by Mandy Harbin
“At least I didn’t have to witness a coldblooded murder,” Maya said from behind him, and he whirled.
“Jesus, woman. I asked you to stay back. He could’ve been someone breakin’ in to hurt you.”
Maya smiled, but the look didn’t give him any warm fuzzies. He knew a pissed off woman when he saw one. What had he done? He couldn’t help they got interrupted. He should punch Gauge in the balls just for that alone. And he probably would when he got over being irate about dude breaching his security. The second the sensor on his wristband tripped, he’d gone into full alert mode, but the bypass code flashing back at him was the one he’d given his teammates in case they ever needed access to his property. He knew it was one of the guys. He just hadn’t been sure which one or why the access code hadn’t been entered at the first checkpoint. If it had, the alarm wouldn’t have sounded even if it had been tripped.
It also didn’t explain why one of them was here in the middle of the day.
“Obviously, he’s not.” She crossed her arms and took a big breath. “I’m going to take a shower. I feel dirty.”
He narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to ask her if she was talking about what happened between them, but either way he could see her blaming him. If she really was dirty, it was still his fault for tackling her to the ground outside. But if she meant it as an innuendo, he didn’t want to address any of that in front of Gauge. He figured it’d be best to ignore whatever meaning was lurking behind her words. “Be careful with your leg. There’s medicine under the sink.”
She harrumphed and turned, stomping out as if she was a mad baby chick. He had to fight the smile that threatened to form. Oh yeah, her feathers were ruffled.
“So…how’s it going?” Gauge asked slowly, not even attempting to hide the smile in his voice.
Hunter cocked his head to the side as he turned. He had no intention of discussing anything personal relating to Maya with any of his teammates. As far as he was concerned, that had nothing to do with them. “Just peachy, brother. You gonna tell me what the hell you’re doing here, setting off my shit? You know it doesn’t need testing.” He narrowed his gaze at him before pushing the door closed without looking and walking to the couch.
Gauge chuckled as he followed and sat on the other end. He rubbed his hands together slowly before clasping them between his legs. “Nah, dude. I know your system is top-notch, but you’ve never harbored someone here before. I wanted to check a few things out.”
Hunter leaned back, crossing his arms. “Did I pass muster?”
“Yeah, it’s good. Oh, c’mon, don’t glare at me like that. You know your property borders the Wildlife Management area on the east. Anybody—”
“No-fucking-body can cross my property line anywhere without me knowing.”
“Famous last words, but hey,” Gauge added, lifting his hands. “You’re doing your job. I’m doing mine.”
Hunter stiffened. “Meaning?”
“Knock that chip off your shoulder, Hunter. You know what I’m talkin’ about.”
Yes, he did, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “So Bear has you watching me?”
“I’m backing you up. Nothing wrong with that.”
“I thought we were swamped at the garage,” Hunter said as he forced himself to relax and not take the invasion personally.
“He pushed back a few of the scheduled gigs and Roc is flying through that ’55 restore. We’re good.”
Bear was rescheduling their jobs? The man never did that. Not even when Colonel was still around. To Bear, once something was on the calendar, that shit was engraved in granite.
Something prickled as he watched Gauge rub his hands together again. “What’s going on?” There was something Gauge wasn’t telling him.
His colleague’s breath whooshed out as he faced him. “Oberman has mafia connections.”
Hunter stilled, faking calm indifference while his insides roared. “We knew that was a possibility based on the attorney who bailed him out.” He knew that guy was bad news and the threat of illegal ties was great. Having it confirmed, though, hit too close to home. Yes, Hunter had dealt with many crime families and their affiliates while working with the Bang Shift, but it was never easy. He always had to push aside his past to confront the evil of the present.
“Yeah, man, we did, but we found that connection is with Alonzo Rudolph.”
Hunter saw red. That was a name he hadn’t heard aloud in years. A name that was only safe to utter in dreams. Rudolph had tried ruining Hunter’s life by pulling him into his drug-trafficking crime family when he’d been young and naive. Thankfully, he’d gotten out before he officially got in, but that didn’t change the fact that he had and would continue to hide from that man for the rest of his life.
No one knew of Hunter’s past, and he wanted to keep it that way. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t know of the various organized crime groups in the world. They were hired too often to play dumb on that.
“What does some lieutenant in a Columbian gang have to do with Oberman?”
Gauge flashed a smile at him, and for some reason, nerves settled in the pit of his stomach. “Alonzo Rudolph has moved up quickly within the family biz. He’s now the underboss. Not bad for a man who started out as a soldier and moved quickly into a post where one of his duties was to recruit enforcers. But then, you know all about that, don’t you?”
Gauge shifted in his seat, not breaking eye contact. Hunter was a statue, unable to move, unwilling to give anything away. But his heart was racing, blood rushing in his ears, vision hazy as he tried frantically to assess just how much Gauge knew.
Hunter refused to flinch, knowing the man across from him was watching his every move and analyzing everything.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “I knew about Rudolph’s past, but his recent promotion is news to me.”
Gauge’s jaw ticked, obviously not pleased with the vague response.
Hunter stared back him.
Neither said another word for what felt like hours, but was probably only seconds.
Gauge was like a brother to him. The other guys had been slower to accept him into the group, but Hunter had been long past the “newbie” crap. The man had proven himself worthy of his post and did a damn good job…at least on the contract side of things. He still had some stuff to learn about cars...but right now it was painfully clear just how well his colleague excelled with his stealthier duties.
Hunter refused to show his hand first, though. He’d learned a long time ago never give up more than was necessary.
The two were at a stalemate.
After several more hours-long seconds, Gauge took a deep breath and said on the exhale, “Do you honestly believe the FBI would work with anyone they haven’t fully investigated?”
Shit. Gauge knew. He fucking knew about Hunter’s past. Didn’t matter just how much the man had found out because it was obviously enough. He should have known the feds would’ve dug into his history. Hell, he’d seen them do that a hundred times with other people.
And Gauge was an agent. He’d worked undercover for the feds for years without the team knowing it. It wasn’t until Xan came to town that his cover was blown. If any of them understood the inner workings of the government, it was Gauge.
Then an even bleaker thought came to him.
“Who all knows?” There was no use acting as if he didn’t understand what Gauge meant. They were beyond that now. Besides, he needed to know the numbers. What he was dealing with.
“Everyone.”
“Goddammit.” Hunter jumped from the couch and started pacing. “It was a long time ago. I screwed up, and I fixed it.” He had. He’d royally effed up, and no matter how hard he tried, he’d never be able to make it better. Not completely. Didn’t mean he couldn’t make the effort, which he did. Every day.
“You’re making me dizzy. Talk to me, man.”
He stopped by the wall opposite Gauge and turned to face him. “We all make mistakes w
hen we’re young. Rudolph was mine. I got a fake I.D. before I headed to Texas. No one knew the real me there. Maybe I’d figured out my dumb ass was making a mistake seeking out the quick money, and I wanted to be sure it’d be easy for me to run back home. I don’t know, but I thank God everyday I had the brains to lie about my identity back then.”
“You still think he’s coming after you one day.”
It wasn’t a question.
Hunter shrugged. “He’s not known for his leniency. And the man’s pride is the size of Texas. I’m willing to bet there aren’t too many men left breathing who turned him down on anything.”
“Good point.” Gauge smiled as he shook his head slightly.
Hunter frowned. “What?”
“I’ve known for years, dude. So has Bear. Colonel told him, which meant he was also privy to the info, not that what the traitor knew has anything to do with us now.” He shrugged. “I mean, that man was very methodical about why he’d brought everyone together. He’d probably had the intention of using your connection one day. Who knows?”
“Yeah.” Hunter hadn’t thought about it like that. There’d probably be all kinds of revelations come to light about whatever the Colonel’s ultimate plan was that only time and lots of investigation could provide.
“But I knew because I was briefed on everybody before taking the job out here.”
“And the others?”
“Monday,” Gauge said on a sigh. “We had a meeting after you bolted from the garage to discuss what Bear and I learned while meeting with our federal contacts.”
“And nobody cared to tell me?” Hunter narrowed his gaze.
“Dude. You left.” Gauge chuckled. When Hunter didn’t find the humor in that, he added, “Lighten up. We all have a job to do. Like I said, the news of your old connection to Rudolph was brought up, but it wasn’t negative. Hell, the feds, Bear, and me already knew. The issue at hand was your safety now, not your past.”
“Mine?” Hunter said, moving toward the couch. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that everybody knew about his past, but he didn’t have time to come to terms with that at this moment.
No, right now, he needed to get back into work mode, because apparently, he was out of the loop on some pretty important things. He wanted brought up to speed immediately so he could figure shit out.
“Yes, the consensus is that this looks a little too coincidental.”
“What does that mean?” Hunter mumbled a curse as he tried to rein in renewed irritation. “Jesus, man, spit it out.”
“That Jake Oberman 'the Doberman' is an enforcer for Rudolph who just happened to be involved with your sister’s roommate.”
White-hot anger surged through him, but he forced himself to remain calm. “My sister? So you think I’ve been made? That they’re going to get to me through my sister?” How he managed to get the words out without roaring, he didn’t know.
“Sorry, man, but it’s looking like that.” When Hunter surged to his feet, Gauge was right there with him, in his face, finger shoved into his chest. “Cool it.”
Hunter pushed the other man off him. “No. My sister’s in danger, no one told me, and you want me to calm down? Fuck you.” He was already calculating how long it’d take to get to her campus if he drove ninety most of the way. Not soon enough.
Jesus, so not soon enough.
Gauge grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and look at him. “I need you to detach.”
He laughed mirthlessly before training the coldest gaze he could muster on his colleague. “No way.”
“I know she’s your sister—”
“The only family I have left,” he said, cutting off Gauge.
“I get that. I do. But she has both an FBI agent and Blade watching her six. She’s not alone. Ever.” Gauge stepped closer and dropped his voice. “What if this is a trap for you, huh? What if you go stomping down there to get her and walk right into a set up?”
Hunter scoffed at that. “I know how to protect myself.”
“I know you do. But you can’t defend yourself against a sniper.”
“Neither can Heather,” he roared, the thread of his control snapping.
Gauge grabbed both of Hunter’s shoulders. “Yeah, okay, bad example. But I hate to break it to you, if Heather was the intended target, she’d already be dead. Think, man. This isn’t about her. Hell, all we know for sure is that Jake was dating her roommate, so it might not have anything to do with you either. That’s worst case scenario out of a lot of fucking possibilities. We need to get to the bottom of things and keep our damn heads screwed on, ya feel me?”
The breath that Hunter took was ragged, so he forced more air into his burning lungs. He knew Gauge was right, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. At all. After several seconds of getting his temper under control, and not doing a great job of it, he asked, “And how do we do that?”
Gauge patted Hunter’s shoulder before dropping his hands. “It’s time we talked to Maya again. We need to know everything she knows about Jake.”
With anger clouding him, he’d forgotten about her storming off earlier. She’d been mad about something. What, he didn’t know.
And he was almost as worried about finding out the reason for her reaction as he was discovering everything she knew.
Almost.
The shower had reddened Maya’s skin, but it was a good kind of burn. The heat of the water helped distract her for as long as she could stand it, which had been until the temperature began to drop. Then it wasn’t warm enough to be effective against thoughts of Hunter, and no way was she taking a cold shower.
Didn’t matter if she’d needed that earlier. Her raging hormones were back to a manageable simmer—not as low as she’d wished, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She would take whatever reprieve she could get from the growing attraction until she could squash it altogether. Because she would. There was no other choice.
Had she not learned her lesson before? She would laugh at her reflection if she didn’t think it would turn into a pathetic crying fit. Why was she drawn to bad boys? Was it because she’d been so sheltered growing up? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t ever had a boyfriend before.
Nice boyfriends. Ones she’d met at church or her small private school.
Maybe the bad-boy appeal was something every girl fought. I mean they write books and movies about tough dudes. Surely it was something ingrained within the female population. Otherwise, Hollywood wouldn’t bother. Maybe it was something strong women were able to resist—or at least learned to resist.
A life lesson Maya totally missed. It wouldn’t be that big of a stretch considering her conservative upbringing. But it was hard for her to justify her shortcomings right at this moment.
And it’s not a freakin’ shortcoming.
She couldn’t help it she didn’t know how to deal with men like Hunter. Like Jake.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t fair to put them in the same category, but it wasn’t as if she was working with a complete knowledge base here. She pushed away any thoughts of inexperience and guilt and got dressed. She succeeded in keeping her mind off all things Hunter while she donned fresh clothes and brushed her still-wet hair. If any thoughts of their impromptu make-out session started surfacing, she hummed or paid extra attention to her pores to help refocus. She couldn’t go back down that road yet. It would have to wait until she knew she could be alone longer than thirty minutes without the threat of seeing the object of her frustration again.
After draping her towel over the shower curtain, she opened the door…and stilled. Hunter stood at the end of the hall, arms crossed, watching the bathroom door.
“Gauge and I need to talk to you.”
Okay, twenty minutes, not thirty. She’d been too generous before.
“Fine.” She pushed back her shoulders and walked toward him, facing ahead. No way in hell was she going to look at him if she didn’t have to. As she began to pass him, though, he reached out and wrapped h
is hand around her elbow, stopping her. She leaned in, his breath working through her wet stands.
“Don’t know why you’re mad. We’ll talk about that later.” He dropped his voice so much she had a hard time making out the rest of what he said. “That’s between us.” Yeah, she had a hard time hearing him, but she got the gist. Hunter didn’t want her telling Gauge about what had happened between them. She wouldn’t do that, but why did he feel the need to make sure? Was he embarrassed? Did it not mean anything to him?
Hurt and humiliation soared, battling for dominance. She reared back to fire off something at him, but the moment their gazes met, he grabbed her, pulling her closer to him.
“Don’t. Whatever you’re thinking. Don’t.”
Stunned by the fierceness of his words, all she could do was nod slowly.
He gentled his hold and leaned even closer. Jeez, any closer and he’d be touching her all over. He opened his mouth and her pulse raced. Was he going to say something or kiss her?
“Dude. I can see your backside. Whatever you’re doing can wait ’til later.”
Hunter cursed as he pulled away from her.
“Like after I’m long gone,” Gauge muttered.
“I got it,” Hunter said over his shoulder. Then he looked at her. “Let’s go.”
He guided her to the couch and nudged her down before sitting on the other side of her. She didn’t look at him, though. She stared at the other man sitting in the chair across from them.
“Hello again.” He smiled.
“Hi,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat and said it clearer the second time before adding, “Hunter said you needed to talk to me.”
“Yeah.” He leaned forward, clasping his hands together between his legs. “We have some questions about your ex-boyfriend.”
Maya sighed, shutting her eyes and nodding. When she opened them again, the pleasant smile that had graced Gauge’s face was gone. She couldn’t put her finger on the look he was now sporting, but it couldn’t be good. She bit her lip, waiting.
“How did you meet him?”