How did this guy put off so much freaking heat? It was like sitting next to a bonfire. And I wasn't wearing enough layers. Pushing thoughts of Ark from my mind, I powered up the phone. Prayed the startup didn't take as long as it had the first time. I wasn't sure I'd be able to stand it. He was being too nice. Too understanding. Too...not evil. Finally, the phone showed the home screen. I couldn't be certain, but I thought we both let out sighs of relief. Focusing solely on the phone, I punched in Willow's number. Ark finally got back down, scooted over until his hip was against mine. "I don't want to try the speaker, just in case it's too loud." I just prayed I wasn't waking her up. Or disturbing her. Or pulling her from sexy times. That girl deserved all the sexy times she could ge-"Tali!" she shrieked in my ear. "Let me get everyone else on. We've set up a whole system. Give me two seconds, but don't you dare hang up on me."I looked at Arkady. "She's my sister."
Bzzt.I sat up, gun in hand, as I cleared the room. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I finally realized it was my phone. Bzzt. Grabbing up the vibrating monster, I flicked it open. Not even bothering to check the ID. "Da?" Yes?"Oh man, I totally should have run a translator program to talk to you in Russian," Nik said, a pouty sigh in her voice. I smiled. Dropping the gun to the mattress, I scrubbed a hand down my face. "There's always next time. What have you got for me?""Tali called again."My entire body went into hyperalert. "She's okay?""We've got her exact location. Encrypted data packet. The whole shebang. Bad news? They are in the middle of some kind of underground tunnel system? Not quite the metro that everyone uses. My research shows that there's a secondary system. Is that right?.""Yeah. Fuck." The word was more breath than sound."Exactly. However, Ryker has a plane headed to you with six guys. Turo and Momma rallied some of the German family mem
Pushing through the door to my room, I made sure to lock it and secure it with a secondary implement to keep anyone from coming in. Even if they had a key. I stood in the quiet for a moment, just looked around my quarters. For the regular observer, it would look pretty normal. Bland walls, huge bed with a single pillow and blanket to go with the dark sheets. No plants to speak of and no pictures to show any relationship outside of the family I'd joined. But if someone were to look a little harder, they would see the cage this room really was. The cameras in each corner of the room that recorded every breath, movement, fart, and nut scratch. The bars on the windows that were supposedly to help keep us safe. Even the attached bathroom had bars on its windows.Opposite the bed was a huge computer setup. Four screens held over forty-eight camera feeds. My own room included in the number. Being the second in command of the building and family security held its own special torment.
I snarled as I broke open another ice pack. At this rate, I'd use the whole bag of them before tonight. Whatever time that stupid dinner was at. The loss of time was starting to get on my nerves. Hell, it was starting to drive me batty. No windows, I couldn't even give an estimate of what time it was. No sense of passing days or nights. Just the low lights of the cell and variable interruptions to trip my fight-or-flight system. I felt like I'd been here for both a couple days and a couple years. I made it back to the bed. The bottle of water Arkady's man had given to me wasn't even a quarter down yet. I glared at it. Between the aches and pains of my body, the possibly damaged kidney, and the lack of a sense of time, I was beginning to feel like I was losing my mind. Not a good thing when I needed to be sharp enough to try to escape at a moment's notice. I laid back down on the bed, slid the newest ice pack between the mattress and the sweatshirt I was still wearing. Sighe
Pulling up to the curb at the arrivals section of the Moscow airport, I ran the information Nik had given me through my mind again. Antonia had been moving product into Russia for a couple years now. Karine had been her contact. Her broker. Her go-between. According to Mas, who still hadn't arrived yet, Antonia had been meeting with the Russians two years ago in Italy. That's when they'd hooked up and Antonia had gotten pregnant. The front passenger door opened moments before the other doors did. I wasn't really surprised when I saw Mas slide into the front seat. Nor was I really surprised when he had a knife at my throat in the next breath. "My sister dies, you die," he said in his broken whispered voice.I nodded carefully. "As your entire family has stated. I'm bringing her back Mas.""My name is Wraith until this is over." He pulled the blade from my neck. "You got it, Wraith. Your handler said you would be here earlier." I turned to look at him. A wry smile pul
Sitting on the bed was nice. Quiet. Almost peaceful. If I weren't the guest of the crazy Kuznetsov brothers, I might have found it nice. "How long have you been here?" I asked Svetlana. She shrugged, turned to me. "It feels like forever."I nodded. "I get that. I know I haven't been here that long, but it freaking feels like it."She smiled. Went back to studying her nails. "Why did they bring you here? And why were you down in the cells?"I heaved a sigh. "A blood debt, I guess. Apparently, someone in my family killed someone in theirs."Her eyes widened slightly. "Have they been...mean?" Her face blanched slightly. I bumped a shoulder into the air. "I wasn't expecting the Ritz and free HBO. I'm still alive. That's all that matters to me."A sad smile pulled at the elegant lines of her face. "They can be quite vicious when they want." She rubbed a hand over her arm as if in reflex or long habit."Have they been mean to you?" I asked. I pushed at the heavy blanket
"Talia," Nik said. "Can you hear me?""TALIA!" Willow screamed. "She's gone. The line is dark. And we can't risk calling them. That could give away their position." "That's assuming they cut the call themselves," Striker said. "If they've been found out..." he let his voice trail off.I wanted to punch him in the face. But I knew he was right. "Nik, get us hooked up with Arkady's handler's supervisor. Now." Anger, fear, and horror dug into my guts. Wrenched and whipped them around. And, as if that weren't enough, it felt like urgency was an acid that drenched everything. "Dialing him in," she said quickly. "Who's taking lead?""I am," I said immediately. "This is Amber Hershel. How can I help you?"I stayed silent. Obviously, this wasn't the person we were hoping to talk to. "Hey Amber. I need to speak to Raymond again, please," Nik said. "Of course, Ms. Pelaez. Could you verify your access code, please?"Nik rattled off the string of letters and numbers so
The stupid dress was caught around my legs as Svetlana came in, her goon squad behind her. I couldn't push the skirt of the dress out of the way far enough to get to my feet. Something landed on my back. Brilliant, arcing pain danced through my body. "AHH!" I bit off the scream as my body jittered and quivered under the onslaught. Rolling my lips in, I mashed the already abused flesh between my teeth. "Arkady, you know better than to get involved. Don't you remember what happened last time you couldn't keep your nose out of matters that didn't concern you?" Svetlana hissed as she walked up next to me. She grabbed a handful of my hair, yanked my head back at a sharp angle. "You're not so special, you know." I spat in her face. Smiled fiercely when the bloody saliva hit her cheek. "Special enough to get VIP treatment, I think."She glared at me, her green eyes bright. With her free hand, she wiped her cheek. Smeared it down my face. "You looked better in blood, little do
I crept along the rooftop. The target was staying in the long term suites across the road. It was our first night, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders the farther we got from New Trenadie. The next moment, I crashed to the roof's floor. "Damn it." She snickered. "Still a sucky spy, Raphael." She slid her body over mine.I sucked in a breath. Nodded. Hell, I practically begged her for it. But without words. When she got that tone, my words were not necessary. She smiled. "I'm not going to beat you to death. Nor am I going to stuff you into a padded room." She bent down, flicked her tongue over my lips. "But I will tie you up, spank you, flog you, fuck you, and then make you do it all over again. My dick went to iron between her legs. Her laugh was husky. "I'm keeping you, Raphael. Do you understand me?"My heart settled. Skipped a beat. "Yes, Mistress."The end.
My phone dinged with a new incoming text message. Considering my phone had been going off since the wee hours of the morning with Willow and Ryker announcing the baby was finally coming, I was tempted to just shut it off. But it could be something important. And since Angelo and I were at home with the other babies, it fell to us to make sure we kept everything running as it should. I grabbed the phone. Unlocked the screen. A video message popped up. Raphael and his girl, Nia. Their heads mushed together to get into frame. "Momma, I have to leave. But I wanted to tell you I love you. And thank you for everything. I will let you know when I get back." Nia smiled. "I'll keep him safe, Momma. I swear it.""Bye, Momma," they said together before they ended the call.I smiled even as tears filled my eyes. Angelo looked up at me from his spot on the bed. He was restrained, a ball gag in his mouth. I held the crop up high. "Our last baby is finally happy, Angelo." I s
Two weeks later I glared at the woman on the table. "I still don't know why I have to be here. I barely know you."Willow snorted. "Because you're scarier than anyone else in my family. And I don't want those doctors trying to get all bitchyyyyyyyy." Another contraction hit her. She clamped down on my hand hard enough that I thought I was going to need surgery to remove the bones from each other. And this little firecracker had more strength inside her than her grip would show. Raphael had told me some of her story. She'd told me the rest of it. A ritual the Amatucci women apparently indulged in was something called Girls' Night. Really it was a bunch of drinking, talking about sex, and watching movies while we ate enough of Willow's confectionaries to give ourselves diabetes. Willow blew out a breath. "Ryker can't handle seeing me in this kind of pain, so he has to stay out in the lobby with the rest of them. You're second chair." She panted. Demanded some ice chips.
Three days laterWalking into my parents house when they didn't know I was alive was a risky thing. A multitude of crappy things could happen. Not the least of which was Momma killing me for real this time. Or Papa crying. Or either of them fainting."Go on," Nia said as she shoved me forward gently. "You're already here. Just go into the kitchen. Nik said she told them to wait for her in the kitchen."I nodded, felt my palms go clammy as my breath backed up in my lungs. This could go terribly wrong. So fucking horribly wrong. Man up, Si, that no longer too small voice said inside me. Since I'd been actively listening to it more, he wasn't so easy to shut up. Even when I wanted to. Thankfully, the nasty bitch who lived inside me was getting fainter. Although he could still throw a temper tantrum to beat a two year old. "I'm right here. And I'll be right here the whole time. They've waited long enough, Raphael." She nudged me again. Even as bile rushed up the back o
We all stood in the kitchen, guzzling water by the gallon. I hadn't been this dehydrated since the last time I got in trouble at Petter Manor. But at least this time it was due to happy tears and reunification. Raphael sat and watched it all. Just absorbed it. But he never got so far away I couldn't touch him. That I even needed to touch him still blew my mind. But I wasn't going to question it. He helped steady me when it felt like everything inside me and around me was bending and flexing too fast for me to catch up. "What are your plans for tomorrow?" Liam asked as he finished his third glass of water. "Tomorrow is the gala. I'm going to string Anders up-the guy who had you kidnapped again. I'm going to tell everyone the Petters have been blackmailing and abusing and paying off that the Petters are dead and gone. That they're all on watch." I studied Liam and Lilly. It blew my mind that they had gone into the government side of this dirty world. That they willingly put t
Nia came over to me while I was helping drag some bodies away. "Hey Raphael, can you come with me, please?"Foster grunted at me as we got the body up on the catering cart. "Go. I've got this." I nodded, turned back to Nia. "Sure, Nia." She took my hand and we walked from the room. Her hand was trembling in mine. It was only the slightest degree, but it might as well have registered on the seismic scale. "You good?" I asked her softly as we walked down a set of stairs. She said nothing, made no movements except to keep walking. I pulled her to a stop. Made her look at me. "Are you good?" I asked again. Her eyes were wide, as if she were trying to stave off the tears. "Amelie and Anton..." she blew out a breath. "They're t-""The only two people you love in this world." I smiled sadly. "I know, Nia."Her eyelids fluttered shut as a tear escaped down her cheek. Her breath was shaky as she exhaled. "I got them away from here. Put them in with a good woman with a hu
Day before the gala "Charlie team in position," the man's voice came through the little earbud I wore in my right ear. I kept a tight hold on my fear. My relief. My heart. All of the planning, all of the tears, all of the arguments. It all came down to this. "Delta team in position," Raphael said through my ear. "Foxtrot team in position," another voice said. I still wasn't quite sure who was who by their voice, but I'd done an okayish job of remembering names and faces. The fact that I had a team full of women with me made me like the Amatuccis even more. They didn't discriminate. If someone had the skill and the drive to join the security teams, they were given a position. "Estrogen team in position," I said. A series of clicks came through the earbud. I'd made a single joke about Echo team being full of vaginas. They called us the Estro team now. Since we were collectively badass, I didn't really care what they called us as long as it wasn't disrespectful. "A
Her babies? She had kids? I shook my head. Knew there had to be a different story, but I needed to get her back with me to learn it. I set her down on the chair. Pushed her head down between her knees. "Breathe, Nia." I made my voice hard. As hard as I dared when all I wanted to do was cuddle her up and carry her away. Nowhere was my fierce and strong Dominant. Right now, she was a broken, hurting woman. I would hold her together until she could find herself again. Ivan came rushing into the room, his gun drawn. He lifted it to the ceiling when he saw what was going on. One of his brows rose in question.I gave him a brief rundown of what I knew. Which was damn little. I shrugged when I was out of information to share. Mas came hopping in behind Ivan. He didn't have a weapon, but he did have concern etched on his face. "Who the hell are you?" a voice said from behind me. I whirled around, putting Nia behind my body as I faced the threat that shouldn't be there. A
After rushing through the shower and the delicious meal that Raphael put together for breakfast, I walked into the space Ivan and Klara had set up for me. Everything was as I left it, but that didn't mean a whole lot. Especially in a place I didn't control one hundred percent. Brushing the weird vibe away, I walked to the computer. Booted everything up. Once it was up and running, I went through my process of accessing my cloud accounts. Jasper had set some up for me that weren't the typical commercial kind. Luckily, I'd memorized the process, or I'd be up a creek with zero paddle at the moment. A ReadMe file was highlighted when I got all the way into my account. I right clicked, read through the metadata how Jasper showed me. Recognizing his signature, I opened the file. Ms. Flower~I've attached all of the information I could find re Cucumber Butt and Pretty Mean. You'll find them in the associated files.I snickered at Jasper's sense of humor. That kid was a genius and