Chapter Five
Area Fifty-Two
Same Time
Wednesday
Mid-Morning
O h, Jagger knew one thing. His wife was predictable if nothing, and this behavior was anything but something they’d see from her. That told him everything he needed to know about this moment.
Normally, she jumped at a challenge, so now, Jagger needed to figure out what the hell was going on with her.
Something was.
That was for damn sure.
Going into the room that they shared in the concrete bunker by using his fingerprints to access it, he found his wife sitting on the bed.
Uh-oh.
She was staring at the wall, deep in thought. That was exactly the same thing she did when she was troubled.
As he entered, he went to sit beside her.
“Hey, what’s up, Baby?” he asked. “You hauled ass in a hurry. Want to explain?”
She looked over.
Where he expected her to make an excuse, she didn’t. Instead, she went there.
“I don’t want to tangle with BlackStone . That’s a really bad idea.”
He stared at her.
Was this fear?
That wasn’t Maura’s MO. Normally, she was fearless, balls to the wall, and sometimes, careless.
That she was hesitating…
They didn’t know everything. Jagger would bet on it.
“What do you mean?” he asked. “I mean, I know their MO, but you’re usually all over things like this. A criminal organization who caused Marine deaths? That’s kinda your thing. What gives?”
She shared what she could.
“I’ve met him,” she said, keeping the details light so he didn’t lose his mind. She knew the kind of man that Von Donore was, and he was trouble.
Did she want to go down that rabbit hole and risk their family, Elizabeth’s career, and their lives?
Not particularly.
At her words, he lifted a brow.
“Pardon?” he asked. “You’ve met him? Like face-to-face?”
That was crazy for him, since more often than not, Maura and her team, the old Marine one, didn’t let anyone see them. They were able to walk through a grocery store at noon, and no one suspected shit.
They were ghosts.
She explained.
“Before he was a military contractor nightmare, he had connections to the government. I was in a meeting, getting our next operation, and I met him. If he sees me…,” she began, “we have issues.”
Oh, he didn’t like that.
Not.
At.
All.
That wasn’t good. He couldn’t name ten people who saw her face, and knew what she did. Maura looked like the girl next door. She was pretty but she didn’t do anything that made her stand out, and for a reason.
“So he’s seen your face?”
Oh, he could say that.
“He knows my name, Jagger. Well, he knows me as Major Maura Gaines.”
Jagger sat there.
Now, he was feeling edgy. Oh, not as a Marine, but as Maura’s husband. She was no longer Major Maura Gaines. She was Maura Gaines-Mars-Armstrong, his WIFE , and mother of his children.
“He’s dirty as the day is long, and if he can put my face to NOLA, we have a problem.”
Well, then, it was done.
Jagger wasn’t risking his family. While The Hunters were family, too, this man would specifically target the one person he knew, if he found out she was behind this.
“You’re not doing this. I know you don’t like when I’m up in your business, since you run this group of nuts, but I’m not letting my pregnant woman get hurt. Fuck that.”
She held his hand.
“If he’s here, and he’s rooting around NOLA, it might be too late.”
Damn it.
“Mar, I don’t like this. We pass on the job. Elizabeth said we could.”
She held his hand.
Now, that she’d told him most of it, she felt better. Getting that off her chest helped.
“I still think we should do this, since there are soldiers who died, but I don’t think I should do this. I may have to stay inside and lay low. He doesn’t know any of you. I’m the problem here. It’s me.”
He looked around.
Like a lunatic.
“What are you doing?”
FINALLY.
He found a way to not have to stress his pregnant woman being in danger, and this time, he didn’t have to fight her on it.
“I was looking for the miracle fairy. She dropped a big one in my lap. My crazy wife just opted to sit one out. How does one thank the fairy for that?”
She stared at him.
“I mean, don’t enjoy this too much, and the fairy thing is weird, Irish man. Just saying.”
He actually laughed.
As for enjoying it…
Oh, he would.
“Baby, you can stay in, and you can work this behind the scenes. The BlackStone Group is messy, and if the owner knows you, then we play it safe. That’s a no-brainer. We can take Boone out instead of you. It doesn’t affect us personally, so sit this one out.”
She was curious.
“Will you be safe?” she asked.
He was honest.
“I’ve never met the monster behind the name. Most people call them BlackStone , and nothing more. I don’t even know the name of the dude running that shitshow.”
She was honest.
“Not many do. I happen to know from Pentagon briefings. It’s Von Donore. He’s not American,” she admitted.
Call him curious.
“Where is he from?” he asked.
Maura shared what she could.
“He’s a British citizen, but he has offices all over the place. That’s how wealthy they are. I doubt he wants the money, but is more after it because of his ego. He would make an example of the guy who stole it.”
That sounded about right.
“What else do you know?” he asked.
She shared what she could.
“He was once a soldier of fortune there, and he came to the US. Somehow, he knew a few generals, and they let him into the circle. Then, he started getting contracts, where he’d send his paramilitary dudes, mostly ex-soldiers, in to handle shit.”
“And?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“They handled shit. Think us, but with zero interest in being on the up and up. We’re at least the good guys—most of the time. We’d never hurt civilians unless they were doing dirty deeds. If we fuck this up, in the slightest, we’re going to have BlackStone all over us.”
Jagger knew what that meant.
“So we have to take out Von Donore before he figures out who we are, and tries to make the first shot at us.”
She laughed.
“That won’t be easy, and when you cut the head off of one snake, the next appears. Thus, GROUP . There’s a few of them. If we jump in, we might not jump out fast.”
He thought about it.
Well, it wasn’t like they had any other issues. Most of the mercenaries in NOLA were dead, or behaving, and it had been boring. Jagger knew that Elizabeth could decommission them, and then what?
They were a family.
It looked like they were taking this job.
“Well, we’ll do what we have to do. Until he’s handled, you’re staying in.”
Maura stared at him.
Honestly, he expected a battle. That was NOT what he got. In fact, he got a kiss.
When she broke it, Jagger was hella confused.
“Um…okay. This is a big miracle. Are you sure there are no fairies? Because you don’t let me win often.”
Oh, she knew why she was being laid back about this. Now, she had to give him the rest because there were no secrets in marriage.
Apparently.
“I had a date with him.”
What the holy hell?
Immediately, his blood pressure went up.
“What do you mean you had a date with Von Donore?” he asked. “I know I didn’t hear that right. I have to be having a stroke.”
She wished she hadn’t had that date.
It compromised them now.
“Just what I said. We had drinks at a function together, went out to dinner, and…”
He stopped her.
“Don’t. Please don’t tell me that my sainted wife, the mother of my children had sex with the man. Please don’t say it, Maura.”
She closed her mouth.
Now, he wanted to find the man and beat him to death with his fists for even looking at his woman. It took him years to get Maura as his own, and that traitorous asshole had gotten drinks with her and probably more.
“Well?” he asked.
“Well, what? You told me not to tell you that I slept with him. I’m saying nothing.”
He stared into her eyes.
“You slept with him, didn’t you?” he asked.
She nodded.
Oh.
Holy.
Fuck.
Jagger got up, and began pacing, and the whole time, his fists were clenched, and he was a shade of red that rivaled his hair.
“If it matters, it was well before you, and before you asked me out for drinks, and I said no. When you asked me, I was attracted to you, not him.”
He sat down.
Jesus.
His head hurt.
“Well, now, I’m angsty. The man had sex with my wife, and now I understand another reason why you’re willing to lay low.”
Maura was honest.
“It was literally to get off, and it wasn’t even good. Trust me. He’s a ‘one-and-done’ kind of a guy. You’re more a ‘spend an hour dining at the Y’ kind of a guy.”
Jagger sat there.
“It was only once?”
She nodded.
“Swear. We banged, I got dressed, and while he was showering, I walked out. He wasn’t into me, and I wasn’t into him after. He was trying to recruit me or get me to spill military information. I wasn’t having either. Period.”
Jagger calmed down.
The bottom line was they both had sex before each other. Maura had to watch him bottom feed at every bar before Roxy, and then be with Roxy. She was far more discreet with her sexual encounters. He couldn’t name anyone on her list of conquests but Luke, and that was only because they got married.
So he couldn’t be a dick.
“I swear if he ever sees you and brings it up, I’m castrating him. I’m calling that right now.”
She touched his face.
“I married you. I’ve only ever loved two people in my whole life. Luke, and then you. That’s it. I swear on my babies.”
He knew she’d never do that unless it was the absolute truth.
It soothed the savage Jagger beast.
“Besides, J, we’ve seen some shit together. We’re a matched set. I love you.”
At the words, his heart skipped.
That softened him. It always would when Maura, Dianna, or Michael said those words to him.
How could it not?
“I love you, Mar. Forever,” he promised.
Because she wanted to soothe those dinged-up feelings, she was honest.
“And I think I’m having a girl. I know when we went for the ultrasound the baby wasn’t cooperating, but I think I’m having a daughter for you. This feels NOTHING like with Michael.”
And that worked.
He grinned.
“I mean, I like being a girl dad,” he said. “They are so cute when you put them in pink camo it makes me grin like a freaking idiot. If we’re lucky, none of them will be Marines.”
She snorted.
“First, I’ve never done that. Second, now you put it out in the universe, so all of them will be Marines.”
He laughed.
“I know. As for the camo, you should. It’s funny as hell,” he admitted.
Then, he got serious.
“So we do this, poke The BlackStone Group , find the crypto key, get the money, get honor for the murdered soldiers, and call it a day?”
She reminded him.
“The snake has many heads. If we poke, we will be bobbing and weaving, but we’ll have jobs out the wazoo. We just have to be anonymous when we do it.”
He agreed there.
“Anything else?” he asked.
She nodded.
“You forgot one thing.”
He lifted a brow.
That’s when she moved, straddling his lap, and finding her husband’s mouth with hers.
She.
Went.
Hard.
That caught Jagger off-guard in the best possible way. If his pregnant woman needed him, and his dick, he was down for that.
Sign.
Him.
Up.
He was definitely up for a rousing game of claiming his wife, and gloating that he got the babe, not Von Donore.
“Mar,” he muttered during the kiss, overwhelmed with the wildness.
When she broke the mating of mouths, she whipped off his shirt, getting him topless.
That was always one hell of a sight.
“Oh, look. My husband is almost naked. Let’s see what we can do about that.”
Hell.
Yes.
Sign him up.
Shoving him to his back, Maura began crisscrossing his flesh with her mouth, taking what she wanted from his body. The whole time, she was ruthless.
Jagger would let her play on the playground any damn day.
“Mar,” he muttered. “Yes, lower,” he suggested, knowing where he wanted her.
On.
His.
Dick.
There was something so exciting about a pregnant wife needing his attention, and it was even better that they didn’t have to fight over this one.
For a change.
When she teased his nipples, Jagger shut all thinking down as her mouth made him quiver with anticipation of what was to come.
HIM.
Her mouth was leaving a trail of fire, and Jagger would be lying if he said he wasn’t there for it.
Oh, he was.
ABSOLUTELY.
This was a good break, and the people out there could wait for them.
He had things to admire.
Well, her breasts.
“One of us has too many things on,” he admitted, getting her attention. “I love being your playground, but I like seeing your breasts above me,” he admitted. “Take it off, Baby, take it all off.”
That was all he had to say.
Shoving off the bed, Maura got naked. She pulled off her sweater, and undid her bra.
When she did, Jagger moaned.
“Oh, that’s the picture I love,” he said, checking her out. From the baby bump to the full breasts, he was in his glory.
His wife was luscious and hot.
It was when she dropped her cargo pants, and panties that he was really having a good time.
She.
Was.
Wet.
Only, before he could say shit, she was back on him, pulling his pants from his body, and his boots with them.
Someone wanted him fully naked.
Tossing his things, Jagger’s boxer briefs didn’t stand a chance when a hungry woman was on the prowl.
Thank God.
Faster than he could think, Maura was back at it, and by ‘it’ , he meant him.
As she moved down his chest, she was leaving a trail of fire in her wake.
And he liked it.
Sue him.
The scene was spectacular.
He was a tit man, and he liked when she was pregnant, and they got bigger.
What was he saying?
Truthfully, she was still breastfeeding Michael, off and on, when their little man needed boob juice. They were perpetually spectacular.
Yeah, this was his kink.
There was nothing sexier than a mother. Now, he got the whole MILF thing.
He was fucking a total MILF, and he was never going to stop.
“Wait.”
She paused, looking up.
“What?” she asked.
“I don’t want to get fixed. I want more kids. When I said I should get fixed, it was because I really believed you’d keep putting yourself in danger. That you didn’t today, knowing what was at stake makes me feel secure. I want more babies, Maura. Three isn’t enough. I want a brood.”
She blinked.
“Okay. Can I have your dick now?”
He actually laughed.
“That was all it took? Me telling you I want babies?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“I mean, you’re sexy as a dad. When you’re carrying around our son and daughter, and they are telling you they love you…my panties are always wet. When you climb into bed with Dianna and read her fairytales, and then tell her she can be anything she wants, including a princess, I fall more in love with you. I said vasectomy because you struggle with me being safe—not because we don’t need more babies. I’ll have more for you. I want a family with the love of my life.”
He grinned.
“Thank you for that, Maura. I love you.”
She smiled sweetly.
“Now, shut up and let me play on my hot Marine husband.”
He laughed.
Well, until she continued her assault.
When she moved back up his body and pulled him up so she could rub against him, he was rock hard.
Yep.
He loved his life.
“I need to taste you,” he admitted. “You’re so goddamn hot,” he added.
She was wiggling in his lap, and he had to stop that before he came then and there.
Because he wanted to taste her, he did. Jagger took one of her nipples in his mouth and tormented her.
She moaned.
With his mouth alone, he destroyed her control. He used the most sensitive part of her body to make her his.
“Please,” she begged.
Oh, he knew what she liked, and he was giving it to her. With his fingers, he flicked them over her very wet clit as she was perched in his lap.
“Jagger,” she whispered.
He needed more.
He needed all.
When she tried to pull away so that she could torment him for a while, he wasn’t having it.
He kept her locked to him, as he went back and forth between her breasts, making her breathlessly wild.
She gasped in pleasure and pain as he refused to set her free.
“Jagger,” she whispered, as he tormented her clit with his very eager fingers.
“I love my wife so much,” he said, staring into her eyes. “I love when you’re pregnant, and so wild for my dick.”
She was.
That was the absolute truth. She was perpetually thinking about sex, and wanted this man.
To no end.
“Jagger, I’m going to cum,” she muttered, as she teetered on the edge.
That made him go harder.
There was nothing hotter than seeing her cum.
He wanted his wife to scream his name.
As he worked over her clit, she squirmed in his lap, which made him only want to keep this up. She was against his dick, and he had precum already on the tip.
“Cum for me, Baby,” he ordered.
When he sucked roughly on her nipple, she tumbled over the edge, cumming so hard.
Jagger held on, making sure she didn’t fall and impale herself on his dick.
Yet.
When she sighed in contentment, he put his hand over her belly and spoke to his daughter.
“You’re going to be another perfect angel,” he admitted. “Your sister Dianna can’t wait to meet you, and your brother Michael is going to keep you safe. I love you, Rebecca.”
Maura smiled.
“So you picked a name, huh?”
He kissed her on the tip of her nose.
“Your grandma’s name sounded perfect, since Dianna was named after my mother.”
That worked for her.
“Rebecca Jaxon Armstrong,” she said. “They named their son after you, so I’m naming our daughter after your sister. It seems right.”
God.
He loved her so much. He couldn’t wait to have more kids with her.
Only, before he could say anything, Maura was on the move.
“It’s my turn,” she said, wanting his dick in the worst way.
Jagger grinned wickedly.
There was no way he was saying no to that.
Hell.
No.
“Yes, please, pretty lady. Have your wicked way with me,” he said as she bit him on the neck, and then shoved him back onto the bed.
The fun was about to begin.
“Head South,” he suggested. “I have a surprise waiting for you.”
She snorted.
Oh, she knew what that surprise was.
As she slid down, she came face-to-face with his erection, and gave him one hell of a thrill.
She was going to give him the mother of all blowjobs to make him cum.
He should buckle up.
It was a good thing the walls were thick, and they wouldn’t hear her man begging.
When she stroked him, Jagger’s whole body shook from her warm fingers wrapped around his dick.
God.
He loved his life.
As he braced for the pleasure that he knew was coming, he watched his gorgeous wife do her worst to his body.
And he was there for it.
Maura was focused on his dick, and that meant he was cumming sooner rather than later.
Sign.
Him.
Up.
As she blew across his dick, Jagger moaned when his dick bobbed. The goosebumps took over, and he was enjoying her in control.
In fact, Jagger wanted more.
Jagger wanted all.
Before he could say anything, Maura took his dick into her mouth, and she rocked his world.
HARD.
She took him on a wild ride, proving that pregnant wives were wickedly out of control.
His body bowed, and she kept changing up the rhythm to drive him insane.
And he was.
Yeah, this was going to be a rough one.
He.
Was.
Wild.
“Mar!” he shouted as she did something particularly wicked with the tip of his dick and her mouth. She was deep-throating him to his balls.
Jesus.
He couldn’t hold on much longer.
Looking down wasn’t an option. If he did, he was taking a tumble off of the edge.
Bet.
On.
It.
All he wanted to do was pour down her throat, roll with her, and pound his way into her body. He wanted to take his wife in the worst way.
He couldn’t help it.
When she was pregnant, full of curves and sexy fullness, he was out of control.
She looked like a lush goddess, and he wanted to be lost in her garden.
As her fingers teased and tormented him, Jagger was struggling not to cum, but it wasn’t easy.
Someone was a cock tease.
DEFINITELY HER.
With each stroke of her warm mouth up and down his erection, Jagger was a man on the edge.
And Maura worked him hard.
She punished his dick, trying to take him over the edge into the pleasure.
“Mar, I’m going to cum,” he said. “I have zero control with you blowing me.”
Oh, she was aware.
It was when she played with his balls that Jagger nearly lost control.
His wicked wife was pulling out all of the stops.
When she tugged on his balls, his eyes crossed, and his body bowed.
His control…
It.
Was.
Gone.
Taking his rock-hard erection in hand, she teased him by running her teeth up the entire length of his erection.
Yeah, and that was all it took.
Jagger lost that battle.
And his pregnant wife won.
“Oh, fuck! I’m cumming,” he shouted, as his balls revolted, and that heat exploded from him.
As he did, his wife swallowed, and she got a belly full of cum.
The whole time he lay there. Jagger couldn’t think.
In fact, he couldn’t breathe either.
She still had him by the balls, and he liked it a little too much.
“More,” he whispered, and his wife gave him that.
Maura kept working him over because she loved watching him out of control.
That was rare for him.
Truly.
Maura knew that Jagger loved some rough sex, and as soon as he was in control, she’d be at his mercy.
“Please,” he begged as she finally slowed down the oral torment. “I need a moment,” he said.
That was all she needed.
It was rare he tapped out.
“Oh, Jesus,” he muttered, as she crawled back up his body and sat across his hips. “Am I dead?” he asked. “I think I’m dead. I have to be. That felt too good. Almost rapturous.”
She grinned.
That was the plan.
“You always ask me that after sex, and what’s the answer?” she inquired.
“That I’m not, but it feels so good.”
Oh, she was aware.
Now, though, she wanted to feel that.
So, Maura found his mouth with hers and rolled, putting him above her.
“I need my husband to take care of me,” she said. “Hurry. I want you in me.”
Well, sign him up.
He began teasing and tormenting her. Jagger made slow circles with his tongue around her nipples. The whole time, she was whimpering in need.
“Don’t be a dick tease,” she said. “Just give me your dick.”
He grinned.
“Someone’s bossy when carrying a child, but luckily for you, I want nothing more than to be in you.”
And that was the truth.
Only, he knew what he craved more.
Some oral gratification.
Well, sign him up.
Jagger found her wet and ready for more, so he feasted, and he was in his happy place.
His wife…
She got him wild.
In fact, Jagger could dine on his wife for days, and never leave their bed. That was his favorite place to be.
With her hands in his hair, he found her clit and rocked her world, making the Major cum.
Over and over again.
Yeah, that was how you pleased your wife. If she didn’t cum more times than you could count, you weren’t giving it your all.
And Marines liked to give two hundred percent in everything they did.
Especially in bed.
Fuck Von Donore for being a one-and-done. That told him everything he needed to know about the man.
He was a pussy.
Real men made women pass out from the pleasure.
As he worked her body, she whimpered and begged but he refused to cut her a break. Jagger was enjoying the way she shook and came.
Now, he was going to make her cum at least one more time.
When he slipped his fingers into her, Maura’s body bowed, and she lost control.
“Jagger!” she shouted, as he took her over the edge again, and into the pleasure.
Yeah, now, he needed to be in his wife.
As he moved up her body, Jagger was careful of their baby’s bump. He wasn’t crushing his Rebecca because she was his to protect too.
Instead, he made sure she would see him the second she opened her eyes.
When she did, he gave her the gift of tenderness.
“I love you,” he admitted. “Thank you for being cautious for me. Thank you for giving us more children when this one is born. Thank you for just being born for me.”
Oh, she knew what he was talking about.
He didn’t want her playing games with The BlackStone Group , and that she took his heart into consideration, made him calm down.
Tugging him down, Maura gave him a soft kiss.
“I love you too.”
As he was distracted, she reached down and stroked him.
The second her warm fingers wrapped around his dick, his eyes dilated.
“Someone needs to finish the ride, Soldier. How about you show me what you got?”
Oh, he would love to do just that.
“Your Doll needs you.”
That was all she had to say.
That masculine prowess rose up, and he felt that need to be a caveman.
A mob man.
“Don’t lure him out,” he warned. “You know what he’s like when he’s horny.”
Yeah, he was rough.
And Maura loved it when she was manhandled by her hot Marine husband.
“Oh, Mikey O’, your woman needs a fucking. How about you show the Marine how it’s done?”
Jagger grinned.
Then, he struck.
Yeah, he didn’t give her any warning. Instead, Jagger buried his dick in that wet, slick warmth of his wife’s body, and enjoyed every second of it.
He slid home so fast, and so hard, that she came from that and that alone.
Riding out the storm, he enjoyed how her nipples pebbled, and her skin rippled with goosebumps.
It was when she opened her eyes that he gave her all he had. If she wanted rough, she’d be cumming on his dick as quickly as he could get her there.
Finding that one spot, he hit it over and over again until she was beyond vocal.
Maura was shouting his name, and cumming from the pounding he gave her.
Never let it be said that Mikey O’ didn’t do it one way, and only one way.
As he worked his wife into a wild frenzy, he enjoyed her body. Even then, he was struggling for control. What he wanted, and what was coming was huge.
He was on the cusp of cumming.
He let his hips take over, and as he kept burying himself in her body, there was only one way this was ending.
His wife was getting a load of cum.
When she came again, he pulled out to keep from taking the fall, flipped her over and onto her knees, and then went balls deep in her ass.
That glide in made her scream, and him cum.
That hot explosion from him was everything he wanted in that moment.
His wife’s body milked him, and Jagger had to lean against her to make sure he didn’t fall.
That’s how good he felt.
His wife was pregnant, she was filled with his cum, and she was willingly staying inside MATE’S bunker.
Today couldn’t get any better for him.
Not.
At.
All.
Dropping to his side, he stayed buried in her, as she was spooned into his groin.
“That never gets old, Baby,” he admitted.
Oh, Maura was aware.
“Will you be good playing against The BlackStone Group without me?” she asked. “Because I don’t want to be a widow at this age with three kids.”
He cuddled her.
“Baby, nothing is taking me away from you. Besides, I owe Von Donore one. He had sex with my lady. That’s unforgivable. I’d kill Luke, but…”
She laughed.
“You’re insane.”
Yeah, he was.
Insane for her.
“How about we go tell Elizabeth that we’re taking this one, and getting all the information from her? Then, we can head out. We have to figure out what happened to the dead soldiers.”
She stopped him from moving.
“One more minute,” she begged.
Jagger gave her that. He held her, and she enjoyed the way he felt. When she was satiated, and ready to let him go, then, and only then did she move away.
And he watched her.
“You ran the numbers in your head, didn’t you?” he asked, knowing what made her twitchy.
She nodded.
“And?”
“This case has too many unknown factors, J. I can’t get a feel for it. What I do know, is we’re missing some important shit. We don’t have all the pieces yet, but once we do, I’ll know how fucked we are.”
He hoped they found it fast.
Or they were in some serious shit themselves.
Because going head-to-head with The BlackStone Group meant being at the top of their game.
Only, they were down a Snake and two Hunters. On top of that, Maura was sitting it out.
That worried him.
To no end.
Five Minutes Later…
When they headed out to the main part of Area Fifty-Two , cleaned up, and looking like they had when they left, Elizabeth was sitting on the couch, next to Gene.
They all looked over.
“Well?” Elizabeth asked.
“We’re taking the case. Only, we’re playing by new rules,” she stated. “ The BlackStone Group is dangerous as hell. I’ve tangled with the owner before. That means, I can’t be involved. If he sees me, he’s going to know the government is all up in this. I’m supposed to be dead.”
Oh, Jesus.
Elizabeth went there.
“How tangled were you?” she asked.
Maura knew they all needed to know, and if they didn’t, Jagger would just tell them at some point. Oh, not by his words, but when he was ruthless and Mikey O’. Because he wouldn’t go at him like a Marine.
He’d track him like a mob man.
Ruthlessly.
“I had sex with Von Donore.”
EVERYONE GASPED.
And immediately looked at Jagger.
“What?” he asked. “It was before me. I had sex with other women too,” he said.
“Ones you paid?” Zayn asked from the screen.
Dakota laughed because Jagger flipped him off.
“No, Chucklefuck, with women I met out and about,” he stated.
The truth was, he’d fucked his way through a bunch of women trying to get over Maura, and not being able to be with her. Then, he’d found Roxy, and she’d made him work for it. He’d fucked more women, and finally got her to be with him—when she turned up pregnant.
Only to lose her, to finally get the woman of his dreams.
The Major.
It all worked out in the end, but he always wished he’d just been badass enough to take what he wanted in life, and he could have had her earlier.
“Anyway, my wife told me. I’m okay. It was before me. Don’t stress it. I’m not going to go nuclear and do crazy shit.”
No one believed that.
He absolutely was going to go nuclear and do crazy shit, but if they didn’t expect that…
They were insane themselves.
Jagger was Jagger.
Beside him, Maura was holding his hand. As always, they stood side-by-side, a unified front. Even when they were warring privately, they always had each other’s backs.
Because they were done busting his ass, Maura went there.
“My gut says to do this differently. I’m out, and so is Jinx, and Calyx. The men are going to have to handle this one.”
Elizabeth lifted a brow.
This felt like more than just her having a personal relationship with the man.
Hell!
She’d had sex with Dakota, so she got it. Before the husbands, or after, had nothing to do with a case. Still, she knew this woman, and something was off.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Maura hesitated.
Only, Elizabeth was relentless.
“I don’t know if you recall that I actually interrogate people for a living, but I do. You’re holding back, and I can do this the easy way of just asking, or I can do it the invasive way of digging into every crevasse of your existence. I’ll find out one way or another, but the easy way saves time, and I don’t get bitchy.”
Oh, she would do that too.
As for her holding back…
She was.
It was part of the classified information she’d been given a long time ago.
So, she’d tell them.
“ The BlackStone Group worked alongside the CIA operatives who funded the guerillas in Columbia. They were behind helping get that nasty-ass drug into the US. When we got back, I was debriefed. El Gato was one of the paid contractors in that group before he went buck wild in South America. He made BlackStone a lot of money working for him before he went out on his own to be a drug lord.”
Jagger looked at his wife.
Uh, she didn’t tell him that before or after sex. Someone left an important part out.
What the hell?
“Maura!” Jagger said. “You didn’t mention that to me a few minutes ago.”
Had she, they wouldn’t be doing this.
Getting back on the El Gato bus to Hell was no one’s idea of a good time. They tried to steer clear of anything similar. They’d been run through the wringer with El Gato.
“I’m sorry, J. It was classified. She could research it, and she would. I wasn’t allowed to bring it up.”
Elizabeth didn’t like this. Normally, she was the one with the most intel in the room.
Now, at the mention of the name, Remington flushed red, and held Calyx a little closer.
This was bad.
“What the fuck?” Elizabeth asked. “Maura?”
She stopped her.
“Some of my intel is even over your paygrade, Elizabeth. If you want to know what I know, and what I was debriefed after that particularly nasty mission, you need to get the president on the phone to clear it. For all I know, he doesn’t even know what I know.”
Holy shit.
She continued.
“Jagger, as my right-hand man as a Marine, wasn’t even privy to it, and I married him. What I can say is that Von Donore is a bad dude, and he’s like El Gato on steroids. Once we take him on, they will keep coming. Until we destroy them all, New Orleans , and our lives, are about to get spicy.”
Well, fuck.
They were about to go dance with something worse than their personal Devil.
AGAIN.
For round two.