Griffin grinned, his eyes zeroing in on the hickey on my neck.
“Fuckin’ awesome,” he replied. “And you?”
I blushed beet red and shrugged. “Been better.”
It was true.
I’d tried to sneak around and pay for breakfast with my card earlier at the diner and was promptly told by the waitress that my card had been declined.
I then had to go back to Wolf and tell him what happened.
His face had frozen, and he’d leaned over and withdrawn a couple of twenties from his pocket and placed them both on the table before standing up. Slowly. Then he’d proceeded to take my hand and drag me out of the diner with everyone and their brother watching him do it.
He’d not said a word until we’d pulled into the parking lot of his office, where he proceeded to say that I would be working there and not to argue.
Which led us to now, and my inappropriate attire for a person that was going to work at a law enforcement office.
“Wolf said you were going to file and answer phones. That true?”
I blinked, then nodded my head. “For today, anyway.”
A slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, and I could suddenly see the hardness of his features melt away into something devastatingly handsome.
“You’ll stay if you do a good job today,” he responded.
I rolled my eyes and moved out from between the two men, freezing when I saw the state that the office was in.
“This is…disgusting,” I told them. “Don’t y’all know how to use a trash can?”
Wolf chuckled as he walked in the direction of what I assumed was his desk.
However, there were so many coffee cups, chip bags, candy wrappers and fast food containers that I wasn’t sure I would classify it as that.
Then there were the files.
Stacked at least two feet high all the way around the room.
“Where exactly are these file cabinets that you want me to file these in?” I asked the two men.
“In the back room,” Griffin said as he passed, heading to his desk, which didn’t look much better than Wolf’s.
Although it looked like he at least managed to get most of his trash into the large trashcan beside his desk, even if it looked like he hadn’t emptied it in weeks.
“Don’t y’all have a cleaning crew to do this?” I asked them.
“Don’t trust anyone right now,” Wolf called. “Come here and let me show you something.”
I moved to his desk and stopped beside him.
He was pointing at his computer, and I leaned forward, my breasts brushing his muscled forearm, as I read the email he had pulled up.
“So Travis thinks that you’ve pissed off someone who’s computer savvy?” I surmised once I finished reading. “Why does it have to be someone computer savvy? Why can’t he just pay someone to do all this?”
“Because fucking with multiple people's lives, especially the majority of those people being in law enforcement, isn’t something that a run-of-the-mill hacker would want to get involved in. Simply being paid wouldn’t be enough of an incentive for this.”
“True,” I allowed. “But what if you pissed the computer person off, too?”
Wolf’s lips thinned. “I think it’s someone that’s connected with the case that I’d been working on before you and my sister got involved. It was a large-scale sex trafficking ring, and they kept their inner circle very small and tight. I made a significant dent in their operation by pinning Jensen and Barrett. I got too close, and now he’s warning me to back off by showing me his considerable power and just how far he can reach.”
I pursed my lips.
“I don’t even know what to say to this,” I told him. “I have no intimate knowledge of stuff like this besides what I’ve read in romance novels.”
His lips twitched.
“I’m showing you this because I thought you’d want to read the bottom part,” he said, smiling.
His smile was so fucking sexy that I wanted to kiss it off his face, but I could hear Griffin typing away at his computer, so any hanky panky would have to wait until later. Much later.
Wolf’s son would be staying with him tonight since it was Friday, and he’d have him all weekend.
“I don’t want to work with him,” I told Wolf. “He’s mean.”
Wolf chuckled and pushed my bottom forward.
I took the hint and moved until I could plop down into his lap.
“What’s the problem?” Wolf asked softly. “He said you can do this from home. Which means you can do both jobs from here. You’ll be getting paid twice. Works out well for both of us, to be honest.”
“He fired me. I can’t believe he fired me,” I said, surprised because it was true. I still couldn’t believe he fired me.
I’d come into the office, and he’d called me into his sanctuary where he immediately ripped out my heart by telling me I had to leave. Not just my job, but my home as well.
“He never meant it to be permanent,” Wolf said gently. “He wanted you safe, and he can’t make you safe without being with you every hour of every day. Something that he just couldn’t do.”
I pursed my lips and chose not to answer.
That didn’t mean much to me. I could’ve continued to work my job and go home just like I’d been doing. What had changed?
“How do you know all of this?” I asked him suspiciously.
Wolf grinned.
“We talk about you,” he said, no apology whatsoever coloring his voice.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Why?” I asked. “Y’all don’t even get along.”
He nodded his head in agreement.
“We don’t,” he agreed. “But we’re still willing to work together to make sure nothing happens to that pretty little face of yours.”
“So you’re only with me because of my pretty face?” I asked, fluttering my eyelashes at him.
He rolled his eyes and pushed me off his lap.
I took the hint before he dumped me on the floor and headed to the other side of the desk while he moved his big body around to where Griffin was standing.
He said something to the big man who was on the phone, then headed to the back of the room where he disappeared into the door.
Griffin finished up with his phone call and headed in the same direction.
I leaned my butt against the desk and wondered what I was supposed to do now.
Then my question was answered when the two men came back out with a filing cabinet between them.
Setting it down between the two desks, they turned and disappeared into the next room.
I guess that answered that.
They wanted me to work.
Did I want to work? For Wolf? That seemed like a breach in protocol. There had to be a law somewhere that said a woman who had no clue what the hell she was doing couldn’t work for two Texas Rangers without first getting some proper training.
Shouldn’t I be sworn in or something? Promise to keep all their secrets or they have the right to remove my tongue from my head?
Obviously there wasn’t, because once they got the last of the filing cabinets—eight total—Griffin headed back to his desk while Wolf headed to me. “You’re ready to work.”
I hid my smile.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t be…I don’t know… read my rights?” I asked.
He chuckled. “I don’t know. Should you?”
I didn’t like that smile on his face. The fact that he was laughing at my inner turmoil had my chest expanding and my eyes narrowing as I placed both of my hands on my hips.
“You don’t have to make fun of me!” I informed him haughtily.
His grin disappeared. “I’m not making fun of you. I’m wondering what you’re holding back from. This is the exact same shit you did at Hail Auto Recovery. Travis said as much.”
I sighed.
“I�
��m nervous. I don’t like change,” I admitted. “Are you sure you want me here? And in your house? That seems like you’ll see me too much.”
Wolf snorted.
“I’m in my office about twenty percent of the time, if not less. Usually only for lunch and then I’m gone.” He pointed to his desk in an as-you-can-see gesture. “I work about sixty hours a week. You’ll be safe here, though. The Uncertain Saints have this office wired, as well as practically the whole block.”
He took my hand and led me to the window.
“You’re safe going across the street to the diner. You’re also safe in Lenore’s shop,” he pointed to a building down the road.
“Oh,” I said. “I didn’t realize that she was this close to you,” I admitted.
He rumbled in agreement.
“You’re also safe at Annie’s hair salon there.” He pointed at another building next to Lenore’s shop.
Relief started to seep into me.
Knowing I wasn’t trapped really did a lot for my anxiety level.
“What about when I’m done here and want to go home?” I asked.
“Then I’ll take you. Or, if I’m not available, one of the boys.” He led me back to his chair. “You can take my desk until we can get you a new one. Sometimes Mig’s office is here as well, but his shit’s in the backroom so you won’t need to touch that area unless he asks you to. Okay?”
I nodded my head.
“Bathroom?” I asked, just thinking of the idea.
“Backroom,” he said, pointing at the door across the wide-open room.
While I was looking, he bent down and placed his mouth on mine.
I gasped and he took advantage of the situation, delving his tongue into my mouth.
I lost my balance and ended up on the desk, which he took one step further and leaned me backwards.
Old food bags crunched, and something heavy knocked to the floor by my foot, but I was too lost in that kiss to notice…or care.
When he let me back up for air a few moments later, I gasped and stared up at him in shock.
“You can’t do that when we’re at work like this!” I hissed, pushing off the desk and away from him.
I looked over to see if Griffin saw but realized that the filing cabinets hid us from his view.
Thank God.
The windows to the outside, however, were open wide.
Anyone who wanted to look in could see.
“Don’t do that again,” I ordered him.
Wolf’s smile was wide, and he shook his head at me.
“If I want to fuck you on that desk with the whole world watching, you’ll let me,” he taunted me.
My brows likely raised to the roof on that statement.
“What the hell makes you think that?” I crossed my arms over my chest and started to tap my foot.
“Because you can’t get enough of me. You like me. You lose your mind when I’m on top of you, my body down the length of yours. You won’t be able to help yourself,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes.
I’d said those words this morning to him while we’d been fucking.
“I’m going to stay silent during our lovemaking if you don’t watch it,” I pointed at him for emphasis.
He flashed his white teeth before yanking on my finger that was outstretched toward him.
I went, liking my finger attached to my body, and landed against him with a hard thump.
Breathless from the kiss already, I lost what little I had left and glared.
“I’m going to go to work. If you want food, call the diner. They’ll deliver. Tell them to put it on the Rangers’ account, comprende?”
I gave him a thumbs-up, even though both of my arms were around his back.
“Good.”
Then he was gone, Griffin following him a few moments later, leaving me alone in the office staring after them.
Chapter 12
Classy as balls.
-T-shirt
Wolf
I wiggled my jaw as I stared at the man on the floor with a look of such disdain that it was a surprise he didn’t burst into flames from the scathing look I directed at him.
“Mother fucker,” I growled. “What the fuck was that for?”
My head was now pounding, and I hadn’t been gone from the office for even fifteen minutes.
That’s how long it’d taken me to get a call from Travis and then immediately detour to this little peckerhead’s place to find him not only fucking with my life, but fucking with my sister’s life.
“You were coming at me like you were about to eviscerate me!” the kid squealed.
“I was,” I promised him. “Get the fuck up.”
The kid stood from where he’d thrown himself down to protect his head.
From what, I still didn’t know.
In his haste to cover said head, he’d fallen and had taken not just the table, but his computer and bookshelf out as well.
In my haste to save the computer from biting the dust, which I did somehow manage to save, I’d gotten a jaw full of keyboard.
“I’m sorry!” he cried.
I looked at the little kid.
“You know you’re doing wrong,” I surmised. “You know you’ve been fucking with stuff you shouldn’t be.”
The kid’s eyes filled with tears.
He had to be fifteen at most.
“Yes, Sir,” the kid confirmed. “I…I’m sorry.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked over to Griffin who was standing beside me.
He hadn’t moved to do anything as it all went down, so he, of course, was clean of the Coke that’d spilled on the floor, as well as the dozens of powdered donuts that were now soaking up the Coke.
“I don’t know,” Griffin said. “How old are you, kid?”
The kid bit his lip.
“Fifteen. Sixteen next week,” he answered, whisper soft.
I glared at him.
“So you know you’ve been hacking into DMV records. Bank accounts. Government fucking, blacked out, nobody sees them but God records?” I gave him my best glare, and to be honest, I knew it was chilling.
I knew that the minute I said ‘God’ that he’d flinch, and he didn’t disappoint.
I used to be a drill sergeant in the Marines.
I knew my shit. I knew what to do to get a reaction out of a fucking kid. It didn’t matter that this one wasn’t eighteen and under my employ.
He was a wayward fucking soul, and no matter what he did to me or my sister, he was still a kid.
A dangerous kid, but a kid nonetheless.
“I’m sorry!” the kid started to wail.
“What’s your name?” I asked shortly, fed up with the crying and it’d just begun.
“Xavier,” he sniffled.
“Xavier what?” I persisted.
“Xavier Delgado,” he answered.
“Where’s your parents?”
Griffin stepped around me to pick up the bookshelf that’d tipped over, and I snapped my fingers at Xavier when his eyes went to follow Griffin’s movements.
“Focus,” I growled.
Xavier’s eyes came back to me with a start, and I nearly caved when I saw the fear in his eyes.
He didn’t like having Griffin at his back.
His body was tense, and his eyes were hyper aware.
He kept trying to look behind him, and then stopped the moment he realized what he was doing.
“My mom’s dead. My father’s…gone,” he hesitated.
“Gone where?” I pushed.
Xavier bit his lip.
“Xavier,” I said shortly. “You’re really close to going to jail. In Texas, you can be charged as an adult for crimes such as the ones I know you’ve committed. Not to mention I haven’t even had the chance to go through your computer.”
Xavier’s head dropped.
“My papa left me. Trad
ed my services to some gringo who needed them.” He bit his lip. “Everything I’ve done is what he’s forced me to do.”
“What ‘gringo’?” I asked, sensing that this would be the break I needed.
“Tall. Brown hair. Curly. Crazy eyes that make him look fucking demented.” Xavier pointed to his eyes as he gave his colorful explanation.
“Ice blue,” I guessed.
Xavier nodded exuberantly. “Yes!”
“Name’s Josh Fry?” I continued.
“Don’t know his name,” Xavier said, his accent getting thicker. “He never gave me a name, and I didn’t ask. I get paid once a week. He comes to see what I got accomplished every week, gives me cash and then leaves.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“You’re all alone?” I asked.
He nodded.
“You paying the bills?” I held out my hand.
He took it, hesitantly, and I pulled him to his feet.
“Yes.” He licked his lips nervously. “I pay them in person when they’re due. Pay in cash.”
“You going to school?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You haven’t had a truancy officer here wondering why you’re not at school?” The thought that nobody cared about him was starting to tug at my heartstrings.
The kid was fifteen. Still a baby, and all alone in this harsh world that we lived in.
Xavier shook his head no.
“No, Sir.”
I looked around at the trailer house.
It was just like the one I’d grown up in with my sister.
Not a surprise considering it was only about seven trailers down from the one where I’d spent the first eighteen years of my life.
I could still practically hear the whispered, cruel words from the town residents when they saw July and me walk into an establishment. Could remember the exact words that I tried to shield July from.
Now those same town residents thought I was a fuckin’ hero but still treated my sister like she was the trash of the trailer park.
I made a decision, one that surprised not just Griffin and Xavier, but me as well.
“Get your computer and whatever you need for tonight,” I ordered. “If you have anything else that you think will be of use to us, bring that with you, too.”
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