“Are you all comfortable with this? Carter and I can meet Trey at the airport and tell him to back off if you want us to,” I offered.
Levi, Lenox, Clark, and Jasper exchanged looks and my gut tightened. The four men were a unit, a team—they didn’t need words to communicate. A skillful art I’d shared with my guys as well. Something that gutted me to know I no longer had. I felt Carter’s eyes on me and my gaze slid to him.
So much for not having it anymore, Carter knew exactly what I was thinking. Years of working with him meant he could read me whether I wanted him to or not.
He gave me a nod and tight smile. I reckoned that was his way of acknowledging my thoughts and telling me it would get easier.
“It’ll be good to have Trey’s input. Especially if we’re dealing with explosives. Each of us can hold our own, but it’s good to have someone with working knowledge. We’ll take a break, Carter and Liberty can show you around. When you’re done with that, Quinn has your employee contract ready. If you have any questions about it, come see me and we’ll discuss it,” Levi said and stood. “In the meantime, I’m taking my wife back to my office.”
Liberty’s face scrunched in the cutest grimace and she started to cough. “God, Dad, gross.”
“Nothing gross about a man enjoying—”
“Don’t finish that,” Liberty demanded and stood. “Can you at least give Drake like a day to get to know you before you start talking about enjoying things in front of him?”
“I find it doubtful a man like Drake needs that time, Liberty,” Lenox added. “Drake. It was a pleasure to finally meet you. When you have time stop by my office, I’d like a word.”
“Will do. Heard a lot about you all over the years. Good to finally meet you as well.”
With chin lifts, slaps on my shoulder accompanied by welcomes, the men filed out of the room leaving Carter, Liberty, and me.
“Well, well, well, who woulda thought,” Carter drawled. “Drake and my baby cousin.”
“Carter,” I rumbled a warning before he said something that set Liberty off.
“I think this is where I’m supposed to grill my cousin’s man. You know, put him through his paces, threaten him, maybe puff my chest out so he’ll know I’ll kick his ass if he hurts her. But I’m fucked. Can’t do any of that. You totally robbed me of the pleasure.” Carter paused and looked between the two of us, then his gaze landed on Liberty even though his words were meant for me. “Couldn’t have built a better man for her, brother.”
Fucking hell, that felt good at the same time it burned. Carter’s approval meant a lot, but I had a whole hell of a lot of work to do to make Liberty mine.
“Let’s go give him a tour.” That was directed to Liberty. “When we’re done, we’ll hit Brady up and see if he wants to go out to the range while we wait for Trey. Dad and the uncles won’t want to meet again until he’s here.” Then Carter’s gaze came back to mine. “Word of advice, don’t ever make a bet with my sweet cousin. She’s vicious and she hates to lose. It’s a no-win situation—either you’re following through with whatever fuckup wager you made, or she’s pouting and bitching about all the ways it wasn’t her fault she lost, complaining about having to do whatever the bet was.”
“You’re full of shit,” Liberty huffed. “Your wife is the sore loser, not me. I never welch on a bet.”
“Didn’t say you welched, just that you bitched.”
“Whatever.” Liberty’s eyes sliced to me and it took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. No sadness. No grief. Just her pretty, unusual eyes. “Thought you said you’d have my back. But there you are all quiet.”
“Baby, I don’t know because we’ve never made a bet, but just to say when we were in Golan Heights and Luke mentioned playing poker, I saw the way your eyes lit up and I have to tell you it scared the hell out of me. It was excitement and vindictiveness all rolled into one. I’m not sorry we didn’t get a chance to play.”
“What?” she grouched. “I didn’t look any sort of way.”
“Babe, you totally did.”
“Yeah, never let her sucker you into poker. She’s a master and you’ll be naked and running around the backyard with your junk swinging.”
My body shook with all the effort it took to stop the laughter from bubbling out.
Liberty’s eyes narrowed. “I only did that to you once. And only because you were out of money and still wanted to play.”
“Whatever, that shit was a conspiracy. You, Delaney, and Quinn plotted that shit.”
“Actually…” Liberty smiled. “It was all Ethan’s idea.”
“Little fucker,” Carter mumbled and Liberty grinned so huge I couldn’t stop myself from tagging her around the waist and pulling her to me.
“Vicious,” I whispered into her hair and inhaled the fruity scent of her shampoo. A smell I planned to become intimately familiar with.
She melted against me and that felt so fucking fantastic I had to think about how stupid Carter must’ve looked running around with his junk swinging in the wind.
This was what I wanted. My girl smiling, her family exchanging light-hearted jabs, and the feel of her pressed against me.
That was it, that’s all it would take to make me happy.
34
The last few hours had been the best I’d had since I’d been home.
Which made me wonder if it was because Drake was there. And I knew without thinking on it too hard or too long, the answer to that was yes.
And that scared me.
But I didn’t have time to ponder why Drake being around made me both happy and scared because Trey didn’t have Carter and Drake pick him up. He rented a car and drove himself to Triple Canopy. Something that worried me because I didn’t think he should be driving. I’d voiced this concern and both Carter and Drake just shook their heads at me but didn’t say anything.
Before Trey had arrived, I watched Brady, Carter, and Drake take turns shooting Brady’s prized Accuracy International rifle. I declined the invitation to shoot. I was enjoying watching them too much.
When the guys were done, we finished our tour. We left Drake with Quinn so she could go over the employment contract. Drake was only in there a few minutes when he left her office and prowled to my dad’s. Carter pulled me away from the door so all I heard was Drake telling my dad that something was “too much” though I wasn’t sure what that something was. Then I heard my dad rumble that it was “standard” but again I couldn’t make out what was standard, and then Carter yanked me down the hall and told me to mind my own business.
Unfortunately, he didn’t burst into flames no matter how hard I stared at him and wished it would happen. Though the truth was, I wasn’t trying all that hard because I loved his wife and his baby daughter and figured they might not like him turning into a pile of ash.
When I told Carter how annoying he was, he burst into laughter, used one arm to put me in a headlock, and gave me a noogie. A bonafide noogie, like we were kids. My Uncle Lenox came around the corner just as he did and yelled at Carter to leave me alone. He released me and when I straightened, I burst into a fit of laughter.
So immature.
Totally childish.
But it was recognizable, well-known, familiar. Something that brought me back to my youth and the stupid ways we used to torture each other. The fact that Uncle Lenox broke up the shenanigans like he had hundreds of times made it better.
I hadn’t felt like myself for so long, I’d forgotten how good it felt to just…be.
And yes, that had a lot to do with Drake being there.
So now we were all back in the conference room, an extra chair had been brought in, introductions made, and someone had kindly supplied Trey with a file with all the intel my mom had gathered.
We gave Trey a moment to scan the first couple of pages, and I found he, too, had acquired Drake’s skill of speed reading. I needed to up my game if I was going to analyze a report that quickly.
Deep lines fo
rmed around Trey’s eyes. The scowl highlighted the scars on the side of his face. They weren’t as bad as they could’ve been, considering. But his once-perfect face was now flawed.
“I think Lore was teaching Roman how to build a bomb,” Trey said.
“Why would you think that?” I asked.
“We know Roman was in Beirut. Actually, I think Roman was on the pier with you and Logan.” I felt fear slither its way into my belly and coil. Drake had stiffened next to me which only ratcheted up my anxiety. “Never could figure out why the art gallery blew. It’s so random, it makes no sense. Not a single terrorist organization claimed the bombing. Roman’s a supply man, that’s it. According to this intel, which I have to say, I believe, Roman’s an errand boy for his uncle. He moves his uncle’s contraband, he supplies the scum of the world what they need to spread their hate. But he only gets a cut of the money. He’s a cog. He’s not a boss. If he wants to move up, he’d need to prove something to his uncle.”
Drake had gone from stiff to vibrating. “Roman’s first move was to kill Liberty—a show of revenge to the Don. The next move would be to help his uncle take out the Armenian. Learn from the most sought-after bombmaker, and bring those skills back to Uncle Marko in hopes of moving up in the ranks.”
“But why would killing me matter to Marko? Roman’s dad wasn’t his blood, hell, they weren’t even related by marriage.”
It was almost like an out-of-body experience talking about my near-death experience. I could remember the second I was certain I was going to die, yet I didn’t. And I’d never forget the look in Roman’s eyes as he strangled the life out of me, yet I couldn’t remember what color they were. It was a strange juxtaposition of memories.
“No doubt for Roman it was personal, he was avenging his father’s death. But this is about proving masculinity, loyalty to family, intelligence, and balls to carry out the kill.”
I glanced at my dad. His face was devoid of emotion, once again reminding me he was a hardened warrior, even if it was something he’d kept mostly hidden from me.
“Mom, did you find any connection between my chain of command and Roman or Marko?”
“Not even a thread,” she answered.
“Did you run Sergeant Jacobson?”
“No. Who is that?”
“The unit armorer. Jacobson’s not part of the 8th. But he knows me, knew my team, he knew when we deployed. Not where. But he knew when we were called out.”
It was a long shot for a variety of reasons. The first being Jacobson had no clue what part of the world we’d been deployed to, and as much as I hated to think it, the guy wasn’t very smart. It would take a goodly amount of highly illegal hacking to find out the team’s whereabouts and frankly Jacobson didn’t have it in him. I didn’t think he was smart enough to find someone who processed the skills needed, either.
I was missing something. There had to be a connection. It was impossible for Roman to stumble upon me. He had help. He knew exactly where we were going. Then there were those damn pictures, who the hell took those?
I hadn’t spoken to anyone in Golan Heights other than a polite hello. So who the hell would want to take pictures of me and Drake?
There was a sudden nagging in my gut and the more I tried to piece everything together the worse it got.
“Impossible.”
“What?” Drake asked.
Shit. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. I hadn’t put it all together yet.
“Dad, did Wick tell you if he got copies of those pictures?”
“Moira…”
“I don’t care what he did with them, or who did what to protect me. This is important. I need to know if Drake was the target, or if both of us were. If Wick didn’t get copies and they were just sent to Drake’s command, he was the target. But if Wick got them—”
“Wick received his copies the day before Drake’s command got theirs.”
I heard Drake emit a strangled growl and I knew this wasn’t the easiest subject to discuss.
“Do either of you remember any Marines on the post in Golan Heights?” I asked Drake and Trey.
“Yeah, I saw a few, probably there for training,” Trey answered.
“Goddammit,” Drake muttered. “There was a Marine standing sentry before the ramp ceremony. I saw him when I approached you, but stopped paying attention to him when we started talking.”
He was being nice by not saying he’d stopped paying attention to the Marine when I broke down standing in front of my team in their flag-covered boxes.
“Chief Warrant Officer Geoff Ball’s brother-in-law’s a Marine. When we were planning our op and Golan Heights was an egress consideration, he said he hoped he got to see him.”
That’s all I could get out, the rest was too painful to think about, so I couldn’t bring myself to voice it.
“Picking up the vein,” Drake stated, his voice tight, his tone deadly, “he shared that shit with his wife or his brother-in-law direct.”
“Outstanding work,” Clark declared. “You five explore that. Blake, get us more on Roman. What else and who else did he supply?”
“You thinking there’s a connection to the Marine direct or the post in general and Roman?” my dad asked.
“Either would bring us a step closer. But I’m thinking the Marine direct.”
“We can’t forget Liberty’s military affiliation is public record. If Roman was looking for her, he’d easily find she was in the Army, her post, and her battalion,” Jasper added. “Same way he probably found out Carter was in the Navy.”
“We have some calls to make,” my dad announced then looked at me. His face gentled and for the first time since my life had turned to hell, he looked like my dad. The one who was easy-going and laidback. The one who was patient and worry-free. Not the man wrought with grief and hurt because his daughter was on the verge of losing her shit. “Smart as a tack, my daughter. Damn proud of everything you’ve accomplished.”
Dad, Lenox, Jasper, and Clark stood, and without another word, left the room. Before my mom followed, she smiled at me then pinched her lips. “Good to have you back, my sweet girl.” With a wink, she stood. “Thanks to you, I gotta long night ahead of me.”
Am I back? I didn’t think a few good hours meant I wasn’t still a basket case, but I had to admit, it felt pretty damn awesome not to be in a constant state of upheaval. And it did feel like the chaos in my head had mostly cleared. I could definitely think better than I could yesterday.
“You know, he’s gonna be on your ass to come work for us,” Brady said.
“Yeah. I got years left on my contract and thanks to Drake, I have to fulfill them.” I nudged Drake and grinned to make sure he knew I was teasing.
“Not you,” Brady corrected. “Him,” he said and pointed to Trey.
“Yeah? Not sure I’ll be much of anything with my leg the way it is. At least that’s what the med board’s telling me.”
Whoa. Trey hadn’t mentioned that.
“Are you serious they’re trying to board you out?” Drake asked.
“Not much good with a fucked-up leg.”
“It’s been like two goddamn minutes. You haven’t even rehabbed. The command’s got about a million dollars tied up in you, they’re not gonna let you go,” Carter insisted, but his face said otherwise.
“Not if I have nerve damage, or the fracture doesn’t heal right.”
“I told you, you shouldn’t have come. You need to be in bed.”
“Actually, I need to be up moving, it prevents blood clots.” The anger in his tone couldn’t be missed.
As a matter of fact, he sounded so angry I was dropping the subject altogether because I didn’t want to be the source of his pain.
“Brady’s right,” Carter started. “The four of them want to retire but won’t do it until we have a full management crew. Brady and I, and now Drake, can only handle so much and they built this company’s reputation to what it is. They won’t step down until they know it�
��s in good hands. If you want it, you tell me and we’ll bring you aboard. Until you say the word, I won’t mention it again. But we’d be damn lucky to have you.”
I agreed with Carter—hundred percent.
Actually, Triple Canopy would be damn lucky to have Matt, Logan, and Luke, too.
I glanced at Drake and saw he was thinking the same thing.
Oh, yeah, when we were alone later we’d be talking about how to bring his whole team into the Triple Canopy fold.
Alone?
That was damn presumptuous of me.
But damn if I didn’t want some alone time with Drake.
35
It was well after closing by the time we left the office.
Carter and Brady had declined my invitation to dinner. Carter because he had a beautiful wife and daughter to get home to. And Brady said he already had plans, though the way he said it made me think he was full of shit but I didn’t know the man well enough to call him out on it.
We said our goodbyes to Blake who barely looked away from the screens in front of her when she’d told Liberty Levi would get her dinner later and not to expect either of them home until late. To which I wanted to tell the lovely Mrs. McCoy not to expect her daughter home at all. However, I was cruising a ray of sunshine and I wasn’t about to turn a good day into shit by opening my mouth.
Levi, Jasper, Clark, and Lenox were holed up in Lenox’s office. Levi immediately took in his daughter while the other three looked at me.
“Apologize we didn’t get that word, Lenox. Tomorrow?”
“Sounds good.”
“I sent you our notes,” Liberty told the men. “Drake, Trey, and I went over every detail of our stay in Golan Heights and our mission. We also went over the art gallery bombing. We sent Mom the list of guests and the confirmed dead. The more we went over it, the more I agree with Trey. Lore was teaching Roman how to build a bomb. The gallery was the final exam. Roman obviously passed.”
Taking Liberty: The Next Generation Page 26