Critical Intelligence

by Mandy M. Roth

  “Five,” Melanie said softly.

  “Huh?”

  Peren shook her head and glanced at Melanie. It hit Missy then what was wrong. Lance, one of the operatives, had died two weeks ago. Lance and Melanie had spent one night having sex together, and Melanie hadn’t been taking his passing well. “I’m sorry, Mel. I wasn’t thinking. I know that Lance meant something to you, and I…”

  Melanie put her well-manicured hand up and smiled. It looked forced. “It’s no biggie. I hardly knew him, right?” From the way she bit her bottom lip, it was clear she wanted to cry.

  “Sweetie, Peren and Lukian are proof that time doesn’t matter. I’m sorry I was insensitive. I love you.” Having never intended to bring up painful memories for her friend, Missy sighed and laid her hand over Melanie’s, squeezing it gently.

  “Thanks,” Mel said with tears in her eyes.

  Music began pumping loudly from the DJ’s table and all three of the women groaned. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees blared out at them as they shook their heads.

  “Great, sounds like Eadan’s in the mood for some ‘classics’ again. This will really keep the dickheads seated for a bit,” Melanie droned. “My brother is so weird.”

  Snorting, Missy glanced around the bar. “Be on the lookout for the ones who didn’t get the message that leisure suits are no longer acceptable nightlife attire. I mean, I know those workout pants and muscle shirts I’ve seen some guys in here wearing aren’t leisure suits, but they really remind me of them. Who gets out of bed and thinks that is acceptable nightlife attire?”

  Peren’s eyes widened. “I just got a vision of a thick gold chain and an excessively hairy chest. Make it go away.”

  “Can’t, I’ve got it too,” replied Missy.

  Melanie blinked. “I’m going to need to bleach my brain to get rid of the thought.”

  Missy nodded. She’d need to cleanse her mind too. “I’m going to make a voodoo doll of the man who first started that revolution in the back corner of the bar right now. Don’t bother me. I’ll aim for the second idiot who latched on to that craze too. It’s not like one man alone could have made that fashion nightmare stick.”

  Missy grinned as she dipped a fry in ketchup. “I mean, did the guy not notice the massive amounts of Yeti-like hair that was ripped from him as he got undressed at night? Pulling those gold chains off was hazardous to his image and health.”

  Smiling, Peren nodded. “Oh, I know. Right? And if that wasn’t enough, needing a guard and a spot at Fort Knox to house his collection of oversized gold jewelry should have told him something.”

  Melanie snorted as she pushed the plate of food farther from her. “Can you also make a doll of the person who thought leg warmers were fashionable? I cringe when my family pulls out pictures of me when I was little. I blame my mother. She loved the 80s and was always trying to re-create the awesomeness of it all years later.”

  “I may be old but I didn’t wear those,” said Missy with a snicker. “Pretty sure my mom did though.”

  Melanie grinned. “When you were little, you used to dress up in just about anything you could and pretend to be a spy. How many times did you have us make-believe we were bringing down the bad guys? Though we never really named the bad guys or saw them. We were just always ready to kick their butts.”

  “Oh yeah. We were totally badass kids,” Peren said and then laughed. “It was funny right up until Missy tried to teach us how to rappel down the side of my dad’s house. I think you loved the endless amounts of training he put me through. I swear you were the daughter he should have had. You ate up every detail of it all and then went home to soak in some more. Our fathers needed sons.”

  “No.” Melanie winked at them. “My dad got one and he’s as weird as Missy.”

  Missy waved her hand before Melanie’s face. “Hey, sitting right here.”

  She grinned. “I know.”

  They all fell silent as a short man wearing workout pants, a white muscle shirt, and a thick gold chain walked past. He strutted along with the beat of the song playing, making the entire scene feel very surreal. The look on his face said he was eyeing them up. The second he licked his fingers and ran them over his Einstein-like eyebrows, Missy burst out laughing. Peren and Melanie followed right behind her.

  “Mmm, I’m gonna go get me some of that. Yum-yum,” said Missy.

  Peren laughed so hard that a tiny high-pitched squeal came from her. It was music to Missy’s ears when Melanie joined in too. Her friends needed to be happy. Too much had gone on in their lives. They needed moments like these.

  “Lukian asked me to marry him,” Peren said abruptly, breaking the mood instantly. A blanket of awkward stillness settled over the table. Seconds ticked by with no one saying a word, the proclamation simply hanging in the air.

  Missy opened her mouth to say something and then closed it when nothing came to her. Repeating the motion two more times, Missy finally found her train of thought and her voice. “What? I don’t think I heard you over the music. I thought you said that you’re marrying a man you hardly know, but that can’t be right. That would make you insane, and at last check you were odd but not crazy. And marrying Lukian so fast is fucking crazy.”

  Melanie came to Missy’s aid. “Peren, you hardly know the man. Missy may be a bit of a bitch, but she has a point there. It’s only been like two weeks since you met Lukian. Talking about marriage is pretty sudden, don’t you think?”

  “Hey, I’m sitting right here.” Missy smiled at Melanie. “Oh, and thanks for the compliment. I’d like the title of ‘The Bitch’ now. Thanks.”

  “No problem, sugar.” Melanie winked at her and they both chuckled. They had long ago gotten used to playfully calling one another bitches. When one of the group truly was being a bitch, the other two just shouted it out and that was the end of the drama.

  Peren cleared her throat. She sat there with her long auburn hair spilling around her shoulders and looked nervous. Who could blame her? They’d been friends a long time, and tossing a marriage proposal out on the table meant it was up for debate. Like it or not, they were like sisters. Peren wanted their approval. Missy wasn’t entirely sure she was willing to give hers. Too many questions still roamed around her head regarding Lukian and his team of men. Something didn’t add up. If it was what she suspected, then fine. If not, then there was no way in hell she was going to let her friend do something so bone-headed, like marry a guy she barely knew.

  Missy nodded slightly. “I know that your father is taken with Lukian, but is he okay with the idea of you marrying him so soon?”

  Peren bit her lower lip and shrugged. “It’s odd, but he was the one who suggested we have a ceremony for humans…erm…everyone to attend.”

  Humans? It was odd that Peren would use that term. Did she know more about what else existed out there than she was letting on? Missy didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she focused on her friend. “If you love him, and it’s what you want, then I’m all for it. I can’t promise not to kill him if he tries anything stupid. And he better not be thinking of monopolizing all your time. I’ll be kickin’ some Lukian ass if he does.”

  Peren grinned. “Lukian would never limit my time with you two. He knows we’re like family. It’s like that between him and his men too.”

  “I don’t know how Lukian puts up with Roi.” Missy shook her head, her thoughts going to her first encounter with the man who was friends with Peren’s boyfriend. They were all members of some elite military group, but Missy suspected they were far more than just that. She’d find out soon enough. Her first run-in with Roi had happened on the night of Peren’s birthday. Missy and Melanie had set up Peren on a blind date with Lukian and they had agreed to meet up with his friends as well. Melanie had met Lance online and arranged everything. The night had been a disaster pretty much from the word go.

  The story Peren told them was there had been a kidnapping attempt on her because of who her father was, and the fortune her family had. S
eemed plausible, but Missy knew there was more to it all than that. She’d sensed shifters in the woods around the bar that night and she’d nearly charged out to try to handle them, but her gut had told her to stay in place—to follow along with what Lukian and his men were doing and to not tip her hand just yet.

  So she’d done just that.

  And she’d found herself on the receiving end of Roi Majors’s sexual advances and dickhead personality. She grinned, thinking about the nickname she’d given him.

  Pig’s Asshole.

  It fit.

  Nonetheless he was hot. There was no denying it. The problem was, he was well aware of just how good-looking he was and he wasn’t shy about telling people. There was something about him that both infuriated her and totally turned her on. That only ticked her off more.

  She snarled. “The man gets on my very last nerve. He’s so damn cocky. I mean, come on, he totally looked up my skirt and then smiled when I slapped him. If that wasn’t enough, he spent the entire time we were with them making every lewd comment he could think of to me. The sick thing is I firmly believe he thinks he truly is a god, that he was put on this earth as a gift to women and that we should all be in awe of him. How in the hell can anyone stand being around that?”

  Peren and Melanie laughed softly. Missy’s face reddened as her mouth dropped open. “You think it’s funny the way he runs around all ‘I’m a sexy male with a big gun, hear me roar’?”

  “Growl,” Peren said softly.

  “What?”

  She shook her head and giggled. “Nothing.”

  “Melanie, help me out here.”

  Melanie covered her mouth quickly and jolted out of the booth, heading straight for the restrooms.

  “My turn,” Peren said, rushing off to follow her with a worried look on her face.

  That was the second time she’d done that since they’d been out together. It had been Melanie’s idea to get out for a bit, even with everything they’d just been through. Losing Lance, even though Melanie hardly knew him, had taken its toll on her. She’d spent a night having wild monkey sex with him and the next day he was dead.

  That wouldn’t go over well with too many people.

  Missy herself was still having issues with the events of the last two weeks. She’d been abducted by a league of hunky secret government agents and held in a secure house until it was safe to leave. Now that wasn’t so new. The hard-to-handle part was being introduced to the world’s most annoying man, whom she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about. Roi had plagued her thoughts from the moment she’d laid eyes on him.

  It’s a weird case of Stockholm syndrome. Snap out of it.

  Chapter Three

  Climbing from the booth to go after Melanie, Missy stopped dead in her tracks when the door to the bar opened. A tingling sensation started in her lower extremities and worked its way quickly up her body. It touched her body in places she didn’t even know she had, holding her, keeping her momentarily locked in one spot. Thoughts of Roi came to her again and she could swear his scent was near.

  A very bad case of Stockholm syndrome.

  Mr. Gold Chains came running toward her as if her being vertical suddenly meant she was available. She tried to go in the other direction to avoid him, but he headed her off.

  Raking his gaze over her, he looked as though he was about to do the eyebrow lick thing again. “What’s a pretty little thing doing out alone? You should be on the arm of a man who will worship you.” He put his arm out. “Let me worship you, goddess.”

  Ohmygod, where’s a tape recorder when I need one? Peren will never believe this.

  “I’m not feeling like much of a goddess at the moment so, umm, I’m going to have to pass.”

  The man took hold of her wrist. His smile made her skin crawl. “Nonsense, you are a Chinese beauty with the body of a Venus.”

  Missy tried to pull her arm back lightly but the man held tight. That alarmed her. If she had issues breaking his grip, then something was off with him. “Thank you, but I said no and I’m part Vietnamese not Chinese.”

  Another man, this one taller with a muscular build, moved up behind Mr. Gold Chains. The newcomer was dressed nearly identical to Mr. Gold Chains. Neither man looked as though he spent much time in a gym, yet both were wearing workout clothing. The newcomer flashed a smile that said he was on her side, but her senses told her otherwise. Not one to ignore her gut, Missy took a tiny step back. She wouldn’t run. No. She’d make sure they weren’t there to hurt anyone, but she wasn’t about to let them touch her and stay close.

  “Excuse me,” the tall man said, pushing past the shorter one, “I think you’re coming on a bit too strong there, Norris. Give the young lady some breathing room.” He bent down a bit, leaving his sandy blond hair hanging in his eyes. By all outward appearances, the man was more than attractive, but there was something about him that set her inner alarms off.

  Mr. Gold Chains’s backed up a bit but kept his beady eyes on her. It was unnerving to say the least. Men had died for less by her hands.

  Mental note: Punch Mr. Gold Chains if opportunity presents itself.

  “We’d be honored if you’d join us for a bit,” the newcomer said, his tongue sliding out and over his bottom lip as the smell of desire rolled off him in waves.

  Mr. Gold Chains’ brows lifted and a smarmy smile pushed up and over his face, revealing a gold tooth. “Yeah, join us.”

  She didn’t need them to spell out what they meant by joining them. The looks on their faces said it all. The idea of having a threesome with them sickened her. There was no way she was into that sort of thing, especially not with men who had the tainted smell of evil about them.

  She didn’t want to resort to violence. At least not in front of a bar full of patrons, but she would. If these two were what she suspected they were, then it would be one hell of a battle.

  “I’m actually here with friends,” she said, backing up even more. “Thanks for the offer though.”

  Eadan picked that moment to play “Get Down Tonight” by KC and the Sunshine Band over the sound system. The men in front of her both began to dance in place, to the beat. Her suspicions about what they were returned. They weren’t human, and if she had to guess, she’d say they were much older than they appeared to be. And they seemed to really love disco music.

  “I’m sure your friends won’t mind if you spend a little time with—” He stopped talking and glanced behind her with a hard stare.

  Two large hands touched Missy’s waist. Fire shot through her lower region and heat rushed to her cheeks. She felt no need to push the person away. The urge to rub herself like a cat against the clearly male frame behind her was so great that she leaned back and found herself being cradled by what felt like a warm brick wall. That should have alarmed her. It didn’t.

  A very masculine and very familiar chuckle came from behind her. No. It couldn’t be. The odds were simply too high. Turning around slowly, she found herself staring up with shock etched on her face. Missy considered rubbing her eyes to be sure she wasn’t hallucinating. When a crisp pair of royal blue eyes settled upon her, she knew that the biggest special ops pain in the ass she’d ever met was truly standing before her—Roi Majors.

  Maybe the Stockholm syndrome is causing hallucinations.

  “Missy, doll baby, didn’t expect to find you here,” Roi said, running a hand through his shoulder-length black hair, making her mouth dry as she watched the muscles in his neck work. “Uh, nice music.”

  Crap, he’s really here.

  Chapter Four

  The black, long-sleeved shirt Roi wore hugged his upper body just right, showing off his amazing shape. He was a sculptor’s dream, there was no denying that. Roi’s dark jeans cupped his groin in a way that screamed “big package on board.” It took everything in Missy not to stare down at the bulge between his legs, and oh what a bulge it was. Knowing he’d get a thrill out of her sneaking a peek was the only thing that kept her gaze from shift
ing to his pelvic region for anything more than a quick glance. It didn’t matter. Liquid pooled at the apex of her thighs, making her knees weak.

  She’d only just met Roi under some rather strained circumstances, but she knew enough to know that he was a womanizing jerk. Forcing a smile onto her face, she tried to pass him.

  Better to get away now before I make a fool of myself and leap into his arms.

  Roi caught her elbow, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Only he had this effect on her. For some unknown reason, his very touch made her heart flutter and her stomach tie in a knot. Continually reminding herself that he was a self-proclaimed playboy who prided himself on how many women he’d slept with was the only thing that kept her grounded. Staring at all six foot four inches of his frame, and wanting to do nothing more than explore every last inch of it, begged to differ with her assumption she was grounded.

  You will not be another notch on his bedpost, Melissa Carter.

  Oh, but what a bedpost it must be.

  He was so much taller than she was that he had to bend down just to look her dead in the eye. “Going somewhere?”

  “Yes, away from you,” she answered coldly, doing her best not to stare at his blue eyes.

  He chuckled deeply and the sound shook her to the core. “I’m hungry and you’re here. What do you say we have a bite to eat, together?”

  “How very redundant.”

  “Come on, Missy doll, I know you’re hungry.”

  Missy groaned. “Suddenly,” she quirked an eyebrow, “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  Norris touched her shoulder and she cringed. “If this cat is bothering you, we can get rid of him for you.”

  “This cat?” News flash! The seventies are over. Though I can totally picture Roi dressed as a pimp.

  Faced with the option of being pressed into dancing with two men who screamed “up to no good” or being with Roi, she went with the lesser of two evils. Staring at Roi with pleading eyes, Missy did her best not to drool. He’d no doubt make some sort of smart-assed comment. Hell, he’d probably write the occasion down to use against her at their next unplanned meeting.