by Chloe Lang
She shook her head and continued working her tables.
Crazy how protective he’d become with her. His norm usually bordered on bastard according to some of the subs he and Wade had shared. More than a couple had told him he didn’t even have a heart. But apparently they were wrong. His heart was thudding in his chest, readying his entire being to pounce should danger appear near Mackenzie.
Mackenzie grabbed the pitcher of tea and headed his way. Her slightly swaying hips mesmerized him like they’d done for the past two months. His lust for her was unimaginable and more powerful than ever, but his need to keep her safe was even more mind-boggling and so very potent.
“Any word from your brother about Austin?” she asked quietly while pouring more tea into his glass.
“Not yet. Relax. Wade knows a thing or two about the guy. Austin won’t be tipped off. You’ll see.”
The lie didn’t feel right on his lips. Lying wasn’t something that came easy for him unless necessary. Now it was definitely necessary. Mackenzie was putting herself in danger just by being here, especially if her suspicion about her brother was correct. Why was lying to her so hard? He didn’t want to lie to her. Ever. But now it was too important not to. She was not thinking clearly. Her brother was in danger—or dead.
“You know you don’t have to keep watch over me, Wyatt. I’m a big girl.”
He smiled and to tease her, dropped his gaze to her very ample and beautiful chest. “I can see that.”
She shook her head and sighed. “You and your brother can be so immature.”
“Guilty as charged. You can’t blame us, Mackenzie.” He reached up and cupped her chin for two reasons. One—he couldn’t resist touching her. Just watching this beauty work had tempted him for weeks. Now, knowing Wade had enjoyed her naked body without him was driving him insane with desire.
“Hey, Mackenzie, when you get a chance, could you get me a piece of apple pie?” asked Deuce, the boyfriend of the owner of Norma’s.
“Absolutely,” she answered.
A few of the unattached males in the place turned their lusty eyes their way, reminding Wyatt of the other reason he touched her here and now. Two—he wanted everyone to know she wasn’t up for grabs. He kept his hold on her chin and reached around her waist with his other hand, cupping her ass.
“Wyatt, what are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He was feeling that luscious ass of hers. He’d been dying to do it for two months.
“You know what I mean, cowboy. Don’t be dense.” She was so sexy when she pretended to be annoyed.
“Sweetheart, public displays are commonplace in this town. Very common.” And he planned to take full advantage of that now that she was theirs.
She didn’t blink. “Might be, but would you mind not mauling me at my job?” Her tone was firm, but the little mischievous grin on her lush lips spoke volumes.
“Not just yet, Mackenzie.” He glanced around the room and saw all the eyes go back to their own meals. Good. His point was made. He leaned in close, keeping his hands in place on her curvy body. “Just playing to the undercover card, sweetheart. You understand?”
Unable to resist, he inhaled her sweet scent before releasing her. He looked at her gorgeous eyes, which were now blinking. Her grin turned into a full smile, and his cock responded instantly.
How could only her smile make him hard that fast? He wasn’t sure, but the discomfort in his jeans couldn’t be missed.
“Wyatt, why haven’t we heard from Wade yet? Surely he’s finished talking with Austin’s secretary by now.”
“Relax. We’ll hear from him soon. You better get Deuce his pie. Finish up with these last customers and I’ll get you out of here and we will go find Wade. Okay?”
She nodded, reminding him how much he wanted her. Inside this tough, strong woman was a sweet submissive. He just knew it.
Her demeanor darkened with worry. “I hope Wade finds something that will help me get to the truth about my brother.”
“We’ll find him, sweetheart.” They wouldn’t stop looking until they did.
“I hope so.” She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.
“Trust me.”
Again, she nodded. “Better fill up some glasses or Carlotta will fire me.” She moved around the tables with a smile, clearly part of her persona to keep locals thinking she was just sweet Mackenzie, the grinning girl with the great body.
The truth? Wade was going in with a frontal assault. No charade. His twin was going to ask Austin how he knew Trent Green, plain and simple.
Wyatt had talked about the tactic with his brother when Mackenzie was in the shower getting ready for work.
Austin wasn’t one to beat around the bush. When they’d asked about joining his club, The Masters’ Chambers, he’d made that happen. Once they’d gone through all the training, he’d asked them to become “Angels,” official Dom enforcers of the club. Not that Wyatt or his brother thought of him as a friend, but he was still someone they both trusted. If the eldest of the Wilde brothers knew anything about Mackenzie’s brother, he would tell them.
* * * *
Wade walked into Austin’s office at The Masters’ Chambers. The big guy sat behind his desk.
Leaving Mackenzie, even under his brother’s protection, had been difficult. Still, he knew Wyatt had the skills to make sure no one harmed a single hair on her beautiful head. Nothing else in the world mattered to Wade as much as her. Hell, nothing came close.
Austin looked up from a big stack of papers. “What’s up, Masters? Your message seemed urgent.”
“It’s a long story, but I need to know everything you know about Trent Green.”
Austin’s eyes widened. “What do you know about Trent?”
“You first,” he answered. Best to get all the details before he decided to trust Wilde’s most powerful resident with everything.
“He’s my friend. Where is he?”
Austin knew Trent was missing? “That’s what I’m trying to find out. How did you meet him?”
“He’s in the lifestyle. We were at a conference in Dallas a few years ago and hit it off.” Austin leaned back in his chair. “He and I were working on something together. He sent me an e-mail about three months ago, and I haven’t heard from him since.”
That was about the time Trent disappeared. “What were you working on, exactly?”
Austin’s eyes flared with anger. “Something that would finally put away that crooked bank president, Malcolm.”
Wade’s gut tightened. The same asshole who held the notes his fathers had signed to the family ranches. He and Wyatt were trying to get free of them, but were having no luck so far. What more was the asshole banker capable of? “Fill me in.”
“Trent’s landscape business had turned sour during the recession. He was unable to get funding from local sources to keep afloat, so he went online.” Austin frowned. “Then one caught his eye because of me.”
“I don’t understand.” Austin had an investment website?
“Wilde Nevada Venture Capitalist Limited.”
Wade shook his head. “Never heard of it.”
“Me either until Malcolm Winters urged me to invest some of my personal funds into it a while ago.” Austin leaned forward, picking up his coffee cup and taking a long sip.
If Malcom Winters was involved, it had to be bad. “Fuck, anything that man touches eventually turns to rot.”
“True. I didn’t trust him, but before Jessie came to Wilde, I was planning on leaving town. Moving my money into other investments was part of that plan.”
He couldn’t imagine Wilde without Austin. He was one of its most powerful residents. “I thought the silver mine and this club were your only investments.”
“They were not that long ago. They will be again,” Austin vowed.
“I’m glad your lovely wife changed your mind about Wilde.”
“Me, too, Wade.” The man he knew to keep his emotions in check no
dded and smiled. “There’s something shady about Winters’s investment brainchild. I’ve been looking into it and other investments he put me in. Wilde Nevada Venture Capitalist Limited issues loans with more risk than traditional outlets will tolerate. Trent’s landscaping business is quite risky. He remembered I was from Wilde and decided to apply for a loan. Nothing happened for months, and his business continued to sink lower and lower. He was about to lose it when along comes Malcolm with an offer to buy a controlling interest at a price too good to be true.”
So Malcolm had waited until Trent had no choice but to accept his terms. “Why didn’t he call you to get the lowdown on Winters?”
“He only had my e-mail at the time, and the mine was dealing with the sabotage from Samantha. I didn’t see it for weeks. Long story short, he signed the dotted line. Once I got his e-mail, it was too late to pull back. Things went great for a bit but turned sour quickly.” Austin’s expression turned grim. “Malcolm’s people were managing the books, and he saw a bag full of hundreds being dropped off at his firm’s offices late one Saturday night.”
Shit. This was worse than he’d thought. “Money laundering, I would guess.”
Austin nodded in agreement. “That’s what we both suspected. Trent thought he was close to uncovering something big when he disappeared.”
“Have you gone to Wayne with any of this?” Wayne Champion was acting sheriff since Sheriff Davis’s accident. The retired doctor from Elko had moved to Wilde with his new bride, Connie, Charly Wynn’s mother. Apparently, law enforcement was something he’d always dreamed of.
“Yes. He and I have been working together on this.” Austin paused. “Now it’s your turn. How do you know Trent?”
Wade took a deep breath. “I don’t. I know his sister.”
* * * *
“I’ll tell her,” Wyatt said softly into his cell, trying not to disturb the sleeping beauty on his sofa.
“Keep her safe and away.” Wade’s tone didn’t surprise him. It was obvious that his twin was completely gone on her already.
“You know I will.” He scanned Mackenzie’s slack body and listened to her gently breathing. She’d drifted to sleep as they’d been waiting for the call from his brother.
“I want her for both of us, but if she can’t make that choice—”
“Stop. I know.” He did know. For the first time in their lives, Wade would choose something apart from him—a life with Mackenzie if it came to that. The only explanation for that was love, total and overwhelming. Their mother had accused them of being able to read each other’s mind, which was somewhat true, though not in the psychic sense. The way they approached life was identical, even more than their looks. Wade would never surrender Mackenzie, and neither would he. He closed his eyes, feeling the impending disaster’s nearness. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. You just find out what happened to her brother.”
“Wyatt, while you’re keeping her away, you could work our previous plan of one-on-one.”
He liked hearing him say that. It meant Wade still hoped for a life like the one they’d grown up in. Their parents had shown them the possibilities of what a family could really be with true love and unselfish sharing, and sharing such an amazing woman as Mackenzie would be more than either of them had ever dreamed possible. But another part of him, a new part, wanted her all to himself. The atrocious thought filled him with concern and disgust. He needed to keep his head clear.
“Just find her brother. I’ll keep her safe.”
“I’m just saying this could be our chance.”
He remembered how they’d been at the breakfast table earlier that day and felt a pang of regret and jealousy well up inside him. “Don’t you mean my chance?”
“Don’t be an asshole, Wyatt. Of course I want us to be a family for her. You and me. That’s what you want too, right?”
“Like our mom and dads.” Yes. That was what he wanted. It had to be.
“Give her your best moves, Wyatt. You never know what might happen. Besides, she needs her mind occupied.”
“That’s for sure.”
Before falling asleep, Mackenzie had asked him every five minutes to check his cell to see if Wade had sent a text.
“I’ll let you know what we find in Vice.”
Wade, Austin, and acting sheriff Wayne Champion, were checking out a car that had been discovered by a hiker at the bottom of a cliff. The hiker couldn’t make out the number on the license, but it wasn’t a Nevada plate. It was a Colorado plate. It might be Trent’s missing car.
Wyatt placed his cell on the coffee table and leaned back in his chair. He took another shameless scan of Mackenzie’s curvy body. God, he’d never seen a woman more beautiful in his life.
When she’d slipped into unconsciousness, he’d imagined getting on top of her. He would’ve been careful not to wake her since she obviously did need the rest, but having her under him, ensnared by the weight of his frame, would be a dream come true. Of course he hadn’t. His concern was for her well-being more than answering the call of his own desires.
Rage boiled inside him at the thought of someone causing her suffering. If her brother had been kidnapped or killed, and it was becoming clear one of the two definitely had occurred, life was going to get really tough for her. If Austin and Wade found Trent alive, a cloud would be lifted, but if they found him dead, her grief would likely shatter her very world.
It wasn’t hard for him to imagine the pain she would suffer if the worst outcome came to pass.
The woman of his brother’s dreams yawned, and her eyes fluttered open as she stirred. Relief rushed through him and all his muscles at attention fell at ease. What was it about Mackenzie, the woman of his own dreams, that got to him on so many levels? His need to care for her, to make her safe…hell, to make her happy, was deeper than anything he’d ever felt before.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better. I didn’t mean to doze off, though.” She sat up and stretched her arms over her head, making her breasts move and tempting him once again to cover her body with his own. “Any word from Wade?”
“No. Soon, sweetheart. Soon.” As he settled back in the chair, he became aware of his balls growing heavy. His intense lust clawed in his gut, demanding he act. “We have to be patient.”
She stood up. “Don’t tell me that, cowboy. I’ve been patient. More than patient. My brother is missing. Has been for some time.” She shook her head. “I was an idiot for opening up to you and your brother. Damn it, I know better. I should’ve kept this to myself.”
He stood up and pulled her into his chest. “It’s going to be okay, Mackenzie.”
Her body began to shake and tears began to flow down her cheeks. “You’re just saying that. What if…what if I never find Trent? What if he’s…I can’t say it, Wyatt, but what if?”
Wyatt smoothed her hair. “Trust me, Mackenzie. We’ll find him.”
“Please, God, let it be true.”
Wade’s earlier words about her need to have her mind occupied informed Wyatt what he needed to do right now. It wasn’t ideal, not one damn bit, but it was necessary. Better would’ve been to woo her. She was the kind of woman who needed finesse, romance, and a combination of tenderness and strength. More than that, she deserved it.
Not his strong point. He was more of an in-your-face kind of guy, which suited this situation perfectly. She’d had sex with Wade, and by what he’d seen after had enjoyed it very much. Forget subtlety. It was time to drown her in pleasure so she could forget, if only for now. Once done, Wade would certainly contact them with whatever turned up in Vice. Hopefully it would lead to something they all wanted—Mackenzie more than anyone—a living and breathing Trent.
Whoever was responsible for Trent’s situation, whatever it was, Wyatt vowed to hunt him down and kill the motherfucker that had made her agonize so. If it turned out to be Malcom Winters, all the better. He’d been looking for a reason to put a bullet in that man for mont
hs now.
He stroked her hair, enjoying the feel of her silky locks. He’d always discarded lovers like candy wrappers. Chalking it up to the job of being a club Dom at The Masters’ Chambers, he and Wade quickly moved from conquest to conquest. Subs came and went. Subs needed training. They were doing a service and were happy to oblige. He enjoyed the variety and never felt like he’d missed out on anything. With Mackenzie, something had changed inside him. He couldn’t imagine touching another woman ever again.
“I should go to my place. I’ve asked too much of you and Wade. It’s too much,” she said, wiping her eyes.
Pushing down his own thoughts, he willed his entire focus to this woman. She needed him not to be some Dom trainer, but to be here, present, and real.
“You’ve got to trust us.” He slid his hand down the small of her back and let his other hand rest on the curve of her hip. “Time to get that mind of yours quieted down for a bit.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her lips pursed for the taking.
“This.” He leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers. She tensed for a moment, but as he deepened their kiss, she closed her eyes, and he felt her body relax and melt into him. His inner furnace roared with new flames, hotter flames, as he slipped his tongue into her accepting mouth, enjoying the taste of her warmth. His nostrils flared, taking in her scent, jolting him, stoking the hunger inside him beyond measure.
Mackenzie opened her gorgeous eyes even as their kiss continued. The wonder he found there, gazing back at him, was something he would not let go of.
He ended their kiss. “Better?”
“Yes,” she answered breathlessly.
“Good.” He dropped the hand he had on the small of her back to her ass and lifted the hand on her hip up her sides. “I like waking you up this way.”
“I know about you and your brother, Wyatt. I’m not really sure if I should do this with you. I’m more of a traditional girl than you think.”
“I like that about you, sweetheart. We both do. There’s more to you than you think.” He began massaging her left breast with his hand. “You and Wade aren’t exclusive, are you?”