“Love you, too,” she mumbled more than half asleep. “Hurry back… want to cuddle and… need to talk.”
“Sleep, baby.” Another kiss to her forehead. “We’ve got the rest of our lives to fix things between us. Sleep now. I’ll be here.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Tango stayed put and watched Maddie’s breathing even out until he was certain she was deep asleep and wouldn’t wake when he left. It didn’t take long, but it did give him enough time to replay the conversations and events that’d led him to this moment.
He was damn proud that Maddie had figured out that the attacks were a setup to lure him and his team out. But what he didn’t know was why someone wanted him and his team dead. Him, yes, but his team? Didn’t make sense.
Unless she hadn’t been totally off her rocker when she’d dropped that shit about making fake identities for Bravo and some chick. What did she say her name was? Laura? Laurel? Whatever. It didn’t ring a bell.
But Bravo not really being John Banks? That he could believe.
Bravo was a secretive motherfucker who didn’t talk about his past. Not that Tango could blame him. Hell, he hadn’t pressed any of his soldiers for the details of whatever the hell happened before they joined up other than to ask if any of the shit pots they’d stirred before joining up would come home to roost.
Bravo had hesitated when he’d answered that one with a negative. Yeah, at the time, Tango had hesitated as well bringing Bravo onboard. Specifically because he’d gotten the feeling that Bravo wasn’t being totally truthful with him. But he’d gone with it, because Black had asked him to take an interest in Bravo and vet him for his team.
Same way that Black had called in a favor and asked him to vet Andrei Ivanov, or as Tango had known him then, Army Sgt. Andrew Jackson Hopewell. After one week of observation, Tango had recruited the hell out the kid and given him a codename, Ajax, then started the long process of honing his otherworldly skillset using the same techniques that Trace had used on him. Something that he’d apparently done too well because it hadn’t take long for the CIA to come knocking and next thing Tango knew, Ajax was off his team and reassigned permanently to some CIA special unit.
It probably didn’t mean a damn thing, but he had to acknowledge the facts. Bravo wouldn’t have been on his team had Ajax’s transfer to the CIA not happened. Hell, for that matter, Romeo would not have been on his team had Bravo not pushed for him to be added. But it had happened and, to this day, he’d bet an entire month’s salary that no one but him and Trace knew that Romeo had possessed latent telepathic abilities. Ones that would have been a perfect match for Delta team.
So yeah, there was that and the common denominator that was his friendship with Michael Black. Could be something and he might be reading into it.
Except his gut told him he wasn’t.
Tango drummed his fingers on his thigh and glanced down at Maddie. He would have most likely never met his mate had Black not called in another favor. The favor had been a simple ‘keep an eye on this innocent’ for Black while he was out of country on mission. For two weeks. That’d changed Tango’s life forever.
Definitely a common denominator and not enough of a coincidence to convince Tango that Black did not know more than he’d said. And considering that Black had shown up exactly at the right moment to prevent his sorry ass from walking into an ambush?
That was further proof that he and his foster brother, Michael Black, needed to talk. Now.
Decision made, Tango eased off the bed and then headed out to check in with his team before speaking with Ivanov and Black. Inside the plush war room, Fox sat at the computer doing his thing and wearing full ear headphones while Bravo lounged in a chair next to him with his eyes glued to his phone.
Tango stopped next to Bravo. “Sitrep.”
Bravo tapped the back of Fox’s chair. “All’s quiet on the western front. Dell’s in bedroom number two. Whiskey’s out walking the dog. Black’s on the back porch waiting for Ivanov to finish up in timeout with the prisoners. And K-dog’s alternating between snoring like he’s cutting logs and mumbling in his sleep about donut holes.”
“How goes the search for Colby Jack and sons?”
Fox set the headphones down on the desk, then pointed to a screen on his left. “No change. Still waiting on Zed to respond to my post on the message board.”
“Get thing straightened out with Mad Dog,” Bravo asked.
Tango hesitated before answering. Bravo called Maddie, Mad Dog. It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard others call her by that handle, but it denoted a certain sense of familiarity that made him wonder if he didn’t also need to include some one-on-one interrogation time with Bravo as well.
Probably, but that’d have to wait until after he dealt with Black.
“As much as can be for now.” Tango tapped Bravo’s shoulder. “Hit the hay. We’ll regroup in the morning and make a plan.”
“Works for me.” Bravo got up and headed for the hall. “Let Whiskey know I’m crashing in bedroom number three and am not up for cuddling.”
“Will do.” Fox spun around in his chair and waited until the door closed behind Bravo. “I tapped into Maddie’s account and searched her files.”
Tango glanced down at Fox. He knew before he opened his mouth that Fox’s shifter hearing had picked up everything that had gone on between him and Maddie behind closed doors. “You heard everything.”
“Tried not to, but my wolf doesn’t like it when mommy and daddy get into it. Went for the headphones when things got interesting.” Fox looked up at him with sad eyes. “Sorry about the baby.”
“Thanks.”
“Knew you’d want to know so I hacked the hospital to check her records. There was nothing that could have been done. According to the doctor’s notes there’s no reason she can’t have another one.”
Except if he didn’t complete the soul rite sometime in the very near future. But Fox didn’t need to know that, so Tango went with a heartfelt, “Thank fuck. Remind me to give you a raise and your wolf a steak.”
“Already done and steak’s thawing in the fridge.” Fox hesitated, then added, “Normally would keep this to myself, but given the situation figured you’d rather know than not.”
Tango tensed. “What?”
Fox tapped his nose. “Her scent has changed. It’s subtle and I could be wrong, but my guess is your swimmers did light it up like the Fourth of July.”
Nice to know his team was looking out for him and Maddie. “She stays safe at all times. You’re on her like fly on shit. Got that?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t care if you need to go wolf to get it done. I’ll personally take down anyone who sees your wolf. Maddie goes nowhere without either you or me protecting her.”
“Got it.” There was a beep from the computer. “Ivanov’s done interrogating the prisoners.”
“Good.” Tango started for the door. “Send Whiskey to bed when he gets back, then setup whatever you need to and get some rest yourself.”
Tango exited the bunker and took the stairs up to the back dock.
Black and Ivanov were speaking in hushed Russian. Both looked up at the same time when he stepped up. Took a second, but seeing the two of them, next to each other, with almost identical expressions… something clicked. “Son of a bitch.”
Black chuckled. “Someone just connected the dots.”
Ivanov didn’t laugh. “Yeah, but will he keep our secret.”
That they were obviously brothers? What the hell difference did it make to him? None, other than explain why Black had asked one favor. “You keep mine, I’ll keep yours.”
“Then we’ll have a slumber party and do each other’s nails,” Black muttered.
“Smart ass.” Tango shook Ivanov’s hand. “Good to see you. Nice to know the rumors weren’t true.”
“Which ones,” Ivanov asked.
“Your death.”
Iv
anov gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Necessary evil. Heard about Madrid. Glad you made it out alive.”
Tango grunted a thanks then stepped back and looked between the two of them. “So which one of you brothers is gonna man up and tell me what the fuck is going on?”
Ivanov flicked a thumb at Black. “He is.” He turned to Black. “You got everything you need?”
“Yep,” Black said. “Get out of here. Last thing we need is for someone to figure out we’re not mortal enemies.”
Ivanov chuckled. “Copy that.” He turned to Tango. “Go easy on Maddie. She only did what she did out of ignorance and a need to protect those she loves.”
Oh hell no. Ivanov was not telling him how to deal with his woman. Not after the shit she’d told him about the miscarriage. Tango growled low in his throat and took a step towards him. “My wife had a miscarriage. I didn’t know she was pregnant. She told you. You didn’t tell me. She. Was. Alone. And. Unprotected.”
“Whose fault was that,” Ivanov taunted.
“Aw hell.” Black caught Tango by the chest before he could lunge for the smart ass who needed to have his IQ adjusted. “You just had to go and provoke him, didn’t you? Dumb. Ass. Andrei. Go. Now.”
Ivanov’s smirk was like a poke-poke-poke the beast routine that grated on Tango’s last nerve. Cocky bastard knew it, too. Knew exactly what he was doing as he slow walked backwards towards the steps and his waiting vehicle. “How else was I to know how he felt about her?”
Tango growled again and started forward.
Black clung on tight and struggled to hold Tango back. “Shit. Go, Andrei! Now. Before I let him beat your ass like you deserve.”
Tango tore his eyes off his prey and looked at Black. “Start talking. Or lose a brother.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Black glanced over his shoulder, then back at him and said, “Andrei wanted to tell you about the baby. I said no.”
Tango went from mildly incensed to enraged in a split second. He shoved Black off him. “What the fuck, Michael?”
Black stumbled, but recovered and made a show of shaking out his arms. “It’s complicated. That and it’d already happened and there wasn’t a damn thing you could have done about it.”
“You don’t know that. She was alone!”
“Direct that shit elsewhere! I’m not the one who left her alone. You chose to do that after I specifically told you not to!”
“Fuck. You.”
“Not even on a good day in a drought,” Black fired back without hesitation. “Do you want to fight and argue about some shit you can’t do anything about or do you want to calm down and let me read you in?”
Tango dragged in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the last thing Maddie needed was for you to come back and make her a target again.” Black sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “What did she tell you?”
“She told me she had a miscarriage and lost our baby.”
“I got that. Loud and clear. Did she tell you about the other stuff? The suit. Your mission. Bravo. Laurel. The senator. Any of this ringing a bell?”
Tango folded his arms over his chest. “Go ahead and assume she didn’t tell me shit and explain from the beginning. And don’t drop any shit fairy bombs. I’ve had enough today to last me a lifetime.”
“Sucks to be you, because baby brother confirmed what we suspected in interrogation. Dillon has Colby Jack. Not that I expect you to give two shits about your father-in-law.”
“I don’t,” Tango bit out. “That bastard can rot in hell for all I care.”
Black grunted his agreeance as he considered him for a long moment. “Baby brother doesn’t know all I’m about to tell you and it needs to stay that way. Clear?”
“Not in the least and you best explain that shit ASAP.”
“I will, but… for fuck’s sake, Gabriel. Quit projecting your angst and sit your ass down. I can’t think with you doing that whatever the hell thing you’re doing. Makes me twitchy as hell.”
Tango deliberately dragged in another deep breath and tried to contain the guilt that was eating at his soul and making him react. Wasn’t easy, but he made an attempt. “Better?”
“Hell no.”
“Tough, because you need to start talking and by start, I mean at the beginning and explaining all those favors you asked me.”
Black’s head came up. “You figured that out. Good. That helps.” He blew out another breath then started. “Andrei doesn’t know everything because I deliberately kept him in the dark about it so he’d have some plausible deniability.”
“Why,” Tango demanded.
“I’m getting to that,” Black snapped. “If you’d just give me a minute to get my thoughts together that’d be a help. ‘Cause this shit is complicated and you need to know everything. Not just the highlights.”
It was obvious whatever it was his foster brother had to tell him he needed to know. Not that Tango wanted to hear it, but his gut got the hint. He needed to calm it down a notch or ten and get his foster brother to start talking. From the beginning. “Okay. Fine.” He grabbed a bucket from a stack sitting next to the timeout cooler, then turned it over and sat on it. “I’m calm. Sitting. Start talking.”
“It goes back a ways.”
“Thirteen years, Michael. That’s when you asked me to bring your brother onto my team. How could you have done that and not told me?”
“Because Andrei didn’t know I was looking out for him and if he’d known then he would have wanted to bond and I couldn’t risk it.”
“Risk what?” Tango threw his hands up in the air. “We’re brothers, Michael. Not by blood, but by choice. You, me, Ben, we protect our own. Period.”
“I know that! But Andrei got some of the same demonic shit that I got from our father and I couldn’t risk someone else in Sinclair’s organization getting their hands on him and turning him into the same type of monster as our father. I had to make sure you were around to bring him down the same way you bring me down when I lose it.”
It made sense because for whatever reason, Tango and Black had always been able to cancel out each other’s ability and hold it in check. Tango had never questioned why that happened because it was what it was—a bonus in their kinship. “Still, Michael, you should have told us.”
“Ben doesn’t know and I need it to stay that way for now.”
Tango frowned. “How many more people need plausible deniability over your family tree, Michael? Shit can’t be that fucked up.”
Black massaged the back of his neck and looked damned uncomfortable. “It is and then some.” He stopped and straightened. “I’ll tell you everything, but it stays between us. You can’t tell anyone what I’m about tell you. Not even Ben.”
“Not happening. Not if it endangers me and mine.”
“You and yours are already in the crosshairs, Gabriel. I can’t keep doing this shit on my own to protect everyone. Not with what’s happening with Amelia.” Black looked him in the eye and said the last thing Tango ever expected him to say. “I need help.”
Michael Black never asked for help. Favors, yes, but help? Never. “Explain. Are your girl and your son safe?”
“Yes.” Black nodded. “Amelia and Beau are safe. For now. But you and yours aren’t. That’s why I posted the wanted alive bounty on Maddie.”
“You what,” Tango roared as he surged to his feet.
Black stood his ground. “Five years, Gabriel! You were gone for five years and not once did you make an effort to check on Maddie. Not once!”
“Because I was trying to do the right thing! To protect her!”
“It didn’t work,” Black fired back. “You and your girl are in shit so deep it’ll take a miracle to make it out alive and I’m fresh out of fucking miracles. So sit your ass back down and give me your word that what I’m about to tell you goes no further before I kick your ass for being too much of a chicken shit to tell M
addie the truth!”
“What truth,” Tango demanded.
“Oh I don’t know, Van,” Black sneered. “How about your real name for starters? Or how you killed your parents? Or how you ran like a scared little boy from her because you were too afraid to let her know what you really are?”
Michael Black was his best friend and, yeah, he’d normally be all up in arms over that kind of rub salt in the wound routine, but not this time. Not after Black had mentioned a threat to the two people that meant everything to him in this world. Amelia and his son, Beau. Tango folded his arms over his chest and glared at Black. “You want to talk epic fuck ups? Fine. We’ll do that after you tell me why you’re really here and not home protecting yours.”
That took the wind right out of Black’s sail and he growled. “Not until I have your word that you’ll keep what I’m saying to yourself.”
Tango paused and considered it for a split second. Long enough for his gut to weigh in on how much he trusted his foster brother after having been out of touch so long. Hell, even if he hadn’t trusted him, hearing Michael Black admit that his Amelia had a target on her and that Black had torn himself away from her protection detail to be here for him and Maddie? That was a sign. A neon blinking shit fairy of a bomb sign that said Tango needed to hear everything Black had to tell him.
“You have my word,” Tango said. “But you best not leave out a single detail, Michael. We protect our own and if we need resources to protect Maddie, Amelia and your son, then we will bring Ben in on this. That clear?”
“Clear.” Black’s shoulders relaxed some. “Ben’s been keeping Amelia close even though I haven’t said shit to him about what’s going on. Think his wolf senses something’s up. But, for right now, the situation with Amelia is under control.”
“It better be, but if that changes—”
“I’ll tell you,” Black interrupted to finish.
“Damn straight you will.” Tango waved a hand for him to continue. “Now get back to it. What else did my girl do that required your protection? Besides make those two fake IDs for your brother that’s getting her ass spanked first thing after she wakes up.”
Devil's Tango (Running with the Devil Book 1) Page 17