Wicked Ever After

by Shayla Black

  Brea’s jaw dropped. “He was sleeping with your girlfriend?”

  “He didn’t think I would mind sharing since he’d never been stingy. But I was pissed. Even before I left, I knew Allie and I were doomed because she would eventually figure out I’d lied about my age. But she was nice. I’d hoped we could make something for a while.” One-Mile shook his head. “When I got home from Wyoming, she told me she was in love.”

  “With your father? How?”

  He shrugged. “In retrospect, I think she had self-esteem issues. He treated her as crappy as she expected to be treated. I tried to suck it up and not be too pissed off. But I resented the hell out of him every time I watched them kiss and every time I heard them going at it in the next room. Since some of his other girlfriends, as they were leaving, had made the mistake of telling him they preferred me, I think he secretly liked the fact he’d taken Allie away. Made him feel superior and more manly.”

  “That’s horrible.” Brea searched his face like she was trying to understand. “But I hope that isn’t why you killed him.”

  “No. I just wanted to punch the shit out of him, but I didn’t. Allie wasn’t right for me and she’d made her choice. To avoid the two of them, I started going out a lot. Drinking, getting high, racing cars. I should have died a hundred times at least.”

  “God must have been looking out for you,” Jasper said.

  “You’re probably right.” One-Mile didn’t see another explanation. “I have no idea why.”

  Except so that he could grow up and love Brea. She was his purpose in life. His mission.

  “Anyway, about a month after school started, I came home one night late. I could hear Allie screaming from down the street. I went running and I burst in to see my dad beating the fuck out of her. I thought at first it was because he’d had his fill of her, and I cursed myself for being so absent that I hadn’t seen it coming. But I quickly figured out that she’d broken Dad’s one cardinal rule: never get knocked up.”

  Brea gasped. “Did your father know she was pregnant?”

  “Yeah. That’s why he was beating her, punching her stomach over and over. I screamed at him to stop. He wouldn’t. I fought him, got in a few punches. But he was meaner. He clocked me good. I stumbled out and called the police, but they were at least ten minutes away. I didn’t think Allie’s baby would last that long. Hell, I doubted she would either.” He swallowed. “I went and got a gun.”

  “Oh, my gosh.” Brea paled.

  “I fucking demanded he stop. I thought if I threatened him he would. But he didn’t. He just called her a dirty slut, said he didn’t want any more brats, whether they were his…or mine. He told her he was going to deal with her the way he’d dealt with my mom. Then he put his hands around her neck and squeezed.”

  “D-did he…kill your mother?” Brea looked horrified.

  One-Mile didn’t blame her. “Yeah. And he admitted that like he was proud. So when Allie started choking and turning blue, I knew he’d do it again.”

  “So you killed him,” Jasper finished quietly.

  “Yeah.” His fucking voice broke.

  “Oh…” Brea wrapped her small hands around his. “He didn’t leave you much choice.”

  Dad hadn’t.

  But One-Mile sometimes worried he wasn’t any better. He had killed so many, taken their blood and ended their lives. Despite that, Brea, with her pure heart, comforted him, stroking his knuckles as tears ran down her cheeks. He knew she wasn’t crying for Allie or her father. She was crying for him.

  Tears stung his eyes, too. He blinked and clenched his jaw and tried not to fucking lose it.

  “What happened?”

  After he’d cried like a baby? “My grandpa came down. He stayed for a few months, but then he got sick and passed away. I barely managed to drive him back to Wyoming in time. Then…I was alone.”

  “You were just a kid.”

  “Sixteen. But honestly, I’d been alone most of my life. Allie lost her baby, but she did me a favor. She convinced the courts that she’d been the closest thing I’d had to a mother, and because I was a problem child, they were more than happy to let her take custody of me. But it was just on paper. She moved back in with her parents, and I lived at home off Grandpa’s money until I graduated. When I turned eighteen I sold everything, invested it all, and joined the Marines. You know the rest.”

  Then he clutched her hands, terrified he’d see condemnation or disgust in her eyes. Instead, she rose and threw herself against him, pressing her cheek to his chest and wrapping her arms around him as if she meant to heal every one of his hurts with her love and devotion.

  One-Mile couldn’t hold back. He enveloped her, relief flooding him until he nearly went weak-kneed—and he lost all sense of composure. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this woman, but he’d wake up every day and do his best to be worthy of her.

  “Pretty girl, don’t cry, especially for me.” He stroked her head. “Your tears hurt too much.”

  “Oh, Pierce… I can’t believe how horribly you’ve suffered.”

  “It was all a long time ago… It’s okay.”

  “It’s not. You’ve suffered ever since I’ve met you. I’m so, so sorry,” she sobbed. “I wish I could take it all away and make it better. I wish—”

  “You do, baby. You have from the very moment you let me into your life.” He kissed the top of her head and looked over her, at Jasper.

  Compassion softened the man’s kind face. Acceptance filled his eyes that brimmed with tears. “You survived hell, and the fact you did whatever it took to save someone smaller and weaker tells me a lot about who you are. God forgives all. I can’t do any less. You have my blessing…son.” The man swallowed thickly and stuck out his hand. “Take care of her.”

  One-Mile’s chest twisted as he shook it. “Yes, sir. Thank you. I will.”

  The preacher might never like him, but the man understood that he would love Brea every moment of every day because no other woman would ever have any part of his heart. Jasper knew he would protect her and their children to his dying breath.

  For now, that was enough.

  Brea raised her head from his chest and looked up at him with big golden eyes full of love. “I want to make the rest of your life so happy.”

  “Yeah?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little box he’d stashed there. Then he opened it to reveal the simple, winking solitaire. “You could do that by marrying me. Still want to?”

  He’d never imagined he would ever do something as traditional as get down on one knee to propose, but for Brea he’d go to any lengths to prove how much he loved her.

  “Yes.” She nodded furiously as more tears fell. “Yes!”

  With his heart soaring, he slid the ring on her finger, brushed the moisture from her cheeks, and pressed a resounding kiss on her lips. “Thank God. I can’t wait. Can we get married on Saturday?”

  She laughed. “No, but we will soon. Because I can’t wait, either. There’s nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “You are my life. I love you, pretty girl.”

  Epilogue

  Monday, January 26

  Feeling like he might crawl out of his skin, Zyron paced the reception area of EM Security Management. Thank fuck he was finally home. The last two weeks he’d spent in Speck-on-a-Map, Texas, had been fourteen days too many. The good news: Their mission there was over. Cutter’s wedding to Shealyn West had gone off mostly without a hitch and the creepy-as-fuck cult down the road had been shut down in a hail of yeehaw and gunfire. The bad news: His wholly dependable fellow operator, Josiah Grant, had fallen for Shealyn’s sister, Maggie, gotten the girl, and decided to stay behind. Now the organization had a new guy to break in, the fucking small-town deputy from Maggie’s hometown. Zy snorted. In a team full of SEALs, Green Berets, and other elite warriors, he didn’t see this Rosco P. Coltrane working out. Yeah, Kane Preston had some military experience and he’d seem
ed all right, but c’mon… At least the hazing would be fun. But the worst news: He was going through withdrawals because he hadn’t seen his sweet confection of female, Tessa Lawrence, since leaving on assignment.

  Now it was Monday morning, and she was late.

  Was something wrong?

  Logan Edgington approached him, black coffee in hand. “You have a desk.”

  He did—way in the back and around the corner where he couldn’t see Tess walk through the front door. Logan knew it. But Zy didn’t dare admit that aloud. EM Security Management had a strict nonfraternization clause. No dating or physical relationships with co-workers. Violating the policy was grounds for job termination. The whole thing would have been funny as fuck since the company was mostly straight-as-an-arrow males…except that it had screwed him from doing more than stare at Tessa and stroking his dick raw to filthy, dirty thoughts of her.

  And Logan knew that, too.

  “Waiting to say hey to the new guy,” Zy lied.

  Logan shot him a dubious stare over the rim of his mug. “Sure, you are. Lucky for you, Kane is already here, finishing up some paperwork with Joaquin. I’ll take you right to him since you’re so eager to shake his hand.”

  Bastard. His boss was calling his bluff. “What the fuck do you want?”

  “A sit-down. Conference room. Five minutes. Come with less attitude. We’ve got a mission for you.”

  He’d just gotten back, goddamn it. Yeah, yeah… This was his life, and he’d signed up for this job. He was often gone for weeks at a time with almost no advance warning. But his gut was twitching about Tess. Before he’d gone, something had upset her. She’d freaked out and clammed up. Stopped talking. Started avoiding him. He wanted answers.

  But he’d have to get them later.

  Zy didn’t bother to swallow down his sarcasm. “Can’t wait.”

  “Don’t worry. You’re going to love this mission,” Logan assured with an evil grin. “Right before you hate it.”

  Then the son of a bitch disappeared.

  What the fuck did that mean? He didn’t have time to figure it out before the door behind him opened.

  Zy turned. And there she was, his gorgeous bundle of blonde, all big green eyes, lush mouth, and tits for days. He’d missed her Southern sass and bless-your-hearts. Jesus, the sight of her after two miserable weeks away had his breath catching and his body pinging.

  Yeah, he had it bad for Tess…and every fucking person on this team knew it.

  She dumped her keys in her little pink clutch and looked up. She stopped mid-stride when their gazes locked. Her breath caught on a soft gasp. The heavens fucking parted; he felt it.

  Why did he have to be fixated on the one woman he couldn’t have?

  She sent him a breathless smile. “You’re back!”

  Zy wanted to touch her so damn bad—and he didn’t dare. Not only would he get fired but he’d been assured he would never work in this “town” again, as the saying went.

  He’d wanted Tess for ten agonizing months. Seeing her almost every day and never having her felt like ten years of torture…and a decade of foreplay.

  “Got back last night,” he managed to say past the knot in his throat. “You okay?”

  Another smile, this one less genuine. “Fine.”

  “Baby okay?”

  Adoration softened her eyes. “She’s fine. Walking everywhere now. I can hardly keep up.”

  “What about—”

  “Let’s go, Garrett,” Hunter Edgington called out as he made his way to the conference room. “Shit’s hitting the fan and time’s wasting.”

  Zy gritted his teeth. “Got to go. Lunch later?”

  Her smile disappeared. Her gaze fell. “You know we shouldn’t. After what happened last time—”

  “Nothing happened.” Absolutely fucking nothing—no matter how badly he’d wished otherwise.

  “Okay, almost happened,” she whispered. “You’re splitting hairs.”

  “I’m being factual.”

  But she was right. He’d been close to saying fuck it all and kissing her senseless until she’d lost her clothes.

  Tessa sent him a pleading expression. “This job pays better than everything else. I need it.”

  As a single mom with an undependable ex, she probably did. And if he hadn’t burned a million bridges and come here to start over, he might not have needed this job so badly, too.

  Fuck.

  “I know. I just want to talk to you. I won’t…” Touch you, try to seduce you, tell you all the lascivious ways I’m dying to make you scream. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be a gentleman. Please. I just missed your voice.”

  Didn’t he sound pathetic?

  She sighed like she couldn’t refuse him. Fuck, he wished that was true.

  “A-all right.”

  “I’ll come around about noon.”

  Tessa smiled at him again, this one so real and pure he wanted to lose himself in it. “Looking forward to it.”

  “Now, Garrett,” Joaquin Muñoz growled as he stuck his head around the corner.

  “For fuck’s sake…”

  “Go,” she encouraged. “Whatever it is seems important.”

  It did, and that didn’t bode well for a peaceful Monday.

  “If something comes up, I’ll let you know,” Zy promised, then stomped down the hall, hung a left, and barreled into the conference room, trying not to snarl. “I’m here. What’s up?”

  None of his bosses spoke. After the rush and hurry, now they were all silent?

  Whatever. Zy studied the new guy. Around six foot and built broad with an obvious hard-on for bodybuilding, he had piercing dark eyes, a black mustache, and a watchful mien.

  “You met Kane Preston?” Hunter offered.

  “Briefly.” While all the shit had been going down with the creepy cult, the deputy had been cleaning up the absent sheriff’s mess.

  “Josiah highly recommended him, said he’d done an excellent job the last couple of years in Comfort.”

  Kane stuck out his hand. “But I was looking to make a change. Some folks call me Scout. But as long as you don’t call me motherfucker, I’ll probably answer.”

  Zy clapped his hand in the other guy’s. “I’m Chase Garrett. Most people around here just call me Zyron.”

  “Good to see you.”

  “Got everything you need now?” Joaquin asked the former deputy.

  “I do,” Kane replied. “I’ll go make myself useful.”

  “Perfect,” Logan said to the guy’s wide, retreating back. The minute he’d gone, his boss turned an annoyed gaze his way. “Shut the door. We need to talk.”

  Sighing, Zy did, then took his seat in the nearest chair, across the table from Logan. “What’s up?”

  “We need to get to the bottom of some shit. Up until now, the only people who knew the location of Valeria Montilla’s new safe house were the three of us and One-Mile. At least until last night.”

  Zy froze. Valeria and her sister, Laila, had been through hell. Valeria’s husband, Emilo, was finally dead, but his thugs and that criminal bunch from his splinter offshoot of the cartel had wreaked absolute destruction on those women’s lives.

  “What happened?”

  “Someone broke into their new digs in Orlando. Valeria was at a concert, thankfully. But Laila stayed behind to babysit her nephew. She and Baby Jorge barely escaped with their lives. We have to relocate them now.”

  “You need me to go?” He hated to pack another fucking suitcase, but to save them from being snuffed and slaughtered, he gladly would—no questions asked.

  “No. We’re sending Kane and Trees today to bring them back here.”

  Hunter jumped in. “A couple months ago, we started working on a plan to relocate Valeria and her family nearby, then shit happened…”

  Over the last few months? Yeah, had it ever.

  “And you’ve got everything in place now?” Zy asked.

  He nodded. “We’ll be watching their new
safe house ourselves. But we worry it’s for nothing until you figure out who our fucking mole is. If it’s not Trees, we need you to prove it now.”

  He tried to keep a leash on his temper. “I know you all have a boner to blame him, but he isn’t guilty.”

  Hunter sent him a cutting glare. “Forgive me if we’re not willing to just take your word about your bestie.”

  “I’ve spent two fucking months digging. I’ve seen zero evidence he’s leaked even a drop of urine out of this place, much less critical secrets. Seriously, I took him with me to Comfort so we could isolate him, just like you insisted. We slept in the same bunkhouse. I dug through his phone. Unless he was shitting or showering, I watched him. He’s done nothing, and I don’t know what you want as proof that he’s innocent.”

  The trio fell silent and exchanged glances.

  Hunter raised a brow. “Here’s what we know. It’s not the three of us. It’s not One-Mile. It’s not you, Cutter, or Josiah. That leaves Trees.”

  “Or…” Logan cut in before Zy could push back, “Tessa.”

  It was all he could do not to punch the asshole. “No. Fuck no. She’s the goddamn receptionist. She doesn’t have access to those secrets.”

  “We didn’t think so either. But now we’re rethinking.”

  “This is bullshit.”

  “Shut up and listen,” Joaquin growled. “We’ve eliminated every other possibility. It’s either your bestie or your girl.”

  “She’s not my girl,” he objected automatically.

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. We all know you’re one bad decision away from breaking your contract…unless you already have and there’s something you want to tell us?”

  “I haven’t touched her.”