by M. Malone
“It’s all good, guv. You know I can handle things.”
Noah smiled at the slang term for boss. He’d always found the British way of speaking amusing. Matthias loved to remind him that Yankee slang was just as strange.
“Good. Call me as soon as the ORUS man comes through.” Noah saluted as he led Lucia out.
He didn’t let out a breath until the door closed behind them. Then he turned to survey the grim scene left behind in the house. With his training, he could see exactly how things had played out.
Chamaeleon on the ground, maybe on his knees? JJ must have been standing over him to get that angle. He knelt slightly to examine the bullet wound in the former David West’s forehead.
Dimly, Matthias was aware that this was a little twisted. Some of the most cold-blooded agents he’d worked with had been a little squeamish about getting close to the dead, but it had never bothered him. Hell, the hard part was over at that point. It was actually rather fascinating, how someone could be alive in this world in one second and then gone the next.
He supposed it was a by-product of seeing so much death in his life that it fascinated him so.
Once he heard the Jeep pull away, Matthias pulled out his phone to wait. Once Noah made contact with the head of ORUS, they’d be sending a cleaner out. It wasn’t exactly glamorous work, but someone needed to be here to oversee things and make sure nothing was missed. They couldn’t afford any aspect of ORUS’s fuckup to blow back on them later. The girls being here added another layer of complication to things, because they didn’t have the training to conceal the forensic evidence of being here. After the grim work was done, Matthias would go over every inch of this place until there was no trace that JJ or Lucia had been there.
That anyone had been there.
He killed an hour playing a puzzle game on his phone before he got the message from Noah that ORUS was sending someone. Another hour went by before he heard someone at the front door. Reflex had his gun in his hand before he could even blink. The man who stepped through the door was unfamiliar but completely recognizable. Hair shorn close, non-descript clothes, blank eyes.
Matthias figured he was probably just as predictable.
“You’re the cleaner?”
The man nodded once and turned his arm slowly to reveal his wrist. The small pattern of dots revealed were similar to the ones that Matthias still sported, as did Noah and Rafe. The symbol of a grim brotherhood.
“Good. Let’s get started. There’s a lot of blood and I want a completely clean sweep of this place.”
The other man nodded. “This is going to take a while.”
Matthias pushed up his sleeves, ready to get to work. He didn’t mind if it took all night if it meant JJ and Lucia were protected. It was something he could give back to the people who had become his family. They thought he was standoffish and distant, but if they only knew where he’d started… Emotionally, he’d given them the very best he was capable of giving.
Whatever was left of his heart was theirs, even if they didn’t know it.
chapter 19
As soon as they arrived home, Jonas dragged JJ into the living room and wrapped his arms around her. "Jesus Christ do you know how happy I am to have you home safe? I was too terrified to believe it in the car. But with you home, it’s more real now."
JJ snuggled into Jonas’s embrace. "Let me guess, you're not letting me out of your sight for a while?"
"Woman, can you really blame me? I mean you girls fucking locked Ryan in the panic room."
"Well, it's not like he was gonna let us go willingly. He would've called you and you would've talked us out of it and said you had it handled. But you had the wrong location. None of you were listening."
"Okay, okay I hear you. Next time let's have a code word for when I'm being an idiot and not listening and you're about to do something stupid to get my attention."
"It wasn't intended to be like that. It's not like I was an idiot exactly. We had a weapon."
Jonas shuddered. She could feel the shiver run through his body. "Yeah, I know. I just hate to think of what would have happened if he'd have gotten a hold of it. If Lucia hadn't been there. All these horrible things were running through my head a million times today. Do you understand that?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I understand. And I'm sorry."
"I know. Listen, let's do first things first."
JJ cocked her head. "Seriously, you want to have sex now?"
Jonas stared at her for a long moment. And then chuckled. "Yes, actually. But that's not what I meant."
Behind them, there was a giggle. Noah had his arms wrapped around Lucia and lifted his gaze and met Jonas's. "Listen, I need to have a conversation with my wife about her antics today. We'll need about an hour. Make sure Nonna's okay with the baby, and get Delaney out of the panic room would you?"
"Yeah, Delaney. That was actually my first stop."
Noah blinked at him like he was crazy. "Yeah, okay. But uh, Lucia is my first stop."
Lucia rolled her eyes and swatted him on the arm before following her husband as he tugged her down the hall into his office. JJ would've loved for that to be her first stop. But honestly, she was still reeling and shaking, and she didn't know what she felt or how she should be feeling. All she felt right now was numb and hollow. And God, she just wanted to collapse. She'd killed a man today. Shot him dead. Several times. But he was going to kill Lucia if you hadn't.
She might act tough, but that shell she put up for the world to see, it didn't mean she didn't care. It didn't mean she wasn't affected by things. Jonas pulled her close and hugged her tight. "I know. You're in shock. Let's get you in the shower, I'll deal with Delaney. And then I'll call Oskar and Dylan and have them escort Nonna back to the penthouse."
She shook her head. "No. I need to let out Ryan. I feel like we owe him one."
Jonas studied her carefully. "Are you okay?"
“Yes. No. I have no idea."
Jonas nodded. "I know it couldn't have been easy doing what you did today. I know how terrifying it must have been."
"That's just the thing, Jonas. When I saw him hurting my friend, I didn't even think twice. I might have emptied the whole clip into him at the end there. I just kept shooting."
"And that's what you're supposed to do. You reacted to save your friend."
"Yeah. I know. But I also reacted to save myself."
“That is a good thing. Because for once, you thought about survival. I'm proud of you." He took her hand and pulled her down the hall until they reached the panic room. Then he pushed the combo into the keypad. When the door unlatched, Delaney was hanging by his hands in the doorjamb, looking pissed and ready to kill someone.
"Are you fucking serious right now? We will never speak of this again, do you understand?"
JJ opened her mouth to apologize. She really meant to. But instead, what came out was, "What's the matter Delaney afraid of the dark? Or are you pissed off that three little women outsmarted you?"
Delaney opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. "I was worried because I was on Isabella duty. I don't think having two men on her and Nonna is enough."
JJ grinned at him. "I am sorry. But I knew you would've stopped us."
"Damn straight I would've stopped you. You could've been killed. You could've gotten Lucia killed. And then Noah would have killed us all."
She nodded. "I know. I know it was stupid. But I had to do something. I'm so sorry that you got caught up in it."
It took him several beats, but then he nodded.
Within fifteen minutes, Dylan and Oskar were back with Nonna and Isabella. Nonna, for her role in all this, acted as if everything was fine. She just smiled and gave JJ a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, JJ. It's good to see you again. We had a lovely walk out in the park, didn't we boys?"
Both Dylan and Oskar looked a little worse for wear. As if Nonna’d had them running for their lives. She was really going to have to ask the old lady what she'd done to them. E
ither way, everyone looked safe and happy.
Isabella must have known she was home though and that her parents were home as well, because the moment the stroller came to a stop she let out a tiny wail, which of course drew Lucia and Noah out of the office. Both of them had bed hair. And Lucia had that sort of satisfied, smug look on her face that screamed 'Hey, I just had sex with my husband.'
"Oh my, sweetheart. Mama's here.”
With Isabella in Lucia's arms, JJ watched on. Lucia had saved her life today. And you saved hers. "Can a godmother get a kiss too? I know you're hungry little one. But I just want one little baby kiss.” She kissed her goddaughter and was never more grateful for the family that she had.
Noah inclined his head for the guys to follow him to the conference room. "Hey guys, let's get this over with and call Ian."
Jonas followed, but he grumbled. "I can't believe we're still going to deal with that guy."
Noah was philosophical about it. “Look, we're not necessarily going to be friends, but we don't need to be enemies. Besides, now he owes us. And I've a feeling with this bunch we’ll be collecting on that favor sometime soon."
Matthias had to get the hell out of the penthouse. It was too much. All of it. All the happy couples. He left without a word, but Oskar saw him going.
When the German gave him a quizzical glance, Matthias just ignored him. After everything that had happened in the last couple of days, he was still feeling raw. The monster inside him was too close to the surface, and he needed to take the beast out for a walk away from the people he cared about. And he needed to put his past to bed.
Something happened to him at that house. The moment his hands had grasped those blades, he’d started to enjoy the fight. It was one thing to go hand-to-hand combat, it was another thing to actually use his weapon of choice. Knives were personal. And he’d enjoyed it a little too much. Now stuffing the monster back inside was a little more difficult to do. Especially since he’d been out to play in spectacular fashion.
Matthias followed the directions to the letter. He took the train downtown to the meet point, across the street from Club Throb. In the small neighborhood park he took the bench facing the club and waited silently for the rest of his party to show up. There was no running away now.
Matthias felt more than heard when the bench behind him was occupied. "I told you your past was coming for you. But it's here. I've had a sighting."
Matthias sighed. "Do you know if they know where to find me?"
"Not yet. But given that your boss is so tight with Orion, it might only be a matter of time. They knew where to start looking. So I'm not sure how much time you’ve got."
"Well, if they come looking, they're going to find trouble."
"Are you going to tell them?"
There was something that he’d thought about long and hard. What did he tell Noah? He’d never really disclosed all of his past, just given him bits and pieces that were enough to form his own version of the story.
Although what Noah had formed already had been the stuff of nightmares. But real life was so much worse. Bad enough to give the devil himself nightmares.
Before he’d come into ORUS, he’d been barely human. A real-life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Orion had flipped a switch inside him that made everything go from terrible to monstrous.
He had to keep them all safe from himself. Which included keeping them safe from this. "I'm not telling them anything. It's my mess. My past. I want to protect them as long as I can."
"Matthias, if your old family is looking for you, then you probably need to warn Leo at the very least."
"Not going to happen. I will protect them. That’s what you do for family. Protect them and keep them safe. That's my job."
"Mate, if you're not gonna warn them, there's not much I can do to help you.”
Matthias ground his teeth. “If anyone comes knocking at my door, they’re not going to be happy about it."
"What do you need? I feel like I need to do something. I owe you my life."
Matthias thought a minute. “Nothing. We’re done. You’ve done enough. Debt is paid. You come knocking on my door again, and I’m going to assume that you're with them. And we both know what I do to enemies."
chapter 20
"I need you to put this on."
JJ leaned against the SUV and stared at him. "You know I'm not into bondage."
Jonas's smile was wolfish. "Now, let's not tell lies. You're in for a little blindfold fun, and you liked it when I restrained you that one time."
JJ flushed. Which, considering who she was, and who they were together, was a hard feat. "Okay, you might have a point there. But I'm still not wearing a blindfold."
"Come on, it’s a surprise. I thought you loved surprises."
JJ let her gaze slide down the straining cotton of his T-shirt, down his taut, chiseled abs, and then to his belt. She very deliberately gave him a devious smile. "I like surprises."
Jonas groaned and then planted his hands on either side of her, barricading her against the SUV. "Woman, we just made it out of the penthouse. I would actually like to go forward with the surprise. But if you keep looking at me like that, we won’t leave. I'll drag you back upstairs to our room, and do all sorts of naughty things to you. And then our surprise will be delayed. We’ll probably get there at night, and you won’t be able to see it properly."
"You say that like it’s a bad thing. Besides, maybe I'll distract you and you’ll forget all about this surprise that requires me to wear a blindfold."
He bent and nuzzled her neck, and she could feel herself melting. He was too good at that. Far too good. Matter of fact, if he kept that up, she pretty much would give him anything he wanted. Oh, the possibilities.
“I will not be persuaded by kisses.”
"Come on. I'm just asking to give you a surprise. Let me give you something. You trust me don't you?"
JJ giggled because she could feel his smile on her skin. She could be gracious, she could do this. Give him a little leeway and let him think he had the upper hand. Because, let's face it, they both knew she had the upper hand. She had boobs. And ass. Boobs and ass trumped everything when it came to men and women.
"Okay," she dissented. "You can blindfold me."
He immediately pulled back and gave her wolfish grin. "Really? That was way too easy. I anticipated a lot convincing. You know, driving you to the brink of orgasm, refusing to let you come until you said you’d let me blindfold you, and then keeping you on the verge of coming until we got to your surprise."
She narrowed her gaze at him. He knew what he was doing. His words alone were enough to make her hot. "I've been teaching you too much."
"Hey, I'm still trying to pay you back for that little trip to Vegas a month ago."
JJ had to smile at that. She had worked with the guys to secure a private jet so they could spend a couple of nights in Vegas. On the plane ride there, she’d handcuffed him to his seat and then given him a private lap dance and tortured him until he pretty much begged her to come. "You know what? You enjoyed every moment of that."
His gaze narrowed, and the flash of heat was instant. God she really did want to drag him upstairs. Fine, so maybe she was just as susceptible to him as he was to her.
"Maybe.”
“Maybe I take you upstairs and remind you.”
He shook his head. “Too late now. You’ve already agreed to let me blindfold you. Turn around."
“You want my hands on the car. Are you going to arrest me officer?"
As she turned around, he groaned low. "You are pretty much playing to every single dirty fantasy I've ever had about arresting a hot woman."
"You want to play cops and robbers?" She added a seductive note to her voice. Behind her Jonas just chuckled as he delicately placed the blindfold over her eyes and tied a knot securely at the back of her head.
When she blinked, she realized she could still see some light. So not total darkness. Besides, he was right. She might f
ight him on things like this, but when it came down to it, if he said jump she would ask how high. Because he would never hurt her. And he would annihilate anyone else who tried. He’d already proven that.
“Naughty robbers get spankings, JJ.”
"Oh, you’re scaring me now, Officer Castillo,” she said.
His voice was low and husky with just a hint of bite. "That’s Detective Castillo to you."
JJ giggled "Oh, so sorry, Detective Castillo. What is it that you want me to do?" She deliberately sashayed her hips, rubbing her ass against his erection.
"Fuck, JJ. We’re on the street. If you don’t stop that, you’ll be face down in the backseat of the SUV, and I'll be dragging those shorts over that sassy ass of yours. So behave." With that he swatted her bottom.
“Damn it, Jonas.”
His chuckle was low and seductive as he took her hand and gingerly led her around the car then settled her in the passenger seat. "Behave."
Once he was in the driver’s seat she turned to him. "Just where are we going? Am I even dressed appropriately for this adventure?"
"Not to worry. I had Lucia pack your bag."
JJ frowned. "Lucia? She helped you with this?"
Jonas laughed and his voice washed over her like warm chocolate. "Yep. Everyone did, even your ball buster of a boss. You have a whole week off from work."
"What? You really can't do that. I have things I need to —"
Jonas squeezed her hand. "I know you have things you need to do. But we’re taking one week. Just us. Besides, don’t you want me all to yourself? Imagine the things you could do to me with a blindfold and handcuffs?"
JJ opened her mouth then snapped it shut. "You do have a point."
"Somehow I thought you'd see it my way," he chuckled.
Wherever he was taking her, it took forever to get there. They were in the car a solid hour and a half. Of course it was Jonas, so it wasn’t like they had nothing to talk about.
They made their list of movies to see over the next few months, where to take Isabella for their next outing. Easy stuff. The kind of stuff she never thought she'd be able to share with anyone. But she had it now. And her life was downright perfect. She couldn't have asked for anything better.