by Marie Wathen
Ignoring my badgering, she climbs over the side of the tub and covers her wet body, but not fast enough. She is wearing a black bikini and it isn’t covering a damn thing. My hands are jealous as fuck of my eyes, tracing the delicate lines of her perfect body. Like a slow fire burn, I desire watching her release the thin strings barely holding the two pieces of clothing together. I’m drowning in a wave of lust for her to tug that ponytail free and shake her long dark hair down, allowing it to drape over her creamy breast. She is the sexiest woman that I have ever seen, and she fucked me like she needed it to survive. I remember that I felt like so much more than just a horny dickhead when her tiny hands caressed over the taut muscles in my shoulders and neck. With the delicate feel of her silky fingers twisting through my dark brown hair, I recognized there was something more happening than just two strangers fulfilling a craving. She was clinging onto me. Me. I know that I am probably imagining it, but there was some connection that held us in that brief moment when our eyes locked.
The devil on my shoulder urges me to push her back onto the lounge chair and replay our time together just so I can confirm my beliefs. But, the angel before me doesn’t look like kinky business is on her agenda for the evening. Something is off tonight. From here, the shadows are playing along her curves, and during the two seconds it takes for her to wrap the towel around herself, I swear that I see a bruise on her side.
“Why are you here? And why didn’t you use the front door like a proper gentleman?”
“I rang the doorbell twice. When no one answered I started for my car, but then I heard the music coming from back here. So I decided to let myself in through the side gate.”
Challengingly, she suggests, “I should call the cops and report that an intruder just broke into my house.” There’s that attitude again. So damn beautiful and quite ballsy. A voice inside my head tells me that a woman like her could make me a better man.
Hearing her labeling Rad’s shithole as her home really pisses me off though, so I correct, “Ah, but this isn’t your house. Now is it?” She steps closer, and my damn heart seizes. In the dim lighting, I can see that her lip is swollen and there is a tiny cut in the corner.
“Rad isn’t here and I don’t know when to expect him back. I think you need to leave, Mr. Sloane.”
Annoyed as hell, I gently touch the tip of my thumb over her lip while I growl, “Did he do this to you?” Please say yes. I need an excuse to beat his ass.
She shoves my hand off aggressively and then stumbles, trying to get away. Her towel falls, and she bends down to retrieve it. When she hisses, I can actually feel the wrath striking through my veins, hot and raging, compelling me into absolute bloodlust.
Without being gentle this time, I grab her forearm and lift. “What the fuck? I will kill that little bastard.” Needing the truth, I take her into my arms, sliding my hands up her neck so that she will look me in the eyes when she tells me what happened. I am amazed when I look at her up-close. She really is extraordinary, so much more than a beautiful woman. How could any man put his hands on her so harshly? My fingers thread through her hair on either side of her head while my thumbs tenderly slide over her cheekbones. The pounding of my heart feels like thunder rumbling through the ground on a hot summer evening. My mouth waters with a wild need to taste her again, so that I can confirm she is the sweetest flavor that I have ever experienced. She shivers in my arms, and I swallow hard. Grey eyes lift to meet mine and something in me screams to tell her that I’m sorry. Because of the nefarious dealings of my family and others like us, she is trapped in a relationship with a piece of shit who doesn’t deserve her. She deserves better than you too!
“No, Rad didn’t touch me. I fell,” she lies.
“Angel, don’t lie to me.”
Shaking her head, she touches her fingers to her mouth and averts her eyes in shame. “Please. It’s none of your business.”
She pulls away and asks me something else, but I can’t hear a damn thing over the loud cadence banging inside my head with a frenzied chant that echoes Mine, mine, mine, like a maniac. Growing bitter, I decide that I’m definitely killing Rad, because I won’t stand by and watch him hurt what belongs to me. She doesn’t belong to you. Lourdes is your girlfriend, and if she suspects anything between you, she will kill Angel. Being around the fair seductress makes me lose focus every damn time. Coming here was a mistake, and I need to leave now.
“I won’t keep you out here in the cold.” I step closer, reach into my pocket, and pull out my card. “Please have Rad call me. I have a delicate matter that requires immediate attention. Seeing that my other guys are all indisposed, I need for him to handle it.”
If I offer the job to Rad, it will put a little time and space between him and Angel. It’s a risky move, giving a newbie such a huge responsibility, especially a job worth millions. But I don’t give a fuck. I want him away from her as much as possible. If it all works out, he’ll be so wrapped up in transporting that she’ll get sick of his job, and then maybe she will finally leave.
After nodding and accepting the card, she glances toward the back door warily. Is she afraid that Rad is going to find us alone together? Her boyfriend isn’t stupid enough to hurt her in front of me. Still, I will never be the cause of her pain. I step away and with one last glance, I say, “I’ll let myself back out the way I entered. Good night, Angel.”
Reaching my car, I feel the vomit curdling inside my stomach. I slide behind the steering wheel, grip it tightly and then hit the highway, heading home at accelerated speeds. After seeing what kind of monster she is with, I am certain that taking a gamble on Rad as our new transporter is my only option to do what I feel is right. She may not belong to me and I may not be able to rescue her, but I care, and as long as I am around, I will never let anyone get away with harming her.
Chapter Seven
“Mornin’, Uncle Ethan,” Simone chirps happily, greeting me at the front door of the Kingsley home. Her blonde curls bounce wildly as she spins around and races toward the kitchen. After closing the door, I follow and find Jude and Natalie seated at their small breakfast table, drinking coffee. Their adorable four year old daughter climbs into her daddy’s lap and points at me. My best friend has the perfect family, and I’m jealous as hell. What I wouldn’t give to see a beautiful angel waiting for me at the kitchen table each morning after a decadent night of exploring her entire body. That would be pure bliss. Damn it all to hell and swinging donkey dicks. Why can’t I get Angel out of my head? I scrub a hand down my unshaven face, threading my finger through the hair on the back of my head.
“You’re early,” Jude states, staring directly into my bloodshot eyes. I nod, dropping my hand, while trying to get the sweet sex goddess off my mind before he picks up on my distraction.
“Hey, Ethan,” Natalie greets, standing up and moving toward the counter. I lean against it, scanning over her tousled appearance. Clearly, the Kingsley household is still in an upheaval with Jude’s early morning release from jail. “Would you like some coffee?” She pours a cup without waiting for my reply. She knows my fondness of the brew, so she really doesn’t even need to ask.
“Thanks,” I answer, smiling. “How are you holding up?” I glance from her to Jude, who shakes his head while sliding his hand across his neck in a cutting motion, urging me not to go there. Too late.
“Simone,” Natalie takes on her dreaded motherly tone. “Go up to your room and change out of your jammies, and then bring mommy the brush.” Obeying immediately, Simone giggles as she stumbles up the stairs. “I want to know something, Mr. Mob Boss,” Natalie starts, pinning her fists onto her hips and narrowing her eyes at me. “How many more three a.m. phone calls am I going to get, telling me that my husband is in jail again?” Her voice grows louder with each question. “And, when does the department plan on repaying me for these ridiculous bonds that I keep forking out because of this never-ending undercover job? Do you know how expensive it is to raise two young children? No, of
course you don’t. Let me educate you, mister. On a cop’s salary, we won’t make the mortgage on this stupid-ass house if I have to bail him out one more time...”
“Mommy!” Simone shrills from the doorway, shutting down her mother’s rant. Startled, I glance behind me and find the feisty child mimicking her mother’s posture exactly. “You said ass! That’s not nice. You need to apologize to Uncle Ethan.”
Silently, I chuckle into my fist, watching Natalie sputter as she digs her way out of this one. Smiling, Jude shakes his head. Momentarily distracted by her bossy daughter, Natalie shuffles the cutie upstairs, and I look back at Jude. Together, we lose our fight against containing our laughter.
“You have your work cut out for you with that one, man,” I joke, but clearly she is going to grow up and be exactly like her mother–willful and beautiful.
“Don’t I know it.” He sighs before changing the subject. “I assume that you didn’t just come over for coffee. Let’s have it.”
I nod. “Rad is en route to Texas as we speak.”
“Juan’s shipment?” I nod again while he studies me intently. “Yeah, I heard, but, has Nelson?”
“By now, he has.” His eyebrows draw in, waiting for an explanation. “Lourdes dropped by my office before my meeting with Rad. She overheard me assigning him the job.” He continues to stare confused, so I explain, “She came by hoping to get in a quickie, about two minutes before my assistant buzzed him in, and so she hid. Under my desk.” He snorts, and I ignore him, because there is no way that she will ever get her over-plump lips near my jock, especially after Angel has been on it. Pushing that thought out of my head, I add, “She lost interest almost instantly after she heard me offering him the transport. Thank fuck for that averted bullet to the balls. When it comes to near misses with her, I am positive that the big guy upstairs is watching out for me.” He nods. “Anyway, as she left, her fingers were flying across her phone rapidly. No doubt she was letting him know the details of my plan. Those two are too damn close for my taste.” Exhaling, I shake my head. “I just hope that I made the right decision trusting your buddy. We can’t afford for Nelson to get uncomfortable.”
“I believe that you can rely on Rad.”
“Sure,” I retort sarcastically.
At that moment, Natalie reenters the kitchen and joins our conversation. “Did I hear you mention Rad?”
“Yeah,” Jude replies. “Eth has him transporting now.”
“Oh?” Her blue eyes shift toward me oddly. “How is Angel going to handle that change?”
“Why are you asking me?” I ask defensively.
“Well, you always seem to be watching her.” She smiles. “Like, I don’t know, maybe you’re expecting her turn into a king cobra and snap your head off.”
“I don’t even understand that reference.” I look to her husband for clarification, but he doesn’t offer an explanation either. “She is a big girl, so I guess she’ll handle it as well as you do.” Glancing away, she hums softly, and for some reason at this precise moment that sound sets my nerves on edge. “All right,” I grumble, standing up and walking over to the sink where I rinse out my cup. “I’m off to the office. Some of us have to pretend to work for a living.”
“Whatever,” Natalie snorts.
“Stay safe,” I order Jude and then turning to his lovely wife, I tease, “Love you, little bitty.” Unhappy about my nickname for her, she growls and shoos me out of the room with both hands.
“Bye-bye,” Simone whispers sweetly, poking her head through the upstairs railing. I check behind me for witnesses and then quickly take the steps two at a time. I grab her up and tickle under her neck–her most hated place for tickling.
“Who’s my favorite girl?”
“Me!” She squirms wildly, giggles silently–trying not to get busted for being out of her timeout–and then finally, taking an offensive move, she thrusts her little fingers under my chin. She always does this, hoping that her attack will get the same abhorrence from me. She just doesn’t know that I love this little game that we play. I kiss her head and then set her back down on her bare feet. Her sweet smile causes my heart to swell and I think about how much my other favorite girl would love this precious doll, too.
“You got that right, princess. And who’s your favorite guy?”
Without hesitation, she says, “My daddy!”
“Of course, he is.” I smile and ask, “Number two would be?”
“You, silly!”
“Thought so. I gotta go. You’ll be sweet?” I ask and she nods.
“Wuv you, Uncle Ethan.”
“I love you, princess,” I declare before leaving to head downtown to my Atlanta loft.
Since it is Rad’s first run, I assign one of my guards to trail him and report back. Throughout the night, I check in with Bales. Apparently, the exchange went flawlessly, so I call it a night. My damn dreams are filled with naughty sex acts with the woman who has captivated my attention beyond anything I’ve ever experienced before. In order to get a few hours of sleep, I force down a couple of glasses of whiskey and finally pass out around midnight. Early the next morning, I am awakened by the obnoxious ringing of my cell. Before answering, I notice that I have missed calls from Bales and a couple dozen text messages from Jude.
Answering, I grumble, “Yeah.”
“It’s me,” Jude states seriously, and I sit up on the edge of the bed. “Turn on your TV.”
“Just tell me,” I demand, reaching for the remote.
“Rad’s a headliner on national news.”
“You’re shitting me!” I stare unbelievingly at the mug shot for a few moments and then ask, “Is this really fucking happening?” I cross the floor, stopping in front of the large television and hit rewind as the segment ends. “I need to go.”
“I’ll work with Decks and hopefully we can get this sorted before the shit hits the fan, but I’m afraid we’re looking at a brewing war on this one. Call me if you need anything, Eth.” I can’t offer a response beyond a grumble.
Watching the story from the beginning, I find out that about an hour ago Rad was busted transporting the shipment into Atlanta. I don’t know him well enough to guess if he will nark on the X’kapz, so I must handle this with finesse. Nelson will lose his damn mind once he hears the news. An advanced shipment of twenty million dollars in uncut drugs from a lethal Mexican cartel being apprehended by the local police department is guaranteed to be worth a few dead X’kapz. Just how many, is the question. At the moment, how in the hell this shit happened, isn’t my main concern, what to do next is. Nelson is the devil I do know, so I’ll face him first just to get a feel for where his head is before I am forced to make the decision on sending in the muscle to silence Rad while in lockup. Even though in my book, he is a piece of shit for laying his hands on Angel, I don’t condone killing a man for this kind of bullshit.
“This is not how that shit was supposed to go down.”
Chapter Eight
“Thank you, Ms. Cecena,” I say, pressing my cell against my ear while staring at Nelson’s dead eyes, zoned in on me guardedly. “I appreciate your understanding and discreet handling of this situation. Keeping our connection out of this incident is of the utmost importance. If Brantley Jones suddenly finds his voice–”
With a sexy drawl, she cuts me off, “I will personally notify you immediately, Mr. Sloane.”
“You are always so very helpful. Perhaps we can meet for drinks later this week, so that I can properly thank you for your continued dedication,” my reply is highly suggestive. Luckily, she has never been able to resist me. It also helps that she is in on my plans to destroy the old bastard, who is totally engrossed in my phone call.
“I was thinking more like dinner…tonight, and then perhaps a nightcap…back at my place.” Even though she’s somewhat involved with the undercover investigation, she is completely serious about wanting to complicate our relationship.
“Certainly,” I accept, nodding at Nelson to in
dicate that she is onboard with keeping his cartel’s name far away from Rad’s arrest. He releases a heavy breath. “I’ll see you this evening, Beverly.” Disconnecting, I slip my phone into my jacket pocket and then take a seat beside Decks in front of Nelson’s large glass desk.
“Dinner?” Decks asks with a full-blown shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
“Yes,” I reply, sliding my glasses from my face, pinching the bridge of my nose and then turning my attention back toward Nelson, “A small price to pay for invaluable loyalty.” He nods agreeably.
Decks hums with a knowing tone. “You are such a giving bastard. That woman will get into your pants one of these days.”
“I don’t give a damn what it takes,” Nelson states sharply, rolling his college ring around a finger on his right hand. “If that little piece of shit, Rad, sings, we’re all looking at prison time, a fate much worse than Ethan having sex with a beautiful woman. Keeping the district attorney’s office and the DEA ignorant to our dealings takes priority over everything else.”
“Tell that to my sister,” Decks counters, still smiling. “If she discovers the lengths that Blues is willing to go because of our fuck up, Lourdes will kill your priceless little District Attorney without hesitation.” Decks is right. Lourdes is a psychopath who believes that I belong to her. I must be extremely careful with my acquaintances or they could be in danger. That is another reason why I need to keep my distance from Angel. There is no way in hell that I will ever tolerate Lourdes hurting her again.
“I’ll handle Lourdes,” I reply to Decks, and then inform Nelson, “Juan isn’t going to deal with me.” Not many cartel bosses trust former police officers. Juan is no exception.
Glancing toward his nephew, Nelson says, “You will handle Juan.”
“I’ll put Wise on it,” he defies, taking a sip from his whiskey tumbler. “I have something else in the works–”