by Jan Graham
Billy grinned as she waited for her electronic tablet to connect to the oversized TV on the wall. Marcus dropped into his chair as a picture appeared on the screen, accompanied by Billy’s announcement of known associates. He immediately recognized the man standing next to Bethany, his arm draped casually around her shoulders.
“Is that—” Mac didn’t get to finish his sentence.
“Yes, Steve Jax,” Marcus stated before asking cautiously. “Anyone else I should know about?”
He watched, dumbfounded as pictures of Bethany’s other associates appeared on the screen—Steve Jax, Christian and Daniel Shore, Angel Wylde, Steve’s wife, and Mistress Mercedes from the Gentleman’s club. Jesus, how did Beth know these people? Marcus knew who each of them was. Steve Jax worked with him previously and remained a contact on the outer edge of his organization.
“What’s the connection, particularly to Jax?” Marcus held his breath. He realized it was a small world, but Beth seemed too young and indeed, too sweet to have an undercover drug squad cop, the superintendent of the major crime squad, a drug lord’s associate, and the most infamous BDSM Mistress in the city as friends.
“The pictures were taken last year, some are from the kinky wedding/collaring ceremony of Daniel and Christian Shore to Angel Wylde. Two men and one woman, she’s a damned lucky girl if you ask me.” Marcus noted the silly grin on Billy’s face as she continued. “Beth’s parents, who are friends with all concerned, catered the event as well as attending as guests. Beth was there as well although I’m not sure in what capacity, she does seem friendly with them all.”
From what Billy stated he assumed the connection was only social. Still, he now knew who to go to if he needed to find out more about the intriguing Miss Bethany Reid.
“Keep tabs on her and let me know when she turns eighteen,” Marcus noted the raised eyebrows and few questioning glances he received.
“You do realize, she’s legal now, albeit just legal if you’re looking for a fuck buddy or even a casual fling—” Hex obviously noted the look on Marcus’ face and shut the hell up.
This time, Marcus allowed his annoyance to show. What did everyone think he was, a predator who stalked young girls? More importantly, what were they implying about his Beth? That she was some sort of lethal Lolita, up for any old man to have his way with her?
“I’m not looking to sleep with her,” he snapped. “For God’s sake, at twenty-one years her senior, I’m old enough to be her father. I’m interested in keeping tabs on her for business reasons. She’s smart, observant and if the information she passed on tonight is any indication, one hell of a little spy. In our line of work, a natural talent like that could turn out to be very valuable.”
Billy smiled at him and nodded. He knew she wouldn’t let him down. Bethany Reid would stay on their radar until he decided what to do with her. One thing remained certain, with the difference in their ages, the only possible relationship they’d ever have would be a working one. A working relationship would keep them both safe. After all, he had codes he lived by, one of which now sat uppermost in his mind. Never get romantically involved with someone you work with, especially if she’s young enough to be your daughter. Marcus gazed up at the picture on the screen.
Never get involved, no matter how damned sexy or appealing Bethany Reid becomes.
Chapter One
“So how many girls have been taken?”
The question sent a shudder through Marcus, and the fact he couldn’t give his friend a definitive answer made him sick to the pit of his stomach.
“We have no idea.” He took a long draw on the Cuban cigar in his hand and exhaled slowly. “The only thing we know for sure is one girl escaped and managed to get to the Australian embassy in Tokyo. She’s identified another girl who had been missing for over twelve months before she showed up dead in a Tokyo alley.”
“I read about her. The tourist killed in an unfortunate accident, or so the papers reported.” Adrian blew a cloud of cigar smoke skyward. Much like the smoke, Marcus let his friend’s statement hang in the air.
The press made presumptions. Everyone, especially Adrian, was aware of that fact. Few realized, however, that governments and law enforcement authorities permitted the inaccurate information to remain in the public domain whenever it suited their needs. An unfortunate accident currently suited all their needs. At least, until this current mission was over.
“You know as well as I do she was neither a tourist nor the victim of an accident. She was innocent prey, discarded like a piece of trash when her owners tired of her,” Marcus clarified, not that Adrian needed any clarification.
“Disgusting.” The word described the situation perfectly although Marcus would have added an expletive like fucking disgusting to emphasize the gravity of the action. Disinclined to swear as much as Marcus, his friend simply let the word stand on its own. “So, what’s our plan to end these bastards?”
“Ha,” Marcus sounded. “Our plan is to sit here, enjoy the view, relish in the aroma of our Cubans, down the rest of this very expensive single malt whiskey, then sleep as soundly as men like you and I can.”
“Good plan, but I meant for the mission,” Adrian stated.
“Oh, you mean my plan to eradicate these SOB’s,” Marcus grinned wryly as Adrian reached for the bottle of single malt, offering him a top up before refilling his own glass. “I’m using the whole team. Some members are in place already, the rest are congregating here tomorrow for a brief. Bethany’s embedded as an employee at the club we’re using as cover. Once she’s snatched, I buy her back, and with that evidence and the other intel we’ve collected, the feds then round up the slave trading bastards, and the sex slave racket—in this country at least—is torn asunder.”
“Your confidence amazes me sometimes. You always make it sound so easy, my friend.” Marcus waited for the sucker punch he sensed Adrian was about to deliver. “Aren’t you the slightest bit concerned about placing the woman you care for so deeply in danger?”
And there it was. Right between the eyes. Calling Marcus out on the only thing truly worrying him. No, worried didn’t describe it appropriately. He worried about his team on every dangerous mission. This was different. This time it was Beth taking the major risk, and the thought of anything happening to her terrified Marcus to the core.
Bethany Reid, his youngest operative. He’d officially recruited her at the age of eighteen, but he’d seen the potential in her when they’d first met a year before that. She impressed him with her confidence, knowledge, and sass. Now, as a fully matured woman, she maintained all the qualities he first admired in her and more. Bethany was not only making inroads and advances within his organization, she was doing the same with him. Over the last four years, she’d wound her way into his cold, mercenary heart, something he never believed another woman would be able to do. It was a situation that both amazed and frustrated him.
She flirted with him regularly, and he allowed it. She made up cute names for him, he let her get away with that as well, responding as if she’d called him Boss like the rest of his crew did. He knew if he said the word, he could have her in his bed, but he refused to allow that or encourage it. Years ago, he’d vowed never to put another woman he loved in danger or allow his enemies to bring him to the point of annihilation once more. His decision to remain alone never bothered him until now. Until Bethany.
“I had an Angel like your Bethany once.” Marcus slouched his head back on the outdoor recliner. Adrian clearly wasn’t going to let this go, and he knew from experience not to even try to distract him. The man would finish when he was done and not before.
“All men have at least one woman who enters their life and makes them a better man. Bethany does that for you, whether you admit it or not,” Adrian stated firmly. “Without my Angel, I wouldn’t be sitting here. Lord knows where I’d have ended up.”
“What a shame yours didn’t show up sooner, she could have saved the country from some of the carnag
e you inflicted on it,” Marcus quipped. “Are you sure she wasn’t just a near-death experience vision from the last time you were shot?”
“She was the reason I got shot,” Adrian laughed loudly. “I copped that bullet doing what I should have done when I first laid eyes on her. I like to think of it as Karma. Anyway, it was the impetus for getting me where I am today.”
Marcus settled into the comfort of the lounge, closed his eyes, and savored the flavor of his cigar. He felt one of Adrian’s stories coming on, and he hoped it wouldn’t be a long one.
“You see, I met her when she was a young girl. Much like you and Beth, I felt the attraction but realized her age prohibited anything at the time, so I left her. We met again years later, the attraction I felt for her was even stronger, but I ignored it. I told myself no, she wouldn’t want an older guy like me, my lifestyle wouldn’t suit her, being with me would pose too great a risk for her. Sound familiar… daddy?” Marcus opened his eyes and glared over at Adrian.
Daddy was one of Beth’s pet names for him. He imagined it stemmed from the fact he sometimes called her baby girl, an endearment he’d used since she joined the team. One he used mainly to remind himself she was too young for him, and he could never have her.
“Do you know what those pathetic thoughts were, Marcus?” Clearly, the death stare didn’t intimidate Adrian. “Excuses. Stupid, fear-driven excuses. The final time we met, I let go of all that and, well, here I am. A better man.”
Marcus watched as Adrian raised his glass skyward in a silent toast. He knew the woman Adrian spoke of although he didn’t realize their association stretched back so far, or that his friend loved her. Considering she was in a relationship with two brothers, Marcus assumed the attraction wasn’t mutual.
“But Angel didn’t want you, Adrian,” Marcus stated, hoping the veiled insult would end the conversation.
“And that’s my exact point,” Adrian sighed the words, clearly frustrated. “Bethany wants you, and despite all the impressions you give to the contrary, you want her. It’s a mutual attraction. These last few years, I’ve noticed a change in you, and I’m sure others have as well. The change is because of her.” Adrian reacted quickly, raising his hand in front of him, palm outward the moment Marcus attempted to speak. “Don’t deny it. Don’t screw this up, my friend, you may not get return opportunities like I did. Let her make you a better man. Be happy, Marcus. Build a real life for yourself with a young beautiful woman who adores you.”
Marcus glanced at his watch—ten past midnight. Bethany was now officially twenty-one, which still made him…twenty-one-years older than her. He shuddered.
“I’m sure you didn’t have a twenty-year age difference with your love like I do with Beth,” Marcus pointed out.
“Semantics. I mean, who cares. If it’s not illegal, then age is irrelevant. It’s the attraction that matters.”
Adrian had given him food for thought. Still, the situation wasn’t as simple as his friend made out. Love and being a mercenary was not a successful mix. In the mercenary game, loving anyone was a liability, especially loving a woman. He’d done it once before when he was in his twenties, and what a mess that turned out to be. The relationship nearly destroyed him. It did destroy her. Marcus pushed the images of Suzanna’s violent death out of his mind. In the mercenary game, love could be deadly, he needed to remember that.
“I’ll take what you’ve said under advisement, Yoda,” Marcus jibed. “Now, can we return to our original discussion? I’d prefer words of wisdom about the case rather than my love life.”
Marcus gave a wry smile at Adrian who laughed raucously at the statement before regrouping.
“Yes, of course. Kidnapping innocent women, smuggling them out of the country, and selling them as sex slaves. It turns my stomach. What’s the world coming to my friend?” Marcus glanced toward Adrian, who now stared out over the harbor as if deep in thought. “You know, for all my crimes, and as you are aware, there have been many, I never went down that track. Sex should be consensual. Free choice is everyone’s right. Of course, some people might not like the consequences of their actions, but what’s that old saying—you reap what you sow. I mean, look at me, a dead man, sitting on a balcony in Vaucluse, one of the most exclusive suburbs in the country, looking out over Sydney Harbor, expensive cigar in one hand, single malt in the other. Who’d of ever imagined it?”
Who indeed?
The last person Marcus ever expected to call friend was Adrian Belvoir, formerly Adrian Hastings, the man who wreaked havoc as head of Sydney’s crime world for decades, and yes, his crimes calculated into the thousands. Marcus became Adrian’s reluctant minder/protector after authorities brokered a deal with Adrian to turn over intel on his international partners in crime. Of course, Adrian Hastings needed to die in the process, making way for the birth of the now reclusive, Adrian Belvoir.
For the past five years, Marcus or one of his team watched over Adrian, a man who lived but had no life. That was probably the reason they’d become friends. Marcus felt the same way. Like Adrian, he’d lost everything because of his chosen career. Now, he spent his time with a bunch of motley misfits all in the same or similar boat to Adrian and himself—single, alone, with limited or no family associations to speak of. His team of mercenaries were growing more like him by the day. Hardened, cynical fringe-dwellers who’d traded regular lives to step into an underworld of sleaze and corruption, hoping to make the world a safer place.
“We’re similar creatures, you and I, Marcus.” The words snapped him back to reality. “Different sides of the fence until recently, of course, but the consequence of our choices is the same.”
Marcus only grunted in reply. What could he say? Once again, Adrian nailed his private thoughts on the head. Scary fucking shit. They appeared to be on the same wavelength tonight. As Adrian fell silent once more, Marcus exhaled a deeply drawn veil of smoke into the night sky. In any other life, he’d count himself lucky, but the midnight sky he currently observed reflected his mood tonight.
“Do you regret the lifestyle, Marcus?” Adrian asked wearily.
Marcus didn’t reply. He liked to think he was a man of no regrets, but right at this moment, he wasn’t sure.
* * * *
“I feel old.” Bethany Reid sat next to her Boss, Marcus Delany as they maneuvered their way through rush hour traffic.
“I can’t believe you organized a meeting to discuss work the night of my twenty-first birthday. Do you know how difficult it was to convince my parents I needed to work tonight, so they’d have to do the whole birthday thing another time?”
Marcus didn’t reply. He was like that some days, consumed with his own musings. If Beth didn’t know him better, she’d assume he wasn’t even listening to her. Fortunately, she knew him well enough to know Marcus didn’t miss anything. He listened, observed, and calculated an appropriate response if he deemed it necessary. Yep, Marcus didn’t miss a trick. Bethany smiled cheekily in response to the glare he gave her when she turned up the radio. Yep, dark and broody Marcus was driving her to the compound as she liked to call it.
It was, in fact, Marcus’ private home, but, in reality, there was so much more to it. Four stories with only one visible from the road, three discernable from the harbor. A two-story private residence, with office, work, and training space on the lower level and a totally concealed underground interrogation area below that. Getting inside was like entering Fort Knox. Fences and gates a bomb probably wouldn’t penetrate as well as state-of-the-art surveillance systems surrounding every angle of the building. No one entered Marcus’ safe haven unless he wanted them to.
“If you’re upset about the birthday situation, I think Billy has organized a surprise party for you before the meeting.” Bethany shook her head in disbelief.
“Way-to-go genius. What part of surprise did you not get?” She consoled herself with the fact he at least acknowledged her earlier bitchfest.
He was usually like this before a mi
ssion, so serious she expected him to explode at any minute. That’s why on days like this, she referred to him as dark and broody Marcus. Of course, she preferred his other persona—sexy and serious Marcus. At least then, he tended to smile more, even flirt with her a little. They were the times she enjoyed the most.
“Best act surprised when you get inside. Billy will sulk for weeks if she knows I told you about the party,” Marcus stated as he turned off the engine.
Great idea, Captain Obvious.
Beth didn’t voice the words, not when he clearly had serious matters running through his head. She wondered if there was a problem with the mission but didn’t ask. She’d find out once the meeting convened. In the meantime, all she wanted to do was party.
A rousing cheer filled the room as Bethany entered. Clearly, her teammates missed the whole, jump up from behind the chairs and yell surprise part of the invite, focusing only on the party aspect. The testosterone-filled event was well and truly underway. Eight men geared up for their next mission didn’t leave much room for girly vibes to prevail. At least, Billy and Sasha were here to keep her company.
“Happy Birthday, Kiddo.” Hex thrust a beer into her hand and laid a kiss on her cheek.
“I see Billy went with the macho-fueled party theme, tonight,” she indicated toward the food spread out on the table near the wall.
Ribs, Buffalo wings, pizza, and salt-filled snack food. Add to that the two giant tubs of ice, filled with an assortment of beer and Beth was now the envy of every girl’s twenty-first birthday party dream—not.
“Only the best for you, babe.” Hex saluted her with his Heineken. “Hey, you rabble, quiet down, the birthday girl is here, and I’d like to say a few words.”