by Jory Strong
Fuck. And there he was, seeing Grace’s point when he didn’t want to.
What the hell was taking Cade so long? Get rid of them already.
They needed to talk about a certain Montgomery and what they were going to do about her. Because yeah, he wasn’t going to let their screwed-up childhood keep him from Grace. He was opting in. Permanently.
He stood. Intending to suggest they finish this in the office, or on their way back to Grace’s place.
The blonde teetered on her fuck-me heels, was bumped in an obvious accidently-on-purpose move by a brunette so she landed in Cade’s lap, her arms conveniently going around his neck.
Disgusted, where last night he’d have probably been mildly amused by the antics, he shot Cade a glare, looked up and caught sight of Grace.
The look on her face, the pain in her eyes when they met his—he wanted to rip his own heart out along with Cade’s. “Fuck! Grace!”
Grace rode the pain in a wild rush to her car. And then that pain turned into a tide of anger—at herself.
Despite what her eyes had registered, despite her emotional reaction to it, she did not believe Cade was in the midst of picking up a woman while sitting next to Mace and after telling her he loved her.
I should have gone over, grabbed that blonde by the hair and pulled her off Cade’s lap.
Was it any wonder they didn’t think she could handle difficult situations!
She wheeled around and headed toward the door.
Mace and Cade came storming out.
The relief on their faces was like being hit by a blast from a double-barreled shotgun. The fact that it was both of them was enough to send her heart soaring.
They reached her, caught her up between them, their bodies vibrating, hers answering with tremors. She encircled their waists, hugged them to her.
Cade rubbed his cheek against her hair. “It wasn’t how it looked. I’d cut my own dick off before I cheated on you, Grace.”
She believed him.
“I know,” she said, turning her head, brushing her mouth over his but evading a deeper kiss so she could also touch her lips to Mace’s.
She’d come here to deal with baggage left over by David’s betrayal, but standing in their arms again, she realized something she’d missed. From the moment Cade had shown up, she’d been labeling this a fantasy and expecting it to end. But this was real, and real meant dealing with issues, working things out, it meant risking, trusting, committing fully, being all in without seeing every card in the game.
Like Lyric had said, what was she going to do, suddenly get so scared of losing that she mucked her cards when she might be holding the mother of all winning hands?
Hell no.
“Just so you know,” she said. “The next time I walk in on something like that, there’s going to be blood on the floor. A lot of blood.”
It gained her appreciative masculine laughs.
“Fair enough,” Cade said, nuzzling her neck. “Let’s take this to your place.”
“To talk, Cade. It can’t only be about sex.”
“Great sex,” he countered.
“It can’t only be about great sex.”
His lips burrowed beneath her shirt, going to the spot he’d marked. “I know, sweetheart. This has always been about more than sex. Even though the sex is absolutely amazing.”
Her chest felt as if it were about to burst open and spill happiness across the parking lot.
Mace cupped her face, angling it toward his. “No more storming off. No more locked doors.”
“Agreed.”
Her cell rang.
“Take it,” Cade said, and she knew it was an olive branch, his way of saying her work life was every bit as important as theirs.
She frowned at the unidentified number but answered.
“This is Avery.”
Grace’s heart sped. “Did you need to bounce something off me?”
“No. I’ve been driving around since I left the ice cream shop. I don’t want to go home. I can’t visit my parents. There’s a coffee shop near the university—you think we could meet, just the two of us?”
She was torn. But maybe Avery’s calling was fate’s way of testing her relationship with Cade and Mace. “I need to call you back.”
Grace hung up. She said, “That was Avery.”
With their bodies touched to hers, she felt their instant tensing. Mace’s hand tightened on her hip. Cade’s fisted in the material at the base of her spine.
“What does she want?” Cade asked, not completely pulling off casual but at least making the effort.
“To meet. Just the two of us.”
“You want to go?” Mace asked.
The question sounded as if it’d had to fight to get out of his mouth.
“I’m curious.”
“Curiosity killed the fucking cat,” Cade growled.
Her heart stuttered. She stiffened her spine. “You do know the rest of that saying, don’t you? And curiosity brought it back life.”
“Cade.” Mace snarled the warning.
Grace met Cade’s eyes. “This is what I do. I could argue that technically I’m still on the case, but it’s more than that. She’s scared. She’s feeling like she’s out there alone with no one to trust.”
She could feel the battle going on inside him, see it in his face. “If anything happens to you…”
She gave him time rather than rush in. He said, “Our old man was a loser. Our mother wasn’t much better. When he got sent to prison, she replaced him with a guy just as violent, only that one killed her. We couldn’t do anything to protect her, but we can do something to protect you.”
Piercing ache speared into her and spread. She’d wondered about their childhoods, but they’d never volunteered information, and trying to get it would have made her interest in them obvious.
She put her hand over his heart. “I’m not her. Any more than you or Mace are him. You’ve got to trust me to be able to take care of myself, despite giving myself over to you when we’re home.”
The struggle in him was easy to see. She didn’t push, just waited.
A muscle jerked in his cheek. “What do you want to do?”
“Meet with her. Figure out a way to help her that won’t create trouble for us, for my family.”
“Okay.”
Her heart eased.
“Take us as backup?” Mace asked.
A request. Not a demand.
Her heart soared. They could find a way to make this work.
Cade cupped her cheek, brushed his thumb over her lips. “Would it be a terrible thing, to have a couple of Marines as backup?”
No. No it wouldn’t be.
“Ex-Marines,” she said, smiling, because this was a way to go back to what they’d had, only better.
He tapped her mouth. Gave her a familiar scowl. “Once a Marine, always a Marine, sweetheart. You know that. I’ve let you slide on it in the past without threatening disciplinary action, but consider yourself warned.” He shot a look at Mace. “By both of us.”
Her chest filled with hope and happiness. “If I accept a couple of Marines as backup, how would you want to do things?”
“We take our cars,” Mace said. “Keep an eye out for trouble.”
Cade nodded. “That works for me. You okay with it, Grace?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s do this,” Mace said, exchanging a glance with Cade. Brother-speak she couldn’t read.
Cade nodded. He gave her a hard, fast kiss. “Set up the meet. We’ll be right back.”
He headed toward the bar entrance. Mace pulled her fully against him, his mouth claiming hers, his tongue slipping in to rub and twine with hers, the make-up kiss thorough, leaving her clinging to him, the two of them staring into each other’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Forgiven.”
The quick dart of his tongue into her ear, a quick suck to her lobe and he was following Cade into the b
ar.
She called Avery. “I can head to the coffee shop now. Which one are you talking about?”
Avery told her, asked if she knew where it was.
“If there’s not too much traffic, it’ll take me twenty-five to thirty-five minutes to get there.”
She hung up. Cade and Mace came out of the bar, wearing jackets.
She understood the brother-speak then. They’d gone in to arm themselves.
She intended to do the same.
Unlocking the Beetle’s trunk, she retrieved her purse. She told them where she’d be meeting Avery.
Cade slid an arm around her waist, pulled her against him, eyes boring into hers. “Stay alert.”
“I will.”
A tightening of his arm. A kiss and he released her, going to his Porsche.
Mace touched his mouth to her forehead. “Don’t let anything happen to you. We wouldn’t survive it.”
They would. They had each other. And she was grateful for that fact.
“There’s no reason to expect trouble, but I’ll watch for it. And I’ve got you guys at my back.”
“Always.”
He headed toward the Roadster.
She got in her car, tugged the shoulder halter from beneath the seat, put it on and covered it with the light windbreaker she kept in the car just for that purpose. She took the gun out of her purse and slipped it into the halter.
They followed her out of the parking lot, Cade behind Mace, staying close.
Near the university campus, Cade peeled away.
Mace passed her, going ahead.
She called Avery. “I’m almost there.”
“I had to park a few blocks away.”
“You’re with the car?”
“Yes. I won’t bother telling you where it is.”
Grace smiled, liking that Avery could make a joke about the tracker. “I’ll look for a spot close by.”
She found one.
Avery came to her, surprised her with a tight hug. “Thanks for doing this.”
Keeping things honest felt important. She said, “I’m not completely alone. Mace and Cade are patrolling the area.”
“Actually, I feel better knowing it.” They started walking in the direction of the coffee shop. Avery glanced her way.
Grace interpreted the look. “They were suffering from testosterone overload earlier. We’re good now.”
Avery laughed. “I’m glad. But better you than me.”
Finally giving in to her curiosity, Grace asked, “Who’s the senator?”
Avery’s lips quirked upward. “So you don’t know. I was too rattled by your guys to think about it until after I left the ice-cream shop. Then I couldn’t figure out how you could know about him since I haven’t seen him in over a week.”
So Avery hadn’t made Lincoln Webber who’d watched her for a month?
Grace’s heart actually sank.
“How’d you figure out I was watching you?”
Avery’s smile widened. “Maybe I should be a detective. What tipped me off was seeing Braden parked down the street from my apartment building. I recognized him from a casino tournament in San Jose. I remembered he worked as a private detective. A little bit of Googling and I found you. And Erin. I couldn’t tell for sure who followed me to the gym. That was part of the reason for the trip to the University.”
Grace felt a lot better hearing it, even knew that when the right moment came, she was going to enjoy firing the information at Braden. It took her half a block to realize Avery had completely diverted her from the original question.
“You’re going to make a killer lawyer,” she said.
Avery shrugged. “If I decide to stick with it. I’m not sure I will. What would I be, a criminal attorney after having been forced deeper into this mess when I might have quit after the one time if I hadn’t been caught? A prosecuting attorney, going after men like the senator, knowing they’ve got money and connections and will probably get off with a reprimand while the average Joe I go after will do time?”
“I hear you.” They reached the coffee shop.
Grace spotted the Roadster caught at a red light.
She and Avery entered the coffee shop. There was no wait to order, but also no sign that a table was going to become available anytime soon. Most held laptops, books, papers, and cups, the seats around them claimed by students.
They got their coffees and went back outside.
“Want to just keep walking?” Avery asked.
“Sure.”
A couple of blocks and Grace had finished the mocha. She dropped the cup into a trashcan, said, “You’re not going to give me the senator’s name, are you?”
Avery ditched her cup, looking down at the trashcan for a long moment before sighing. “What I actually hate is knowing you’ll put a face to the name and you’ll think, she had sex with him.”
Grace touched Avery’s arm. “I told you, I’m not judging.”
Avery looked up, met her gaze, said, “Senator Worthington. There’s an irony.”
They resumed walking.
Grace’s cell rang with Mace’s number.
“Where are you?” He sounded tense.
She gave him the cross streets. “Why?”
“I’m pretty sure I just spotted the two gangbangers who were outside the gym.”
Adrenaline surged into her. Her stomach clamped so fast it nearly forced the mocha back up her throat. “Where?”
“Near Avery’s car. Tell her—”
“To contact the agents.” Grace finished for him.
Avery inhaled sharply. The pulse in her throat throbbed noticeably and her purse shook as she opened it and retrieved her phone.
Mace said, “I’ll call Cade and tell him where you are. Get out of sight, Grace.”
“What’s going on?” Avery asked.
“Mace thinks he just saw the two bangers who were outside the gym. They were near your car.”
“Later,” Avery said, voice shaky. “This is what the guy at the gym meant.”
I should have read more into her fear. I should have—
Stop. Just stop.
She needed to stop second guessing herself. She’d never been in possession of enough information when it came to this case.
Avery spoke into her phone. “I think I’m in danger. There are— Okay.”
She hung up just as Cade called.
He said, “Next street turn right. Run. Be ready to get in the car.”
Grace grabbed Avery’s arm. “Come on.”
They rushed forward.
Avery said, “Ellisson will be here soon. He was already on his way.”
More adrenaline surged into Grace. “Why?”
“Someone leaked the investigation. They picked up the senator a couple of hours ago. Something they’ve found out makes them think he meant for me to disappear, or die in a drive-by.”
“The trip to the gym.”
“Maybe the reason I didn’t disappear was because they saw you following me. Stupid, I was so stupid. When I realized you put a tracker on the car, I should have thought that maybe the guys at the gym could have too. I knew you weren’t watching the car.”
“I missed it too. I should have read more into your fear.”
“Next time,” Avery said, fear in her voice, but something else too, something that reminded Grace of Lyric.
They reached the intersection. Behind them a car accelerated.
Grace looked, saw a white car scream through a red light less than a block away. Her heart sped at recognizing the guys from outside the gym.
“Go, go, go,” she told Avery, knowing they’d never outrun the car.
Cade’s Porsche was blocks away and barreling toward them on a narrow, one-way street.
She’d bet everything she owned that Mace was also close.
But the white car was going to reach them first.
She drew her gun. “Go into the alley!”
She prayed there was something to ta
ke cover behind. Didn’t see a choice but to make a stand rather than risk being mowed down by either the car or bullets.
Avery darted into the alley.
Grace followed.
It was a long alley, too narrow for a car.
About halfway down was a dumpster.
The squeal of tires said the white car had rounded the corner. The roar of Cade’s Boxster grew louder.
Faster! Faster!
They reached the dumpster. Took cover, Grace pulling Avery into a crouch.
The white car burned rubber stopping. Doors opened. Footsteps pounded toward them. She had to assume the bangers were armed.
She heard the roar of a second powerful engine. Mace closing in.
She readied herself.
Bullets punched into the side of the dumpster and it was as if a switch was flipped inside her. Reality narrowed, survival took precedence.
She heard the distinct bark of two separate weapons. Trusted her instincts, on where they were, when to risk exposure.
She acted without hesitation.
Leaving the cover of the dumpster. Staying low.
Aiming.
Firing.
Pop.
Pop.
The gangbangers went down. Writhed, moaning, bleeding, but still alive.
And then Cade and Mace were in the alley, rushing forward, guns drawn, yelling at her to stay put. Yelling at the teens she’d shot not to reach for their guns.
Nausea threatened to boil up as adrenaline dumped from her system. Grace shook, prayed the boys would live but knew she could handle it if they didn’t. They were maybe eighteen, nineteen, and yet that didn’t change the fact that they would have willingly killed Avery and her, and walked away from their bodies without remorse.
Mace and Cade kicked the guns away, knelt to keep the boys from bleeding out.
“I’ll call Ellisson,” Avery said, voice and hands shaking as she did just that.
Admiration for her once again flared inside Grace, that Avery had the presence of mind to make sure the agent didn’t show up and think Cade and Mace were a threat.
Moments later a black sedan screeched to a halt at the other end of the alley. Two men got out, both dark haired, one more muscular than the other. They closed the distance at a jog.
The less muscular man kept going. The other agent stopped next to Avery and her.
“Go ahead and get in the car,” he told Avery.