Love and Payne

by Charlie Cochet

  “Come along, Maisy. Time to go.”

  “I don’t want to,” Maisy protested. “I want to stay with Zach.”

  Barlow’s nostrils flared. “Maisy Lou-Anne Barlow, you come with me this instant.”

  Maisy shook her head and dug her heels in. The entire exchange was being broadcasted on national television, and Zach felt for Barlow, who was growing more red-faced by the moment.

  Zach knelt in front of Maisy and smiled warmly. “You should go with your daddy. How about if I walk you to the car?”

  Maisy let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders falling dramatically. “Okay,” she mumbled. She looked up at her father expectantly, and Barlow let out a sigh much like his daughter’s as he removed his gloves from his black trench coat and began pulling them on.

  “Fine.” He spun on his heels and started for the car, grumbling something unintelligible under his breath.

  Zach chuckled at Maisy’s adorable pout, and as he stood screams filled the air, followed by gunshots and the revving of an engine. Zach’s blood turned to ice when an armored vehicle jumped the sidewalk. Where the hell had it come from?

  Barlow’s security grabbed their employer and shoved him into his limo, ignoring his cries for his little girl. If they planned to come back for her, they wouldn’t make it in time. Zach swept Maisy up in his arm and cradled her to his chest as he broke into a run, his ballistic shield protecting them from any stray bullets as THIRDS agents opened fire on the vehicle. Colin’s alarmed voice came through Zach’s earpiece.

  “Zach, look out!”

  A second vehicle rounded the corner ahead of him and jumped the curb. It lurched forward, and Zach quickly scanned the area around him—two vehicles headed in his direction, one from each side, parked cars blocked him on his right, and the THIRDS HQ fence towered to his left. He was boxed in. Maisy’s screams had him bolting again, and he spun toward the limo. The door flew open, and Barlow punched one of his security guys in the face when the man attempted to stop him from opening the door farther.

  “Maisy!” Tears streamed down Barlow’s distraught face as he scrambled away from his security to reach his daughter.

  Zach made a run for him, but he wouldn’t make it in time. If he could get Maisy to her father, the armored limo would offer them ballistic protection. Zach dropped his shield to the ground, curved side up. “Barlow! Incoming!”

  Barlow nodded, and Zach quickly laid Maisy on the shield and strapped her in. “Hold on real tight, okay.” She nodded frantically, and Zach thrust his shield forward. It skidded across the sidewalk, and as soon as Barlow had Maisy in his arms, Zach turned, his brother’s panicked cry in his ears.

  “Oz!”

  Zach heard the skidding tires, saw the smoke, and braced himself as best he could before the armored truck slammed into him. His feet left the ground along with the rest of his body. He soared through the air and fell. Then everything went black.

  CHAPTER 2

  “SO FUCKING bossy.”

  Austen snorted as he shoved Brayden’s shirt up his slender torso. “How long have you known me?”

  “Too long,” Brayden teased good-naturedly as he fumbled with the button of Austen’s jeans while he kissed, licked, and nipped whatever patch of Austen’s skin he could reach. “Fuck, would you get naked already, please? I swear if you don’t fuck me in the next five minutes, I’m going to explode.”

  “Well, aren’t we impatient.” Austen chuckled. “Not a great quality for someone in your profession.”

  “Fuck off. You’d be impatient too if you hadn’t had sex in as long as I have,” Brayden said with a growl. “I was stuck in Moscow for fucking ever.”

  “It was two months.”

  “The longest two months of my life,” Brayden whined dramatically, making Austen smile. “My balls were blue, and not just from sexual frustration.”

  “You’re a snow leopard Therian. You love the snow.” Austen pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it off the side of the bed to join Brayden’s clothes.

  “Yeah, because in my Felid form, I have thick skin and a built-in fur coat made for the cold. My Human side possesses neither of those things.”

  “Would you quit your bitching?” Austen threw off the last of his clothes and arched an eyebrow at Brayden, who raked his gaze lecherously over him and moaned. Brayden sucked his plump bottom lip between his teeth and nodded. He threw his arms around Austen’s neck, and Austen shook his head with a soft laugh. “You’re such a dork.”

  “But an adorable dork,” Brayden pitched in, pulling Austen down against him. He rolled his hips against Austen’s, making him groan. “An adorable, naked, very horny dork.” Brayden reached up to kiss him, but Austen flinched, stopping him in his tracks. “What can it hurt?”

  Austen sighed. He leaned his brow against Brayden’s. “A lot, Bray, you know that. I’m sorry.” They only had one rule between them, one rule Austen had put in place from the beginning when they’d first made their arrangement. No kissing. That’s it. Everything else was on the table. Austen looked down at him with a sad smile. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re my best friend.”

  Brayden huffed. “I’m your only friend.” A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lush lips.

  “Fucker,” Austen said with a laugh before sobering up. “That’s why I can’t.”

  Brayden Kavanah was a beautiful, sweet-faced young man, who would either be some lucky bastard’s greatest adventure or a tragedy waiting to happen. With floppy blond hair, big blue eyes, a rosy complexion, and the compact, lean body of an athlete, Brayden was something out of a wet dream. When he widened his eyes or lowered those long lashes, his cheeks flushing and his pink lips pouting, anyone, no matter their gender, would fall under his spell and drop to their knees before him. Austen had never known another example of physical perfection the way Brayden was, from his defined muscles to his flat abdomen, bubble butt, and delicate features. His beauty and powers of seduction made him the perfect agent provocateur for the Therian Intelligence Network. There wasn’t one foreign target—be it dignitary, soldier, or arms dealer—who Brayden hadn’t managed to wrap around his little finger. Austen was the exception to the rule.

  “Okay, no kissing. Can we fuck now?” Brayden nipped at Austen’s chin and grabbed his ass.

  “Yes,” Austen growled, rutting against Brayden. They rolled around the bed, heat and need building once again between them. He threw a hand out on the bed, searching for the condom. Finding it, he snatched it up as his phone played the annoyingly familiar tune that meant sexy-times was over. Motherfuck.

  “Fuck, just leave it.”

  “Really?” Austen grunted. “You want me to tell our boss I didn’t answer her call because I was too busy fucking you?”

  Brayden huffed and rolled over. “Fine.”

  Austen snatched up his phone and placed his thumb to the screen. He swatted Brayden’s hand away from his ass as he held the phone to his ear. “This better be good,” he grumbled.

  “If you want to see him, he’s at New York Presbyterian Hospital.”

  Austen bolted upright, his blood turning to ice. He didn’t even need to ask. He knew who Sparks was referring to. She’d only call him about two people, and one of them was halfway across the world with his annoying husband. “What happened?”

  “There was an attempt on Aaron Barlow’s life today outside THIRDS HQ. Two armored vehicles drove through the barricades, one of them slamming into Zach while he was saving Barlow’s daughter. As of ten minutes ago, he was out of surgery. Internal bleeding. From what I’ve learned, he was very lucky.”

  Fuck. Austen ran a hand over his face. “Thanks.” He hung up and jumped out of bed to collect his clothes from around the room.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I gotta go.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Come on, it can wait a few minutes, right?” Brayden rolled out of bed and took hold of Austen’s arm, his boyish smile falling off his face when their eye
s met. “Shit. Is it Sloane?”

  Austen shook his head. There were only two men he’d allowed into his heart, each for a different reason, and now one of them was in the hospital in God only knew what condition.

  “Zach.” Brayden released Austen and dropped down onto the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry.”

  Not as sorry as whoever hurt Zach was going to be. Please let him be okay.

  Osmond Zachary was the opposite of Austen in every way imaginable. He was the epitome of good. A huge-ass bear Therian Boy Scout who helped little old ladies cross the street and ran into burning buildings to rescue kittens, puppies, and tiny orphans. Superman and Captain America had nothing on this guy, and no matter how badly Austen wanted to forget him, he just couldn’t, and he cursed himself every damn day for not having the balls to walk away.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Brayden asked, concern in his big blue eyes.

  Austen finished getting dressed and shook his head, grateful for Brayden’s understanding. Brayden was more than a fuck buddy. Sure, they hooked up for sex whenever they were in the same city, but Brayden was a good friend, one of a handful of people Austen trusted. He was about to head for the door when he realized there was something Brayden could do for him.

  “Actually, yeah. Get dressed. I need someone with your skills to run interference.”

  “Cops or reporters?” Brayden asked as he hurriedly pulled on his jeans.

  “Family.”

  Brayden arched an eyebrow at him.

  “If Zach’s in the hospital, it means the entire Zachary clan is there too. There’s ninety-five of them.” Just the thought made Austen’s eye twitch. Fuck, Zach’s parents and siblings were probably beside themselves. Austen couldn’t deal with that. He needed to see Zach alone, make sure he was okay.

  Brayden’s jaw dropped. “Ninety-five? Are you fucking with me right now?”

  Austen shook his head. He was familiar with every member of the Zachary clan, but he wasn’t about to start thinking about his sad little hobby of Keeping Up with the Zacharys.

  “They won’t all be in the waiting room, but they’re going to be on the property or near it. Zach’s the baby of the family, the favorite uncle and cousin. You’re going to be drowning in bear Therians.” Austen patted Brayden’s cheek. “Bram and Edan are the second and third youngest of the Zachary brothers. They’re closest to Zach, single, and lucky for you, will totally go for an adorable snow leopard Therian with fuckable lips. Work on them, and you won’t have a problem with Colin.”

  Brayden followed him out of the hotel room. “Who’s Colin?”

  “The oldest Zachary sibling and Zach’s Team Leader,” Austen replied as they walked briskly toward the elevator. “This shit happened on his watch, so he’s going to be one snarly motherfucker, and he’s scary enough when he’s in a good mood. The kids are everything, so if you find yourself crashing and burning, you get close to them, and the rest will be eating out of your palm.”

  The elevator doors opened, and Brayden stepped in after Austen, mischief in his sky-blue eyes. “For someone who avoids Zach like the plague, you know an awful lot about him and his family.”

  “Shut up,” Austen mumbled, urging the elevator to move faster. He ignored Brayden’s laugh as they reached the lobby and he bolted toward the doors. Outside, they got a cab, and the second Brayden’s door closed, they were off. When they got to the hospital, Austen jumped out of the car, letting Brayden take care of the driver.

  Fuck. Austen spotted roughly a dozen of Zach’s family members scattered outside the hospital. Most of them cousins. A couple of news vans were also parked nearby. It looked like they were setting up. Austen grinned to himself. Poor bastards thought they were going to get near Zach or his immediate family. He wished he could stick around to watch the bloodshed. Nana Elsbeth and Nana Larena were going to decimate them. Their favorite grandbaby, Osmond, was injured, and the hospital was littered with great-grandbabies and great-great-grandbabies. Anyone who got near them was toast.

  As soon as Brayden joined him, they hurried inside, everyone too busy giving the reporters the skunk eye to pay them any attention. The place was packed, and they kept their heads down as they briskly walked through the lobby. Austen removed his secure TIN-issued smartphone from his pocket. It was more a tiny portable computer with the ability to open the doors to any digital system connected to the internet. Logging in to TIN’s intelligence network, Achlys, he discreetly held his phone up to his face. It scanned his retina, and then he placed his thumb to the screen that appeared, and he was in. Tapping away, he connected to the hospital’s computer, and several heartbeats later, located one Osmond Zachary.

  “You know, I’ve been through a hell of a lot in my career, but I can say with absolute certainty that this is the most terrifying moment of my life.”

  Austen patted Brayden’s back. “Don’t let me down, Bray. I need to get close to him.”

  Brayden let out a sigh. “Okay. I got this. You do what you gotta do.”

  He had no doubt Brayden would come through for him.

  Austen had broken into the hospital countless times. Most of the time, he’d had a disguise, but he hadn’t had time for that. He slipped into the ICU wing and ducked into one of the supply closets, then locked it behind him. He used his phone to access the hospital’s personnel files, found what he was looking for, and shoved his phone into his pocket before sneaking out of the closet to find the locker room he needed. Thankfully, it was empty. After locating the right locker, he made sure the coast was clear, then broke into it. He quickly got dressed in the blue scrubs, clipped on the ID of a cheetah Therian nurse who could easily pass for Austen, and closed the locker. On his way to the nurses’ station, he grabbed a clipboard and hurried down the hall looking for the recovery room they’d moved Zach to.

  The hospital was a flurry of activity as usual, with the addition of those injured in the chaos unleashed outside THIRDS HQ. Austen made it to Zach’s room without incident, but then that’s what he’d been trained to do, to become invisible. To walk through a crowd and not be given a second thought. After finding the room, he quickly scanned the hallway, then slipped inside. He closed the door behind him, took a deep breath, and turned.

  Austen wasn’t a praying man. Never had been. His life, and the world in general, was too fucked-up for him to believe in a higher divine power. There was no real goodness in the world, or so he’d convinced himself a long time ago. No one had been able to tell him otherwise. In front of him was proof good existed, which was why he should have braced himself for the impact. Had he not been in the room, he would have thought he’d been hit by the same truck that had slammed into Zach.

  Pulling himself together, Austen rolled his shoulders back and held himself tall. He walked to Zach’s bed and stopped beside him. The room was silent except for the beeps and noises from the machines monitoring Zach’s vitals. His fair skin was bruised, his handsome face marred with several cuts and abrasions. In one hand he had an IV keeping him hydrated, and in the other an IV administering morphine. Thankfully he was breathing on his own.

  Austen tapped away on his phone, looking up Zach’s patient file. His heart slammed into his chest, and then his blood boiled. The armored vehicle had plowed into Zach and launched him several feet into the air before he came down hard on the concrete sidewalk. His tactical gear and the fact he was a bear Therian built like the broad side of a mountain were the reasons he’d not only survived, but hadn’t sustained life-threatening internal injuries. A smaller Therian such as Austen wouldn’t have been so lucky. Whoever did this to Zach, Austen would find them and make them pay. Right now he just needed to know Zach would be okay.

  Putting his phone away, Austen stood beside Zach, guilt flooding through him. While he’d been rolling around in bed with Brayden, Zach had been fighting for his life. But how the hell was he supposed to have known? It wasn’t like he could keep an eye on Zach every minute of the day. Besides, Zach was a THIRDS agent.
He knew the risks when he signed up. They weren’t anything to each other. It wasn’t Austen’s place to worry about the guy or kiss his ouchies better. What the fuck was he doing here? He shouldn’t be keeping tabs on Zach, or his family.

  You need to walk away.

  And yet, here he was, dropping everything to check on Zach. He never had trouble walking away. Why was he putting himself through this? Whatever this was.

  Austen tried to avoid being in the same space as Zach, but circumstances kept shoving them together. Circumstances and an annoying blond menace who thought himself a matchmaker. Former THIRDS agent turned TIN operative Dexter J. Daley was a colossal pain in the ass, but there was no one more upstanding. It made Austen’s teeth hurt. The guy was filled with a bottomless supply of love and goodness; he was the only one capable of saving Sloane from himself. The two were meant for each other. Once Austen accepted that Sloane would never see him as more than a little brother, balance had been restored to Austen’s world. Until Sloane went and fucked everything up with his good intentions.

  That was the problem with good guys—they were always trying to “help.” With one phone call, Sloane Brodie turned Austen’s life upside down. The truth was, he only had himself to blame. A childish need to impress Sloane during a case had led to Austen getting injured. Much to Austen’s annoyance, Sloane decided to bring in a babysitter. Of all the THIRDS agents Sloane could have chosen, he called Zach. That night changed everything, and thanks to Dex’s meddling, Zach kept popping up in the same places as Austen.

  It wasn’t like Austen was even nice to Zach. Instead of walking away or telling Austen to fuck off, Zach kept seeking him out. Why? What the hell did Zach want with him?