Raiden: A Stand Alone, Irish Mob Crime Romance (The Kent Brothers Book 2)

by A. M. Hargrove

  “I’m thinking about our future together and the idea that I’m a part of a family again.”

  “Yes, you are. I hope you don’t want to kick our asses very often.”

  “I’m sure I will now and then, but you can’t understand how much it means to me.”

  “Hey, wait a second. You’re not just marrying me for my parents, are you?”

  That cracked me up. “Most women cringe at the idea of their mother-in-law, but not me. I’m super excited about it. But to answer your question, no.” To prove my point, I scooted closer and kissed him. “Your mom, while she’s awesome, doesn’t quite float my boat where it counts.”

  “Good,” he mumbled against my lips. Then things heated again. It never took much to get things going between us. Raiden was always generous regarding my pleasure. He made sure I always got mine, which was what he was doing now. There was nothing like having his mouth and tongue between my thighs, licking and sucking, while his fingers stroked me in sync.

  “Yes,” I moaned.

  “Like this?”

  “Uh huh.”

  He fluttered his tongue over my clit as he spread me wide and I came with an explosion of sensations. Before I caught my breath, his cock took the place of his fingers and he thrust in, root deep, driving in and out, in and out, until we both dripped with sweat. His brow creased as he kept up the punishing rhythm.

  “I’m coming.” His thrusts pushed the breath out of me as I spoke, so my words came out in a rush. My inner muscles quivered against him, and then he groaned and ground his pelvis against mine as he climaxed.

  “Shit, Scottie, what was that?” he asked, as he dropped and rolled over, taking me with him so I was on top.

  “Fantastic.”

  “Doesn’t come close.”

  “Exceptional?”

  “Better than that. I think I may have seen stars.” He rubbed his cheek against mine.

  “It’s that epic eggplant of yours.”

  His body shook as he laughed. “Epic eggplant, huh?”

  “Yeah, or magnificent mushroomsicle.”

  “Oh, God. What do you do? Sit around conjuring up these terms?”

  “Not at all. I’m just funny.”

  He did his best to look stern, but failed. Then he said, “Okay, then. It’s safe to say my magnificent mushroomsicle has a very strong affinity for your passionate pleasure pothole.”

  “Pothole? Pothole? Oh my Godddd!” I snorted out the most obnoxious laugh a human ever made. My laugh subsided to giggles as I kept repeating the word, “Pothole.”

  “What can I say? I couldn’t come up with anything better.”

  “How about pussy?”

  “Eh, too common. I wanted something special.”

  “And you thought pothole was special?”

  “Princess, you can’t deny it’s memorable.”

  “I’ll give you that.”

  “Be glad I didn’t tell you I was fond of your fluffy folds.”

  “Good lord. That’s sinking to an all-time low.”

  “How about we get in the bed? My ass is getting rug rash.”

  “That’s the least you deserve for calling my pussy a pothole.”

  The grin he gave was so fucking sexy, I wanted his magnificent mushroomsicle to fill my lonely pothole, and I told him as much.

  “Only if I can fondle your fluffy folds.”

  I smacked him. “They are fluffy.”

  “They’re perfectly fluffy. And not flappy.”

  “Shut up before I cut you off.”

  “You’d never do that.”

  “How do you know?”

  “You’re in love with the behemoth beast too much.”

  I threw a pillow at him. “You’ve gotten carried away.”

  “On your stomach, legs spread.”

  “Mmm, I love the sound of that.”

  He pushed the pillow I’d thrown at him under my hips and his fingers gently spread me. Hot breath blew across me as his tongue teased my clit. It wasn’t long before I was begging for more. He was always generous in that respect.

  The best part of all was when he hovered over my back and pushed himself deep inside. This time he deliberately thrust in and out at a teasing pace.

  “Faster,” I begged.

  “Not this time.”

  In and out, over and over, I lost time because of the exquisite pleasure he was creating.

  “Raiden, yes.”

  He nipped my shoulder, neck, and anywhere his mouth had access. We both chased our orgasms together, but it was a long time before either of us climaxed, both of us enjoying the journey.

  My protests were loud and clear when he pulled out.

  “Sorry, princess, but I want to hold you, not crush you.”

  I fell asleep in the embrace of his arms and we both woke up the same way. We’d forgotten to close the shades before we fell asleep. The sun’s orange glow streaming in woke us up in the early morning.

  “Hey,” I said, kissing his jaw. “I love to see you in the morning with your hair rumpled up.”

  “I love yours messy too. How’d you sleep?”

  “Like a log with an empty pothole.” I waggled my brows.

  “I know exactly how to fill that pothole of yours.”

  “You do, huh?”

  He turned me onto my side and soon did exactly that. His morning wood was impressive as we fucked. The ache between my thighs disappeared as my lust took its place.

  “Scottie, I love to fuck you.”

  “I love you to fuck me, Raiden.”

  I reached around and grabbed his hip. His fingers were tweaking my nipple, and he released it to lift my thigh. Then he was circling my clit and pressing down, sending me off the edge. He didn’t follow immediately, but kept on playing with my clit, tugging and flicking it. Orgasm number two crashed down on me, and that’s when he let go.

  We lay there together in comfortable silence. Being with Raiden was never awkward. I thought back to when I didn’t want to stay with him and chuckled.

  “What’s so funny? Not the pothole again?”

  “No, I was remembering how I didn’t want to stay with you back when.”

  “Yeah and think of what you were missing.”

  “I knew what I was missing. I was just afraid of you.”

  “Afraid?”

  “Yes, of this.”

  “But we’re perfect.”

  Rolling over, I reached for his cheek. “I know that now. At the time, I remembered how I’d lost my family and my heart wasn’t capable of going through that again.”

  “No, I suppose not. I promise to do everything possible to protect you, Scottie. I’ll hire a dozen men to keep watch over us, if that’s what it takes. I don’t want you to live a life of fear. I love you.”

  “You’re my everything.” And he was. “When will we tell your family about us?”

  “It’s your call.”

  “Okay. Let’s shower. I could use some coffee and breakfast.”

  Our shower was just a shower. We dressed and went down to eat. Everyone was in the kitchen except for Cruze.

  “How’s Cruze today? Anyone seen or checked on him?” Raiden asked.

  “He’s okay, very sore,” Acer said. “He’ll feel better in a few days.”

  “How’s his mental status?” I asked.

  Acer answered again. “He doesn’t want to talk about it yet, but I’ll keep badgering him. I get where he is, and I won’t let up. He needs to tell someone, but I’m not worried yet.”

  “Good. If you need any help, let us know,” Raiden said.

  Then I took his hand in mine and said, “Can we have everyone’s attention please?” Raiden glanced at me in surprise. “We have some news to share with you. Raiden?”

  “Um, yeah. Scottie and I are going to be married. Or rather, she said yes!”

  The room erupted in chatter, everyone talking at once. His mom hugged me, followed by his dad and then the rest of the Kent clan. It was awesome. I showed o
ff my gorgeous engagement ring, highlighting Raiden’s excellent taste, and the guys pounded him on the back.

  “Do you have a date set?” his mom asked.

  “Mom, we want to wait until the trial is behind us.”

  “That’s a good idea. I am so thrilled for you two.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  My phone rang, and I checked to see it was Drex.

  “Hey.”

  “Scottie, we need everyone in Denver at the FBI field office. They want us in today to answer more questions. Check with Raiden on flying. If their plane isn’t available, I can send mine.”

  “Fine. Where are you?”

  “In Denver.”

  Raiden’s plane was at the airport here, so I passed the information along to Drex. “We’ll be there ASAP.”

  “Great. See you soon.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Raiden

  The questioning was more detailed than expected. They questioned us separately and then together. It was repetitious and tiring. They sent us to a large conference room where eight agents sat, along with us.

  I wanted to sit next to Scottie, but they gave us assigned seats. When it was her time, I knew it would be difficult. She had to reveal about being in WITSEC.

  “I’m former FBI, but have been in WITSEC for almost four years. Once I went into WITSEC, I joined the DEA.”

  Numbing silence filled the room. The lead agent eventually asked, “Why witness protection?”

  Scottie scoffed. “Because of the O’Brien brothers. They ordered a hit on my family. I was investigating them and getting close to making an arrest when they took out my family on Christmas Day. I narrowly escaped with my daughter.”

  The quiet was stifling. The agent asked, “You were the one! Lisa McCray! We heard they’d killed you. I remember your funeral. They televised it.”

  “They made it appear that way for my safety and that of my daughter’s.” She stared at her hands the entire time. Her stilted speech showed how much she dreaded this.

  “Can we move on? This is a painful topic for her,” I said.

  “One more question. When you transferred to the DEA, did you pursue the O’Briens?”

  “No, I only began again when I took the position with WI.”

  The agent nodded and moved on to Drex. The questions were about the information he had on Danny O’Brien and then Aiden.

  Isla spoke up then. “As you’re aware, I’m former FBI and my former boss, who was murdered by one of our own, spurred me into action. My husband was also involved.”

  “Yes, we reviewed those files and spoke with the Atlanta field office. They’ve sent over everything they have on the case too. I knew Art Sanderson. His death was a terrible blow to the bureau.”

  Isla nodded. “As it was to me. He was my mentor. It’s the reason I left and came to work for WI. I no longer wanted to work there without him.”

  The agent flipped through four files and tapped his pen on the table. “We’ve been over this and reviewed everything. What we don’t understand is how Sinead Flynn came to be with you. That’s the piece that makes no sense.”

  His eyes met mine, then moved on to the rest of the group.

  Drex pointed to the stack of charts. “It should all be in there.”

  “Yeah, it’s not though. So which one of you wants to explain?”

  “I will,” Gemini said. “Sinead called WI, hoping we could do some investigating on her father. She was worried about her daughter getting caught up in his web. So we made a plan to extract them.”

  “Extract?”

  “That’s correct. They were both heavily guarded by Aiden’s men, so we had to make it appear like an abduction to Aiden and their bodyguards. It wasn’t, but the plan was to intercept the car that drove Aisling to school, and get them out of the country ASAP. That’s how we did it.”

  “When was this?”

  Gemini glanced at Drex and he said, “About a month ago. It’s in the files.”

  “Why did you wait so long before you came to us?”

  Drex answered, “Sinead can tell you more, but she was frightened Aiden would find and kill her. She wanted to hide out for a while until things cooled down. As time passed, she found that wasn’t happening.”

  “I see.”

  Isla jumped back into the conversation. “We’re not hiding anything, if that’s what you think. We did our best to persuade Sinead to come in. When she got here, we were afraid she’d change her mind. Thankfully, she didn’t, but she is still frightened. If Aiden doesn’t go to prison, along with every member of his organization, she has eminent danger facing her. He doesn’t give a damn about her. She watched her mother die by his orders.”

  “Christ, the man’s an animal.”

  “Yes, and she is aware. Don’t abandon her. We need to work together to put him away forever,” Isla said.

  The questioning continued, but I didn’t have much to add since I hadn’t been in on most of the plans. They wanted to know why we moved so many times, and we adequately explained it. From the sounds of it, he hadn’t looked at the files that described the destruction that had taken place to our business and homes.

  “May I say something?” I asked.

  “Please do.”

  “These last few months have been nothing but us trying to stay alive and I feel you don’t believe us.”

  Everyone at the table perked up. It was true. Some questions were valid, but others were ridiculous.

  “Scottie and I nearly died, not once but twice. Having a group of men come into an apartment with automatic rifles and shooting up the place is no picnic. She saved my life, but almost died for it. We did what we thought was necessary to save our lives. We called law enforcement in every situation, and the FBI. It should all be in the files.”

  “I understand…”

  “I don’t think you do. My brother was a victim of human trafficking because of these people. My family has endured unprecedented hardships, yet I feel like the one who committed the crime. Are we finished?”

  He let out a long breath and said, “Yes, that’s it for now.”

  “Thanks. And please help Sinead. If her father or his men get to her, this case goes up in smoke.” I pushed away from the table and stood. Everyone else followed suit. Then we trailed out the door.

  “Oh, one more question. Will you be willing to testify in court?”

  We all answered yes. The thought of that was unnerving because it was a death sentence if Aiden won.

  “Get those men,” Drex said. “All of them, including the soldiers.”

  “We plan to.”

  I scowled. “No planning. Make it happen.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Scottie — Four Months Later

  Aiden never made bail. The judge considered him too much of a flight risk. During the month after they questioned us, they apprehended all of his men, except one foot soldier. They couldn’t locate him, and they assumed he’d escaped to Belfast. The government in the United Kingdom issued a warrant for his arrest and offered their cooperation, but since it was out of our hands, it would be difficult to find him. The FBI also confiscated the military-grade weapons he’d stolen.

  Aiden’s trial was set for the following week. Sinead was coping, or so we’d been told. We still didn’t know where she was staying, and it was for the best. Everyone prepared for the upcoming trial date. We met with the FBI and reviewed all potential scenarios O’Brien’s lawyers would throw at us. None of us were naïve enough to believe this was a slam dunk, but we were confident we would survive it.

  The day before the trial, we met with Sinead in private. A federal marshal escorted her to Denver and was staying in a hotel in town.

  The deep purple crescents beneath her eyes told it all. Cruze surprised everyone by hugging her.

  “How are you holding up?” he asked.

  “By a thin thread.”

  “You’ve got this. They can’t hurt you up there.”


  “No, but what about afterward and what about Aisling?”

  “She’s safe, Sinead. They’ve protected you these last months, right?” I asked.

  “Yes, but you don’t know my father’s men as I do.”

  “It’ll be over soon,” Cruze said, wrapping his arms around her again.

  What was going on between these two? I glanced at Raiden and he shrugged. It was a conversation we’d save for later.

  “Are you good with the questions? Have they gone over everything?” I asked.

  “A hundred times at least.” A nervous laugh leaked out of her. It would be terrible to be in her shoes. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through.

  “If it makes you feel any better, we’ve missed you and the little sassy one.” I don’t know what made me say that.

  It brought a brief chuckle out of her. “I’m sure you haven’t. She’s a mouthy one, Aisling is. I think she inherited her grandfather’s sharp tongue.”

  “You can say that again. It may be a curse now, but who knows? It might propel her to an awesome career later in life. Maybe she’ll become an attorney.”

  Sinead shrugged. “If she can keep her mouth closed long enough to learn anything.”

  After we exhausted the small talk about Aisling, Cruze asked Sinead if there was anything he could do for her. This thing between them was more than a casual relationship. He seemed really into her.

  “Listen, when you get up there and if you feel unsure of things, just look my way and I’ll give you the thumbs up,” Cruze said.

  Like that would bolster her confidence. But then I thought of how Raiden helped me. Maybe it would give Sinead what she needed.

  They brought lunch in for us and we discussed the questions they’d given us and how we’d each handle our parts.

  Sinead’s team came in soon after to escort her back to the hotel.

  “Don’t worry. Anyone who would hurt you is now in jail,” Cruze said as he hugged her.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  In the car on the way home, I said, “Cruze, you and Sinead seem to be close.”

  “Maybe. I feel like she needs a friend right now.”