Between the twelve of us, we piled into two SUVs and started up the coast. The moon was full and bright. A killing moon, if there ever was one. It was so bright, we wouldn't even need to use the NVGs we'd brought. We would just need to set up and get in place. I rested my head on the seat back. Closed my eyes. Just like I did for prep on any target takedown, I ran through everything one last time in my head. Every step, every action. Every possible reaction. When there were no surprises, the mission ran smoother. Not that I could account for every imaginable possibility, I did try to mitigate the most obvious and the somewhat possible. You couldn't be in my line of work and not learn a thing or two about contingencies. Every good death dealer had a system. This was mine. The low chatter of the men around me was a comforting background noise. While I'd learned to travel alone and do solitary work, I had to admit that having my brothers-both blood and bond-around me was nice. Mo
I was jarred from sleep by a hard hand on my shoulder. Before I was fully awake, I had the person smashed into the table where my head had been laying. A knife to the throat and one hand up between the shoulders. "Sweet Pete, Eden, it's just me," Nico said. His mouth was smooshed into the desktop, his words a little garbled. Once I blinked myself awake fully, I noted that the men were all back in the room and the faint pink light that seemed to flood it. With a sheepish grin, I pulled my knife back, let him go. "Sorry. You don't want to wake me up by touching me. Ever." I slid my knife back into its sheath. Nico seemed confused on which part of his body to soothe first, his face, wrist, or shoulder. He nodded. "Obviously. Although I wish someone would have told me that sooner." He glared at Massi. Massi just smiled, pointed to his throat, shook his head. His hair was damp and he was wearing different clothes than what he left in. My man must have gotten a little messy durin
Eden's body was stiffer than I would have thought possible after such a brain-bending orgasm. But I knelt at her feet and helped her put her pants back on. With her tattered panties in my pocket, I made sure the evidence of our lovemaking was cleared out before we left the room. I wanted to hold her in my arms. Smell her unique fragrance as we tumbled into sleep. Walking beside her on our way back to our cottage, I couldn't help but notice that her shoulders were stiff. Her gait agitated. I'd never known this woman to have anything but a fluid walk. My brow furrowed as I ran over what just happened in the mission ops room. Had I done something to hurt her? Upset her? Bruise her feelings? Nothing came to mind, but it wasn't my mind I had to worry about. It was hers. The tension in her shoulders had me gritting my teeth by the time I ushered her into our temporary home. We were going to talk about it. Whatever it was. She stopped just inside the room, turned around. Her head
Once I was done eating, I told Jessa and Willow that I wanted to meet with the girls. The guys had knocked their mission down in less than a day. And considering how at ease Massi seemed now, I couldn't wait to get rid of Hugo and start feeling light and breezy as well. Gathered in the mission ops room with just the girls, I gave them the information I'd found last night. "So, it seems that in addition to losing quite a bit of money since I left, Uncle Hugo has gotten in a bit too deep with a loan shark in Portugal. He's running up a huge interest tab and has already suffered some broken bones for his lack of payment."Nik snorted. "The man is former special forces, and he gets hammered by a local thug? Doesn't seem too badass to me."I smiled. "Well, he's gotten fat and lazy since I became his cash cow. Which works all the better for our mission."Mags slapped her palms against each other and rubbed them together. "Finally. I've been getting old and grumpy waiting for some ac
I heard the feminine shout of QUEENS just outside the door. Smiled to myself. When the doors were shoved open, I almost spilled the pull of ice water I'd just taken. Eden, my soft, quiet, unconfident Eden was leading the charge of women. Her face was bright, her eyes sparkled, and the authority that stiffened her little body had my own going hard and hot. This was the woman I saw in private. The one I shared my soul with. She was fierce and demanding and took no shit. As if a small field of energy wrapped around her from wispy hair to the tips of her shoes, she practically vibrated with it. I felt it when she rocked up in front of me. Inches between our faces. Before I could do, say, or think anything else, she grabbed my face and kissed me as if I was the oxygen she needed to live. When she broke away, a sexy gasp on her lips, I was more than ready to steal her away to a different room. One dark brow cocked up high on her forehead. "Want to guard my body?"Uh? I had othe
I wrenched my arm from Mags' grip again. Glared up at her. "Thank you for doing such a good job. Bitch." My tone was cold and completely at odds with my words. She sneered back the smile that threatened. "Just keep your hands to yourself and we'll be just fine. But cross me one more time and I'll slit your throat myself. This family doesn't need your kind of trouble." She gave me a sharp shove as we walked down the sidewalk in a nearby town. Not huge, but more than just a sleepy bedroom community, it was big enough for our purposes. And I was purposely not looking for anyone in the family. I wanted to make it seem like I was trying to find a way out of their grip, not make it tighten around me more. We stomped along in silence. I felt her presence at my back like an almost physical weight. After a handful of minutes, I stopped in front of a store. Watched my surroundings for a second in the storefront window. "Do you have a thing for Rafe?" I asked her quietly. My lips bare
Sprinting to the kitchens, I saw that some of the security detail had gotten there before us. The last of their ranks disappeared around the doorway. As I rounded the corner, I prayed with everything inside me that everyone was okay. That Amara was still here, still safe. Jolting to a stop, it took only seconds to take in the carnage. But as my brain registered what had happened, my heart almost exploded out of my chest when I couldn't find Amara immediately.Willow had the man's hands spread wide on the butcher block counter. Blades buried to their hilts in each palm. Blood splattered her face and clothes. Her lips were pulled back as her growling breaths panted so hard they disturbed the flour on the counter. Jessa was curled around Carys in the corner. Her face sheet white and horror etched into her pretty features. Tears tracked down her cheeks as she shook her head over and over. "Amara. Amara. Amara. Amara." With a shaking finger, she pointed towards the kitchen island.
With his hands still pierced and immobile, I got a stool and perched on it so I could look down into my great uncle's face. The last few months had been hard on him. Harder than I thought, judging by the appearance of new lines and broken blood vessels around his nose. "What brings you by, Uncle?" I asked softly. He glared at me. "You should have come home a long time ago, Shadow. You know what you make me do when you disobey direct commands."I smiled. "Yes. I do know. But I think my letter to you should have been quite self-explanatory. I made my plans and my desires no secret."I felt Massi stiffen next to me. Going over everything in my head, I realized I probably hadn't told him about the note I'd left this human stain. As soon as Hugo was dead, I would tell Massi all about it. Hugo sneered. "You've left notes before. How was I to know this one was the time you actually meant to leave?""Probably because it was accompanied by the head of your security lead as the pa
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