Chapter 5 #2
“My Jeep is a piece of crap.”
“You need a new ride, querida .”
She snorted. “Once I pay off my other ride. The one with rotors. Which will be when I’m ready to retire.”
He laughed.
“We can’t all drive sexy, red Porsches like some people,” she said.
“Hey, leave my Porsche out of it. Why don’t you get a Lyft or an Uber?”
“I’ll try one more time. Maybe the gods will smile on me. You leaving for home now?”
“Soon. Vander is a workaholic.”
“I heard that.” Vander’s faint voice in the background.
“You’re only just working that out now?” Maggie said. “He needs a woman.”
“I’m not sure any are brave enough to take him on.” Ace laughed.
Maggie felt that laugh low in her belly. He had such a sexy laugh.
No, you aren’t allowed to notice his sexy laugh.
“Okay, see if your Jeep starts,” he said. “Then get your ass to my place.”
“Bossy.”
“I seem to recall you liking when I got bossy with you in my bed.” Ace’s voice dropped to a low murmur.
She had an instant, vivid memory of him pinning her arms to the bed, thrusting inside her. Her panties were damp in a second.
“ Ace .” She fumbled the phone and it fell out the open car door. “Now I’ve dropped my phone.” She climbed out to grab it. “If my phone’s cracked, I’m going to—”
Everything exploded with a massive boom.
* * *
Ace’s body locked tight, his hands clenching on the phone so hard it cracked.
That was an explosion .
“Maggie! Maggie!” he yelled.
No response. The line had gone dead.
Vander sprinted through the doorway. “What’s going on?”
Ace felt a ball of horrible dread in his gut. His mouth was bone dry.
Pull it together, Oliveira.
“I was talking to Maggie. Her Jeep wouldn’t start. Fuck .”
“What?” Vander barked.
“There was an explosion. The call went dead.” He met Vander’s dark-blue gaze. “Vander, fuck.”
Vander’s dark-blue eyes narrowed, and his lean face took on a hard edge. “Let’s go. I’ll drive. She at home?”
Ace nodded, and grabbed his phone and tablet.
They raced through the Norcross Security office.
Vander had bought a warehouse in South Beach and gutted it.
His apartment was on the top level, and the middle level housed the open-plan, industrial-style offices with lots of steel, concrete, and wood.
The bottom level was parking for the fleet of Norcross vehicles, the gym they all used, and several holding rooms.
They sprinted down the stairs. There was a row of black BMW X6 SUVs.
Vander leaped into the closest one. Ace circled the hood and jumped in the passenger seat.
Fuck. Maggie, please be okay.
He clipped his belt in, then hunched forward. Vander tore out of the parking garage and onto the street.
“That new drone of hers went crazy yesterday. It aimed straight for her. Shit . I knew something was off.” He should’ve trusted his gut.
“You think someone’s targeting her?” Vander glanced over, before looking back at the road.
“I don’t know.”
“Check the police scanner.”
Ace grabbed his tablet, swiped and tapped. He pulled up the police audio feed. His gut dropped away. “Reports of an explosion in the Marina District.” He slammed his fist into the dash.
“Hold it together, Ace.”
“Vander… She’s pregnant.”
Vander cursed. “Maggie? Maggie is having a baby?”
Ace nodded.
“And who the fuck is the asshole who knocked her up?” Vander growled.
Ace swallowed. “That asshole would be me.”
Vander’s knuckles turned white on the wheel. “You and I are gonna have a fucking conversation, Oliveira.”
“I just found out. We’re…working things out.”
Vander nodded. “That’s why you were so edgy to get back while you were in New York and New Orleans.”
Ace looked out the window. “Yeah. I didn’t know she was pregnant, but she was avoiding me. I wanted to talk to her.”
Staring at the blur of the city, he did something he hadn’t done in a long time, and prayed.
The SUV screamed onto Maggie’s street. Police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck were already on-scene.
Ace leaped out of the vehicle before Vander even stopped, and ran down the street.
Then he saw the black mass of the Jeep. Firefighters were pouring water on it to douse the flames.
Bile filled his mouth. No .
He stumbled to a stop in the middle of the street and felt like he was being torn open. “Maggie, no.” Emotion swelled in his chest, threatening to knock him down.
A hand clamped on his shoulder. Vander moved close beside him, his boss’ gaze on the burning vehicle, his face terrible.
A man in a suit spotted them. He ducked under the police barricade and headed their way.
Detective Hunter “Hunt” Morgan. The former Delta Force soldier was tight with the Norcross crew, even when he bitched about cleaning up after them.
His brown hair was cut short, and he kept his body as fit as when he’d been in the military.
He had a gun strapped to his hip, and a badge clipped to his belt.
“Figured you guys would show up.” Hunt’s gaze sharpened on them. “Fuck, guys.” He pointed.
Blindly, Ace turned his head.
And spotted Maggie sitting on the curb, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her face lined with soot. A paramedic was hovering over her.
Air rushed back into Ace’s lungs. He blindly tossed his tablet in Vander’s direction, and broke into a sprint.
Fuck . He couldn’t breathe. She was alive.
“Maggie!”
Her head jerked up. Her face was so pale.
“Ace!” She leaped up.
He swept her into his arms. “Jesus.” He buried his face in her hair.
She was shaking. “The car exploded, Ace. I—” Her voice cracked.
He held her tighter and breathed her in. She smelled like smoke, but under that was the vanilla scent that was all Maggie.
“Maggie,” Vander said.
She looked up at Vander. “Hi.”
“You all right?”
Ace reluctantly released her so Vander could give her a hug.
“Yeah,” she replied, a tremble in her voice.
“You’re really okay.” Ace gently pressed his palm to her belly. Warmth filled her cheeks and she pressed a hand over his, then darted a quick look at Vander.
“I told him,” Ace said.
“Oh. Yes, we’re okay.”
“She’s damn lucky.” A slim, male paramedic nodded at them. “She got out of the vehicle to get her dropped phone, and the explosion blew right past her.”
“The blast knocked me onto the road.” She shuddered.
Ace pulled her against his chest. “She’s pregnant.”
The paramedic nodded. “She told me. Not far along, and she didn’t get a blow to the stomach, so everything should be fine. You feel unwell, or have any bleeding, you get checked out right away.”
“Thank you.” She burrowed against Ace.
He held her tighter, and met Vander’s gaze over her head. His boss nodded and strode over to Hunt.
Ace wanted to know what the hell had happened. Two “accidents” in two days was tripping every one of his instincts.
He led Maggie back to the curb. He sat, then pulled her into his lap. He ran his hands over her arms. He couldn’t stop touching her. He needed to keep reassuring himself that she was okay.
“God, I should’ve replaced the Jeep ages ago,” she said. “It’s old, but it’s always been reliable.”
Ace bit his tongue. He didn’t want to worry her before he had more intel. Vander would find out what the hell had happened. Right now, Ace’s priority was Maggie.
He tipped her face up. She had soot streaked on her cheeks and a small scrape on her jaw. Her pretty white shirt was smeared with dirt.
He let his gaze trace her face. So damn beautiful. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.
She let out a little sigh. “Stop.”
His gut clenched. She was determined to push him away and keep a wall between them.
Her hands clenched on his shirt. “I can’t do gentle right now. I want to kiss you so much.”
Damn . His cock swelled. He tugged her tighter. “I’ll save it for later.”
Her fingers flexed on him. Then Vander appeared, his face grim.
Ace’s muscles tightened.
“I spoke to Hunt,” Vander said.
“And?” Ace prompted.
“It was a car bomb.”
Maggie’s head jerked up and she sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”
“There was a bomb in your car, Maggie,” Vander said.
Ace sucked in a breath. “Someone’s trying to kill you.”
“That’s insane ,” she breathed, fear in her voice.
He tightened his hold on her. No way he’d let anyone get to her. Whoever this fucker was, they’d have to go through him.