
She’d love wine, but her head would only pound more. “Sure.”
He grabbed the beer Trax had offered earlier but never delivered on. No sooner had he settled next to her than Trax’s phone rang. Tension rolled off Mr. Easygoing, as if he expected trouble.
Trax answered, but said little. “When? Keep me posted.”
He looked straight at her and he
r heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“Elena Sanchez is missing.”
Liz looked over at Dante whose jaw had tensed. “Who’s Elena Sanchez?”
“The secretary at Couch’s firm you replaced.”
Double, oh shit.
Chapter Five
Liz’s mind spun, trying to remember what the girl had told her. “She might be in Costa Rica.” She fisted her bandaged hand. Pain burned through her and she winced.
Trax came out from behind the counter. “Tell me what you know.”
Now they were going to think she was a real piece of work. “I needed to get close to Couch. You know why.”
Trax sat opposite her, but his rear barely touched the leather chair. “Yes. Go on.”
“Jobs are scarce and people don’t just quit because you need to take their place so you can kill their boss.”
Dante’s brows pinched. “You told her you wanted to kill Couch?”
She wasn’t that dumb. “No. I told her I planned on starting my own au pair business and wanted the experience from a seasoned veteran like Couch.”
Dante nodded. “Smart.”
Trax motioned with his hand for her to hurry up with her story. Well, it was her story, damn it. Liz huffed out a breath. “Anyway, I needed to find a way to get a job at Couch’s company. Given it’s only a two-person operation, I didn’t have many choices.”
Trax raised a brow. “What did you do to her?”
Her mouth formed an O. “I didn’t do anything to her. I paid her almost my entire life savings to just walk away.”
“Sugar, how much did you give her?” Dante leaned forward.
“Five thousand dollars. Then she told me she hated Couch, and she’d be happy to leave. With the money she could visit her family in Costa Rica.”
Trax didn’t say anything. He removed his phone and pushed a button. Because he walked into the kitchen he must not have wanted her to hear.
Dante rubbed her arm. “That was very creative of you, but I’m sorry you had to spend so much money.”