40. Rhett
Inever thought I’d see myself on TV, and it’s weird as fuck.
“My kidnapper,” Ana muses, circling her arms around me from behind as I stand with arms crossed, glaring at the news report in the Den.
“You shouldn’t say that with pride,” I say, but I smile.
We’re headlining across news outlets, and it’s pretty fucking bad. A problem I can’t even focus any effort on right now, when we’re close to taking down Alistair.
“You have a fan club online,” Rix says. I turn to him, still wrapped in Ana’s arms. He’s sitting by his desk, and so is Adam, both of them scrolling their phones.
Adam smirks at his. “Lexi_cat92 tweeted, ‘He could tie me up and stomp on my back and I’d thank him.’”
Rix reads, “thatintrovertedkate tweeted, ‘Rhett Kaiser is the type of psycho boyfriend we all dream of really.’”
“Always the quiet ones,” Ana says in amusement. She pushes up on her toes so her lips hover over the hollow spot of my ear. “She’s not wrong.”
I squeeze her waist, and she giggles. “Enough of that,” I tell them.
I didn’t expect the president to blast this publicly when he’s been trying to keep a cap on Ana’s behavior. I’m now the con-artist boyfriend from hell who faked his death just to kidnap Ana later. It’s an outlandish stretch, but the world is going crazy for the story.
Despite how much shit we’re in, Ana has been in a particularly light and playful mood, as if nothing exists but us. I’m concerned, but I don’t want to burst her bubble just yet when she’s smiling more than I’ve seen her do since I got her back.
“Are you okay? Really okay?” I ask her, lowering my voice and leaning into her ear.
Her grin up at me stops time. “Yes. Really yes.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to fix this particular mess.”
“One mess at a time. I’m happy, Rhett. I won’t let it be delusional. I feel surrounded by family right here,” she says, glancing around at everyone at work, laughing and chatting together because it’s how we survive the pain. “More than I think I have before. And at home with you no matter where we stay, but I hope we can keep the warehouse apartment. It might be my favorite.”
She’s so resilient and bright, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop finding her remarkable. I capture her mouth in one long, deep kiss.
“You’re always home with me, baby.”
“I know.”
“I have something,” a woman calls from across the Den.
It grabs all our attention and I’m moving on instinct, knowing the station she’s at is tracking new trafficking set ups.
Scanning the monitor, dread and rage pools in my stomach.
“Forthson is targeting the summer carnival?” Rix concludes as I do.
The setup is obvious as we’ve been tracking some of his men, anticipating they were getting ready for something. With the loss he sustained from those we saved last summer from his gala, he’ll been needing to compensate and the carnival is exactly the place for many opportunities to lure women and children away.
“We have to stop him,” Ana says. My arm curves around her, so glad she’s right with me with the thought of who could be already taken by Forthson and what targets they’ll gain tonight. The carnival has been here for two days already.
“You think you’re ready for your first mission, Red?” Rix says.
“No way in hell,” I growl.
“I want to help,” she protests. Her frown is adorable, but everything in me is objecting to her want to put herself in the line of danger for this.
“I only just got you back.” I try not to sound pitiful but what can I say, this woman puts me on my knees.
“You’ll be close by and the rest of Xoid will have eyes on us. They’re looking for vulnerable young women and I’m perfect prey to trap and end their sick trafficking ring at this carnival.” She pulls me by my jacket. “I’m in this. I’m with you. And I’m not afraid.”
I am. I’m absolutely terrified but at the same time my pride quells some of it.
“We’re front-page news, baby. We can’t risk being seen out there,” I say apprehensively, but she’s so excited I know I’ll risk anything to keep her like that even for one night.
“That makes it all the more thrilling,” she says daringly.
Before I can try to argue how terrible of an idea it is, Rix has the whole room buzzing to go. Though we’ll be on a job, he’s brought a light to the dark ongoings with chat about what rides and games they’ll play to enjoy the night after we succeed.
An hour later, I’m seriously regretting this decision.
It was Ana’s brilliant idea to wear face paint in an attempt to disguise ourselves since there’ll be plenty of it at the fair. So here we are, with everyone in the Den bringing the most color this place has ever seen.
Ana can hardly stop giggling between her paint strokes, and I’m beginning to concern for what she’s drawing on my face. Coraline has painted big, impressive butterfly wings over each of Ana’s eyes in pinks and reds. Her hair is half pulled up in twin buns, braided at the fronts, with thick glitter down her part. She looks fucking adorable.
“No dicks on my face,” Rix warns Adam from behind us.
“I’m debating it since you won’t let me see what you did to my face,” Adam grumbles.
“I didn’t want to influence your idea of vengeance.”
“All done!” Ana exclaims, pulling back with a bright, giddy grin.
“I don’t think I want to look,” I say.
“Don’t be a killjoy.” Ana grabs the hand mirror, and I brace for the worst.
It’s not bad. I might actually admit it’s kind of cool. She’s painted a skull-like feature on the lower half of my face.
Ana grabs a black baseball cap and slips it onto my head as she straddles me in the seat. I grip her ass.
“You looked so sexy in the face covering the other night when you rescued me,” she purrs.
My cock hardens, and I want to grind her pussy on me with it being right there in her cute little denim shorts.
“I can’t kiss you right now, can I?” I groan.
“Absolutely not. We can mix red and black later, on the way home.”
“Maybe I don’t want to go anymore,” I murmur huskily, leaning for her neck.
Ana laughs, cringing away so I don’t smudge my black paint against her skin.
“I’m so looking forward to leaving a visible trace everywhere my mouth plans to devour you later.”
Ana pushes her hips froward subconsciously, and my hands tighten on her perfect round ass.
“Kids in the room,” Rix calls over to us. There’s no one under the age of twenty here.
I don’t even have it in me to scowl when I see the paint job Adam is finishing off, and the light amusement that rises in me feels so forgotten. When Ana tosses a look over her shoulder she bursts into laughter, still in my lap, and I join in too.
“What have you done, fucker?” Rix’s face falls in horror. He pushes Adam away and storms over to a mirror hanging on the wall. Ana passes her hand mirror to Adam.
When they realize what they’ve done, they turn to each other with flat looks.
“A pair of clowns seems fitting,” Ana giggles.
“So unoriginal,” Rix grumbles to Adam.
“You thought of the same thing,” he snipes back.
“Did you catch a look in the monitor reflection before you did mine?” Rix accuses.
“No! I figured it fit considering the circus I’ve had to endure with you.”
Rix fights a smile. I don’t know what’s between them. I don’t plan to.
“All right, let’s go. Should be in full swing and busy enough for us to get lost in the crowds,” Rix says.