by Beth Abbott
As the sobbing subsided, he reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, and as Tulli gradually eased back, he passed it to her, with an understanding smile.
Unwilling to let Tulli go completely, he kept one arm around her, and as she wiped her eyes and her nose, he loved the way she kept one hand flat on his chest, as though she didn’t want to lose the connection either.
“I must look such a mess.” Tulli sniffed, looking up at him through her lashes. “How embarrassing!”
Gregor raised his hand and wiped a stray tear from her face.
“Tulli, you couldn’t look a mess if you tried.” He murmured, staring down into her smoky grey eyes. “You’re quite beautiful.”
He watched as her eyes widened in surprise, and noted how they seemed to darken as she stared up at him.
Without another thought, Gregor lowered his head until his lips touched Tulli’s in a featherlight caress.
When she didn’t move away, he increased the pressure very slightly for a few seconds, until Tulli moved her lips, turning to angle them in response, so she could deepen the contact, her eyes fluttering shut.
Gregor’s heart rate sped up and he wrapped her tighter in his arms, allowing himself the pleasure of exploring her mouth. When her lips parted slightly, he gently licked them, eliciting a moan of satisfaction from deep in Tulli’s chest.
It was all he could do not to plunder her mouth, and lower her to the sofa again, so he could free his hands to be able to touch her.
He wasn’t sure if the kiss lasted seconds or minutes. In fact, he wasn’t sure of much apart from his own name.
A noise from the hallway outside the office caught his attention, and he suddenly realised what he was doing.
He pulled back, staring at Tulli’s face as she opened her eyes slowly, her expression confused and almost childlike.
“I’m so sorry, Tulli.” He could feel his face fill with colour. “I didn’t mean to do that. I just… you were just… I couldn’t help myself. Please forgive me?”
Tulli stared at him for a few seconds while she regained her equilibrium.
“Please don’t apologise.” She whispered. “Or I’ll start to think you regret kissing me.”
Gregor was stunned.
“I don’t regret kissing you, Tulli.” He insisted. “I regret upsetting you.”
Tulli tilted her head to one side and stared at him for excruciatingly long seconds before breaking the silence.
“Did I say I was upset?”
Chapter 13 – Tuck
Tuck waited at the end of the hallway for Cole to come out of his meeting with Tulli and Gregor, hovering just outside the door to the den.
“We’re going to need to speak to Gregor about this, as well.” JT said from behind him. “Which means that we’ll need to separate him from Tulli for a short time, as we don’t want her to find out just yet.”
Tuck frowned.
The only person Tulli really knew here apart from Candy was Sara, but she was going to be in the meeting as well.
“Can you see if Alice and CJ can distract her for a few minutes? Maybe, take her to introduce her to some of the other wives?” He suggested. “She’s roughly the same age as Aisha, Abbey, and several of the others. It would be good for her to have a network of women to talk to.”
“I’m on it.” JT ducked out of the door, and headed in the opposite direction.
As Tuck turned and watched his friend make his way across the family room, he heard his study door open and glanced back.
Cole Arthurs closed the door behind him, and headed straight towards Tuck.
“Gregor asked if they could have a minute for Tulli to get her breath back.” He frowned. “She’s a brave woman, but baring your soul like that can’t be easy.”
Tuck looked at the door. He couldn’t imagine how a woman recovered from an ordeal like that, yet they had women enough in the family that were living proof that it could be done.
“Have you got a minute?” He nodded towards the den.
Cole shrugged.
“Why not?” He grumbled, glancing at his watch to see that it was after nine o’clock. “It’s not like I actually have a life!”
Tuck grinned and stepped back for Cole to pass him.
“We’re just waiting for Gregor to appear, and then the ladies will hijack Tulli and whisk her away for a little ‘girl-time’.”
Cole was instantly on the alert.
“What’s going on?” He asked Candy, who was holding out a drink for him.
“Tuck’s been getting calls all evening from former associates.” She frowned. “He’ll explain it all when JT and Gregor get here.”
As Tuck waited, Hannah and Danny arrived, and headed straight for the big sofa, where Marcus and Sara were already ensconced, the former with his wife’s feet in his lap, happily giving Sara a foot massage.
“I just messaged Gregor to explain that we needed to speak to him urgently, away from Tulli.” Hannah waved her phone in the air, as Danny scooped her up onto his lap. “If he read the message, he should be out any second.”
Tuck stared at his door, willing it to open. He didn’t want to upset Tulli any further, if she was already distressed, but sometimes you had to do things you didn’t want to.
Without warning, half a dozen of the kids appeared around the corner, screaming and giggling, charging straight for the den.
Tuck stepped forwards.
“Sorry, guys. The den is out of bounds for the next hour.” He held his arms out wide to catch them. “Why don’t you head to the kitchen to see if Aunt Ellen and Uncle Luke have finished baking those gingerbread biscuits, hmm?”
The squeal of excitement was deafening as the kids span around and headed for the kitchen.
“Ellen had only just gotten the ingredients out of the cupboard.” Hannah chuckled. “She’s going to love having all the kids around, shrieking ‘Are they done yet?’ for the next half an hour.”
Tuck shrugged.
“If anybody can handle a bunch of kids without any hassle, it’s those two.” He smirked. “They’ve got twelve of their own, haven’t they?”
“Erm, no, that would be four kids for Ellen and Luke.” Danny chuckled. “But you’re right. The two of them can handle it.”
At the sound of the office door opening, Tuck swung around, and Gregor led Tulli from the room.
Before Tuck had a chance to move, Alice and Sacha were sweeping past him with purposeful steps.
“Tulli, there you are.” Alice smiled and reached to take Tulli’s hands in hers. “These men have monopolised you all night, not giving the ladies a chance to have a proper introduction. If you’re feeling up to it, could we take you to meet a few of the quieter females? Believe it or not, there are actually quiet people in this family!”
Tuck watched Gregor smile at Tulli in encouragement, before Alice and Sacha gently steered her back in the direction of the family room.
As soon as she was out of sight, Gregor’s smile vanished.
“Problem?”
Tuck ushered Gregor into the den, and JT followed them in, closing the door behind them.
“About an hour ago, my phone started ringing, and it hasn’t stopped since.” Tuck frowned. “I’m getting calls from former colleagues in the military, the CIA, several other intelligence agencies, and a friend in the British government. They’re all calling me with a warning. The Colombia job isn’t finished. Not even close!”
Gregor shook his head.
“The Colombia job is very much finished.” He insisted. “The job was to rescue my daughter, which you did, and you topped that off by rescuing the other women. Now they’re all safe, what else is left?”
“When we went up against Luis Castille, it wasn’t the first time we’ve disrupted his business operation, as we’d already had a little encounter with him a few years ago.” Tuck explained. “But that time wasn’t so bad, as the man himself had no idea who we were. We were there with the backing of the military, so every
one thought it was simply a military operation. There wasn’t any way they could link anything back to us.”
“But…?”
“But this time, there’s plenty linking the operation back to you.” Tuck frowned again. “Not least your friends in the Russian military who helped us. It seems that someone on their team has been shooting his mouth off, saying how the Russians had to come in and help the Americans out of a bad situation.”
“Ok, so we’ve got ourselves a cocky Russian. Why does that make a difference?” Gregor still looked confused.
“It makes a difference because we’ve just discovered Luis Castille had a major link to another of the big cartels, one that nobody knew about until word of his death got out.” Tuck explained. “Apparently, Luis had a daughter we knew nothing about, whom he married off to one of the other Cartel leaders, and she’s now looking for revenge against the people who killed her daddy.”
“Seriously?” JT’s jaw dropped. “I don’t mean to sound sexist, but women don’t tend to wield the power in the cartels, not outside of the kitchen that is. What makes Castille’s daughter so special that anyone in her husband’s cartel will listen to her? Doesn’t her husband have a say in this?”
“Ordinarily you would be correct. Very few women get to eat at the top table in these organisations.” Tuck agreed, glancing between JT and Gregor. “Have either of you ever heard of a guy called Hector Vega?”
Gregor shook his head, but JT whistled.
“The cartel boss? Sure, he’s one of the most notorious cartel leaders in the Americas. But he’s been in prison for almost a decade, hasn’t he?” JT frowned. “One of those high security units that has five thousand guards and ten inmates?”
“Didn’t he almost escape a few years ago? There was a huge kerfuffle because dozens of guards were killed?” Hannah chipped in.
“Yes, and yes, to you both.” Tuck nodded. “He was all but out of there, when a random bullet from one of the guards hit the tail rotor of the helicopter he was using to escape. Came back to earth with a bump, straight into the exercise yard.”
“What does this Hector person have to do with all this?” Gregor shrugged. “I’ve never even heard of him.”
“Well, he’s been one of the richest and most powerful of the cartel capos for almost fifteen years, but the irony is that his wealth, which was substantial before he was incarcerated, has more than trebled since he was imprisoned.” Tuck explained. “All courtesy of one Mrs Luciana Vega. Or ‘Lucky’, as she’s known within the family. At least, that’s the name they call her to her face.”
“What’s the name they call her behind her back?” Hannah wondered.
“They call her the ‘Widow-maker’.” Tuck scowled. “Because of all the law-enforcement officers and federal agents she’s supposed to have killed.”
“Nice!” Hannah snorted. “And don’t tell me… Lucky Vega’s maiden name wouldn’t happen to be Castille, would it?”
“Give the lady a lollypop!” Tuck rolled his shoulders, as if to relieve them of some tension.
“Ok, so we’ve discovered that the link to Luis Castille is a rather unpleasant lady in the Vega cartel.” Gregor repeated slowly. “But how much of a threat should we see this as? I mean, Colombia is a long way away, and they’d have to get through immigration if they wanted to send someone here. We could have the airports and ports watched for such things, couldn’t we?”
“We could, it’s true.” Tuck acknowledged. “Except for one thing…”
JT waited for Tuck to finish, but frankly, he was all out of patience.
“And that one thing is…?”
“The thing is… that they’re not in Colombia.” Tuck explained. “The Vega Cartel operates in the north-east of Mexico, a mere fifty miles over the border with Texas. They probably have trucks coming over the border every half an hour, carrying legitimate goods which they trade over here. Getting cartel people into the US would probably be child’s play for them.”
Tuck watched as the various people in the room absorbed the information he had given them.
“What are the chances they’ll know about my involvement and come after me or my family?” Gregor asked. “And are they likely to know anything that links Alpha-Stalwart to me?”
“We’ve received word from one of the agencies that they have someone deep undercover with the cartel. Their agent has let them know that Lucky has heard about your involvement somehow.” Tuck explained. “Whether they know the whole story and blame you for everything that’s happened, and more specifically, whether Lucky Luciana Vega blames you for the deaths of her father and cousin, remains to be seen. We won’t know any more until the agent checks in tomorrow morning.”
Gregor stood rooted to the spot, and Tuck watched as his fists clenched and unclenched over and over again, as he tried to think his way through the problem.
“Ok, well, my security can protect me, if necessary.” He finally announced. “My ex-wife’s husband will have to know, but he already has his own security detail, what with being a politician. That probably takes care of Natalia and Serge. I need to hire you guys to take care of Sophia. I doubt if she’ll agree to go into hiding while Alex is in the hospital, so if you’ll take the job, I’ll pay double whatever the going rate is to keep my daughter safe, and...”
“No.” Tuck stopped Gregor in his tracks.
“But…”
“Gregor, I don’t mean ‘no’ as in we won’t take care of Sophia… we most definitely will.” Tuck smiled. “But as you rightly pointed out, Sophia and Alex seem to be becoming something of an item, so it stands to reason that she qualifies for the family rate.”
“And how much is that?” Gregor frowned.
“Sweet F A!” Sara chuckled, grinning at Gregor.
“She means ‘Fuck all’! As in ‘nothing’.” Danny clarified.
“Yeah, I think he knew what F A meant, big mouth!” Hannah poked her husband in the ribs.
“Alex is not going to be able to leave hospital for at least twenty-four hours, and even then, he should really go somewhere he can convalesce properly.” Candy explained. “Sophia could go with him, which will keep them out of sight for a week or two while we figure this thing out.”
“They could go to my mom’s place outside of Denver. We could hire a charter to fly them there, rather than use one of the Stalwart jets.” Hannah suggested. “My mom is supposed to be flying back to London tomorrow anyway, as Cameron has some school thing he needs to be back for. The house won’t be occupied before Christmas, if then.”
“That would be perfect.” Candy nodded. “We could send a security team with them just in case.”
“Most of the Alpha team was supposed to be flying home to the UK tomorrow. We’ve got a few big contracts coming up.” JT commented. “Do you want them to stay? I can always reassign…”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Tuck shook his head. “We have plenty of Stalwart people available, plus Gregor’s team as well. And then I can always call on various contacts in the agencies to help out if required.”
“We’ll stay behind.” Hannah announced, glancing at Danny for confirmation.
“Sure!” He snorted. “You might need to appropriate a satellite or two!”
“I’ll speak to Alice, and make sure she’s Ok to take the kids back. If she’s fine with that, I think I’ll stay here for a few more days, and see if I can make myself useful.” JT nodded.
“Dammit!” Gregor hissed, rubbing the ends of his fingers across his brow.
“What?” Tuck demanded. “Something we haven’t thought of?”
“Yeah, you could say that.” Gregor nodded. “What am I going to tell Tulli and her sisters? They think it’s all over!”
Chapter 14 – Sara
Sara sat at the breakfast nook in Gregor’s kitchen, sipping her green tea.
“So, was Joel happy to come and visit with Mischa today?” She asked Charlie, who was stirring his coffee distractedly.
�
�Mmm? “He glanced up. “Oh, yeah… he was thrilled. He wouldn’t stop talking about her yesterday, to the point where my mom and dad were exhausted just listening to him.”
“How’s your dad doing?” Marcus asked. “He’s had a pretty big operation, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah, they’ve replaced his heart valves.” Charlie nodded. “He’s doing really well. The doctor told my mom that if he keeps up his recovery, he’ll be home in a week or so.”
“That’s great, Charlie.” Sara smiled. “I bet they’re missing having Joel around all the time. He’s such a ray of sunshine.”
“He is that.” Charlie smiled, glancing towards the door.
“Is something bothering you, Charlie? You seem distracted.” Sara frowned. “Joel is fine upstairs with Mischa and Marcy. He won’t come to any harm.”
Sara watched Charlie blush.
“I know Joel’s fine.” He admitted. “But I haven’t seen Tulli or Lara since I got here half an hour ago. Do you think everything is Ok with them?”
“Have you spoken to Tuck this morning?” Marcus asked, glancing at Sara as if trying to decide what he should or shouldn’t be saying.
“I had a message from Sacha that he wanted to speak to me today, but he was in a meeting when I called in.” Charlie explained. “Sacha just asked me to come here with Joel, and to meet you guys here.”
Charlie glanced between the two of them.
“I’m out of the loop, somehow, aren’t I?” He asked.
Sara nodded.
“Yeah, you are.” She admitted. “Sorry, I thought Tuck would have explained everything to you before you came over. He’s coming over here in a little while, but I guess it’s not fair to keep you in the dark.”
Charlie stared at her patiently.
“So, is it a state secret, or are you gonna fill me in?” He crossed his arms, as if prepared to wait her out.
“Well, it’s not a state secret as such, but you will have to keep it to yourself.” She pointed out. “It seems like our problems with the Colombian cartel haven’t gone away. Castille had a daughter who all but runs her own cartel in Mexico, while her husband is in prison. It looks like she knows about Gregor’s involvement, and might be looking for revenge.”