Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
C assidy and Warrick talked for ten hours. They didn’t talk about the case. They talked about books, movies, training, and their feelings. They talked about dates they wanted to go on and trips they’d like to take.
Every now and then, someone would come and ask them a question about the files he’d shared. Cassidy would look at them when she got home. She knew this plane ride was the last bubble of normalcy she could share with Warrick before it popped on landing.
When they landed in Lexington, the bubble popped in a big way when Mo stopped them and said they should stay at his house.
“We can stay at my own house,” Cassidy told him as they walked off the plane.
“My house comes with immunity and guards,” Mo told her as if it were a done deal. “Someone is after you. They used Deming as bait to get to you. I’ve discussed it with your family. Your safety is paramount.”
“His highness is correct,” Warrick told her and Cassidy felt herself being forced to make a decision she didn’t want to make.
“Please call me Mo. Dani and I will happily host you in our house or at the very least in the guest cottage.”
“Please, sweetheart,” Warrick whispered to her. “I have to know you’re safe.”
“Fine. We’ll take the cottage. Thank you.”
“Excellent,” Mo said with a victorious grin. “Veronica will take care of it,” he said of his assistant extraordinaire who had stayed behind with her girlfriend, Blythe. He shot off a text and instead of going in the caravan to her house, she and Warrick got in the one heading to the farm with the Ali Rahman family.
“How many times have you been to Keeneston?” Cassidy asked him as they drove toward her hometown. They were in the back of an SUV where they could whisper to each other when Mo and Dani got done telling them about Dessert Sun Farm.
“Four times,” Warrick answered. “Once when I first started investigating you. Once for Jace’s wedding. Then to help Kale. And again, just a short while ago.”
“I knew I saw you.”
“You knew you saw someone. Your uncle Baldy almost caught me. It was too risky to come back after that.”
“Uncle Cy taught me everything I know about being a spy.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Warrick told her. “They wanted you because you took down Naylor and they needed your contacts. However, you only report to CIA Director Beaumont. He would be your main and only contact above you. Does that mean Beaumont is one of them or does that mean they want to know what Beaumont is up to because he’s not with them?”
Cassidy frowned as they were driven into Dessert Sun Farm. “I don’t know, but I do know it means I can’t tell Beaumont anything about this.”
“That’s why I can’t trust the president yet,” Warrick told her. “Sure, maybe he’s trustworthy, but is his chief of staff? Are his secret service agents? Are all the people constantly surrounding him?”
“I understand. We’ll get to the bottom of it. And my family and friends can help us determine who we can trust. As penis-obsessed as Draven is, he’s trustworthy. So is Deming. So is King Dirar and Mo’s family. We have help. We need to lean on them to know who to trust once we start pulling on these threads.”
“Here we go,” Dani said, turning in her seat to get their attention. “This is where Mo and I live.” Cassidy saw Warrick look out at the sprawling white brick house. “The guest house is just down the lane here. Zain and Gabe live that way. Ari and Jameson down there,” Dani said, pointing in the opposite direction. “Then Ahmed is right over there.”
“That building,” Mo said, pointing to the cement barn looking building, “is the security center. Inside is top tech equipment, a gym, some rooms for soldiers, a meeting room, and holding cells. I’ll have Nabi, my head of security, hook you up with your own code so you can come and go as you please.”
“Thank you,” Warrick said, surprised, “for trusting me with all that equipment.”
Mo smiled. “Cassidy trusts you so I will too. Just know though, that I can kill you and use your body as a scarecrow and no one can do anything about it since this is considered embassy grounds.”
“Yes, sir,” Warrick said quickly. But Cassidy saw a little twitch of amusement in his lips and Dani rolled her eyes.
“Don’t worry about him,” Dani said as Mo got out. “Worry about Tammy and the aunts if you screw up.” Dani waved to them as she stood at the car door. “Let us know if you need anything! I’ll text the code to the door to Cassidy.”
“They wouldn’t really kill me, would they?” Warrick asked as the driver headed toward the guest cottage.
“Not them personally. They’d delegate. It would be Nash, Nabi, or one of the soldiers.”
She tried not to laugh at the look on Warrick’s face as they stopped in front of the cottage several people from Keeneston had used at one time or another. Warrick grabbed their bags as Cassidy grabbed their weapons and carried them to the door.
She entered the number and walked into the same cottage that Kate had used when she’d first become the football coach in Lexington. She was familiar with the layout and set the weapons down in the living room. “Bags go right through there.”
“There’s only one bed,” Warrick called out from the bedroom.
“You had ten hours to think of what we should do. Is one bed not enough?” Cassidy replied, but stopped laughing when Warrick leaned his hand on the doorframe to the room and stared her down. Shit. That was so sexy. No wonder all her cousins were pregnant.
“One will do. So will the shower, the table, the couch, the chair, the wall, and the little patio out back. Do you happen to have any handcuffs?”
Cassidy jumped at the sound of knocking on the door, which only caused Warrick to smirk.
“Coming,” Cassidy called out before hurrying to answer the door. “Aniyah!”
“Hello, sugar! I heard all about your hunky man. I hated missing Draven and Addison’s baby celebration, but Andreyah Rose and Nye were too young to go and I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving them behind. Did you bring me my gift?” Cassidy moved aside to let Aniyah walk in pushing her double stroller. “Lord have mercy!” She gasped at Warrick leaning against the doorframe.
“Warrick, this is one of my best friends, Aniyah. And these two cuties are Andreyah Rose and Nye.”
Cassidy watched as Andreyah Rose batted her little eyelashes and cooed up at Warrick. Same, girl. Same. Especially when Warrick shook Aniyah’s hand and then bent to see the babies.
“Here you go,” Cassidy said, handing a bag to Aniyah.
“Is this the one that vibrates?” she asked, pulling out the giant royal member. “Oh, he’s added jewels to his jewels. Blue and white. Kentucky colors. Nice.”
“It is. Took me a while to track down the vibrating one.” Cassidy told her.
“It’s perfect! Now, I have a gift for you two.” Aniyah reached into her diaper bag and pulled out a small bottle of oil. She handed it to Warrick with a wink. “You can thank me later, sugar.”
Cassidy watched Warrick try to figure out what to say in response to being handed oil for sex. She also debated telling him that the stuff would set his dick on fire.
“Hey, has DeAndre gotten any feelings lately?” Cassidy asked.
Aniyah nodded. “He knew you’d come home with either Deming or this guy. He said this guy was the right one. So did John. We all love Deming, but you need someone... roar worthy.”
“And I’m roar worthy?” Warrick asked with amusement as Andreyah Rose grabbed his finger and shoved it in her mouth.
“Oh sugar, you’d give Ahmed a run for his money. However, no matter what you think, there can never be a new Ahmed. You’re more like a little cub waiting for him to teach you to be the tiger you are deep down inside.”
Cassidy was struggling so hard not to laugh. “Does everyone know I said Ahmed was just a grandpa?”
Aniyah patted his cheek. “Bless your heart. You’re going to have to dig yourself out of that hole. Even if you are this good lookin’.”
“Let me know if DeAndre has any other feelings. I’m afraid I might have a target on me and I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
“Of course, sugar. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. I haven’t shot anyone in a while. DeAndre got a little nervous with me shooting while I was pregnant, so I may be a little rusty. But I’m here for you.”
Cassidy and Warrick walked Aniyah out to her car and helped her get the babies into the backseat. They waved as she drove off and Warrick threw his arm around Cassidy’s shoulder. “I’m going to pretend it’s perfectly normal for your friend to give us sex oil. So, should we use it?”
“Not yet,” Cassidy said, patting his chest. “Let’s save that for make-up sex after our first fight.”
Cassidy was about to head back inside when a sleek sports car drove toward them. She felt Warrick tense as he stepped forward to put himself in front of her. “Don’t worry, it’s just Veronica. She’s Mo’s chief of everything.”
Cassidy waited as Veronica parked her car and opened the door. Red-soled stilettos appeared first, followed by long legs encased in a pencil skirt. “Cassidy,” Veronica said, reaching out and squeezing her hand. “I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt. I’m surprised someone so dumb as to think he could be better than Ahmed was able to help you out.”
Warrick groaned. “Seriously, what can he do that I can’t?”
Veronica glanced over at him with a lethal smile. “It’ll be so much fun finding out. Now, I have a favor to ask.”
Veronica needed a favor? That never happened. It was her doing everyone else a favor that was the usual. “Of course, what can I do?”
“I’m going to propose and I need your help.”
Cassidy gasped and hugged Veronica. “Oh my gosh! Of course, what can I do?”
“You’re the only one who can sneak past Blythe. She’s been acting weird, so I think she knows I was trying to find out her ring size. I need you to get her ring size for me. She wears one on her right hand, but never takes it off. I’ve already gotten the ring I just have to give them the size. I need it today because I want to propose this Friday. I also need your help with getting Blythe to my proposal spot. I was thinking of saying it had something to do with you and the Viking over there. Do you think you can help me?”
“Yes! Of course, I can. I’m so happy for you both. I’ll call you as soon as I have the ring information.”
Veronica looked behind her. “Thank you so much. She’s meeting me later today, so work fast!”
Veronica got back in her car and drove toward the main house where her office was.
“How are you going to get her ring size?” Warrick asked.
“Easy. You’re going to help me.”
Cassidy sent a text to Blythe as she walked back into the house. “We’re going to work out. She began to open kitchen drawers until she found what she was looking for. She held it out for Warrick. “You’re going to take this. When I get her to hand you her ring, you use the string to measure it.”
“I’m missing the part about how you get her take off the ring.”
“I’m going to punch her, duh.”
Warrick had spent over a decade not getting close to anyone. Now he’d been handed sex oils, was part of an engagement scheme, had a grandpa who wanted to kick his ass, had been suffocated twice in the bosom of a woman who might have dated Benjamin Franklin, and a royal family and head of an off-the-books black ops group helping him solve the murder of his family. All in a matter of days. His brain might be short circuiting. Add to it, admitting he loved Cassidy and hearing her say it back. He had reached what might be described as a turning point in his life. He was happy. He shouldn’t be happy. He wanted revenge. But he also wanted to forget about revenge and sink into Cassidy’s warm body and forget that the rest of the world existed.
“Do you have any athletic clothes with you?” Cassidy asked as he followed her into the bedroom. He desperately wanted to get her naked and show her how much he loved her. It wasn’t just the ten-hour flight he’d thought about what he wanted to do with her—it was three years.
“Yeah? Why?”
“I told you. I have a woman I need to beat up.”
“I’m so confused,” he muttered as he changed his clothes and then sat back to enjoy the view of Cassidy unhooking her bra. He’d always been attracted to Cassidy’s confidence. He really appreciated it when she let her bra drop as if changing in front of him was perfectly normal. “How much time do we have before you have to beat up a bride?”
Cassidy turned, giving him a full view of her round breasts as she reached into her bag for a sports bra. “Not enough to do all the things I thought of over the plane ride and the things you thought of.”
“I’m sure some of them were the same and would cut back on the time needed to twelve hours.”
“Hmm, I’ll hurry then and get this ring size so we can get back here with no interruptions.”
Cassidy began to walk toward him with desire in her eyes when the doorbell rang. “Dammit!” Warrick cursed. “Just ignore them.”
Cassidy laughed. “Don’t worry, we have all afternoon and night. Trust me, I have plans for you, Warrick. Can you get the door?”
With one last look at a half-naked Cassidy, Warrick turned and went to answer the door. He might have yanked it open a little harder than he had meant to, but the petite brunette in a pantsuit didn’t seem to care. She simply cocked her head at him. “Well, you’re no Ahmed but I can see why Cassidy would want you.” Then she just walked right by him and into the living room.
He was about to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing when Cassidy came out with a smile on her face. “Hey, Blythe. Thanks for agreeing to a little workout today on such short notice.”
“No problem. I have some clothes in the car and Veronica got pulled into a meeting. Probably about Mr. I-Think-I’m-Better-Than-Ahmed over there.”
“Maybe I am better than Ahmed,” Warrick said, not really caring if he was or wasn’t, but now it was a matter of pride.
Blythe turned to look him over. “Ahmed wouldn’t need help. Ahmed would have already taken out every leader of this conspiracy with a spoon just to rub it in Miles’s face, while wearing a baby sling, looking like the GILF Henry wished he was.”
“Hey now,” Cassidy said, jumping in to defend him. “Warrick is really good too. He did help out Kale and Delaney and that shouldn’t be forgotten because he said one dumb thing.”
Warrick threw up his hands. “Am I seriously going to have to fight a grandpa to earn respect around here?”
“Honey, let’s just say, you come out of the Davies family dinner on Saturday night without dying and you’ll have earned our respect. I still have money on the family, even if you do look like a Viking.” Blythe turned back to Cassidy. “Before we head over to the gym, I have a huge favor to ask you.”
Warrick glanced in the mirror. Did he really look like a Viking? Well, maybe he did with his build, sharp features, and slightly longish blond hair.
“Sure, what is it?” Cassidy asked.
“It’s a secret. No bets being placed or anything, got it?”
“Of course, what’s up?”
Blythe glanced around as if someone might be eavesdropping. “I’m going to propose to Veronica on Friday.”
Warrick tried to hide his surprise, but luckily Blythe wasn’t paying him any attention. Cassidy though, pulled it off like a pro. She just squealed and hugged Blythe while congratulating her. “I have the ring and everything. I just need the size. She has so many rings, but they’re worn on all different fingers and I don’t have a size for that finger. She wears one on her right hand, but it was her grandmother's and she never takes it off. I need the size, like today, to have the ring ready for Friday.”
“Yes, I’ll think of something and get it to you. Now, how are you going to propose?” Cassidy asked.
Blythe told her about a place that was different from where Veronica had mentioned. That was going to be interesting for them to figure out. “But, I don’t know how to get her there,” Blythe finished saying.
“I know!” Cassidy’s eyes went big as if she just had the greatest idea ever. “Tell her you all are going to the café, then have car trouble, and I got the rest covered.”
Blythe looked simultaneously relieved and excited. “That’s perfect. Now, let me thank you by beating the crap out of you.”
“As if you could.”
“Yeah, as in the same way Warrick could beat the crap out of Ahmed.”
“Seriously?” Warrick asked, following the women out of the house.