Whatever It Takes (Code Of Honor Book 5)

by Reese Knightley

“I don’t care if he wanted the chip. He had a gun pointed at you,” Dillon growled in his face just as the door crashed open.

  Pia, Oliver, and Eagle spilled into the room with weapons drawn.

  He couldn’t formulate a word. How had he not known Ted was susceptible to a bribe? Now Ted was dead and he’d never know if the guy was after him or the chip. Fuck. He was getting too old for this shit.

  “I need to know how he got a fucking weapon into this room,” Dillon growled, but his grip gentled and his fingers turned almost tender. It must have been his imagination, but the soldier again pulled him closer, protectively closer, and glared at Eagle.

  “I’ll figure it out,” Eagle said over the sound of Pamela Hunt’s sobs.

  “It’s okay, Ms. Hunt, come on,” Oliver coaxed the woman gently from beneath the table.

  “Oh, my god. Is he dead?” she squeaked, but Oliver didn’t answer and guided her out of the room.

  “How’d you know?” He took a deep breath and pulled away from Dillon’s hold. Their gazes locked and held. They were the same height, so it put them at eye level.

  “You froze. Her face turned scared. I put two and two together.”

  “You saw the gun?”

  “I saw it when I stepped closer.”

  “What if he only had a knife?”

  “I would have killed him anyway.”

  Dillon

  Jesus Christ, the whole thing still turned his stomach. He felt the chill that ran through Luke at his words.

  At the feel of Luke resting against his chest, Dillon tightened his grip on the man’s arm to keep him close.

  He knew he was overreacting, but there was no fucking way in hell he was releasing Luke until they were far away from here.

  “Let’s go.” He ushered Luke out of the room and into the hall toward the stairwell with Pia watching his six.

  “Wait,” Luke balked and then stopped completely.

  “What?” He frowned.

  “I need to inspect the chip.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered, and for some reason, his anger made the corners of Luke’s full mouth twitch, and damn if that didn’t send his blood pressure spiking.

  “Don’t worry.” Luke’s eyes searched his. For what, Dillon wasn’t sure. Did Luke think this was over? What the ever-loving fuck?

  “You seriously think he’s the only one?” he asked incredulously.

  “Of course not. You’ve got my back, though, right?” was Luke’s response.

  “Right.” Because what else could he say? He took this job as serious as a fucking heart attack. Not to mention, he couldn’t imagine a world without Luke in it, but that was only because the guy did so much for others.

  Dillon clenched his teeth at his lying thoughts. His nostrils flared when Luke smiled at him like he was his favorite person on earth. Damn the man.

  “Don’t leave my side.”

  Luke stepped closer, his chest brushing his. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Dillon became aware of Pia watching them closely. He almost growled out loud, but turned it into a scowl instead. He clamped his hand around Luke’s wrist and stalked back toward the room.

  “Wait,” he said, stopping. “We can’t go back in there, it’s a crime scene.”

  “My office.” Luke turned to Pia. “Can you find Oliver and see if Pam can come to my office?”

  “Of course.” Pia pivoted around and disappeared in the direction Oliver had gone with Pamela Hunt.

  “Fury, you copy?”

  “Copy, Dillon. The cops are on the way. I’m in the communications room looking at surveillance footage,” Eagle responded.

  “We’ll be at your location in twenty seconds,” Link responded, and sure enough, Link and Spencer stepped out of the stairwell a few seconds later.

  Link was big and the semi-automatic rifle in the soldier’s grip meant business. Spencer was in all black camouflage with twin handguns in each grip.

  “We’re heading to his office on this floor, but it’s on the south side of the building.”

  “After you,” Spencer said and took up the rear along with Link.

  Moving at a good clip, Dillon kept Luke behind him and the others. They reached the general’s office with no further incidents. Dillon entered first and cleared the room, then ushered Luke inside. Link and Spencer stood guard in the hallway.

  Dillon stood near the door and tracked Luke’s movements. The man draped his coat over his chair and settled behind the monitor at the desk.

  “Hold on,” he snapped, and Luke froze.

  Stalking forward, Dillon gently moved Luke out of the way. “Stand by the door.”

  Luke went to the door.

  Dillon held the man’s gaze across the distance and pressed the power button on the computer. A few seconds later, it fired up with the usual computer noise.

  “Okay, it’s safe.”

  Luke came toward him with a tight look on his face.

  “I hate this,” Luke muttered.

  “It’ll be over soon. Just do what you need to do,” he clipped the words out. In truth, he was surprised he could get anything out past his building rage at the close call on Luke’s life… He curled his hands into fists.

  Luke sniffed and sat at the desk, but rather than type on the keyboard, Luke’s long fingers lifted a pen. He made a note on a pad of paper on his desk. Luke was the only man Dillon knew that used pen and paper to make his lists. There was something very attractive about the way Luke didn’t conform to a society buried in cell phones with electronic notepads.

  Dillon moved back across the room, shaking off his thoughts. He deliberately kept his gaze away from the hair falling over Luke’s forehead when the general bent over the paper.

  Five minutes later, Oliver arrived with a somewhat composed Pamela Hunt. Her face was blotchy and her makeup removed from where she’d wiped her eyes, but she was a trooper and hurried to the desk to pull up the program on the computer.

  “I need the chip. It’s in my safe.” Luke looked up, catching his gaze from across the room.

  “Go get the original chip from the safe,” Dillon ordered Oliver.

  “Combination?” Oliver looked at Luke.

  Luke tore a piece of paper from the pad and Dillon made a sound of annoyance.

  “What?” Luke frowned.

  Dillon sighed and handed the paper to Oliver. “Burn that when you’re done.”

  Oliver left the room and Dillon turned on Luke. “Never write down your safe combination.”

  “How was I supposed to give it to him?”

  “You’re… Never mind.”

  Pamela smiled and shook her head. “Don’t try to get him to change, I’ve tried for years.”

  Dillon wanted to snarl at the woman. Years? That spoke of familiarity. Oliver insisted that according to his sources, Luke Rhine was bisexual. Dillon had told Oliver to mind his own business. He already knew Luke had been married. He squinted, had Pam and Luke ever been involved?

  Pamela’s laughter became a nervous giggle when he continued to stare at her. He found nothing about this funny. His train of thought was making him uncomfortable and his scowl deepened.

  “Be nice,” Luke murmured and turned back to Pamela. “Don’t mind him, the stern facade goes with the protection detail.”

  He almost rolled his eyes, but years of training kept his expression blank. Thank fuck Oliver returned a moment later with the chip in hand.

  The inspection went without another hitch. He stopped on his way out to give a brief statement to the detective in charge of the shooting and told the guy no, he wasn’t going to hand over his weapon.

  He could call the Secretary of Defense if he had a problem with that.

  Dillon didn’t take a deep breath until he had Luke back at the estate. They’d be spending the night there and flying back to the ranch in the morning. He left Luke at his bedroom door, ignoring the way the man’s eyes followed him when he disappeared into his room next door.

 
His phone buzzed just as he entered. He left his door open just a smidgen. He did that purposely so Luke never felt shut out.

  “What the hell happened?” Liam snarled.

  “One of his employees was turned.” He filled the Colonel in.

  “So, you don’t know if this guy wanted Luke or the chip?”

  “No.” That was the problem with the dead, they no longer spoke. “But Eagle is checking into the weapon the guy had, perhaps something will pan out.”

  “You should have called me. I had a very irate detective to handle without a fucking clue.”

  “Look, Luke wouldn’t leave without doing what he came to do. I had to handle that. I didn’t have time to call you. Sorry.” He sent a tired hand rubbing over his shorn head and then froze, realizing he’d just used the general’s first name.

  The colonel must have heard the weariness in his voice and thankfully, hadn’t realized his slip.

  “Get some sleep. Call me in the morning when you get back to the ranch. The general has another trip coming up,” Liam said.

  “Yeah, and I don’t like it,” he muttered. “He needs to stop gallivanting around.”

  “Me either, but our hands are tied.”

  “My hands aren’t tied,” he muttered.

  “I know you’re thinking of asking to be reassigned.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “I know you, Dillon. You’re grouchier than normal.”

  He grunted but said nothing, because it was true.

  “I want you with Luke when he makes that trip,” Liam responded, putting stress on the general’s first name, letting him know that he had, in fact, heard the slip.

  Before he could respond, Liam hung up.

  “Just fucking great,” he muttered.

  Luke

  He stood nursing a glass of whiskey when Dillon’s voice traveled the distance between their balconies.

  Just as they did on the ranch, they shared side by side rooms and balconies at his California estate.

  Trying not to eavesdrop, he backed up and was just about to return to his room when he overheard Dillon. “He needs to stop gallivanting around.”

  Without a doubt they were discussing him. Is that what I’m doing? He took another slow sip of his drink. Was it called gallivanting by living his life and not letting some scumbag dictate how he spent his time? The frustration in Dillon’s voice was palpable.

  Disappointment filled his gut and he stepped back into his room and quietly shut the balcony door.

  He sent a text to his housekeeper to order enough pizza for everyone and take the night off. She responded with a smiley face.

  Glancing through his missed calls, he smiled when he saw one from Richard.

  “Hey, you.” He could hear the smile in his good friend’s voice.

  “Hey back,” Luke said. “I got your message to call.”

  “Yeah, I’m going to be at the benefit after all.”

  “That’s fantastic.” He didn’t say it, but he was glad Richard was getting out of the house. His friend had been through a difficult year.

  “So. dinner the night before?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  They talked awhile longer before Richard ended the call.

  Luke made his way down to the kitchen and rinsed his glass in the sink. He was tempted to have another drink, but that wouldn’t be a good idea.

  The doorbell rang, signaling the pizza was here just as the back door off the kitchen opened and Sergeant Wreck appeared in the doorway.

  “Everything okay, sir?”

  He smiled. The new Infinity soldier took his job seriously. “Yes, Holden. I’m fine. The pizza’s here if you want to join us.”

  “I ate earlier, sir.” Holden nodded and held his gaze for another moment before he tipped his head and headed out of the room. The soldier was what Luke would call one badass motherfucker. In a way, Holden reminded him of Dillon; remote, kept to himself, didn’t talk much, and all business. Liam sure knew how to pick them. Infinity had some of the most lethal men and women on the planet, but most of them had zero personal skills.

  Luke headed out of the kitchen and reached the hallway.

  “Are you expecting someone, sir?” Oliver was instantly at his side.

  “Pizza.”

  “Hell yeah!” Oliver’s fist pumped.

  Luke chuckled.

  Pia smiled. “Don’t mind the children.”

  “Hey.” Oliver bounced up and shadow boxed a few rounds in front of Pia.

  She lifted one eyebrow. “I rest my case.”

  Luke opened the door and Oliver lifted the four large boxes from the delivery guy and Pia took the soda. Luke gave the guy a tip and shut the door.

  They were turning toward the kitchen when he made an executive decision.

  “Let’s eat in the den and watch a movie.”

  “Really?” Pia’s eyebrows lifted.

  Was he that much of a hardass, he wondered?

  “Yeah, really.”

  Oliver grinned and did an about face and carried the food into the den.

  “I’ll grab paper plates and napkins,” Pia told him, handing him the soda. “You take this to the den.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He returned her smile and followed Oliver.

  “What movies do you have?” The young soldier looked around the room.

  “They are all digital, online.”

  “Cool.” Oliver picked up the remote, found his Amazon application on the Apple TV, and started scrolling through his list.

  Luke had a split second of hesitation when his list of gay romances showed up along with the action-packed blockbusters, but Oliver kept on scrolling. It didn’t surprise him. A lot of Infinity were gay. Including their commander, they had to know he was gay by now.

  “I haven’t watched this one in a while,” Oliver said.

  Luke glanced up to see the movie, Shelter, on the screen. “We can watch that one if you want.”

  Oliver thought about it for two seconds. “Nah, how about this one?”

  Luke smiled. John Wick. It was pure action and no sex. “Perfect.”

  “Oh, Keanu! Loved him in The Matrix,” Pia said, coming into the room and piling the plates and a roll of paper towels on the low table.

  “That was a good one, but I liked him in Speed best,” Oliver said.

  “It was good, but honestly I think John Wick is his best yet,” Pia responded.

  The pair argued about the best movie while his gaze lingered on the hallway.

  Dillon

  A car approaching drew him to his wide balcony overlooking the west side of the estate. He watched as the guards scattered to surround the pizza delivery guy. Luke had plenty of people to guard him.

  He tossed his phone on the bed. The guy just needed to stay the fuck home. Luke had his hands in way too many charities. If it were up to him, he would have stopped all the general’s activity, but no, Luke just had to continue doing his “good work”.

  “Fucking do-gooder,” he growled, but without any real heat. His worry was getting the better of him, just like thoughts of Luke and his big, kind heart kept his dick hard.

  It’s not only your dick affected.

  He shook off going there. Yanking off his clothes, he left a trail to the bathroom. Flipping the water on, he stood beneath the cold spray with gritted teeth until his dick finally decided to behave itself. The water gradually grew warm. and only then did he scrub clean.

  I want you with Luke when he makes that trip.

  Colonel Cobalt’s order sat like lead in his chest, but he’d go. He’d suck it up and he’d go because one, it had been a direct order from his commander and two, he owed everything to Liam. The first time he’d ever set eyes on the man had been a life changing moment for him.

  He stopped at the sink and brushed his teeth. He didn’t need to bother with his hair seeing as he kept it short and after debating about shaving, he decided against it since he’d need to shave once he was back on base
.

  Dinner was in five minutes, and he had enough time to pull on a pair of military fatigues along with an army green t-shirt. He stepped back into his regulation boots and tucked his handgun into the holster he wore at his hip.

  His phone buzzed on the bed and he picked it up.

  “Mom? Everything okay?”

  “Yes, I’m wondering if you heard from Isaac yet?” Her voice wobbled.

  “No, not yet,” he soothed.

  “You think he’ll call me?”

  “I don’t know,” he said honestly, because he doubted it. Isaac had been very young and unable to process the awful shit people did. Dillon hadn’t been able to let what happened to him go for years. It had taken him a long time to forgive his mother for not leaving his father, but he’d eventually done it. He’d reconciled with her and came to understand the situation she’d been under. In fact, he’d have to say that he felt closer to her now than he had as a kid. He’d tried to get his brother to do the same, but Isaac couldn’t forgive.

  “I’ll call you when I hear from him,” he promised. It gave her some reassurance and she quietly rang off.

  Tucking his phone away, he left his room and made his way along the hallway. The estate was beautifully designed with a modern air, but he much preferred the rustic style of the ranch house.

  When he got to the dining room, he stood surprised in the doorway. The place was empty. No pizza, but more importantly, no Luke.

  A noise in the hallway drew him around to find Luke standing not far from him.

  His mouth dried up. Luke’s black slacks cupped his hips and molded to his thighs. The cream dress shirt he wore was untucked with the top two buttons left undone. The man was in socked feet and tendrils of his hair curled at the collar. It took him a moment to realize that Luke hadn’t said a word. Dillon yanked his eyes from the general’s body and met the man’s gaze.

  “We’re eating in the den. There’s a movie I want to watch.” Luke smiled and did a pivot before striding toward the den.

  Dillon ran a hand over the back of his neck and followed more cautiously, watching as each ass cheek flexed. Fuck me.

  When he reached the doorway to the den, he found Oliver and Pia sitting and talking on one of the comfortable couches. The movie on the wide flatscreen television was paused.