Wicked Ties (Steele Security Series)

by Justice, A. D.

  That day, she was infinitely glad that she had given in and heeded Bull’s advice. The anxious feeling was at its peak and she knew she wasn’t just overreacting. One of the warehouse workers had been in the office all day. He had watched every move she made, listened to her every conversation that occurred outside of her office, and leered at her without trying to disguise it. She’d had an uneasy feeling all day and practically ran out the front door to Bull’s waiting SUV.

  “What’s wrong?” Bull asked, his facial expression and voice tone mirrored his concern.

  “Can we get out of here? I’ll tell you while you drive,” Chaise answered, still rattled from the events of the day. “I just want to get as far away from this place as possible.”

  Bull pulled out into traffic, his demeanor belying his thoughts and feelings. He knew from the fret in her eyes, the furrow of her brow, and the pitch of her voice that something was inherently awry. His first order of action would be to make sure she was safe. Second, he would find and kill anyone who threatened to bring harm to her.

  “Tell me what happened,” Bull stated calmly. “No one said they saw or heard anything out of the ordinary from our surveillance.”

  “There was a guy from the warehouse who was in the office all day today. He’s never worked in the office before. But all day, he was everywhere I went. He watched me, listened to my conversations, and he just gave me the creeps! I just get a really scary vibe from him,” Chaise explained.

  “You can show me which one he is when we get to my house. I’ll get Brad to pull up the feed and we’ll identify him. Could be a good lead for the case,” he reassured her.

  “I hope you’re right. I’m ready for this to be over! I don’t know how you do this all the time.”

  “Training, babe. I’ve had a lot of training to prepare me for missions. It conditioned me and taught me how to deal with intense situations. You’re doing great. You’ve been our eyes and ears all week,” he replied with a smile that relayed how impressed he was with her.

  “Now you’re just being nice,” Chaise playfully scolded.

  “No one’s ever accused me of that before,” Bull laughed. “I need to stop by the store first, if that’s alright with you?”

  “Sure, that’s fine with me.”

  Bull and Chaise strolled through the grocery store, picking out items together as though it had been an everyday occurrence. Chaise genuinely enjoyed his company and getting to know Colton Lanier, the man behind the Bull façade. She found that he had a heart of gold and a protective streak a mile wide.

  As they walked across the vast parking lot, talking and enjoying each other’s company, Bull wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. The casual movement was so natural but so intimate at the same time. Public displays of affection weren’t in Bull’s vocabulary but he seemed to be making a lot of concessions for Chaise.

  An alarming sound caught Bull’s attention just in time for him to lift Chaise off the ground, roll across the front hood of a car and duck between the parked cars. The all black, full-size SUV narrowly missed hitting them. The SUV came to a screeching halt several yards away and four men exited the vehicle, speaking in Spanish.

  “Which way did they go?” the first voice called out.

  “I saw them duck between those cars over there,” the second guy responded.

  “Spread out and find them. Kill him. Bring her to me—unharmed,” the last voice commanded.

  Over your dead body, Bull thought to himself. There’s still at least one more.

  Bull kept Chaise moving through the parking lot, winding between cars and keeping low to stay out of sight. He kept the men trained in his sights, but there was still one missing. Four exited the vehicle but he only had eyes on three of them. As Bull and Chaise cornered another vehicle, he saw the fourth man.

  Bull stopped dead in his tracks. All the years of training temporarily left him. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think straight to make a decision. He couldn’t make his feet move. He felt Chaise beside him, holding his arm in her tight grip, furtively whispering to him but her words held no meaning.

  When the man turned around, Bull stood up in plain sight and openly gaped at the man. Within seconds, Bull was knocked to the ground as gunfire erupted around him. A large body was lying on top of him, yelling something at him that he couldn’t understand. He struggled to get free but it was useless.

  “Bull, dammit! Be still! What the fuck are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?” Shadow screamed at him.

  “Get the fuck off me, man!” Bull yelled back, finally finding the capacity to speak again.

  “Don’t do it, man. I’m warning you,” Shadow growled back.

  Chaise had no idea what “it,” was, but Shadow’s words penetrated Bull’s anger. He finally nodded in agreement and relaxed his coiled muscles.

  Rebel came running up at that moment, “They got away but I got the plates. May be stolen but I have a feeling it’s not. Let’s go find out who we’re going after.”

  Bull stood and looked between his two brothers. His jaw was hard set, the muscles ticking and bunching in his attempts to keep his anger reined in. His face was beet red and his eyes were fierce—in a scary way.

  “What the hell are you guys doing here anyway?” Bull snapped.

  “You mean other than saving your ass? We’re doing our fucking jobs,” Shadow replied with his voice deceptively calm and low. “You nearly just got yourself and Chaise killed. What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Bull lied.

  “Don’t bullshit us, man. We saw the whole thing while we were getting into place to back you up. If you hadn’t stood up, we could’ve had these assholes,” Rebel admonished him.

  “Fuck! You’re right—you’re right, okay? I fucked up. Let’s get out of here,” Bull responded when he heard sirens in the distance.

  Someone surely had called the police and he wasn’t ready to talk to them. He decided he’d have someone from the Steele Security office call and apprise them of the situation. He had more pressing matters to handle first.

  Bull drove them back to his house, keeping both hands firmly gripped to the steering wheel. His body was rigid and his sunglasses shielded his eyes. But from what Chaise could tell, his eyes never veered in her direction. He was definitely in his own world and didn’t want to be disturbed. Chaise gave him some time and space, knowing that he would have to answer for everything soon enough since Shadow and Rebel were following them.

  When Bull put the truck in park, he exhaled loudly and turned to Chaise. His face was stoic but she knew if she could see his eyes, they would be full of turmoil. Slowly reaching up to his face, she removed his sunglasses and what she saw broke her heart. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t vengeance. She knew pain when she saw it—and Bull was hurting. Badly.

  “Talk to me, Colton. Tell me what happened out there,” Chaise asked softly.

  “I could’ve gotten you killed because of what I did. I’m sorry, Chaise. If you want Rebel or Shadow to take over, I won’t blame you,” Bull answered.

  “Wh – what? Of course I don’t want either of them to take over.” Chaise tried to contain the confusion, frustration, and pain his statement caused. She knew that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to realize how his words sounded. She didn’t want to add to it with her insecurities. It was definitely not the time.

  “Colton, whatever happened back there, I’m not leaving you. I don’t trust anyone else like I do you. Besides, they would probably think something was really wrong with me if I tried to sneak into bed with them at night because I’m afraid to sleep alone,” she tried to add a little brevity to the moment, get Bull to smile and realize that he wasn’t alone.

  Her plan worked—he gave her a small, half-smile as he rubbed his calloused fingers across her cheek.

  “Over their dead bodies, Chaise,” he countered.

  “There’s my Bull,” Chaise laughed. She wasn’t accustomed to using his nickname, but it s
eemed to fit and help remind him of his tough side.

  He smirked, “I’ll give you your Bull later tonight.”

  “And he’s back, ladies and gentleman!”

  Smiling, he shook his head from side to side. Bull couldn’t believe how quickly and thoroughly the relationship between him and Chaise had changed, but he had to admit that he was grateful for it. She was his breath of fresh air in his stale world. After realizing how dull and lifeless his existence had become, he suddenly wanted no more of that life.

  Since his father had abandoned him and his mother when he was just a young boy, he had kept personal attachments to a minimum. He had his mother, his brothers, Brianna—and that was it. He hadn’t let any other woman in until Chaise. He knew without question that she was firmly seated in his heart and his life. Her support and belief in him, even though she had no idea what had just happened, solidified her place in his small band of trusted people.

  Shadow and Rebel were waiting on the front porch of Bull’s large, suburban home. It wasn’t as big as Noah’s palatial home, but it was big enough to have all the amenities he needed. His eyes cut to Shadow and Rebel as he said, “Let’s get this over with.”

  Once inside the house, Shadow immediately started questioning Bull.

  “What the hell happened, man? And don’t tell me nothing—you and I both know that’s bullshit.”

  Bull gave them a full rundown of what had happened from his vantage point. He described the three Latino men in detail and gave a word for word recount of their conversation, including needing Chaise alive and unharmed. Then he reached the point of the story where he had to explain his actions. Or rather, he had to explain his lack of action.

  “Go on,” Rebel prodded, knowing that Bull was stalling.

  “The fourth man with them was…..my father,” Bull stated.

  Stunned silence filled the room. Chaise’s eyes flew from one man to the next, trying to figure out this part of the puzzle without interrupting their debriefing session.

  “Shit,” Shadow blurted out.

  “Holy shit,” Rebel echoed.

  “Yeah,” Bull deadpanned.

  “Um, can someone explain this to me?” Chaise thought she had held her tongue long enough.

  “My dad abandoned my mom and me when I was a kid. Just left one day and never came back. That was him I saw today….in the parking lot….with those guys who were after you,” Bull looked apologetic, as if he was responsible for his dad’s actions.

  Then he turned his attention to Shadow and Rebel. “I have to go to my mom’s. I need answers from her and I can’t do this over the phone. I’m going back to Alabama.”

  Shadow and Rebel simply nodded their understanding.

  “What about Chaise?” Rebel asked.

  “What about Chaise?” Chaise repeated, irritation laced in her words. “She’s right here. Maybe you can ask her.”

  Shadow smiled at Rebel, “I like her.”

  Bull was torn on what he should do with her. On one hand, he wanted to take her with him, to make sure she was protected and to get her out of the area. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure what information he would obtain from his mother, and how he would react to that information, so it may be best to leave her with Shadow and Rebel.

  Then he remembered her words spoken in jest while they sat in his truck.

  “Chaise comes with me,” Bull responded, leaving no room for argument. Chaise’s responding smile conveyed she knew exactly what he was thinking when he made his decision. Bull smirked at her sarcastically and shook his head as he walked toward the kitchen.

  “Beer?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sure.”

  Drinks in hand, the guys worked on their updated plan while Chaise put the remaining groceries away and started cooking supper. After a half-hour, Rebel appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

  “Damn, what smells so good in here?”

  “Chicken tortilla soup, Panini sandwiches, and chips,” Chaise answered as she stirred the soup.

  “Bull, you go on to Alabama. I’m taking her home with me,” Rebel teased.

  “The hell you say,” Bull challenged, positioning his body between the Rebel and Chaise. Rebel grinned, knowing he’d hit a nerve with Bull.

  “Let’s eat,” Chaise called out to no one in particular. She only wanted to quickly diffuse the tension in the room.

  Brad walked in with the surveillance recording so Chaise could identify the man who’d been watching her all day. As they ate, the recording played and she watched herself move around the office as if she were watching a movie.

  “That’s him,” she said as she pointed to the screen.

  Brad stopped the video, isolated the sinister man, and uploaded his image to the facial recognition software. The software used specific facial features, such as the width between the eyes, width of the nose, and depth of the eye sockets to identify subjects to people already housed in a database. Once a match was made, the system returned a name and last known address.

  “This could take a while to identify him. I’ll let it keep running and contact you when it returns a hit,” Brad told Bull. “We can start checking him out while you’re in Alabama.”

  Bull nodded, “Thanks, Brad.”

  When the soup and sandwiches were gone and the guys had left, Bull sat on the couch with the phone in one hand and his head in the other. He had to make the dreaded call to his mother to let her know he was coming home. But he didn’t want to tell her why just yet. He wanted to see her face when he told her he’d seen his father.

  The couch dipped beside him when Chaise sat down and put her arm around him. She lightly stroked the back of his neck and he let her touch help ease the dread inside him.

  “Do you want to talk about it before you call her, Colton?” Chaise asked supportively.

  He didn’t move other than to shake his head no. Her touch helped to calm him, her presence gave him strength, and he could feel her unconditional support. Without raising his head, his hand found hers and he lightly squeezed it, thankful that she was beside him. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm.

  Chaise moved closer to him, aligning her body with his and wrapped her other arm around him. She kissed his cheek and then nuzzled her face against his. Inhaling the heady mixture of his masculine, musky cologne and the all-male scent that was inherently Bull, Chaise had to willfully fight the impulses he ignited in her.

  Bull felt the change in the air and shifted his gaze to meet hers. He recognized the desire building in her eyes and knew his eyes mirrored hers. They’d slept together every night, but spooning had been the extent of their physical contact. With all the ambiguity in Bull’s life at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to put it all behind him, take Chaise in his arms, and take her to his bed.

  Bull tossed the phone onto the coffee table and pulled Chaise into his lap, straddling him so she was facing him. He crushed his mouth to hers, taking what he needed in a bruising, possessive kiss. There was no tenderness in it and he possessed no capacity for waiting. A voracious thirst had overtaken him and Chaise was the only one who could quench it.

  His hands hungrily and eagerly roamed over her body. His palms covered her breasts, greedily kneading them before his thumbs found her already taut nipples. He groaned into her mouth as his tongue swept over hers. Bunching her shirt up in his fist, he quickly yanked it over her head and threw it on the floor.

  Pulling the cups of her bra down, her breasts sprang free as he quickly covered one nipple with his mouth. Licking, sucking, and biting, he quickly had her worked into a frenzy. Chaise pulled his shirt over his head, leaned into him, and ran her tongue over his chest. His hands threaded through her hair and gently pulled her mouth back to his.

  “Chaise,” he said between kisses, “I can’t wait, baby.”

  “Then don’t,” she purred.

  She was instantly flying through the air and landed on her back on the soft, extra-wide couch. Bull grasped
her pants and had them in a pile on the floor before she could blink. After removing a condom from his wallet, his pants soon followed and he covered her body with his. As her arms moved to wrap around him, he grabbed them and pushed them above her head. Holding both of her wrists in one of his hands, he positioned himself at her wet, waiting entranced and swiftly thrust into her.

  She screamed out in pleasure at his sudden intrusion. He hooked his arm under her leg, bringing it straight up to rest on his shoulder as he straightened his body, and continued to surge into her, harder and harder with each thrust. Chaise was writhing in bliss beneath him as each plunge took him deeper and deeper inside her.

  When she reached out to touch him, he captured her hands and used them as leverage to increase his drive. He felt her inner walls tighten around him, rippling and quivering as they squeezed him in the most erotic dance.

  “I know you’re close, baby. Give it to me—it’s mine and I want it,” he growled at her.

  His words were all she needed to push her over the edge. Her orgasm felt like something akin to a tsunami. They rode the waves out together, until he had drained every last drop of energy from her body and she had milked him for everything he had.

  When she moved her leg, he released her hands and fell forward on her body. She wrapped her arms around him, her body completely spent and sated, but her mind whirred and buzzed at what just occurred. They had agreed to take it slow, but the sexual chemistry between them was stronger than a magnet to steel.

  While she tried to not read too much into it, his apparent aversion to her touching him during sex really bothered her. He didn’t try to keep her at arms’ length any other time. Like at that moment, as his body perfectly crushed hers into the couch, she gently stroked his back with her fingertips. But when they were at their most intimate, his walls were fully in place and she felt like she was firmly placed on the outside of them.

  Bull turned his face toward her and brushed sweet kisses on her cheek and jaw. He rose up on his elbows and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. His eyes searched hers intently but she didn’t know what he was looking for yet.