Embracing Ellie: K&S Securities Series

by A. J. Andersen

  “I didn’t know Weaver was a woman,” I mutter. Not that it matters.

  Blake chuckles dryly. “Yeah, she’s a ball buster. I think she wants to bring Xavier down as bad as she wants Dominic, but he’s never done anything to justify it. I’d hire her in a heartbeat if she ever wants to leave the Feds.”

  His words are a surprise, distracting me from my emotional turmoil. From what I’ve heard about K&S I guess I thought that they were a boy’s club. The only woman I’ve heard any mention of is Becca, and she is the office manager, not an investigator.

  “Do you have any women working for you besides in the office?” I ask, untangling myself from his arms and moving to get us both plates. I need to do something. He takes them from my hands and sets them on the table before pulling out a chair for me to sit at the kitchen table.

  “Just Becca right now,” he crosses to the doorway and slides the pocket door closed, muffling the sounds of voices from the living room. I love that even in the middle of something as big as what is going on, he wants to be alone with me. Even after I spent a week locking him out.

  I put a sandwich on my plate thoughtfully, “What kind do you want?” I ask, indicating the pile of sandwiches still on the table.

  “Whatever you’re having is fine,” he lowers himself to the chair beside mine, stretching out his leg with a groan. “Did you think we wouldn’t hire women?” he questions me, his eyes sparkling with humor.

  I place a sandwich on his plate then add one to mine, “Faye said the only woman working there that she met was Becca, so I wondered.”

  “Travis and I were deployed with enough women to know that they can do the job. We just haven’t had much interest from women looking for work yet,” he says.

  I pick up my sandwich and take a bite. He does the same, familiar comfortable silence falling between like it usually does. When both of our plates are empty, he places them in the sink and stands there for a while staring at me, not saying a word.

  “I’m glad you’re ok,” I whisper. “I was worried about you.” There. That wasn’t so hard to admit.

  He crosses the distance between us in two long strides, pulling me to my feet and crushing me against him. “Most of the time I do tech support. Safest job out there.” He reassures me, raining soft kisses all over my upturned face.

  My hands slide up his arms and over his shoulders, almost of their own accord, until I’m holding his face between them. “I’d be so sad if anything happened to you.” I tell him seriously, my heart screaming for me to tell him more. To tell him the way I felt when I watched him leave earlier. How badly I had wanted to join my friends when they sent their men out the door with kisses and words of love. How sorry I am that I didn’t.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to me, angel. I pr….” I press onto my toes and kiss his lips, stopping the word before he can finish it.

  “Don’t make promises like that, Blake. Bad things happen, no matter what precautions people take. No one knows that better than me.”

  He pulls me tighter, his delectable mouth claiming mine in a brief tangle of tongues and urgently bumping teeth. The sound of the door sliding back open breaks us apart and I reluctantly step away from him. Faye and Ana peppered me with enough questions already. Until Blake and I define what this is going on between us I don’t want to give anyone anything to speculate about. Not even my friends.

  “You okay in here?” Faye asks, walking in with a big pile of plates in her hands.

  “Yeah,” Blake says stepping closer and wrapping his arm around my shoulders, “Everyone gone already?” She gives him a look that clearly asks where the heck he’s been and nods her head.

  “Yep,” popping the P loudly like she does sometimes, reminding me of my sister. “Time to do the dishes so I can go home to bed!” She yawns widely, making me yawn too. We both laugh quietly, as I cross to the sink and turn on the tap.

  “I’ll start the dishes if you don’t mind getting the rest of them for me,” I offer. I had no idea we had sat here long enough for the authorities to have come and gone. I figured they would want to talk to everyone here, but I guess I figured wrong.

  “Deal,” Faye says, turning and heading back for another load of dishes.

  “How about I promise that I will always do everything I can to be safe and to keep my team safe?” Blake asks when we are alone again, not ready to drop the subject, pressing against me from behind and pinning me to the spot where he kissed me stupid and gave me an orgasm just a few hours ago. With everything that has happened, it feels like days have passed.

  I lean my head back against his chest and nod. “Deal,” I breathe, mimicking Faye’s term of agreement. Restrained laughter rumbles in his chest making me smile. “Now let me do these dishes. Mama called earlier, she needs me to come home tonight.” I can’t help my disappointed sigh.

  “All right,” he says, accepting the change in plans and stepping away to open the dishwasher, “let’s get this done then so I can take you home.”

  I set the rinsed plate back in the sink and throw myself into his arms, “Thank you,” I mumble against his neck, squeezing him around his narrow waist even though I’m sure I’m leaving wet hand prints on his shirt.

  “For what, babe?” he asks, tilting his head to the side quizzically when I step back to the sink and resume my task.

  “Just for being you,” I answer. I was supposed to spend the night with him tonight, and I know what that meant. How many guys would just accept that with good humor? Not very many I don’t think. It’s just one more way that Blake shows me the kind of man he is.

  The kind that I want by my side forever.

  I know that Blake is as tired as I am, but he’s still refusing to let me go home alone. Xavier gave me another day off since I stayed so late helping. I tried to tell him that it was mostly time spent hanging out watching TV, but he insisted, and I decided to give in gracefully. I mean, who doesn’t like to get paid to spend time with their friends and get an extra day off?

  Blake said that he’s taking tomorrow off too, so we can spend the day together, which sounds just about perfect to me. I’ve already decided to ask him to stay the night, so while he calls for a car, I send a text to Mama letting her know. I’m not sure how she is going to feel about it. She and dad didn’t raise us to have sleepovers with random men. Nothing about Blake is random though, and for once in my life it doesn’t matter to me if she objects. There is no way that I’m going to send him back to his small suite alone. After everything that has happened today, I am going to spend the night in his arms, even though I know that with my family in the house we can’t have a repeat of earlier. I’m also going to make him the best breakfast when we wake up in the morning.

  My phone chirps with Mama’s reply just as Blake puts his back in his pocket. I’m a little surprised that she’s still awake. I half hoped that she would see it in the morning when it was too late for her to object. The whole, it’s better to ask for forgiveness thing…

  That’s fine, mija. See you soon.

  “Everything okay?” Blake asks, sitting on the bench just outside the casino doors and wrapping his arm around me.

  “Mm hmm,” I mumble, snuggling closer to him. I’m totally shocked that Mama didn’t object even a little, but I’m glad. I’m not going to tell Blake, just surprise him when we get there.

  Rides come quickly here. There is always a car close by, so it’s only a couple minutes before we are ensconced in the dark back seat of an Uber. The drive doesn’t take long and before I know it, he’s rousing me out of the doze I fell into tucked snugly against him. The car stops in my driveway and he gets out helping me to my feet and thanking the driver for the ride. Clasping our hands together we walk past the black SUV parked in the driveway behind our old car and up the steps into the house.

  The light in the living room is muted, coming from just the reading lamp standing in the corner. Mama is sitting on the sofa with a man I haven’t seen before. He’s about her age, I t
hink, with dark blonde hair that is sprinkled with silver at the temples and smile lines around his eyes. He’s almost as built as Blake, but not quite. This must be the man Blake asked to make sure my family stayed safe tonight. There are cups of coffee on the table in front of them and they seem to be chatting happily.

  When we walk in the man rises to his feet and Mama does too.

  “Blake,” he greets him before looking at me with a friendly grin. “You must be Elinor.”

  “Ellie.” I correct. Mama calls me Elinor because it was her grandmother’s name. I don’t like it from anyone but her, and now Blake. I shiver thinking about the rough way he whispers it in my ear.

  “John, everything quiet here?” Blake asks stepping forward and shaking hands with him. The man, John, nods his head.

  “Yeah, Lizzie finally got tired of waiting for you two and went to bed, so Bea and I were having some coffee and a chat,” he looks at Mama with a smile and the one she gives him back is bright enough to light up the whole room. A bloom of color spreads across her cheeks when she notices me staring at her in amazement.

  “John,” she says, “Thank you so much for helping me with Auggie today.” I feel bad, knowing how hard it is to take care of a toddler when Lizzie isn’t in the mood to help.

  Blake’s phone rings before anyone can say anything and he steps away, putting it to his ear with a gruff hello.

  “Anytime, Bea,” John says fondly, stepping close and taking her hand between both of his.

  Pump the breaks! What is going on here? My eyes bounce between my mom and this man and over to Blake. All questions about Mama and John flee my mind when I take in the rigid set of his shoulders and angry line of his mouth.

  “Yeah, I’ll take care of it. Be there soon.” He hangs up and lifts his apology filled eyes to mine.

  “I’m sorry, angel. I have to go now.” To John he says, “Can you stay a while longer? Make sure they stay safe?”

  John nods, his eyes immediately going back to Mama. I shake my head, more than a little off kilter from the sudden change in plans, and cross to Blake.

  “I was going to ask you to stay the night,” I whisper, quiet enough that only he can hear me even though Mama already knows. I don’t mean to pout, but I can’t deny that my voice is petulant when I ask, “You really have to go?”

  His eyes flash with a hunger that he forcibly restrains, his hand closing around mine and tugging me until we are alone in the kitchen. Again. Seems to be our thing today.

  “The only thing I want to do right now is carry you down the hall and climb into bed and hold you against me for the rest of the night.” He groans into my hair, holding me close. “But I have to go, Ells. Dominic is in the casino. There’s no telling what he's got up his sleeve and since I know the new security system the best...”

  Knowing that, there’s no way that I can ask him to stay. His skills are needed, and he’s not the type of man to leave his friends to deal with this situation without him; and I’m not the kind of woman who would ever expect him to.

  “Will you come back here when it’s over?” I ask, rummaging in my pocket for my house key and pressing it into his palm.

  A relieved smile spreads over his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes happily. “Nothing could keep me away,” he says softly.

  “Yay.” I whisper excitedly, making him laugh.

  “It’s late, angel. Go to bed and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He kisses my forehead and turns me in the direction of my room.

  “Hurry back,” I say, looking over my shoulder at him.

  “I will. Now go.” A sharp swat to my butt cheek makes me shriek and hurry down the hall, giggling, with the sound of his amusement following me. A warm feeling spreads in my chest when I hear him saying good night to my mom and her admonishing him to be safe. I love him. I want him to be a part of my family.

  It’s more than that... I’m in love with him, and I’m going to tell him tomorrow and hope beyond hope that he feels the same about me.

  Chapter 28

  Blake

  Sending Ellie to bed alone was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life, and that’s saying a lot because sucky things have pretty much defined my life. Knowing that she wants me to come back gives me all the incentive that I could possibly need to get this shit with Dominic wrapped up. Work is work, but now the guy is just pissing me off. He should have let sleeping dogs lie. I have no doubt that we’ll get him this time. Venturing back into Luminoso with everyone’s emotions running so hot over what we found in his house was a ballsy move.

  Beatriz is making up the sofa bed when I re-enter the living room, and John is by the door waiting for me, keys in hand. Not having to call for another ride means I’ll get back here that much sooner. Beatriz straightens from her task, swiftly crossing the room and taking my hands in hers.

  “Be careful, mijo.” Son. The endearment from the petite woman makes tears prickle my eyes. I blink them away and pull her to me for a hug.

  “I will be,” I promise, kissing her quickly on the cheek and turning to face John.

  “Thanks, man.” I say, taking his proffered keys and jogging to the black SUV in the driveway. I can take care of a lot of things while I drive and once I’m on the road I put my phone on speaker and start making calls. Hopefully everyone is still in town. With as fast as some of our guys disappear between assignments, I never can tell who I’ll be able to pin down.

  I’m just pulling into the parking lot when Travis calls. Geno must have called me as soon as he realized what was happening, giving me a head start on getting this shit-show under control, but something must have delayed him calling Trav.

  “You heard what happened?” he barks.

  “Yeah, already called in manpower and I’m on my way to Geno now.” I tell him.

  “Good. I’m taking Faye up to Xavier’s.”

  “Safest place for her.” I agree knowing that with Ana being pregnant and Grayson’s girl being there, Travis wouldn’t want to leave Faye alone. I’m happy that Ellie is home and away from all of this. Despite arranging security at her house, I know that in all reality she probably isn’t on Dominic’s radar at all and is the safest of all of us, across town in her own bed.

  Alone. In her own bed alone. Now I’m thinking about how good it felt waking up with her small, naked body pressed against mine.

  Fuck! I can’t be thinking about the way her tight little body went stiff and quivered when I stroked that trigger deep inside her pussy, or about the way that she tasted as I drank her pleasure. I need stop thinking about her. Distraction leads to mistakes and Elinor is possibly the biggest distraction, prettily wrapped in a tiny package, that I have ever encountered.

  “Talk soon,” I say, disconnecting the call and shaking my head to clear it of sexy thoughts as I park and hurry into the lobby and up the stairs to the security room. Geno is there alone, a pair of Sig Sauer stainless .45s in easy reach as he scans the monitors. There is blood on the floor, hastily mopped up with a towel. He looks more than angry. His jaw is clenched tight and his eyes are cold. He looks ready to murder someone.

  “Who?” I asked, pushing the bloody towel out of my way with the toe of my black combat boot.

  “Donny,” he gives me the name of the kid he just hired. “He had to have been watching us somehow. How else would he know when someone would be alone?” he says, shaking his head in disgust.

  It’s possible I suppose, but not very probable. There hasn’t been any evidence that he could have pulled off the necessary surveillance to have that much knowledge of the inner workings of the casino. “Or he just got lucky,” I suggest.

  Geno shrugs. “Can’t believe what that the sick fuck did to Gray’s girl. He’s all shaken up about it.”

  “Nikki. Yeah,” I don’t say more because I don’t know more than the little bit I heard on the ride back. Even if I did, I wouldn’t gossip about it. It’s not my story to tell.

  “I’m worried about him,” Geno
says, swiveling his chair to watch as I log in to the network and attempt to override whatever Dominic did to mess with the cameras upstairs. “Known him since we were kids. He went through a lot with his mom, and Dominic was part of that mess. Total clusterfuck. He wanted clear of all of this,” he lifts one of his guns, “but just couldn’t make it happen. Not even after his mom died. All his friends are part of the family in one way or another and he just couldn’t turn his back on us. Even when he should have.”

  He crosses himself as he mentions the death of his friend’s mother, like a good Catholic boy, and I can see genuine concern on his face. This conversation isn’t about gossip at all, it’s about friendship and brotherhood. Things I understand fully. That changes everything.

  “He seemed pretty wrecked by whatever happened to her,” I offer. I don’t know what happened, but I’m sure that Nikki’s story will come out over the next few days.

  “Nothing good if Dominic was involved,” Geno grumbles, setting his gun back beside its twin with a thud. “Didn’t even know that asshole had a girlfriend, and he’s one of my best friends.”

  “I’m sure keeping it to himself was just to hurt your feelings,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

  He cracks a half smile, shaking his head. “Fuck you, man.”

  I swivel back to face the monitors. “So, what exactly happened here?” I ask, gesturing toward the bloody towel, needing to get the conversation back on track. We have work to do.

  “No idea. No fucking idea,” loathing colors his voice. “I went to my apartment to make a sandwich. Just a few minutes, and when I got back Donny was on the floor, unconscious. Bleeding all over the fucking place, as you can see. I called for an ambulance. He came around just as they were loading him up. He said it was Dominic, so I called you. Then the cameras upstairs went down on a couple of floors… and I tried to figure out what the fuck happened. When I realized it was nothing I could fix I called Travis and X.” That explains the time that passed between his call to me and Travis’.