“Watch with popcorn!” She clapped excitedly, bouncing up and down.
“I was being sarcastic.”
“I wasn’t. I love watching a good fight. Why do you think I’m down here today? It’s not for the exercise. I love to watch them working out, sweat dripping down their bodies while their muscles flex with every movement.”
“They? You mean Derek, right?”
“Sure,” she giggled. “If it makes you feel better.”
I stared at her wide-eyed, but she just shrugged. “Look at them. Can you honestly tell me that you don’t think they’re all hot? It’s not that I want to sleep with all of them, but damn, talk about lighting my panties on fire.”
“And do you all feel this way?”
“I don’t know. Hey, Maggie.” Maggie turned and smiled at me. “Are you checking out everyone or just Sebastian?”
“Everyone. I’m doing research for a new article I’m writing.”
“Kate?” Claire asked.
“I’m taking notes on their workouts for their medical records.”
“Lucy,” I said, “Hunter isn’t even down here.”
She shrugged. “So? I’m keeping tabs on Knight for Hunter. He asked me to make sure he didn’t overdo it.”
“Isn’t that why Kate’s here?” I laughed.
“Hey, we all look out for each other. Besides, Knight has this crazy, psychotic demeanor about him that makes every woman either terrified of him or flaming hot.”
“Well, it’s good that you’re willing to share, Kate.”
“I’m not worried. Knight is laser-focused on Raven and me. He won’t let us out of his sight for even a minute. He has this watch on that tracks our every move with a camera. He thinks I don’t know about it.”
“That man is absolutely crazy when it comes to you,” Lucy said. “I’m not even sure how you ended up with him. The man stalked you and snuck into your house all the time just to watch you sleep. It’s creepy.”
“Seriously?”
She shrugged. “What can I say? I always felt safe when he was around. I know it sounds weird, but I knew he would always protect me because he was always watching.”
I nodded, biting my lip, wondering how the hell someone responded to that. It was so strange and I wondered if Jackson did that to me if I would still be with him.
“Well, considering that my first experience with Knight was him holding a knife to my throat, I’m not quite as enamored with him, but I will say, the man’s body moves like silk across my skin.”
“Does Sebastian know that you watch the others work out?”
“Hell no! And don’t you dare say a thing. It was hard enough to convince him that I wasn’t having an affair with Sinner.”
I glanced around the room and when I saw him, I had to fan myself. “Sinner is definitely…”
“Sinful?” Claire said helpfully.
I sighed, resting my chin on my balled up fist. “All this man candy in front of us and we can only have one. It seems wrong somehow, doesn’t it?”
The other ladies sighed in agreement as we watched the men flexing their muscles for us. It was such a sexy sight. “What do you think they would do if we all played a little switch up?” Lucy asked.
“How exactly?” Maggie asked.
“Well, each of us could go flirt with someone else just for fun.”
“Aren’t you worried that one of them would flirt back?” I asked.
All the girls laughed like it was the most ridiculous suggestion in the world.
“Trust me,” Maggie said, “when these men find the one, that’s it for them. No other woman exists to any of them. The only thing that would happen is a giant fight that we would have to break up. Then we would spend the next month with them tailing our asses to make sure that we weren’t doing anything we weren’t supposed to.”
“I take it you have experience with this?”
“The tailing? Unfortunately, Sebastian seems to think that I always need protection. It doesn’t matter how many guns I keep on me or how many times he sees me shoot someone, he still thinks he has to protect me.”
“Shoot someone?”
She shrugged. “It happens.”
“More times than it should,” Kate pointed out.
“Hey,” Maggie said indignantly, “I can’t help it if trouble finds me. I’m a magnet for danger.”
“Jackson doesn’t trust me with guns. I sort of shot him the last time he gave me one.”
“Did he call you fat?” Lucy asked.
“Or look at another woman?” Maggie added.
“Were you on a super spy adventure?” Claire asked excitedly.
“I bet he deserved it,” Kate said. “Men always deserve it.”
“Actually,” I stared at their eager faces. Never had I seen women so enthusiastic about knowing how a man was shot. “We were running from these guys that were chasing me at the hospital and Jackson gave me the gun to protect myself. Not that it would do much good. I know how to shoot a gun, but it’s not like I’ve been training for it.”
“So, what happened?” Claire asked, practically bouncing out of her pants.
“Well, we were running through the parking lot at the hospital and these men were catching up to us. Jackson shoved me to the ground between cars and gave me the gun. I assumed that he gave me the gun so I could be his backup.”
“That’s what any normal woman would think,” Maggie nodded.
“Right, so I followed him after he ran out like a crazy man, but people started shooting at me. I ducked behind a car and then stood and fired, screaming my head off as I fired.”
“Badass,” Kate said with a smile.
“Right, well, I also had my eyes closed. I may or may not have shot Jackson.”
“Hey, if he was in the way, that’s his fault,” Claire said supportively.
“How many did you take out?” Maggie asked.
“I don’t know for sure. I think at least two.”
She nodded, “Yeah, you should have had a grenade. You could have wiped them all out at once.”
“I was in a parking lot,” I said slowly.
“Right, and cars provide a great cover. You just toss that bad boy and boom,” she made an explosion with her hands as a smile spread across her face. “No more bad guys.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little trigger happy?”
“It’s the thrill of the chase.”
“You mean the story?” I asked.
“Sure, we’ll say that. Honestly, ever since I met Sebastian, I’ve had this really weird fascination with guns…and grenades. Grenades are my favorite. I’ve wanted to use a rocket launcher, but only Sinner has let me try that. Apparently, Sebastian thinks that’s too dangerous for me.”
“Yeah, I know I’ve always wanted to try a rocket launcher,” I said in mock agreement. “You know, they had bb guns for kids and lawn darts, why not a rocket launcher?”
“Okay, so Sebastian built this rocket launcher for the kids. It’s not at all what you think. So boring. Anyway, it’s got this air tank and then three PVC pipes that come out the top. He puts paper rockets in them. So, you use the pump to build up the pressure and then you press this button and they go flying into the sky. It’s really fun for the kids. I’ve modified it slightly. I don’t use two of the pipes and then I put nails in the third pipe. Man, you should see those kids run when I do that.” She was laughing hysterically, mimicking kids running around and screaming.
“Aren’t you worried that you’re going to kill your kids?” Kate asked.
“Nah, I put helmets on them and they’ve been trained enough at Reed Security. It’s actually good practice for them.”
“Knight would never let me over to your house if he knew you did that. It’s okay for him to teach Raven dangerous stuff, but nobody else better do anything that could potentially harm her in any way.”
“Just wait until you have more than one,” Maggie said. “I swear, Sebastian keeps knock
ing me up, but then he wants to wrap them in bubble wrap. They’re kids. They have to be able to run around and get hurt.”
“Yeah, well, Knight won’t have to wait much longer. I’m just about twelve weeks pregnant and I’m not gonna be able to hide it too much longer.”
“Why haven’t you told him?” Claire asked.
“You’ve seen Knight. I won’t be able to go anywhere without him. Last time, he followed me into work and picked me up every day. I just need as much time without the crazy as possible. Luckily, this pregnancy has been very easy.”
“Don’t look now, but we’ve got a pack of angry looking men coming our way.” Lucy pointed to the corner of the gym that was filled with men coming toward us.
“Do you think it was the popsicles?” Claire asked. “I wasn’t purposely trying to seduce Derek. Well, maybe I was, but I really like eating when he’s standing or sitting. Sometimes when he’s just talking on the phone. Everything he does is so sexy.”
Knight was the first to reach us and he was staring heavily at Kate. His eyes were dark and angry and his stance screamed that he was ready to kill. I just couldn’t understand why he was looking at Kate that way. Derek, Sebastian, and Jackson all followed suit. The only one not there was Hunter.
“Pregnant? When were you going to tell me?” Knight snarled.
“How did you…”
He held up his wrist, showing off his watch. “Did you think I wouldn’t put in audio? Imagine my surprise when I overheard my wife saying that she was keeping her pregnancy from me. For twelve fucking weeks.”
Kate scrambled to her feet, pulling Knight to the side. “Technically, it wasn’t twelve weeks. I found out eight weeks ago.”
Knight took a menacing step toward Kate, pushing her back against the wall. “Do you think I give a shit how many weeks it’s been? I should have fucking known. This body is fucking mine. This baby in your belly is fucking mine. We’re in the middle of a fucking war and I didn’t even know that I had a reason to worry about you miscarrying. You could have been taken at any time. Do you remember the last time this shit happened? Vanessa was pregnant and she lost the baby. How the fuck would I deal with it if that happened to you?”
His face was just inches from hers, and even though we had our own men staring at us, none of us could tear our gazes away from them. It was fascinating and terrifying as hell, but also a turn on. I could see now why Kate was so in love with Knight.
He pressed her hard against the wall and pushed his pelvis against her. His mouth moved sensuously down her neck, nipping and licking her as if he was a dog marking his territory. His hand slipped down her body until he was cupping her pussy as he whispered in her ear. I didn’t have to guess what he was saying. He pulled back and yanked her behind him, dragging her out of the room. I was fanning myself by the time they had left. Until I saw Jackson glaring at me. I glared right back.
“Nails, Freckles?” Sebastian snarled.
“Staring at all the men? Those eyes are only supposed to be on me.” Derek told Claire, then he turned to Lucy. “And playing with all of us, wanting us to get in a fight over your sex games?”
Before Jackson could say anything, I stood and held my ground. “Don’t even say anything. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You listened to their stories,” he growled. “They put ideas in your head that you don’t need.”
“Like they wouldn’t have gotten there on their own,” I snorted.
“You don’t need to be listening about things they’ve done in the past. Look at Maggie’s hand. Do you want to walk away with three fingers? Do you know what that did to Sebastian?”
I looked at Maggie, “Grenade?”
“No, knife,” she said with a grin, waggling her eyebrows. I looked at her strangely, but she just shrugged. “Battle scars.”
Sebastian pulled her away, grumbling about her being insane and how the men were supposed to protect the women. Jackson grabbed me by the chin, forcing me to look at him.
“They all find these stories funny, but trust me, they aren’t funny in the moment. Some people don’t come back, and for a while, you saw what that was like. This isn’t a game.”
“I never said it was, but they all have a point. You guys are so overprotective that it’s suffocating. Now I get why Isa, Lucy, and Lindsey acted the way they did when they thought their husbands died.”
“And how did they act?” he asked me in a dangerous tone.
“They acted like their husbands were assholes for leaving the way they had. And I quite agree. You all will do anything to protect us, but you don’t seem to do the same for yourselves. Any risk is worth it to you guys.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“Yeah? How many times have you been shot over the years, Jackson?” He didn’t say anything and I took that for my answer. “That’s what I thought,” I said as I walked away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jackson
“I’ve gone over all the pictures that you’ve given me and have profiles on all of them,” Becky said as she brought up the first picture on the screen. “Okay, the first three guys are just low men on the totem pole. They don’t really have any contacts that can help us.”
She flicked to the next slide and Storm spoke up. “That guy used to come into the club with some other guys. I think he was there for the poker night that Morgan worked.”
“His name is Dexter Corgan. He was a distributor of anything sold on the black market. He had connections all over the world and has been on pretty much every government’s radar for years, but for some reason, nobody could touch him.”
“How can you be untouchable by every government?” I asked.
“Maybe nobody actually wanted him caught,” Cap offered. “They kept him on their radar for security purposes, but in the end, if he was doing business that helped them, they kept him happy.”
“Did he travel under aliases?” I asked.
Becky shook her head. “Never. The man had some huge balls. He went wherever he wanted whenever he wanted. I’ve watched video feed at airports and security gates. He was never stopped or checked out. As soon as he was seen, he was just waved on through.”
“Where did he travel the most?” Cap asked.
“Central America was a pretty big supplier for him, along with Southwest Asia and Afghanistan for heroin. Russia, China, Belarus, Venezuela, and Iran are the largest countries for human trafficking. The largest population of sex trafficking still comes from eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, although Venezuela is also getting up there. Pakistan is the largest supplier of illegal arms and the Middle East is flooded with their weapons. Columbia is currently the top producer of cocaine.”
“So, basically, this guy was everywhere,” Cap said.
“Yes. He had a few competitors, but he was the largest fish before he was killed.” Becky flicked to the next screen and a new face came up. This picture was a profile picture instead of one of the images of dead guys. “Now, this guy was his number two-”
“I know him,” a feminine voice said from the doorway.
I turned in my chair to see Raegan standing just inside the room, staring at the screen.
“You’ve seen him or you’ve met him?” Cap asked.
“Met him. In the last year, Xavier was trying to make bigger deals, gain a bigger part of the market. This guy met with him a few times.”
“Xavier was a mid-level supplier,” Cap said. “Why would Corgan get involved with him?”
“He was planning on going up against the largest supplier, or that’s what I heard.”
“How would he do that?” I asked. “He didn’t have that many men working for him, and most suppliers are a helluva lot more cautious. We walked right into Xavier’s house.”
“Xavier was cocky,” Raegan snorted. “He always thought that he was going to take over the world.”
“This man is Ben Curtis,” Becky informed us. “He’s a DEA agent, working on a joint task force with ATF
. On the streets, he goes by Joseph Ramos.”
“Is he dirty?” I asked.
Becky shrugged, “It’s hard to say. He’s been undercover for so long, I doubt he even knows.”
“How did you get this information?” Storm asked. “Usually that stuff is-”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m good and I may have had Knight helping me. Seriously, Cap, you’re wasting that man’s talent.”
Cap just huffed in response. “Is there anyone else we can work with? This guy seems untouchable.”
“Unfortunately, he’s our best option.”
“Did he take over for Corgan?” I asked.
“It appears that he has, but it’s hard to say if Corgan’s contacts are as friendly to him. Corgan had the power of his name and his reputation. Agent Curtis is walking a fine line taking over Corgan’s role.”
“How do we even get in with Agent Curtis? That seems like an impossible task.”
“We don’t,” Cap said, staring at Raegan.
“No.” I stood and walked over to Raegan, standing in front of her as if that would protect her from what Cap was thinking. “There’s no way you’re using Raegan.”
“Use me how?” Raegan asked curiously.
“If you’ve met Agent Curtis, Ramos, we could have you run into him.”
“Did you just hear what I fucking said?” I snapped. Raegan pushed around me, completely ignoring me.
“He knew that Xavier was abusive. We could use that against him.” Raegan sat down at the table by Cap, the two of them strategizing like no one else was in the room.
“Have you run into him, really play up the abused woman on the run,” Cap nodded.
“Just one problem,” I snarled, “she doesn’t have any fucking bruises.”
“That can be fixed,” Cap waved me off.
“You’re not fucking beating my woman up.”
But no one was fucking listening to me. Raegan and Cap looked like two excited grunts planning their first mission together.
“And then I could convince him to let me stay with him for a few days.”
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