Mariam’s eyes widened, and Jack noted the fear in her expression. Either Suliman was lying to them, or had lied to his wife. She probably had no clue what was going on. Her husband had wanted her ignorant of Adeel’s actions, and she’d happily complied by burying her head in the sand.
Mike stalked back to the table. “Regret it how?” He pressed his hands on the table and leaned over, putting his face within inches of Suliman’s. The strong spices Suliman cooked with and had eaten emanated from his sweat.
Suliman took a deep breath and then rattled, “Adeel and his friends, they can cause problems for us.” He had to think of a way to help the men understand why he stood by and did nothing. He wasn’t bad like his brother. He just wanted to live in peace. “They are like your mafia or drug cartels. Think Godfather or Scarface. They have power within our community. If we don’t play by their rules, they threaten to make our lives difficult. It’s easier to ignore something than confront it, especially when you know you’ll lose. Good people ignore what they see out of fear and self-preservation.” He lifted a hand off the table and motioned towards the dark-haired man. “You understand, right?” He nodded in encouragement, hoping they’d understand what an impossible position he’d been in.
Both Mike and Jack knew that what he said was true. The areas held by the Taliban or ISIS were controlled by fear and threat of torture or death. Good people in the community lived each day trying not to do anything to get them or their loved ones hurt. It was sad, but true.
“We need names,” Jack said gruffly. “You help us, and we’ll help you.”
Suliman took a deep breath and started talking. “Adeel hates America. I don’t know why he moved here if he hates it so much.” Suliman shrugged. He’d been lying to himself for too long. His brother was in America to cause problems, not to escape the wars at home. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
Sweat slicked down Mariam’s neck and dampened her armpits. She’d known true fear a few times, but this was scarier on a different level. She didn’t want to shame her family by being involved with terrorist activities. Nor did she want to endanger her family by helping the Americans, but she didn’t see a way out of this. Hopefully her ignorance would help her. “I didn’t know what was in the boxes.” She shook her head and momentarily closed her eyes. Shame filled her. She’d chosen to be ignorant when she should have been brave. “To be honest, I didn’t want to know. But there is a man, Omar Zafar. He was upstairs earlier. The big man, sitting in the corner. He shows up a lot. Sometimes he brings a box and stores it in the basement. Sometimes he takes a box with him when he leaves.”
Suliman looked into his captors’ eyes. “Omar is muscle. Think of him as an enforcer.” Suliman had been fascinated by the movies that featured the mafia and drug cartels in America. He saw so many connections between the cruel people of his homeland and the organized criminals in the West. “I try not to know anything about anyone. It is safer that way, but I do know where Omar lives.”
Jack took a quick read of Mike’s face. Mike was still in intimidation mode, so he went with ‘good cop’. “We want to help you.” He softened his voice to lessen the tension that was in the cramped basement room. “We can offer you protection, but you’ll need to come with us.”
Mariam nodded and the tension left her lips. She formed the faintest of smiles. “We will cooperate. Please just put us somewhere safe.”
Mike crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Tell me about Omar.”
Suliman craned his head to see Mike’s face. “Omar Zafar. He lives on First Street and Oak Grove, above the bakery. Once you get him, he can lead you to the others.”
Mariam turned in her seat but kept her hands on the table. “Please, take us with you,” she pleaded. “Don’t leave us here. Omar will come back,” she said desperately and then pointed to the boxes on the shelves. If Omar knew they’d talked to the authorities, he’d punish them. She had no doubt about that.
Jack looked at Suliman. “Do you have someone who can close up for you? Someone you trust?”
“Yes,” Suliman replied. “My chef, Hassan. The dinner rush is over. He can close up early. Do you want me to talk to him?” The words rushed out of Suliman, matching the staccato of his pounding heart. He trusted Hassan. Hassan knew not to come into the basement, and Hassan didn’t like Omar either, so he always kept his distance from the man.
Mike nodded. “Tell him Mariam is sick and needs to go home. I’ll go up with you and wait in the hallway while you talk with him. Don’t do anything stupid.” Mike added a threatening tone to his words.
Suliman nodded in understanding. “I won’t. Hassan is a good man.” Suliman didn’t want anyone else to get dragged into this mess. Things were bad enough. He didn’t need the guilt of Hassan getting hurt. After this, he’d never speak to his brother again. Adeel was dead to him.
21
Bella and Alisha huddled together on the sofa as they streamed the first season of Blacklist. It was a favorite show for both women, and they figured they’d rewatch it together from the beginning while they were hunkered down at Savage Security. There was something about James Spader that piqued Bella’s interest. The man was an actor in a league of his own. And Ryan Eggold checked all the boxes on her list of adjectives for hot guys.
Jack nodded to Mike as he continued down the Savage Security hallway with Suliman and Mariam. Taking a deep breath, Jack knocked on his office door and entered. Seeing Bella on the sofa in his office softened his heart. He’d liked her from a distance for so long that having her within his reach was doing funny things to his insides. It made him feel vulnerable in a way that he wasn’t used to. He’d been vulnerable in the ‘could take a bullet or worse’ way for years with his friends. But now that she knew about his feelings for her, he’d given her the power to destroy him.
Before he’d come clean about his feelings for her, his heart had been safely protected behind layers of professionalism. His emotions hadn’t come into play at work. He based his decisions on logic and training. But now he wondered how she was doing with the aftermath of Eric’s attack and if he could protect her from another attack.
Alisha looked up from the laptop as Jack entered the room. She tapped the touchpad and paused the show. Setting the laptop on the sofa beside her, she stood and said, “I’ll give you two a minute.” She brushed her fingers through her hair and looked Jack in the eye. She noted how his gaze hadn’t left Bella’s. She wanted to jump up and down and clap her hands together like an over-caffeinated cheerleader, but she didn’t. Instead she asked, “Is Mike around?” in her mature and controlled adult voice.
“Yeah, he’s with a couple right now.” Jack tossed a thumb over his shoulder towards the hallway where muffled voices could be heard. He felt a moment of guilt for bailing on Mike once they got back to Savage Security, but he didn’t let the guilt stop him from going to Bella. “He’ll get them settled and meet you in his office.”
Alisha couldn’t help but smile. As much as she liked the idea of Jack and Bella together, she liked the idea of kissing Mike even more. “Perfect,” she said and headed towards Mike’s office.
Jack closed the door behind Alisha and then made his way to the sofa. He liked the way Bella’s eyes sparkled as he approached. If he was reading her correctly, she was attracted to him too. Lifting the laptop, he set it on his desk and then eased himself onto the cushion beside Bella, careful not to jostle or bump her battered body. “How are you feeling?”
His voice warmed her, wrapping around her like a soft, cashmere scarf on a snowy day. She wanted to cuddle into the warmth and solidity of Jack. She started to smile, but then stopped when her face hurt from the movement. She brought her hand to her cheek and stroked the bruise. “I’m better. The pain is lessening. It’s probably the drugs.” She rolled her eyes and glanced at the bottle of pills that lay on his desk. She didn’t usually rush to medication to ease her pain, but she was smart enough to know that she wanted to stay ahead of this
pain. She wished there was something to entirely remove the event from her memory. Would it be a bad thing to wish that she could have permanent situational memory loss?
“How’s it going on your end?” she asked. She’d worried about him while he was gone. She knew enough about what he did to know that he could get hurt. They were obviously pursuing some bad people. And after what he’d done for her by saving her life, she couldn’t imagine losing him now. She’d always liked him professionally, but after what happened to Alisha, maybe she was the one who changed. Maybe Jack wasn’t the one who got stuck on negative feelings. Maybe she projected her own feelings onto him because of her guilt. Guilt for interfering in Alisha’s case.
He wanted to pull her legs on top of his thighs and stroke her skin, but he kept his hands to himself. She didn’t need him pressuring her. She’d been through enough. So instead, he swiped a hand through his dirty blond hair and then rested it on his knee. “We’ve made some progress. I really can’t talk about it,” he added with a shrug. He felt like a jerk. She was curious about a case that impacted her life, and his response was to shut her out.
“Oh,” she said with a nod. She didn’t know what else to say. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked about the case, but she had. Did he not tell her because he didn’t trust her? Had she shown through her actions that she couldn’t be trusted?
He hated the look in her eyes at his response. Her eyebrows pinched in for a moment and then her focus cut to his desk. She appeared to be mystified by the pen holder he kept on his desk It was odd looking and seemed out of place in his office. It was a hand-painted soup can turned pencil holder that his niece had given him.
To get her attention again, he placed his hand on her knee. “Hey, I want to tell you,” he admitted, his voice softening. “It’s just better if you don’t know too much. I’m trying to protect you.”
His hand on her knee zinged all kinds of emotions and feelings through her while increasing the rate of her blood flow. Turning to face him, she bit her bottom lip and focused on the green hues in his eyes. She’d never gazed so uninhibitedly into his eyes before. Typically, he towered above her as he stood by her desk, or she gazed up at him from a few feet away as they made office banter. Would her feelings for him lessen once the threat was dealt with? Would things go back to normal? Would they become intimate? The thought heated her cheeks.
She pressed her hand to his and brushed her fingertips over his skin. He had the hands of someone who worked hard. His nails were short and stained along the edges from the different materials he worked with. Even now, staring at his toughened skin, she didn’t see imperfection. She saw strength, reliability, and adaptability. He seemed to go from predator to compassionate friend easily.
“That’s okay,” she said softly. “I understand. It’s probably better that I don’t know.” She was horrible at deceit or trickery. She wanted this whole situation to resolve without her having to lie to the police. Thankfully she didn’t remember everything, and the parts she did remember she wondered if they were true or if she’d dreamt them. She’d decided not to ask for clarification. She was going to stick with the knocked-out and dazed version.
The brush of her skin on his hand sent his blood pooling to his crouch. He leaned forward, easing himself a little closer to her while helping to hide his situation. “Things are going well. This will all be over soon.”
What did ‘soon’ mean? A few hours, days, or weeks? “Are we heading to your place for the night?” She was nervous about staying with him. What if it turned awkward, and then that awkwardness seeped into their work? She had a good thing at Savage Security. She didn’t want to sabotage it.
He took in a deep breath. “No. The leads are hot right now. We have to move before they get lost in the wind.”
“So,” Bella looked around the office, “do I just hang out on your sofa?”
Each of the men had sofas in their offices for that very reason. Sometimes they couldn’t go home and were stuck catching a few minutes or hours of rest when they could. Jack shrugged a shoulder and gave her a crooked smile. “I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the safest option right now.”
“Is Alisha going home?”
“No, Mike will put her up in his office.”
Bella threaded her fingers between Jack’s. The simple act felt significant, like she was giving him permission to pursue her. She’d known him for a while, and had always respected him. Now she realized that she needed to think about him in a different way. And that notion didn’t frighten her.
22
Alisha paced the L-shaped area between Mike’s desk and his sofa. Most of the time she didn’t have to wait around for him. He worked typical hours with some variation in length of time, but she’d always assumed that he was safe. Usually Mike’s job was routine body guarding for the wealthy or helping businesses with their security systems. But this was a new situation for her. She knew the men were hunting dangerous people, and that terrified her. She didn’t want to think of Mike armed for battle and skulking around fanatical people who wanted him dead.
She didn’t know how long it would take to hunt down and eradicate the terrorist cell that was gunning for them. Earlier, as he informed her of what was going on, she’d freaked. Mike had patiently talked her down from her perch of paranoia, but she was still worried.
Now, nervously twisting her hands together in front of her, she fought the fears that threatened to drown her. Memories of her own attack treaded dangerously close to the surface of her mind. She’d squashed those memories into the depths of her subconscious when she was with Bella because she hadn’t wanted her negativity to affect Bella. But now, as she waited for Mike to return to his office, she couldn’t help but freak out. She had so many questions for him, but she knew that those questions would go unanswered.
When Mike’s office door opened and he walked in, she threw herself into his arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her mouth against his. “I’m so glad you’re back,” she whispered between kisses. Although she’d been distracted as she’d watched Blacklist with Bella, she hadn’t been able to calm the underlying current of worry that rippled through her gut. But being in Mike’s arms buoyed her faith that everything would be all right.
Mike was pleased with Alisha’s passionate reception, but the pleasure of tasting her and feeling her affection was quickly affecting his body. “Hey, baby,” he soothed, cupping the back of her head in his hand, enjoying the silkiness of her honey-blond hair. He brought his lips to hers again. He stepped forward, further into the room, as she stepped backward, not breaking the kiss. With his foot, he kicked his office door shut.
He pulled away for a moment and gazed into her blue eyes. The depths of her eyes professed her love for him. She’d always been easy for him to read. He noted the tiny muscles that tightened around her eyes in worry, but he enjoyed the curve of her lips as she smiled at him.
“Did you miss me?” he teased and stroked his hands down her back, a move that he knew she loved.
As his hands pressed into her back and eased towards her ass, the tension she’d carried in her shoulders and back released, and she moaned at the pleasure. When he did that, it was like having a mini-massage. His fingers traversed their way up her back again, on both sides of her spine, and then descended, triggering another low moan.
“That feels so good,” she said, pressing herself against him. She always loved the feel of his body. Strength and power radiated from him and gave her peace. In his arms, she knew that everything would be all right.
“I know how to please my lady,” Mike whispered against her mouth. Easing his hands down her back again, he cupped her ass in his palms, pulled her against his erection, and trailed kisses along her neck.
The feel of Mike’s erection against her triggered the tingles between her legs but warning bells in her head. This was going too fast to end abruptly and go nowhere.
“Mike, we should stop,” she panted.
He squeeze
d her ass and rocked his hips against her. “That’s the worst idea you’ve ever had,” he whispered between kisses that traced her collarbone.
Pressing her hands against his shoulders, she pushed his upper torso away, but his hands still held her hips tightly against him. “I want to baby, but we’re at your work. Now is not the time,” she whispered, concerned someone passing in the hallway might hear her.
Mike snorted. She didn’t know how wrong she was. Now was the perfect time. He’d just returned from a potentially dangerous assignment, and he was leaving soon for a more dangerous assignment. Why the hell wouldn’t he want to make love to her before leaving? “That’s where you’re wrong, baby.” He gazed into her heated blue eyes and noted the rising and falling of her chest as her breathing quickened. “Now’s the perfect time. I need you, Alisha.”
The words tumbled out of his mouth in a low rumble, like a sexy pleading that overwhelmed her. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “But the others. They’ll hear us,” she said, stifling a moan as he sucked on her neck.
He pressed his erection between her legs while his lips kissed their way to her ear. “Then you better be quiet,” he advised before nipping her earlobe.
Her giggle turned into a moan as his fingers slipped under her shirt and raised goose bumps on her skin. “Will you get in trouble? What if someone comes in?”
“You’re focusing on all the wrong things,” Mike replied. He didn’t release his hold on her, but with one hand he reached behind him and locked his door. “No one’s coming in.” He gripped the bottom edge of her shirt and slid it over her head.
Dropping her shirt on the floor, he focused on the beauty of her breasts that were elevated nicely in her pink push-up bra. “If it makes you feel better, I can put a sock on the door handle,” he said with a devilish grin.
She snorted at his words. But her resolve faded quickly as his finger traced the edge of fabric that cradled her breasts and stopped on the front clasp. Locking eyes, she nodded for him to undo her bra. There was no stopping now. Her body thrummed and ached for the release that only he could give her.
Coveted Kiss (Savage Security Book 3) Page 11