Chapter 1 #2
A group of guests to his left burst into laughter. Ace stood among the group, his husband, Colton, at his side, joining in the laughter as Ace regaled them with one of his stories in his usual animated fashion. Never a dull moment around that guy.
Scanning the crowd, Saint spotted his boss, King, with his boyfriend, Leo, over by the long table offering an assortment of fancy appetizers.
Never in a million years would Saint have guessed an intimidating, grumpy former Green Beret like King would fall for a cute computer nerd with fastidious snack tastes.
Leo shoved his glasses up his nose and frowned at the tiny plates.
Something told Saint that prosciutto-wrapped figs with goat cheese did not make the list of Leo’s approved snacks.
King reached into his tuxedo jacket pocket and pulled out what looked to be a packet of something.
With a huge smile, Leo threw his arms around King and hugged him tight, making the bigger man chuckle.
Saint had to admit, the two were very sweet together.
Saint turned and bumped into someone. Shit . “I’m so sorry.” He threw a hand out to steady the man he’d accidentally stepped into and froze. “Val. I mean, fire chief. Shit, no, former fire chief.” Holy hell .
Val chuckled, little laugh lines forming at the corners of his eyes. “I said you could call me Val, remember?”
“Um.” Saint’s eyes dropped to Val’s mouth.
Oh my God, why are you looking at his mouth ?
Moving his eyes up, he swallowed hard at how Val’s pupils seemed to dilate.
Only then did Saint realize Val’s hand was on his bicep.
He squeezed Saint’s arm and opened his mouth to say something when someone slapped Val on the back.
“Congrats, Serrano!”
“Thank you.” Val dropped his hand, and Saint took advantage of the distraction, quickly slipping around Val.
He smoothed down his suit jacket and let out an unsteady breath.
It wasn’t his first encounter with Val, but every time he ended up in front of the guy, Saint couldn’t stop himself from short-circuiting. What the hell was wrong with him?
Shaking himself out of it, Saint focused on his job.
He probably just needed to get laid. It had been a while.
After his divorce, he’d taken his time getting back into the dating scene, but once he had, he came to the conclusion that it sucked, and not in a good way.
The women seemed genuinely interested, and a few encounters had been promising, but other than some okay sex, there wasn’t anyone he’d connected with.
There was no spark, no…heat. His gaze instinctively went to a certain tall, broad-shouldered man who knew a thing or two about heat. And he was thinking about Val again.
Something moved in his peripheral vision, and Saint stilled. He peered into the darkness, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he inched closer. No one seemed to be on high alert. It could just be a bird or something. Then again….
Not seeing something didn’t negate its presence. As a former SEAL, he was all too familiar with hidden dangers. Steadying his breath, he slowly moved closer to the farthest edge of The Veranda and the cluster of shrubbery.
A burst of sand hit him in the face, and he growled, brushing it away as he jumped over the hedge and took off after the black-garbed hooded figure that bolted from behind the giant palm tree.
Something red made Saint skid to a halt.
He turned, his stomach dropping at the blinking red light.
Years of training kicked in. He leaped back over the hedge and hit his PTT button, though his supervisor and fellow team members were already on the move, having seen him spring into action.
“Bug out! Possible IED,” Saint shouted into his com.
Everything moved in a flash. The Kings, the Wild Cards, and every security agent in place went into military/bodyguard mode, taking their positions.
Agents alerted hotel security while Mason called 9-1-1.
The rest of the team and their bosses rushed guests toward the emergency exits.
They hurried everyone along, ensuring no one fell in the pool or got trampled.
Neither Val nor Frank had coms, but their voices boomed over the crowd, ordering everyone to move as quickly and calmly as possible.
A woman twisted her ankle, and Frank scooped her up without missing a beat and carried her out the exit.
Saint turned to follow his team members when he saw Val helping up a guest who’d tripped right in front of the trees concealing the device.
“Val!”
The man Val helped up ran for the exit just as Saint bolted in Val’s direction. If that thing was an explosive device and it went off, there was no telling how far the devastation would reach.
The world around him seemed to slow down, and somewhere in the distance, Ryden shouted his name, but Saint had to get Val away from the damned trees. Seeing Saint running, Val took off, reaching for Saint’s hand just as everything went to hell.
Saint threw his arm up over his face as he soared through the air. Scorching heat whooshed over his body, and his lungs felt like they were on fire. He gasped for breath as something sharp struck him, and all at once, icy cold replaced the heat.
Cold water swirled around him, and he forced his eyes open.
He was in the pool. Chunks of debris speared the water as he tried to figure out which way was up.
Not panicking, he stilled, floating. Looking around, he spotted a chunk of one of the stone columns had fallen into the pool, pinning an unconscious Val to the bottom.
Fuck. There was no way he would be able to move it on his own. Then someone dove into the pool. Ryden. Fuck yeah! Oorah .
Ryden motioned to the pillar, and they each grabbed one end. Saint gritted his teeth. Air bubbles rushed to the surface as they grunted, using all their strength to move the stone. Red mist floated around Saint.
Blood.
Someone was bleeding. He couldn’t worry about that now.
The chunk of pillar hit the bottom of the pool with a muted thunk, and Saint quickly wrapped an arm around Val’s waist. He swam with the bigger man, gasping and sucking in air when he broke the surface.
The Veranda had been reduced to rubble, the palms and bushes on fire, smoke filling the night air.
“Saint! Hand him over.” Ryden was already out of the pool.
He kneeled on the ledge, reaching for Val as Saint hoisted his limp body.
Quickly, Saint climbed out, wincing at the sharp pain in his side, but he was too busy helping Ryden check Val to pay it any attention. Probably just pulled something.
“No visible injuries,” Saint confirmed.
Ryden was about to perform CPR when Val woke and started choking. They rolled him over onto his side as he coughed and spat water. He gasped for air, and Saint ran a soothing hand over his back.
“We need to get out of here,” Ryden said, grabbing Val’s arm.
His friend was right. There was no telling if there were any more devices. Saint helped Ryden get Val to his feet.
“Come on, Chief,” Saint growled as they each wrapped an arm around Val and hurried him out of the emergency exit…and into a complete circus. The street was blocked at each end and lined with ambulances, police cars, and other emergency vehicles.
“Saint, wait,” Val croaked, his fingers digging into Saint’s shoulder.
Before Saint could respond, Mason stormed over. “What the fuck! You assholes couldn’t answer your damn coms?” When he reached them, he realized they were soaking wet. “Shit.”
EMTs ran over to take Val, one trying to put an oxygen mask on him, but he brushed them away.
“Chief Serrano, please,” the EMT said, only to have Val move his face and shove the mask away.
“Saint,” Val growled. “Hospital.”
Saint frowned. “You want me to go with you to the hospital?”
“No,” Ryden said through a gasp, his eyes lifting to Saint’s. “He means you need a hospital.” He carefully peeled Saint’s jacket away from his side, and Saint’s world tilted off its axis. “Fuck.”
Mason started shouting, but Saint couldn’t make out the words as shadows and colors swirled around him. Darkness encroached, and Saint felt multiple pairs of hands on him. Was that King?
“Boss?”
“You’re going to be okay. You hear me, Cavallero?”
Saint nodded, or at least he thought he did. He couldn’t tell. Then he was lifted off his feet, his back against something soft, the night sky above him. What the hell was happening?
A calloused, firm grip on his hand had him trying to focus, but he couldn’t make out who it was. The touch was nice. Comforting. Saint thought maybe he’d said Val’s name, or maybe he just thought it. Before he could figure it out, the darkness took him.