“Sounds very democratic,” Nash mused.
Brookes made a face. “But brutal.”
“You’re in the organized crime division of the FBI,” Nash said drily. He gave her a very definitive up-and-down look as though she were one of his soldiers complaining about a task. “If this seems too brutal for you, it’s time to change jobs.”
“You know, men like you really piss me off.” It was obvious that her temper was about to blow. “You think you’re such a badass because you had some military service.”
Behind him, Nash heard Quentin mutter something very uncomplimentary beneath his breath.
“The truth is,” Brookes continued. “Military service doesn’t mean squat when you’re here in the civilian world and you have to be diplomatic to get things done. We don’t just blindly follow orders out here.”
“It always amuses me when people who have no military service make statements like that.” Nash managed to grind the words out from between his clenched teeth. “You all assume that the military is orders and duty and things going to plan.”
“You’re all a bunch of jarheads following the mother ship.” Her words dripped sarcasm and derision.
Nash thought of all the men and women he had seen live and die under his command. This bitch had no clue what she was talking about. Worse, there was no way to truly make her see what it was like to have months of planning and strategy go down the drain right in the middle of a firefight just because one person forgot what they were supposed to do, or because the intel was bad. Those were the moments that truly sucked.
Quentin chose that moment to speak. “The hardest part of being in military service,” he told Brookes quietly, “is knowing that I bleed for dumb shits like you who have no friggin’ clue what goes on out there but simultaneously believe you’ve got it all figured out. We die so you can be an opinionated bitch.”
Brookes drew back in surprise. Nash didn’t have to be psychic to see that she was about to blow. They really had plenty of information. There was no more reason to stick around and listen to Miranda Brookes’s narrow-minded view of the world.
“You have a nice day,” Nash told Brookes. “I think we’re just going to head back to our headquarters and try to come up with a new strategy. You know, since that’s what marines do.”
“Yeah.” Miranda Brookes pointed to the door. “You guys do that and just leave the real law enforcement work to us.”
“Then you’d better hurry,” Nash said with a chuckle. “Or the Russians will have that body long gone before you can even get a warrant to get into that backyard.”
That seemed to get Brookes moving. She barked an order to the kid at the desk, and the poor guy jumped a mile. Nash offered the poor guy a look of sympathy. He had half a mind to hire the kid for some menial task that would still probably pay more than what he was making at the moment. Working your way up the ranks of the FBI was a thankless job. Nash would have never wanted to try it.
Chapter Nine
By the time Ava got home, she was exhausted. It wasn’t very late, but that didn’t seem to matter anymore. She was tired, grumpy, and very ready to go upstairs to bed. Unfortunately, Jason Nash was standing in her kitchen, looking just as tired and grumpy as she felt.
“What do you want?” she groused as she headed for the refrigerator. She opened it up and retrieved a bottle of fruit juice. Maybe a little natural sugar would help steady her blood sugar after she had eaten far too much for dinner at Chotzky’s. Stress-eating sucked.
Nash moved toward her, and for a moment, Ava wondered if he was going to try and block her from moving away from the fridge. He didn’t though. He just moved uncomfortably close to her. She could smell the spicy maleness of him. The scent lingered in her nose and reminded her of the times she had been naked in his arms. The memory was not as unpleasant as it should have been. In fact, it wasn’t unpleasant at all.
He put his hand out and ever so gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She pulled away from the touch. She didn’t want him near her. It made her unable to think.
“I spoke to the FBI today about our backyard problem,” Nash told her.
Ava considered this. “I spoke to Stedman about it.”
“You what?” Nash’s eyebrows shot up in obvious surprise. “You warned him? He’ll move the body!”
“I got your text right about the time I was standing in front of Stedman at the board meeting.” Ava felt a little chagrined about the way she had gloated to Stedman. Still, it felt good.
Nash seemed to be thinking this over. “What did he say?”
“He seemed pretty eager to head home and try and stop it from happening.” Ava wondered how that was going. It was tempting to drive over there and spy.
Nash started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop. Finally, Ava made a gesture to suggest he should either speak or get out. Nash put a hand over his mouth and managed to get control. “Sorry, but I was realizing that the second stop Quentin and I made was to the FBI. They’re going out there in hopes of catching the Russians digging up a body.”
“And if we’re lucky, they’ll find Stedman too,” Ava said with satisfaction. “I like that idea.”
“Me too,” Nash admitted. “I also found out that the old Sokolov Pekhan is dead.”
“Dead?” Ava’s brain seemed to stop for a moment as she tried to process that. “How can he be dead? They’re all following his orders. I thought he was just over in Russia.”
“Nope. Dead. Has been for a year,” Nash added. “I’ll admit that I was just as surprised as you are.”
“So, Stedman knows,” Ava guessed. “That bastard has been running things behind the scenes for a year because he knows that as soon as the Bratva leadership—the actual council part—knows that he’s running the show, they’ll toss him out and appoint someone loyal to them.”
“Exactly.”
“We have to get word to the Bratva council,” Ava decided.
Nash looked as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “Wait. What?”
“That’s the best way to end this thing once and for all.” Ava could see it all playing out in her head. “The Bratva will come here. They will investigate. They’ll decide that Stedman is a nuisance and either squeeze him out or get rid of him altogether.”
Nash began pacing. He left Ava still standing in front of the refrigerator and started walking around and around the kitchen table. “I wonder how much money he’s stolen from them.”
“It has to be a lot.” Ava thought about Ralston. “Do you think Ralston could be in trouble if the Bratva comes for his father and they think he’s in on it too?”
“Could be.” Nash said the words almost absently. It was as though he really didn’t care about her son.
“I want to make sure that Ralston is safe,” Ava decided. “You need to contact Analise and tell her that the deal is off. Tell her I want them to come home now.”
“It’s not that simple.” Nash gave an airy wave that made her feel as though he was barely considering her thoughts on the subject. “He knew the risks going in. Ralston can take care of himself.”
“You’re just going to ditch him out there?” Ava couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her temper went from simmer to boil in one second. She slammed the juice bottle down on the countertop so hard that the liquid splashed out of the top. “You can’t do that! It’s your fault he’s in trouble, and you had better make this right or I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Nash spun around and pegged her with a glare that only made her angrier. “You can’t just pull someone out of an operation like that. What’s he supposed to do? Walk into Stedman’s study and go, ‘Oh, by the way, I quit’? No! That would likely end in something really ugly.”
“I like how you call all the shots and I take all the risks!” Ava shouted. She was so angry and so hurt and so—she just didn’t know what. “You sit back here and say, ‘Oh, let’s play with these people’s lives.’ They’re the ones
who have to deal with your idiotic plans blowing up in their faces!”
“Hey!” Nash snarled. He wagged his finger in her face. “Your idiot son is the one who came up with this plan.”
NASH HAD NEVER felt so much anger before in his life. Worse, it was misdirected. Or rather it was directed all over the place and he could not get a handle on what was really responsible for this feeling that he had in his gut.
Ava acted as though he wasn’t concerned about her son. He was. He was very concerned about Ralston and about Analise. That was his agent out there with Ralston. The two of them were about to be in serious trouble, and Nash did not know what he could do to stop it.
He turned to say something else to Ava but found her standing so close that her breasts were actually brushing up against his chest. It was distracting. He could not remember what it was he wanted to say.
“I hate you,” she whispered.
He started to respond, but she stood on her tiptoes, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him full on the mouth. With the softness of her lips moving against his, he could not formulate a single response. In fact, he was fairly certain that his brain was completely paralyzed.
She tugged his hair and bit his lower lip. The sensation sent blood rushing to his groin. Within moments, his cock was hard between his legs and he was desperate to be inside her. Why was this happening? What could possibly come of it?
Then Ava broke the kiss. She stepped away from him only long enough to grab his hand. Dragging him toward the living room, she glanced over her shoulder at him. He could see the desperate hunger mixed with the anger in her expression. It was exactly what he felt. The two of them were so confused and so tangled that he wondered if they would ever be able to straighten things out between them.
“I don’t want to talk anymore,” she said huskily. “I need you inside me, and I need it now, and I don’t want to talk about that either.”
Nash might have been inclined to talk at least a little bit if Ava had not picked that moment to unfasten her pants and shove them down to her ankles. She turned around and bent over the couch. The way she presented herself to him was incredible. The erotic sight of her round, perfectly smooth butt cheeks lifted enticingly into the air was one he would never forget. She spread her legs just far enough that her pretty pink pussy was exposed. Her slit appeared slick with cream.
Nash could not resist. His hand was drawn to her. He gently rubbed one palm over her cheek before moving his fingers toward the opening of her body. He delved into the wetness and reveled in the amount of moisture that had already gathered. She was hot and wet for him! He had never known a woman to be so ready. It was flattering and so much of a turn-on that his hands trembled when he unfastened his pants.
Pulling out his cock, he gripped his shaft hard and tried to hang onto a shred of self-control. This was not a good decision. He knew that, somewhere in the back of his brain. He just couldn’t make himself care about that anymore.
The first press of his flesh into her slick channel was heaven on earth. Any remaining doubts flew out of Nash’s mind. He groaned and grabbed Ava’s hips. Her corresponding moan lifted the hair on the back of his neck. This was not sweet lovemaking. It was a hard fuck. That was what they both needed. He could sense it. His fingers dug into the flesh of her hips. He slammed his cock into her pussy. Backing out took seconds before he slammed inside her once again. The slapping sound of his flesh meeting hers filled the room. He could smell her wetness. The intoxicating scent only made him more desperate.
“More!” Ava urged. “Harder. Please. Harder.”
He obliged, because how could he not? Nash thrust inside her body as hard as he dared. She was grunting and groaning with each stroke. Her back arched. The smooth arch of her spine was beautiful to see. He placed one palm in the center of her back and felt her muscles flexing as she struggled to push back against him.
He loved the way she always wanted to meet him halfway. There was no doubt that Ava was in this one hundred percent. She might hate his guts in ten minutes, but for now, she was completely on board with what was happening.
Nash forced himself to pull out until his cock was nearly free of her pussy. She whimpered in protest. Then Nash used his hip action to thrust his cock back inside. He did this long stroke three times. Each time, he felt the tight muscles of her opening brushing the tip of his cock. The sensitive nerves there screamed in ecstasy. This was incredible. This was perfect. And when he felt Ava begin to tighten up as she prepared to orgasm, it only got better.
Her body bore down upon his. Nash sucked in a quick gasp as he felt her pussy tighten up. He could hardly move inside her. The friction increased until he thought he would lose his mind. Tiny pinpricks of heat bloomed along his shaft. Then he felt her release, and it was every bit as beautiful as he could have wanted.
Ava cried out. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched the back of the sofa. Nash managed to pull back and thrust home two more times before he too was overcome. His legs grew taut, and he felt his balls tighten between his legs. His cock throbbed, and then he convulsed with the power of his climax. Straining forward, he thrust hard and poured semen into Ava’s body. He struggled to give her everything that he had as he held tight to her body and refused to let go.
“So good,” Ava murmured. “It feels so good. I never want to stop.”
Nash could not help but wonder how long those words would last.
Chapter Ten
Ava lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. How many times could a person make a “mistake” without admitting that it wasn’t really a mistake, it was intentional? She kept telling herself that this business with Jason Nash—this relationship—was a mistake. Over and over again she told herself that he was emotionally unavailable. He wasn’t even amenable to the idea of a relationship in the first place, and he was completely inappropriate as a future—well, anything.
She flipped over in bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She had never been so very aware of him sitting out in that stupid surveillance truck all night. He did it every single night, and she knew why. He was attempting to put distance between them. The sort of distance that would make it easier to say that they were not in a relationship and that the two of them were just engaging in a physical fling of some kind.
Finally, Ava could not stand it anymore. She flung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her silk pajama bottoms clung to her legs. She reached for her wrap and pulled it on over the baby T-shirt she had paired with her pajama bottoms for bed. Heading out of the bedroom, she padded quietly down the hallway in the dark.
It was cool inside the house. Spring was coming slowly. Sometimes the old place was difficult to keep at a regular temperature, but Ava loved it anyway. This was home. She had never really considered sharing it with anyone before. Not since Tegan and Ralston had moved out and gotten their own places. That was the nature of children. They grew up and went away. They left their parents alone for the next phase of their lives.
Now, though, Ava could not stop thinking about the possibility of sharing her life with someone else. She had never really considered it before Nash came barreling into her life. She could still remember the day he had shown up on her doorstep and announced that Stedman Hyde-Pierson had hired him to keep her safe. She had laughed right in his face, but Nash hadn’t even been ruffled. It was in his nature to protect. And since Stedman had showed himself to be the real criminal in this story, Nash had been doing his best to make things right.
The kitchen seemed filled with a blue glow from the moonlight spilling through the windows. She especially loved this part of the house. And right now, when she needed someplace to think, she almost always sought out the big windows in her kitchen. There was a little bench there behind the round table.
Ava sat and pulled her legs up onto the padded seat. She stared out the window into the backyard and tried to sort through everything she was feeling.
NASH RUBBED HIS hand over his short hair a
nd yawned. He was tired. The cot in the corner of the truck’s tight quarters beckoned, and yet he knew he would never be able to get to sleep. He could not stop thinking about Ava.
He stood up and stretched until he heard half of his spine pop. It was stuffy inside the truck. Pushing open the door, he stared out at the moonlit street. It was finally quiet. Ava’s little section of Boston’s historic South End generally calmed down before the rest of the neighborhoods, but it was still city dwelling and subject to city crowds and traffic.
The cool air outside beckoned. Nash stepped out of the truck and stood on the sidewalk. He turned and stared at Ava’s house on the opposite side of the street. It was dark and quiet. He wondered if she was sleeping. Did she think of him? Did she wonder if he was thinking about her?
He shook off the fanciful thoughts. There was absolutely no reason to act like a lovesick teenager. The woman was probably thinking dark thoughts about him at the moment. She seemed determined to hold a grudge against him that made no sense. It was frustrating. Did she not see that he was the one trying to do the honorable thing? She should be thanking him, not trying to castrate him!
Nash could not stand still. Maybe if he took a walk around the house he would feel better. He closed the truck’s door behind him and heard the lock click.
“Shit,” he muttered. In his complete preoccupation with thinking about Ava, he had left his keys in the damn truck! He reached into his pocket for his phone. “Fuck.”
Of all the asinine situations to find himself in, he had managed to lock himself out of the truck without a phone to call one of the others to come and let him in. That left him with one choice. He could go up to the house and either hope that Ava was awake or wait until morning when she was. Either way, it was going to be a long night.
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