Chapter 11
“Jesus, you guys just roll right here from sleeping on the plane?” Sebastian watched his five friends stroll into his office, luggage in hand. It had been four days since Emma was attacked, and although new security had been installed at both the bakery and her apartment, Seb felt relief wash over him now that his team was there.
“Would you have rather waited for us to shower and settle in before hightailing it over here to protect your girlfriend?” Nash Caldwell laughed as Sebastian glared at him.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Oh? Is that why someone at that rinky-dink airport we flew into was gossiping about the billionaire who bid fifty-thousand dollars to take her on a date? I don’t know, Cap. If I spent that kind of money to woo a woman, I’d definitely classify her as my girlfriend.” Hawk Morgan was a traditionally handsome man. He had this arrogant personality that was offset by his southern charm, and Seb normally found him hilarious, but after that comment, he was fully contemplating messing up Hawk’s pretty face.
“If you would have let me finish what I was saying, you would have heard me say yet. She isn’t my girlfriend, yet.”
“Alright, enough ribbing, guys. Cap needs our help to protect his girl, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Thanks, Doc. Good to see at least one of my buddies hasn’t lost their mind.” Stone Lawson had been the medic on their SEAL team, saving their asses more than once when a mission went sideways.
“So, are you going to fill us in on why we’re in Bumfuck, Texas to protect the woman you’re chasing after, or what?”
“Reaper, shut the fuck up. Sorry, Cap. Gunner didn’t get as much beauty rest on the flight out from D.C. as he needed.” Gage punched Gunner in the arm, earning him a scowl from the grumpy bastard.
“I just want the details so we can get down to business.” Gunner looked back at Seb. “Agent Wilson said he’d be calling later today to update you on what his team still needs from us.”
“Thanks, Reap. I know we’re tied up with his investigation but I also expect things here to be your top priority.” He looked each man in the eyes and waited for their acknowledgment. “You guys can leave your bags here, I’ll have my assistant, Natalie, take care of them while we talk things over in the conference room.”
* * *
Sebastian walked into the bakery an hour later with his five buddies trailing closely behind.
“Emma?” Worry laced his voice. He noticed a few patrons inside, but she was nowhere to be seen. A loud clang of metal had him jumping over the counter and running into the kitchen.
Emma stood with flour in her hair, a fine mist of the dust still hovering in the air around her.
“Everything okay?” he asked, searching the kitchen for any danger. She jumped at the sound of his voice, her hand flying over her heart as her eyes went wide.
“Jesus, Seb. What the hell are you doing back here?”
“I heard something crash. I thought you might be hurt.”
“Well, I’m not! I dropped the damn bowl on the bench because I’m so jumpy from the other night that I can barely concentrate any time I hear the bell jingle on the door out front.” She swept the hair out of her eyes and he watched her cheeks flush as she took in the guys all standing around him.
“Uh, are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“Of course?—”
“No wait! Go sit out front and give me a minute to get everything back here situated. No reason a bunch of ridiculously gorgeous men need to see me at my most frazzled.” She glared at Seb, surely daring him to comment. “I’ll be out to take your orders in a minute.”
Sebastian turned to the guys and smiled. Walking back out into the bakery, he sat down at the corner table and sighed. The two customers who were in the shop when they arrived had left, and now they were the only ones in the bakery. That was probably for the best.
“She’s gorgeous, Cap. No wonder you had us hurry out here for babysitting duty.”
“Shut up, Hawk,” he replied. “I am sorry I had to call you out here a few weeks early, but not because it was an inconvenience to you dickheads. Besides, I made a final decision about Montgomery Defense. I’m about a week away from closing on a location in Silver Springs, so you guys would be down here anyways.”
“Can we work on the name of the business, Cap? It’s a little Seb-centric, don’t you think?” Stone joked.
“No,” he replied coldly, and the guys all laughed.
“Alright, alright,” Stone held his hands up in surrender. “You are bankrolling this whole project, so I guess that’s fair. Now, you want to tell us what’s good here? I missed breakfast and I’m starving.”
* * *
“Why do you guys call Sebastian ‘Cap’?” The guys all laughed at her question, and she felt the heat rising in her face. She thought it was bad being around Seb and his wall of muscles, but sitting now in front of his five buddies, also all former SEALs, well…she felt like her heart might stop beating at any moment.
“He was our team leader. It fit,” Stone answered.
“Well, that, and he reminds us of Captain America.” Gunner jabbed at Seb’s ribs with his elbow and Emma laughed.
“I can see that.” She paused for a moment. “So, do you all have nicknames?”
“Of course,” Hawk stretched his arm out behind Emma and pointed to each of the guys. “Gage is Tracker because he can basically find any information we need. Maybe not always legally, but he’ll get it for us. Nash is Wings, which is a little on the nose since he’s had his pilot license for like a hundred years.”
“I’m not that old, asshole.” Nash grumbled, making Emma laugh. The man was one hundred percent certifiable as a gray fox, though Emma would guess he went gray earlier than most men.
“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but you are. Okay, let’s see, who else. Well, Stone is Doc, again on the nose with his nickname ‘cause he’s a trained medic and has sown each of us up more times than we’d like to count. Gunner is Reaper…” Emma’s eyes went wide at that nickname. “It’s okay, beautiful. He might be as mean as a mongoose on a Monday, but he’s one of the good guys, and a top sharp shooter. There wasn’t a target assigned to him that ever survived.”
“Wow.” Emma whispered. “And what about you?”
“Me? Well, I’m Phoenix.”
“Ah, because Hawk and Phoenix are both birds?” That got a chuckle from the guys.
“No, beautiful, it’s because even when I’ve been certain Death had me in his clutches, I’ve risen from the ashes of whatever shit show I’ve gotten myself into and survived.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed, and she dragged her bottom lip between her teeth.
“What about you? You got a nickname?” Hawk asked.
“Well, most people just call me Emma, or Em. But this guy,” Emma pointed to Seb. “He calls me Sprinkles.”
“Cap, I hate to break it to you, but that’s cliche as fuck,” Gage laughed.
“And besides,” Nash craned his head towards Emma’s display cases. “I don’t think I see a single sprinkle in this place.”
“That’s what I tried to tell him.”
“Like your nickname for me is any better?” His voice sent a shiver down her spine. It was teasing and yet possessive all at the same time. She didn’t dare look into his eyes, for fear of melting into a puddle in front of all his friends.
“Oh God, she’s got a nickname for you? I bet it’s hilarious. Come on, gorgeous. You’ve got to tell us.” Stone’s eyes were begging and she couldn’t resist.
“Suits,” she mumbled.
There was a beat of silence before everyone, including Emma herself, burst out in laughter.
“Wow, the two of you are real originals!”
“In my defense I was just trying to come up with something as silly as his nickname for me,” she laughed, before turning to Seb and placing her hand on his leg. “Although lately he’s probably earned a better nickname. Something like Lancelot or Charming.”
Sebastian’s smiled reached all the way to his eyes as he placed his hand over hers. Someone cleared their throat and a chorus of laughter interrupted their little moment.
Looking at Hawk, she noticed a tattoo on his forearm that was the same as ones she’d already noticed on Stone and Gunner. “Do you all have these tattoos?”
“Yep. All of us except Cap here. Just another reason he fits the squeaky clean Captain America image.”
“Why don’t you?” Emma turned and asked him.
“I don’t like needles,” he shrugged.
“There was this one time, I had to?—”
“Doc, if you value your front teeth, you’ll stop right there.”
Stone laughed. “Yeah, sure thing, Cap.” Turning to Emma he winked and said, “A story for later.”
Sebastian grumbled. “Besides, I don’t need something on my body to remember the brothers we lost. The memory of them is always in my damn head, anyway.”
Emma squeezed his leg. “So, are you all here just for a reunion of sorts? Seems silly to do it in Bell Ridge when Sebastian here could afford to bring you out to some really beautiful places.”
“These knuckleheads are the guys I’m starting Montgomery Defense with. We’ve been working together for years to secure high value targets and deliver them under the radar. While we wait for the property in Silver Springs to transfer over, they’re here for you, Emma.” Sebastian’s voice was calm, but the meaning behind his words was anything but. Her heart started racing with the possibilities of what that could mean.
Secure high value targets and deliver them under the radar. If they forced her to go back to her step-father, if they wanted to take her to him, that would lead Marco right to her. Maybe Marco had already promised them something, some money or valuable connection if they delivered her to him. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t survive.
Her brows burrowed into a scowl and her chair scraped back from the table as she rose to her legs. She held on to the table as her whole body shook.
“What does that mean?” Anger seared in her chest as she tried to calm her mind. “You saved me the other night just to decide to fly out these jacked former SEALs to turn me over to him? You all just sat here and sweet talked me to what? Lull me into a false sense of security before you deliver this high value target.” She jammed her finger into her chest.
“You know he’ll hurt me, Seb….” she swallowed a sob. The last thing she wanted to do was fall apart in front of these men. “Are you willing to do that to me?” Her nails were digging into her arms, but she couldn’t feel anything, despite her mind begging for the pain.
No. Don’t fall apart. Don’t be weak. Could she out run them? Her eyes darted to each of the men, trying to calculate just how far she could get if she ran for the duffle bag in her office.
Sebastian was on his feet, marching towards Emma while the other men around the table stared at her with a mixture of horror and grief plastered across their faces. She moved back from him until her back was against the counter.
“Emma?” His hands were on her arms, prying her fingers away from her skin, but she couldn’t register anything other than the rushing noise between her ears and the burning in her chest.
“Don’t touch me, Seb. Don’t fucking touch me.” Her lungs ached with each pull of air.
“You misunderstood me. They are here to make sure you are safe and nothing happens to you again until we can get everything figured out. So just breathe, Sprinkles. You need to breathe.” Seb pulled her into his chest and rubbed her back in circles, repeating those same words over, again and again, until she finally had control of her breathing.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. My team is here to protect you. They are my brothers in every way that matters, and I’d trust them with my life. I’m trusting them with yours, too. They will keep you safe.”
The safety of Sebastian’s arms and his reassuring words were too much for her. No matter how hard she bit on the inside of her cheek, she couldn’t stop the wave of relief that crashed over her. That wave broke the dam and tears poured from her eyes.
“Oh, shit.” Grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, Emma cried. She released the fear, anger, and anxiety she’d been holding on to since the attack. Her legs buckled, and Seb slowly moved with her to the floor. Her body lifted onto his lap and he held her there until all her tears were cried out.
“God, I hate crying,” she let out a soggy laugh.
“Everyone has their limits, and I think you got to yours.” He brushed a tear away from her cheek.
“Everything that happened the other night just sort of overtook me there.” She looked at the men surrounding her. “You all must think I’m a lunatic.”
“Oh hell, beautiful,” Hawk spoke gently. “No one here thinks anything like that. And we’re sure as hell not going to let anything like what happened the other night happen again.”
“They know?” She looked into Sebastian’s eyes.
“Some. I needed to fill them in on the basics when they got here this morning. I thought, if you were up for it, we could sit and go over everything.”