Chapter Thirteen #2
Candy looked suddenly alarmed, shooting a glance at the glowering woman.
“You’re right. We’d better get out of here.
Sorry, ma’am.” He started heading for the side of the house as we followed.
I held back a laugh, confident in the fact that at least this Green Beret would rather be facing insurgents in Fallujah than a pissed off granny.
“Would it be possible to go to Tango’s so I can tell Bruno I’ll be away longer than we’d planned?” Joshua asked as we walked. “I should be safe with all of you, right?”
We all turned to look at Candy as we came to a stop on the sidewalk. “I don’t see why not,” he said, glancing at a black and white patrol car parked across the street then at two others down the block. “I have a feeling we’ve scared them off for a while.”
Joshua looked at me and smiled. I swallowed hard, knowing the attraction I felt for him was pure trouble.
An hour later, we were sitting out the back of the Collective in the small courtyard attached to Bruno’s restaurant.
The others had joined us, rounding out the group as they filled chairs.
Bruno had been happy to see me and taken Joshua’s explanation of a possible long absence from work in his stride.
He’d brought out platters of food and I’d watched with sheer happiness as my teammates devoured it.
We all drank soda and water, not wanting to take Bruno up on his offer for something stronger.
We were all on protection detail while we waited for SAC Bradley to get back to us with the location of a new safehouse.
“So, Nash told me a little bit about all of you but not much more than that,” Joshua said, looking over at Marshall and Alain who sat beside each other. “You two are British, right?”
Both men nodded. “British SAS—the best of the best—at your service, suh!” Alain pointed to his chest as Marshall saluted, wearing a big grin.
“Don’t listen to them,” I teased, pointing between the two men. “Those two would sell naked pictures of their mothers for a pint of hot beer.”
Joshua laughed as Joy screwed up his features and frowned at the man seated next to me. “Prat.”
“That’s what I heard,” Nash said, shrugging.
“Trust me, no one wants to see pics of Almond’s old mum starkers,” Clifford drawled.
Alain elbowed Marshall as several people snickered. “Bite me, Mars, as you Americans say.”
Joshua was wearing a brilliant smile as he looked over at Smith. “And you’re a Navy SEAL?”
Napoleon nodded, sitting forward in his chair as he leaned on the table. “That’s right.” He grinned, blowing on his nails and buffing them on his chest. “SEALS are actually the best branch of the U.S. military.”
“The slipperiest anyway,” Mickey said, eyes dancing as he took a long draw on his straw.
Joshua chuckled before turning to Mickey. “And you’re a Marine, right?”
My best friend nodded. “That’s right, Force RECON like your current roommate there.” He pointed at me. “And we have another RECON Marine on the team but he’s on his honeymoon. You’ll get to meet him when he and Mathis get back from their honeymoon.”
“That’s right,” Joshua said. “Nash said something about that.” He looked at the captain. “I think it’s cool that you have so many gay guys on your team.”
I coughed, trying desperately not to spit my Sprite all over the table.
“That’s because we’re all gay,” Rex drawled.
I glanced over at the Texan, noting the smirk on his face as Joshua choked beside me. When I looked over at him, I could see the blush staining his cheeks. “Sorry, I had no idea,” he muttered.
“I put together a team of the best men from branches of service all over the world,” Candy replied. “I couldn’t care less who they choose to sleep with as long as they do their jobs.”
“It’s kind of awesome,” Joshua replied. He looked at Patsy. “And you’re—”
“A leprechaun,” Snickers interjected before he could finish.
Patsy launched himself at Napoleon, toppling his chair as my tall friend ducked out of the way.
“How’s the food?” Bruno asked, walking up holding a platter. We all looked up in anticipation.
“Sooo feckin’ good,” Patsy drawled, righting his chair and sitting back down. “A nice change from the soul food that one makes us eat.” He threw Napoleon a kiss as the man in question flipped him off.
“You don’t understand my cooking, shawty, because you have no soul…and you wouldn’t know a collard green if one danced right up and slapped you in the face.”
“It was amazing as always, Bruno,” Joshua said, diplomatically putting a stop to my teammates’ teasing as his boss set the tray on the table. It was loaded with plates of tiramisu.
“I thought you might like some of this for dessert. I just made a fresh batch this morning.” Bruno began passing out plates as all my brothers sat forward with grins on their faces.
“That’s very kind of you,” Candy said, grinning at the jovial, older man as he accepted a plate for himself.
“It’s the least I can do to thank you for keeping Joshua safe.” He picked up the empty platter after winking at the man by my side. “Would anyone like coffee or a refill of your drinks?”
Several of the guys asked for coffee, and Joshua stood up. “I’ll help you, Bruno.”
I pushed my chair back as I stood, glancing at Candy. “I’m gonna go with him.”
“Take someone else with you.” My boss glanced around the table.
“I’ll go, boss,” Napoleon said, scraping the last of his dessert from the plate. I wasn’t surprised that he’d already inhaled the cake. He nudged Patsy. “Coming, Irish?”
Patsy jumped up to follow, giving Napoleon a gentle pat on the back. “Lead on, Goliath.”
The four of us followed Bruno back into the restaurant, flanking Joshua in diamond formation as we moved into the kitchen. A small, Hispanic woman wearing a hairnet looked up from a pot she was stirring. The moment she spotted Joshua, she let go of the spoon and rushed toward him.
“Mijo!”
Joshua swept her into a bearhug, kissing the side of her head. “Marina!”
She rattled something off in Spanish which made Joshua chuckle as he let go of her.
She held onto his cheeks for a few seconds as she stared into his eyes and then, as if satisfied that he was really okay, turned to us, smiling widely.
“These are your friends?” She marched over to Napoleon and then reached up, patting him on the cheek. “Such a man…oh, what a man.”
I chuckled as Joshua introduced them before walking over to the stove and peering into the pot she’d been stirring. He wrinkled his nose and looked at her. “Menudo?”
“Si, es menudo…you no like, bad boy.” She shooed him away from her stove.
“What’s menudo?” I asked hesitantly.
“Stew, made with tripe, I reckon?” Patsy asked, walking over to the stove and looking into the pot. “Always wanted to try this.”
“Says the man whose people eat haggis,” Napoleon said with a laugh.
Patsy turned and glared at him. “I’m Irish, not Scottish, eejit.”
“Let me feed you,” Marina said, wearing a big smile as she patted Patsy on the arm and began dishing up a bowl for him. He took it from her, lifting it to his nose and taking a huge inhale before digging into it. I watched him skeptically as Joshua stood beside me.
“He’s brave,” he said, leaning into my side.
I glanced down at him, inexplicably liking the warmth radiating from his body.
“Patsy will eat anything. When we were on missions overseas, we always made him taste things first. Sometimes, we’d find unlabeled cans in an abandoned marketplace.
He’d always try whatever he found inside, even though sometimes we had no idea what it was. ”
“How is it, Patsy?” Napoleon asked.
He hefted the bowl as he chewed. “I’m in the middle of me dinner, laddie.”
I smiled as he cleaned the bowl and nodded appreciatively at Marina. “That was lovely. Thank you, ma’am.” Patsy kissed her on the cheek, handing back the empty bowl as she beamed at him.
“We’d better get the guys their coffee and find out if Candy has a place for us to go,” I said. I watched Joshua nod then look up from where he was setting out coffee mugs on a tray.
“I’m so sorry about all of this, Nash. The reason you’re being dragged away from your friends is all my fault.”
His lower lip quivered slightly as he turned away and I felt a pang of sympathy for him.
I reached around his shoulders and pulled him against me.
“Stop beating yourself up about it.” He glanced up and I was once again face to face with his soulful, gray eyes.
I wanted to fall into them and forget all about the bad guys coming hard for him.
When he nodded sharply and reached for the coffeepot, the spell was broken.
I dropped my hand, knowing there wasn’t a damned thing either of us could do about the situation.