“I love you, too.” Nuzzling against him as he braced his forehead on the bed, she smiled. “So, what’s the plan now?”
“Hmm…” he groaned, shifting between her thighs as he propped himself up. “Shower… then I want to drink that wine you poured for me, order pizza, and watch the movie like we’d planned.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“Good, then you better hurry because I’m going to order the pizza while you get the shower started, and I want to see if I can make you come one more time before it gets here.” That cocky grin stretched his lips as he rolled off her, tugging her to the edge of the bed. “Better hurry. I’m getting the phone.”
“Bryant! We cannot—”
“I don’t hear the shower!” he called over his shoulder. Laughing, she watched as he walked, naked and glorious, back into the living room. It was worth the loss of thirty-seconds just to stare at his ass before she walked into the bathroom to flip on the shower. Her ass was a multi-colored wash of welts in the mirror, but she loved it.
Loved him.
And loved their life, no matter how chaotic it was.
16
The morning wasn’t soft and sweet, because somewhere in the apartment Bryant’s phone was ringing. He was still wrapped around her when they heard it, and he jerked back from her with a groan.
“Let it ring?” she mumbled, laying her hand on his arm, trying to wrap him around her again so they could sleep a little more. His bedroom had blackout blinds, but she could see the light of the morning streaming through the open bedroom door, and she wanted to ignore it.
“Baby, it could be important. It could be work stuff.” He was saying the right things, the responsible things, but his actions contradicted them. Bryant nuzzled against her neck and pulled her tight against his chest instead of getting up.
“Ten more minutes. Ten minutes isn’t going to end the world,” Phee mumbled against the pillow, and he murmured an agreement, pressing himself against her back. She was warm, and comfortable, and dozing once more when her phone started ringing. He groaned in frustration, but Phee just held on tighter to the arm he had wrapped around her waist. “Nope, we said ten more minutes, it can’t possibly have been ten minutes yet.”
“Phee, come on, we have to get up. Someone obviously wants to speak with us, and I need to go into work anyway.” Bryant kissed her neck and then pushed himself up so he was looking down at her. She wanted to pout, but he was right. She just hoped that whoever wanted to get a hold of them wasn’t another reporter who had managed to get their personal numbers.
“Fine.” She kicked the sheets back and he grinned because she was completely naked, but she’d also uncovered him in the process. Phee smiled, letting her eyes move down the ridges of his abs to his swelling cock. “Are you sure you need to go get the phone?”
“Well, maybe fifteen more min—” Bryant was interrupted by a round of loud, rapid knocking on the door to their apartment. Someone was shouting too, but their words were incomprehensible through the wood. His eyes went hard and when he looked back at her she didn’t see her playful fiancé, she saw the warrior who had been a key part of the resistance, a double agent for over a decade, the one who still trained almost every day to be ready to fight.
“Bryant—”
“Get up and get dressed. But stay in here, okay?” He waited for her to nod before he pulled her forward with a hand on the back of her neck and kissed her swiftly. Then Bryant climbed off the bed, grabbing his pants to tug them on.
Her heart was racing, but she climbed off the bed and hurried into their closet to throw on the first outfit she saw. Who the fuck would be here this early in the morning? Head spinning, she thought of a hundred problems. Reporters, a tragedy within the NDF, or maybe it was just their neighbor finally complaining about how loud they were during sex.
That would be a relief.
The last round of loud knocking had come when she was pulling clothes on, and it picked up again with the heavy banging of a fist. Suddenly, she heard the door open, then a gasp and a curse, followed by a loud thump. When she threw back the bedroom door, Bryant turned to give her a reassuring wave while he towered over Easton who was sprawled out on the floor. Regan was just behind him in the hall, her hands covering her mouth in surprise.
“Dammit, Holbrook! I called you, and Regan called Phee, and neither of you fuckers answered, and then you open the door and attack me? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to even get into your building?” Easton grumbled from the floor as Bryant offered him a hand to haul him to his feet.
“I know exactly how difficult it is to get into my building. It’s why I live here, and you are lucky I didn’t deck you, asshole.” Bryant muttered as he shut the door and paced away from them. “It’s too fucking early for this shit.”
“You’re right, it is too fucking early for this shit, but I’m here to help you. I didn’t have to go to all of this effort last night, but you asked me to look into the Freedom Post assholes. So, I sent my guys out to ask questions, had people dig through intel we’ve had waiting for review, and…” Easton trailed off, rubbing his back as he glared at Bryant, still fuming.
“And what?” Bryant snapped.
“And I thought you might want to know that those psycho COF supporters are planning to take Phee to make you cancel the Proposition 61 shit.”
“For the last time, this is NOT Proposition 61!” Bryant groaned.
“Honestly, no one gives a fuck what you’re calling it, Holbrook.” Easton scowled at him and a dark shadow passed over Bryant’s face.
“What the hell are you even talking about?” Phee asked as Regan ran over to her.
“Oh my God, Phee! Danny wanted to rush over here as soon as he got the tip from one of the informants—” Regan collided with her, and Phee huffed out a laugh as she caught her best friend and hugged her back.
“What? Wait, did you say Danny?” Phee looked at Easton and laughed when Regan blushed bright red from her chest to her forehead.
“No. No way. Do not ever call me Danny.” Easton was clearly embarrassed, so Phee just laughed harder.
“Holy shit, how does someone like you end up with a name like Danny? That’s a name for a kid, a little kid. One of the annoying ones that never stops talking — actually, you know what? That totally fits you.” Phee couldn’t stop laughing when she saw Bryant crack a smile. “Did you know his name was Danny?”
“I don’t think anyone knows his name is Danny,” Bryant answered, grinning.
“Fuck,” Regan groaned. “I am in so much trouble.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely you are.” Easton walked further into the apartment, dropping onto a couch and propping his dirty boots up on the pristine coffee table. “But we’re not here to talk about how much trouble Regan is going to be in when we get back home, we’re here to talk about the fact that you two have some seriously pissed off COF supporters aiming for you.”
“They’ve been threatening us since the day after the coup, Danny boy, I’m not backing down on one of the few campaign promises Parks made that we might actually be able to fulfill this year.” Bryant wandered past them all and back into the bedroom. When he stepped back into the living room he was pulling a shirt on, and Easton looked even more pissed off.
“This is a legitimate security threat, fucker. All I’m asking is that you wait a couple of days until we get them squared away. I’ve got my whole team trying to figure out where they’re going to be so we can catch them with enough evidence to take them all down.”
“Oh, is this yet another legitimate security threat? Do you ever get illegitimate security threats, or is it always a red alert with you? Hell, I need caffeine to deal with you.” Bryant sighed, rubbing his forehead as he walked into the kitchen to get the coffee started, something they both desperately needed.
Easton rolled his eyes. “Look, if you don’t want to protect Phee for your own sake, at least think of me. If Ray loses her best friend I’ll never hear the
end of it!”
“Stop with the scare tactics, Danny.” Phee grabbed one of the pillows off the opposite couch and threw it at Easton’s face, irritated as he caught the pillow.
“What? You think I’m kidding?” He pulled it into his lap and leaned forward. “These guys aren’t messing around, and if they do get their hands on you and Bryant continues to be Captain Noble of the NDF over here, then who knows what they’ll do to you? This is fucking serious!”
“You said the bomb threats were serious six months ago, and we put everything on hold, and you know what? No bombs. The death threats on Parks? Nothing. They’ve been threatening me since the first time my name hit the headlines, and we haven’t even had someone try and get in the building, Easton!” Bryant’s voice escalated until he was shouting, clearly furious as he shoved a hand through his hair. “I can’t just run away every time they threaten me, or Phee, or anyone, it doesn’t work that way. These guys don’t get to control how the NDF works, or what we do, by playing dirty. If I let the threats work this time, if we stop the construction, then what happens next time? What happens when they try the same shit on an even bigger issue?”
“And what happens if you lose Phee while you’re standing on your principles?” Easton went for blood, and Regan groaned off to her right.
“That’s not going to happen. Bryant loves Phee and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Right, Bryant?” Regan’s voice was hopeful, and the words stuck in Phee’s throat like she’d swallowed wrong.
“It’s not going to happen because it’s the same shit they’ve been pulling for over a year.” Glancing at Regan, she frowned at her best friend. “You know, just like Easton does, that the COF assholes have been threatening everyone involved in the NDF.”
“But why can’t you just wait? Just in case it’s real?” Regan asked, and she loved her for her concern, but both Bryant and Phee had been through this enough.
“I can’t cancel the improvement project. It’s going to take at least three months to complete as is, and if they keep delaying it we’ll have nothing to show for Mitchell Parks’ first term in office.” He glanced back into the kitchen and sighed, leaning against the wall beside it. “I’m sure it’s a bluff, it’s just a bullshit bluff because nothing else they’re doing is working.”
“I don’t understand why they’re fighting it so much,” Phee grumbled as she walked over to him, craving his touch amidst the heavy conversation.
Bryant wrapped his arms around her. “Because they don’t want to pay to fix what doesn’t affect them. Most of these downtowners have never even been to the southern district of the city, and so they don’t want to spend any of their tax dollars ‘fixing other people’s problems’, or at least that’s what they keep shouting in front of the news cameras.” He pressed a kiss to her hair. “It’s okay though, it will just take time for them to come around.”
“They’ll never come around, Bryant. I’ve been telling you and Parks from day one, they only understand one thing. Brute strength. If we don’t make a show of power then they’re never going to back down. Just have Parks give me permission to take my men after them, we’ll destroy them and no one will ever—”
“No. For the last time, Easton, no. We will not follow in the COF’s footsteps, rounding up and killing anyone who disagrees with us. They have a right to complain on television if they want to, they have a right to accuse us of misusing funds by funneling them to the southern districts, and as much as I hate it… they even have a right to argue about how they liked the COF better.” Bryant sighed against her as Easton huffed out a bitter laugh from the couch.
“Do they have a right to kidnap your fiancée, Holbrook?” Easton asked it in a mocking tone and Regan shoved his shoulder. She was snuggled up next to him now, and it was still sometimes weird for Phee to see the two of them together, but at the moment Regan didn’t look so cuddly. She looked like she was about to smack Danny Easton across the face.
“No one is getting near Phee.” Bryant’s voice was hard, and it made her feel safe to have his arms around her as he promised to protect her.
“Damn right they’re not, because you’re both going to come with me and let me take you to a safe house. I can show you the intel I got early this morning and maybe get it through your thick skulls just how serious these COF-rebirth people are.” Easton had that trademark growl to his voice, peppering his comments with vitriolic undertones, but it was just because he cared. He was a bastard, but he really did care about them and in that instant — when his mouth was finally shut — Phee almost believed him about the threats.
“I can’t just disappear. I have a job to do, I have—”
“A threat against you and Phee. That is what you have, Holbrook, and that’s what needs to be priority number one.” He sighed. “After all, I saw the press conference from last night, and Collins went after her at the drop of a hat. It’s not just you in their crosshairs.”
“Phee and I talked about how she needs to avoid their attention. We addressed it last night, and she knows how important it is for all of us to stay above their bullshit.” Bryant gave her a reassuring squeeze with the arm around her waist before he continued. “It won’t happen again.”
“You addressed it? Is that why there’s a crop and a paddle on the floor behind that sofa?” Easton grinned and waggled his eyebrows, and Phee felt a blush rush up her cheeks as Regan laughed. “Based on Phee’s face, I think I hit the nail on the head, but regardless you both need to come with me to a safe house. Especially if you’re not planning on cancelling the improvements, Holbrook.”
“I’m not letting them scare us,” Bryant growled, but Easton simply rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… just pack a fucking bag, okay? I’ll show you everything I’ve got when I know you’re secure.”
Regan was the happiest person in the car as Easton drove them through the city towards some secret safe house that the Lakehurst Security Force had control of. After Parks took over the government, he’d reinstated many of the resistance members who had been dishonorably discharged under the reign of the COF. Easton was one of those, and he was never happier than when he was able to shout obscenities at a bunch of other guys and have them shout them right back.
But right now, Bryant seemed to be getting under his skin just by existing. They had spent the middle of the day gathering supplies and food for their hideaway, and the tension had mostly faded between everyone. Except Easton kept glancing into the backseat where Phee was cuddled up against Bryant trying to ignore the dull ache of the fading welts on her ass.
For what felt like the hundredth time, he looked back at them in the rearview mirror, and then mumbled under his breath before returning his eyes to the road.
“Okay. What is it, Easton? Seriously, we’re going to the safe house. I called Parks and told him about the threats, and while we’re still moving forward with the improvement projects, Parks has given you carte blanche on keeping Phee safe. What else could you be pissed about?” Bryant snapped at him, pausing his rhythmic rubbing of her back.
“First of all, I’m not pissed. I’m glad you finally had enough sense to try and keep Phee safe, because these fuckers aren’t playing around. Second, I was just looking at you two because you look good together, so you can screw yourself.”
“Easton—” Phee was surprised and she started to thank him but he interrupted her.
“We’re here.” He turned the engine off and shoved the car door open hard. Regan turned around from the front seat to give her a reassuring smile, but Phee just sighed. Easton was always a hard-ass to work with, but he was a hard-ass with a heart of gold. The guy was annoyingly difficult to hate, no matter how much you wanted to when he was being a dick. Regan got out of the car too, and Phee was about to follow when Bryant interlaced their fingers.
“You know that I will always keep you safe, right? That if I took these threats seriously, I wouldn’t hesitate to act on them?” He gave her a small smile and she
squeezed his hand.
“Of course I know that, but if you don’t take them seriously then why the hell are we at this safe house?”
“Because I take them seriously enough to not leave you somewhere they would be able to easily find you.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and then opened his door. “Come on, baby, let’s go get you settled.”
The safe house was a smaller home in a neighborhood on the Northeast side of the city. It was a place that — when it had first been built — was probably a shining jewel of pride for families that could afford to live there. But as time passed it turned out that not very many people could live there or wanted to live there. Too expensive for those south of downtown, and the properties were too small and too simple for the downtowners.
It was a genius place to hide, because no one even thought about it anymore, and the people who still lived in the neighborhoods were older and mostly kept to themselves.
Inside, the house was dusty, full of abandoned furniture, and it had strange photos on the walls of people and families long gone. Easton stomped into the house with grocery bags over his arms, dropping them onto the counter with flair. “I know this is a little below your standards, Holbrook, but I think you can handle it.”
“Well, it’s definitely a step up from our old shitty apartments.” Regan snorted, wandering off down a hallway to check out the various rooms.
“It’s fine, asshole. I’ll get Phee’s bag.” Bryant headed back outside, and she just smiled at the bristly head of security forces.
“Hey… do you think she’d want to live out here? In a neighborhood like this?” Easton caught Phee off guard with the sudden sincerity of his hushed questions. He clearly cared about Regan, and for that alone she wanted to hug him. Adding onto it that he was working to keep her safe and had rushed over early in the morning to deliver a message — no matter how ridiculous it seemed — and Easton was easily one of her top three favorite people at the moment. The other two were either wandering the house or bringing in a duffel bag for her.
Corrupt Desires Page 18