Beautifully Brutal (Southern Boy Mafia #1)

by Nicole Edwards

  At least for a little while.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  An assignment? Yes, please.

  Present day

  Tuesday, May 5th

  The insistent chirp of her cell phone pulled Courtney from sleep. She knew who it was because she’d assigned ring tones to each member of her family. And based on the noise, she couldn’t ignore this call, even if she wanted to. Rolling over, she grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand, forced her eyes open, and peered at the number before hitting the talk button.

  “Dad?”

  “Hey, baby girl. Sorry to wake you, but this is important. We’ve got a missin’ kid. Need everyone on this one.”

  Before he was finished with his sentence, Courtney was out of bed and heading to the bathroom. “I can be in the office in forty-five minutes.”

  “We’ll be here,” Casper told her quickly, then disconnected the line.

  Rushing through her shower after pulling her hair up into a ponytail, Courtney managed to get ready in fifteen minutes. Her outfit of choice was always the same when she was heading out on an op such as this one. Black tank top, black pants, combat boots, and yes, her gun. Not to mention, a backup she kept in an ankle holster beneath her pants.

  Without fanfare, she snatched her keys and her cell phone, grabbed a Mountain Dew from the fridge on the way out the door, and as she’d told her father, forty-five minutes after she’d crawled out of bed, she was walking into the main reception area of Sniper 1 Security.

  The place looked like a madhouse.

  Everyone was there, racing around, talking, yelling…

  “They’re in the conference room, waitin’ for you,” Jayden said, looking haggard for the first time in a long time.

  Adrenaline crashed through Courtney as she double-timed it down the hall, eager to get to work. It’d been months since she’d been on an assignment such as this one. Most of hers—aside from the special situation with the Adorite family—were limited to bodyguard duty, but she welcomed this more.

  The door to the conference room was open, so she walked in, grabbed a folder from the table before taking a seat at the back of the room, beside Z.

  RT was at the front of the room going over the details. He merely nodded at her before he continued.

  “Fiona Suarez is five years old,” RT explained, nodding toward a screen behind him. “Black hair, brown eyes, last doctor’s visit shows her at three feet four inches, forty-two pounds. She’s on the small side.

  “She was last seen by her mother on Friday night when Fiona’s father came to pick her up for his weekend visitation. Ricardo Suarez, thirty-eight, stands five feet ten inches, weighs one hundred eighty pounds. He has a day job working in construction, but it’s no secret that he’s running drugs down near the border. Has ties to one of the cartels in Mexico.

  “The little girl lives with her mother in San Antonio, father lives in Laredo. According to the mother, he’s always punctual, picking Fiona up every other Friday, delivering her back on Sunday night. The parents’ relationship is strained, but he’s good to Fiona, loves her.”

  “Shit,” Trace grumbled from beside Courtney.

  “My sentiments exactly,” RT said. “Based on what I’ve learned from Mrs. Suarez, it’s a real possibility that Ricardo has taken Fiona into Mexico, probably getting protection from the cartel.”

  Courtney stared at the men around her, then looked back at the picture of the dark-haired little girl in the pink dress, big brown eyes peering back at the camera as though she didn’t have a care in the world. Her heart went out to the little girl, as well as the mother. If Fiona’s father had taken her and didn’t want her to come back, slipping into Mexico was an easy way to do that.

  “I’ve got a couple of contacts in Mexico,” Z informed them. “I’ll reach out, have them put some feelers out. See if they can find anything.”

  Courtney didn’t say a word as everyone talked over one another, tossing out ideas, coming up with a plan. They would head down to Laredo, talk to Ricardo’s boss, his co-workers, what little family he had. They were already at a disadvantage considering Fiona’s mother hadn’t realized she was missing until two days after she’d been taken—not until Sunday when she should’ve been returned home. And now … they’d tacked on an additional day because, according to the information in the folder, the police had told Fiona’s mother they couldn’t do anything since Ricardo had visitation rights. Since Fiona’s mother had informed the police that she did not believe her daughter to be in danger, they hadn’t issued an Amber Alert. Courtney was inclined to believe it had more to do with the drug cartel that they weren’t pursuing her as quickly as they should.

  Shit.

  This didn’t look good for Fiona.

  “The police aren’t jumpin’ on this one,” RT continued. “The cartel has a stronghold on the border, and if Ricardo made it across, it’s gonna take some work to flush him out.”

  Listening to the drone of voices filling the room, Courtney’s hands fisted in her lap. She knew what she had to do, knew who she had to reach out to. It would likely bring Fiona back to her mother sooner than they could on their own. Sniper 1 was good at what they did, but this… They were up against a timeline that was drastically tilted and not in their favor. Ricardo could have gone to ground at this point, hiding out with the little girl, hoping for enough time to pass that people stopped looking. Or hell, he could very well have disappeared entirely, foregoing Mexico and on his way to … anywhere.

  “Court? You okay?” RT asked.

  She quickly nodded, leaning forward. “I’ve got a contact. I’ll see if he can give me any information. Regardless, I’ll head down to Laredo, do some snooping.”

  “I’m goin’ with you,” Z said firmly.

  Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to say no, Courtney simply nodded. They didn’t do these jobs solo, at least not most of the time.

  “Ricardo’s mother also lives in Laredo,” RT explained. “Talk to her first, talk to his friends, the other dealers. See if this was planned. Maybe Ricardo told her what he was gonna do. But be careful.”

  “Will do,” Courtney said, peering over at Z. “I’ve got an errand to run. Then I need to stop at the house, grab a couple of things. I’ll meet you back here in three hours?”

  “Roger that,” Z answered, his attention quickly turning back to RT.

  Not wanting to waste any time, Courtney headed out to her car. Before she went home, she had one stop to make. And hopefully, if things went well, in three hours, a trip to Laredo wouldn’t be necessary.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Be careful what you wish for.

  Max leaned back in his chair, studying Leyton. Now that he was fully apprised of the situation with one of his distributors, he relaxed somewhat. He still had more questions, but he couldn’t seem to concentrate due to the fog that had overcome him in recent days.

  “How is she?” Max questioned, referring to Courtney. It’d been ten days since he’d seen her last. Although he’d been the one to send her on her way, Max still thought about her every minute of every day, wondering what she was doing, who she was with … whether or not she was thinking about him. Hell, he’d give anything just to see her, touch her, hold her…

  It was official. Courtney Kogan was solely responsible for ruining him.

  Leyton’s gaze darted to the desk. “Good. She doesn’t leave her house much. Just to go to work or visit her folks.”

  “No new assignments?”

  “No,” Leyton confirmed. “At least not anything that’ll send her off the grid.”

  Max wasn’t sure why he was happy to hear that, but he was.

  “What about Angelica?” he asked.

  “She’s stayin’ put for now. I had a chat with her, told her to back off.”

  Max smirked. “And she listened?”

  “Doubtful,” Leyton replied with a grin. “But, I laid it out for her, told her to chill with the nonsense. However, she’s still workin
’ on a way to move up the wedding, and she’s hell-bent on the sixteenth.”

  “Of course she is,” Max told him. “That’s the day Trace and Marissa are gettin’ hitched. She doesn’t want me there.”

  “But you’re still goin’?” Leyton inquired.

  He nodded. Nothing short of a bullet would keep him away. He didn’t give a fuck what his father said; this was Max’s life, and he fully intended to live it the way he wanted to.

  “I don’t know what it is with that woman, but I think she’s up to somethin’,” Leyton relayed.

  “Who?” Surely Leyton wasn’t talking about Courtney.

  “Angelica. I know that the marriage arrangement was her idea because she pissed off Alvarez and she convinced her grandfather to put it in motion, but she’s on edge. I think she’s worried you’ll back out, concerned that you don’t need Winslow as much as they need you.”

  Max agreed. However, Max and Leyton had already put some things in motion that would require the land deal to go through. The blowback, should things not go smoothly, could be painful. “I’m at odds right now. Let’s work on a backup plan, though. We can’t backtrack now. It’ll show weakness. But she’s right to be worried.”

  Leyton nodded.

  The door to Max’s office opened slowly.

  “Sir?” Sal called when he stuck his head inside.

  Looking past Leyton toward the door, Max lifted an eyebrow in question.

  “Courtney’s here to see you.”

  Max frowned, his eyes darting to the doorway behind Sal.

  “They just let her through the main gate.”

  “She say what she wanted?” he asked, getting to his feet at the same time Leyton did.

  “No. Just that it was important.”

  Fuck.

  When he glanced over to Leyton, the man simply shrugged.

  It’d been a little over a week since the last time he’d seen or talked to her, and after what he’d said to her, Max hadn’t expected her to want to have anything to do with him. That had been the plan, pushing her away, shielding her from the crazy that was Angelica until Max could figure out what needed to be done.

  “Send her in,” Max told Sal, reaching for the decanter and pouring himself a drink. It was too early in the morning, but if he was expected to come face-to-face with the woman who haunted his dreams and every waking moment, he had to do something.

  “I’ll work on a backup plan,” Leyton told him before leaving him alone.

  A few minutes later, as Max stood at the windows overlooking the back of his house, he heard the door open. He didn’t turn to face her immediately, steeling himself for seeing her again.

  “Max?”

  He closed his eyes at the sound of her voice, his gut churning from the pain that had overtaken his world since he’d sent her away from him.

  A minute passed, maybe two, before Courtney spoke up again; this time she sounded closer.

  “I know you don’t want to see me, but…”

  Max turned around, his eyes raking over her from head to toe as he tried to catch his breath.

  There before him was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail; she had absolutely no makeup on her beautiful face. The black tank top she wore showed off her toned arms, and the baggy black BDUs did little to disguise her sexy body. The black combat boots and the Ruger 9mm holstered on her side made his fucking dick come to life.

  He’d seen the woman in everything from an evening gown to absolutely nothing, and he was pretty damn sure he’d never seen her as fucking hot as she was right that moment, looking like a complete badass.

  Forcing his gaze away from her, he strolled back to his desk. “What can I do for you, Courtney?”

  “I need your help,” she told him.

  His eyes lifted to meet hers. “With?”

  She took a few steps closer, and he noticed her throat work as she swallowed hard. She was nervous, that was clear. “We’ve got a case. A little girl.”

  Max waited for her to continue.

  “Looks like the father kidnapped her.”

  “And how do you think I can help?” he questioned curiously.

  “Mother lives in San Antonio, father in Laredo…”

  Their eyes locked together as she trailed off, and Max knew what she was asking of him. He had plenty of contacts, including some of his own men down there who could very well find what she was looking for within the hour. But he wasn’t willing to give in to her quite so easily. After all, he was a businessman. He didn’t do favors; he didn’t extend his services for free. If she wanted something from him, he wanted something in return.

  “When did she disappear?” he inquired.

  “Friday night when the father picked her up for his weekend visit. She should’ve been back Sunday evening. They never came back.”

  He let his eyes trail over her for a moment, then it hit him. “And what?” he asked, nodding to her choice of clothing. “You’re gonna go find her?”

  Courtney’s head cocked to the side as she glared at him. “It’s my job, Max. That’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”

  Shit.

  He had known from the day he’d met her that she was in the security business. As sexist as it sounded, he much preferred her on the glorified babysitting jobs that her father and brothers preferred to send her on. Never had he really considered the other jobs she dealt with. In all the time they’d known one another, she’d disappeared on a few occasions, but she hadn’t shared the details with him, and truthfully, he’d convinced himself that she’d been… Hell, he’d never given it much thought, refusing to think that she’d put herself in danger at someone else’s expense.

  Then again, her father had assigned her to him, which, above all else, was likely the most dangerous assignment she’d ever been on.

  His gut twisted at the thought of Courtney heading down to Mexico in search of that little girl. He understood her reasons for doing it—no one wanted to see something bad happen to a child, not even him, but…

  No, Max didn’t like the idea of her being the one sent on that quest.

  “Max?”

  He met her iridescent gaze once again.

  “It wasn’t easy to come here,” she said, her voice soft. “I know how much you hate me, and I know you never wanted to see me again, but I… I need your help. This little girl needs your help.”

  Setting the empty tumbler down, Max propped his ass against the front of the desk, crossed his ankles, and stared at her. “And you want a favor?”

  Courtney’s chin tilted upward, her back going ramrod straight. “Yes. I’m askin’ for a favor. But not for me. For the little girl.”

  Max smirked. “The little girl doesn’t need me, Court,” he told her harshly. “You do. I’m sure your brothers and their friends are off and running, ready to find her on their own. They don’t need me, either. You do.”

  He could see that she wanted to argue, but he respected the hell out of her right then for managing not to say what was clearly on her mind.

  “You know what? Forget it,” she said through gritted teeth. “I don’t need your fuckin’ help. I don’t know why the hell I bothered to ask.”

  Courtney pivoted on her heel, but before she could make it to the door, Max was on her. He grabbed her arm, spun her back to face him, and slammed his mouth down on hers. Without waiting for her permission, he thrust his tongue past her lips. She appeared stunned, but only for a second, and the instant she regained her senses, Max knew because she was kissing him back, her arms ringing his neck, her fingernails digging into the back of his head as she moaned into his mouth.

  Just as it had always been between them … intense, hot, electric.

  Backing her against the wall, he dominated the kiss, never giving her an ounce of control as he inhaled her.

  Fuck.

  It was impossible for him to resist her. No matter how imperative it was that he stay away from her, he just couldn’t fucking
do it.

  “Max,” she said against his mouth, her teeth nipping his lower lip. “We can’t…”

  Oh, but they could. If he really wanted to, he could so easily fuck her against the goddamn door, make her scream out his name as she came.

  But he didn’t.

  How he managed to find that sliver of control, that tiny ounce that still remained, he didn’t know, but he did. Forcing himself to release her, he jerked away.

  “Consider it handled,” he told her roughly as he maneuvered to his desk, adjusting himself, doing his damnedest to ignore the throbbing of his dick.

  “Max,” she said softly.

  “I said consider it handled!” he yelled. “Now go. Leyton will call you when it’s done.”

  He heard her sigh. The sound that followed—the click of the door opening and closing—had him inhaling deeply, his chest aching more with every breath he took.

  Damn her.

  How the fuck had he gotten to this point?

  It was a question he didn’t really want an answer to.

  Because, no matter what, it didn’t fucking matter.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Well. Nice to see you, too.

  Courtney was pacing the floor of her living room as she waited for a phone call. At that point, she didn’t give a shit who called, but she needed the damn phone to ring before she had to head out and meet Z. She’d thought for sure that Max would come through for her … for little Fiona Suarez.

  A pounding on her front door had her jumping, her heart slamming against her ribs.

  “Open the damn door, Courtney!”

  In a rush, Courtney threw open the door, coming face-to-face with RT.

  He didn’t ask to be invited in, merely pushed his way past her, his hand sliding through his blond hair.

  “What the hell did you do?” He confronted her directly, his crystal-blue eyes ablaze with fury as he abruptly came to a stop less than a foot away.

  “Good to see you, too,” she said snidely, closing the door behind him, never turning her back on him.

  “Answer the goddamn question, Courtney.”