The Alpha Bodyguards Books #4-6

Chapter Fourteen

I dialed the guy I used to work with.

Addis picked up on the third ring. “What?”

“It’s Ty. I need a job, and I hear you got one. How about you help me out? You know my reputation.”

“I’ve got nothing.”

I called him out. “Bullshit.”

“Hanging up,” he said dryly.

I used the only play I had. “How’s the girlfriend?” Any attachments in this line of work were a death sentence for them if your shit went FUBAR. And Addis had made a mistake a little over a year ago and fallen for one of my old boss’s castoffs. I’d helped him get her out before she’d been made an example of and wound up at the bottom of the ocean. I was taking a chance he was still with her.

“You motherfucker,” Addis ground out under his breath. “Leave her out of this.”

“Get me a job and I will.” I had no intention of fucking with her, but I didn’t let him know that. Even though I had a reputation for being a coldhearted fuck for a reason, I had my limits.

Addis exhaled. “She wants nothing to do with me anymore. I haven’t seen her in months.” His voice dropped to a lethal warning. “Leave her the fuck alone.”

“She still in the apartment we set her up in?” I asked casually.

Silence.

I chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“My boss won’t hire you, you dumb fuck.”

Tasting victory, I pushed. “Yeah, why’s that?”

“He won’t employ anyone associated with the shit that went down in Bal Harbour.”

“He hired you.”

“I left before the Feds got involved.”

I snorted. “If you think the Feds don’t have a file on all of us, you’re out of your fucking mind.”

“I don’t have a job for you. Leave my ex alone, or don’t. Your call, asshole. I’m hanging up.”

Shit. “Wait.” I pretended to sigh like I was fucking desperate. “I need money.”

“Find someone else to harass. Your reputation precedes you.”

“Good. Then everyone knows I’ll do my fucking job.”

He didn’t comment, but he didn’t hang up.

“Come on.” I sweetened the deal. “I’ll owe you.”

“Hold on,” Addis clipped, before holding the phone away. “Boss. Situation.”

I heard someone speaking in the background, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“If you want to maintain head count, we need to—” Addis broke off.

“Sounds like you need someone,” I cut in.

“Hold on,” Addis replied before I heard a door open and close. “Where are you?”

“Miami, where the fuck else?”

“You bring that kind of attitude here, I’ve got nothing for you.”

“You know who the fuck I am, you worked with me over a year. I’m still the same asshole who’ll shoot circles around you. Where’s here?”

Addis sighed. “I’m in the keys.”

I kept my tone short. “Sounds boring.”

He snorted, then he made an amateur move and slipped. “Yeah, working for Dante is real fucking boring.”

“Dante, huh?”

“Cut the bullshit, Asher. You knew who I was working for before you made the call. It’s why you’re hitting me up. You want a better paycheck than the one you used to make.”

I played into him. “Who doesn’t?”

He half grunted in response. “How soon can you get down to Marathon?”

“As soon as I know how much and how often Dante’s gonna pay me.”

“Set salary,” he clipped, turning all business. “Thirty-five hundred a week, cash, paid on Fridays.”

“Fuck off.”

“What?” He feigned insult.

“Don’t bullshit me. I made more than that at our last gig,” I lied. “I’m not stupid. Dante pays more than that.”

“Fine,” Addis acquiesced. “Four grand a week.”

I didn’t say shit on purpose. I pulled out a smoke.

“Ty?”

“Yeah?” I lit my cigarette.

“You want the job or not?”

I took a deep drag and blew the smoke out. “I’m thinking.”

He swore under his breath. “Well, decide quick, or I’m offering the job to someone else.”

I laughed. “Who the fuck you gonna get on short notice to drag his ass to some remote island in the keys? There’s no action down there,” I added, fishing.

Addis snorted. “There’ll be plenty of action.”

I sat up straighter. “Yeah? Why’s that?” I asked casually. “You expecting trouble?”

“It’s Dante Cortez.” Addis dropped his voice. “He is trouble.”

No fucking shit. “Whatever. I just wanna get paid,” I lied again.

“Then get down here. Two hours.” He rattled off an address. “Walk out to the dock. I’ll have one of the boats pick you up.”

“How long am I gonna be?”

Addis paused. “Why?” he asked suspiciously.

“What do you mean, why ? I need to know what to pack, you paranoid fuck.”

Addis exhaled.

“Jesus.” I forced a chuckle. “You turning into one of them already?”

“Pack for a couple of weeks and just get the fuck down here.”

I grabbed a bag and threw some clothes in it. “Why aren’t you picking me up?”

“I gotta go.”

“Why? You one of Dante’s bitches now?” I joked.

Addis didn’t say shit.

Fuck. Fuck . “No shit?” I asked casually. “You’re one of his three personal guards now?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly.

Goddamn it. Addis had been the only other military-trained hired gun I’d worked with before. He wasn’t Force Recon, but he had skills. Paranoid just enough to know what the fuck he was doing, better than decent aim—if he was in a position of authority over the other guards, my job just got a lot harder.

I forced a laugh. “Moving up in the world, Bastien.”

“Don’t fucking use my last name,” he snapped.

“Then don’t use mine,” I countered, but he was fucking na?ve if he thought anything about him was private now that he’d picked up a gun for the cartel.

“Fine.”

“What about my truck?”

“It’ll be safe parked in the lot by the dock. We’ve got that guarded too.”

Of course they did. “Awesome,” I deadpanned.

“See you in two hours. Don’t come armed.”

I stilled. “The fuck I won’t.”

“Dante’s rules, no personal pieces.”

“I’m not gonna carry some piece of shit used rifle.” Or worse, one that was already tagged in a crime the Feds had ballistics on.

I could practically see Addis shrug. “Then don’t come.”

Motherfucker. I made one last attempt. “I have standards.”

“There’s a whole damn arsenal here. You can choose whatever the hell you want. See you in a couple hours, or not.” Addis hung up.

I dialed Luna.

He answered on the first ring. “What happened?”

“I’m in.”