Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE
LEENA
FOUR MONTHS LATER
I t’s four forty-five in the evening and the alarm on my phone chimes, letting me know that it’s time for me to drag my ass out of this van and go inside. For the first time, I’m actually participating in this op, not just running things behind the scenes; which means I had to fix my hair, my makeup and I even put on a dress. Sure, my SIG is loaded and strapped to my thigh, hidden under folds of fabric… but still, I’m dressed up.
And I’m having a hard time leaving.
“Are you sure all the live feeds are pulled up? And what about the comms, are they set to the right channels?” I ask, frantically looking over the shoulder of our tech, Ryan. Our intern, Ava, is smiling up at me from the seat next to him.
“Leena.” Ryan glares up at me over the top of his glasses.
“Okay, okay. You’re right. It’ll be fine,” I say, and I’m not sure who I’m convincing. Ryan knows what he’s doing, the guys and I wouldn’t have hired him if he didn’t.
And even though it’s Ava’s first official op in the field, Ryan and I spent the last several weeks training her. I have no doubt she’ll do a great job.
Sebastian, Luke and I were planning on hiring someone with more experience, but after reviewing several dozen applications, the girl impressed the hell out of us. Despite having no experience, she’s smart, organized and eager to learn. Everyone deserves a shot to do something they’re passionate about, so we felt good about giving her a chance as an intern.
“Ava and I’ve got this. And you know how to run surveillance, you’ll do fine. Just stay alert, report back and pretend like you’re having fun. We’ll handle the rest. You’ve put together a good team here,” he says, pushing his glasses back up his nose to smile up at me.
I smile back.
Ryan Chen was one of the first people that we hired when I became co-owner of the company and we decided to expand. His background in not only tech and surveillance, but also in computer hacking and private investigative work, meant he was the best for the job. He’s thirty-four, the same age as Sebastian and Luke, so he has plenty of experience. Pair that with the fact that the guys worked with him on the police force and they already trust him, made him an easy hire. He’s as nerdy as they come, smart as hell, and as sweet as can be. I’ve truly enjoyed working with him over the past few months and would consider him one of my closest friends.
I take a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m just… this feels… strange,” I say, fidgeting with my necklace.
My necklace. I hold the three delicate rose gold hoops lovingly between my fingers. I’m still not sure if Luke realized the sentiment behind this particular gift when he gave it to me that day we fled the safehouse. Hell, they hardly knew me back then, but I like to think that he did. There’s no doubting what it means to me now.
What it means to us .
I never take it off. Even when we’re apart, it’s a constant reminder of the unspoken promise we made to one another. Of our love for each other. Never could I have imagined falling in love this hard, this quickly.
Let alone with two men.
It hasn’t even been six months since that day in the warehouse when we admitted to each other that what we had was more than just sex, but it already feels like we’re a family. My thoughts begin to wander to the life we have together. All the little moments, the nights we spend wrapped up in each other’s bodies instead of sleeping. I’m in a constant daze from how much I can love them.
How much they love and care about me.
“He’s going to murder you. You know that, right?” Ryan says, breaking me from my reverie.
“Huh?” I ask, trying to focus on the question.
“Seb hasn’t seen that dress yet, has he?” He gestures to my whole ensemble.
“No, neither of them have seen the dress.” I quirk a smile.
“Yeah, well, don’t come crying to me when this doesn’t go over well.” He raises his eyebrows pointedly before turning back to the screens.
Ava looks amused, and so am I.
Sebastian is going to be pissed.
As much as my men enjoy seeing me naked, they don’t share. Well… except with each other. I know that the sight of me in a skin-tight silk dress, with no back and a neckline that goes clear down to my navel, in a room full of people is definitely not going to go over well with either of them. I’ll be surprised if Sebastian doesn’t murder half the room tonight.
I smile at that.
This is going to amuse the hell out of me.
What’s a party without a drop-dead gorgeous dress, sexy high heels and the potential to piss off the people you love?
—
“That’s quite the dress, boss lady,” Colton says discreetly when I step through the large double doors. I make my way toward him and into the grand entryway where our team set up the security checkpoint that all guests must go through before they’re allowed into the party.
I try not to stare, but I can’t help but take in the sight of my best friend in that suit. I’m sure it cost way more than necessary for this particular occasion, and it’s clearly been tailored to fit around his massive biceps. His wavy brown hair is pulled back in a less messy man-bun than usual, and his green eyes practically sparkle when he looks at me. But it’s his ridiculous smirk that has me involuntarily chuckling.
“You better watch where you’re putting those eyes, asshole, ” I say, giving him an amused, yet reprimanding look as I hand him my clutch along with my photo ID. He pretends to look at it, then hands it back to me, switching off the metal detector nearly imperceptibly before I step through. We need anyone standing around to assume I’m just another guest at this party.
“I’d much rather watch all the places I put my hands,” he says, his gaze blatantly trailing over me. “But unfortunately, I don’t have a death wish. I also like these hands and my dick attached to my body, so I guess we’re at an impasse,” he breathes out his displeasure and I can’t help but smile. I shake my head, looking up at him.
“You’re an HR nightmare. You know that, right?”
“Whatever gets me in your dreams, boss lady.” He winks.
“Thank you, Fisher,” I say, drawing out his last name to point out that we’re working. I start walking away, but before I can, he gently grabs my arm, leaning in closer than my friend and employee probably should.
“Sure thing, Hart. Enjoy the party,” he whispers before straightening and tapping his earpiece. “Mama Bird has landed. I repeat. Mama Bird has landed. Over.”
“Shut the fuck up, Fisher,” I hear Sebastian respond. As gruff as he sounds, I know him well enough to hear the amusement hidden in his tone.
Colton Fisher is the only person on the planet who can get away with this type of bullshit. I’m not sure where the guys first met him, but I know they all grew up in the same city where we now live and have known each other for years.
I guess Colton was some rich kid who breezed his way through college, then swore to never have a real job, just to spite his father. A decision whose motivation I am well acquainted with. But Colton isn’t very good at not working. The entrepreneur has a resume a mile long of private work ranging anywhere from bodyguard to search and rescue. Apparently, he even signed on to help out the police during investigations because he “has all the fun toys,” according to Sebastian. He then proceeded to dive into the specs of the weapons, cars and security equipment Colton owns, half of which I’d never heard of. But I’m learning, because living with two men will do that, unfortunately.
As inappropriate and obnoxious as Colton can be, I have nothing but respect for him. When his abusive, piece-of-shit father died, leaving him an orphan and an only child, he inherited more money than he knew what to do with. Instead of just retiring on a beach somewhere or turning into some sort of high-society asshole, Colton just kept doing what he was doing, and eventually ended up working for us. Not because he needs the money, though we do pay him generously, but I think it gives him something to do. The guys really like having him around and, I suppose, I do too.
Okay, I know I do.
And I know for a fact my guys really like getting to use his fun toys. They always seem to have one weapon or another spread out across our coffee table back at home. I even heard Colton talking about a helicopter at some point. But I’ll believe that when I see it. The man’s ability to joke around might just exceed his wealth.
When I’m standing just outside the ballroom, I take a breath and smooth out my dress, feeling my weapon hidden beneath the material.
It’s still strange that I can afford to spend this kind of money on a dress. But since Ryan and I are usually the ones running things from the van, looking like a couple of hot messes in sweatpants and T-shirts, I decided to splurge for this evening.
Even though I studied my ass off getting my Master’s degree in business, I was worried the guys only offered me this opportunity in order to keep me out of another dead-end coffee shop job. But once I actually started, I found that I’m great at this.
I love handling the paperwork with Luke and helping to coordinate the operations with him and Sebastian. The guys have taught me everything about the security systems we use and they’ve been showing me the ropes on investigative work as well. I’m thrilled to be learning everything I can from them, and get excited whenever I start to get a handle on something new. I didn’t realize how much I’ve learned until I started training Ava.
I never pictured myself running an entire company, but then again, I never really pushed myself. In fact, more often than not, I underperformed so as not to draw attention to myself or wind up in a position that would miss me when I inevitably had to leave it. Being the daughter of the man running the King of Hearts, the most notorious gang in the city we left, meant I had to keep a low profile. If I didn’t, then I usually found myself either on the run, kidnapped or shot.
Dealer’s choice.
Now that all of that is over, for the first time in my life, I truly enjoy my job. Being a relatively new and growing business, I get to help build it from the ground up. Not only that, I get to run it with my two favorite people in the world.
And tonight, I’m determined to prove myself in this new role I’ll be playing.
With large event security jobs, it’s part of our services to offer several undercover agents on top of the very obvious armed guards standing at the exits. Having eyes and ears that are discreet has proven to offer us additional insight, and therefore greater security, in the past. Which means that tonight, I will be working undercover alongside the guys.
We’ve done high-profile jobs like this before, and we’ve secured large venues, but this particular fundraising event is definitely the largest op we’ve run. Our team has worked tirelessly for the past several months preparing, and we’ve been in town since last week setting it up.
This party in particular will host not only a handful of distinguished members of society, but several representatives of the local government as well. Many of which came with their own bodyguards, but it’s our company that’s running the show. We vetted and are working with a few other security teams, some private contractors we’ve worked with before and local law enforcement. I have to admit, we need the help. This is a large building with a lot of people, so we divided up the extra hands into three other security teams on top of our own.
Eventually, the guys and I would love to hire enough personnel so that we can have two or more teams on our payroll permanently. That way, we can work multiple jobs at a time, handle large events on our own, and maybe Sebastian, Luke and I could take a vacation sometime. It seems all we’ve done since we moved is work… well, among other things.
And now I’m blushing. Great.
I step into the ballroom and take the glass of champagne that is offered to me on a fancy tray by a pretty blonde in a black dress. I look around the room, my eyes immediately finding my team, team one, along with members from teams two and three spaced out around the room, all standing precisely where they were instructed. Team four is handling the outside, and Ryan and Ava are monitoring every inch of this place from the live feeds.
Jace is standing at the far end of the room, guarding one of the outer doors. He’s only twenty-four years old and goofy as all hell, but you would never know that by the way he carries himself, or by how shy he is around strangers. Even though he’s not quite as bulky as my guys, he’s definitely fit and takes his job seriously. Jace has also been with us since the very beginning. He already knew the guys, is friends with Colton, and has been an incredible asset to the team.
Then my eyes find their way to the last two members of my team. The men who walked into my coffee shop nearly a year and a half ago and turned my whole world upside down.
And fuck me. I saw their suits hanging in our hotel room, but I hadn’t seen them on.
Not until now.
God, they’re fucking beautiful.
Sebastian and Luke are standing away from each other, each having found their way into separate conversations. Neither of them have noticed me yet, and so I watch them for a moment, a little jealous at how comfortable they both seem. It’s so different from the way I’m used to seeing them. They’re more relaxed than when they’re positioned as bodyguards or security, and more… suave than when we’re alone.
It’s a sight to see. And holy shit, I want to keep looking at it.
I watch as Luke laughs and smiles at something an older lady just said, his blond hair swaying with the motion. The woman beams at him, resting her hand on his flexed arm, her bracelets jingling as she chuckles, eating up whatever it is they’re talking about. The other women standing around are equally impressed. Hell, they’re practically hanging all over him. I kind of love watching his charming side come out at parties, and Sebastian was right. He really is a ladies’ man. It makes me a little proud, knowing with absolute certainty that the sexy-as-fuck man they’re all swooning over is coming home with me tonight.
And every night.
I might even be a little jealous if I didn’t know that for certain. But I do. I know every chiseled line of the body hidden beneath that dress shirt in a way they never will. I know every tattoo.
I watch his blue eyes sparkle in the light from the chandelier, how that dimple in his cheek appears when he smiles or laughs. He’s sex in a suit.
It makes me want to rip it off him, and by the blushes of the women around him, so do they.
Then my eyes trail over to Sebastian. He’s not quite a ladies’ man, not like Luke. In fact, his brawn makes him a little intimidating. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t staring at him with lust-filled glances. Because he looks fucking drop-dead gorgeous in that tailored suit.
He’s found himself what looks like a glass of bourbon, and is standing around with a group of men who are brandishing the same beverage. He shaved his stubble for tonight, and his brown hair has grown out just enough that he actually had to fix it for this evening. Well, Luke fixed it, and I can’t decide what I enjoy more. This polished version of my brute of a man, or the sleepy, disheveled Sebastian that Luke and I get in the mornings. My eyes trail down to how his suit jacket does nothing to hide the massive arms beneath. I can’t help but daydream a little about the abs, chest and back hidden under there, all covered in tattoos. Those strong arms that can toss me around our bed as if I weigh nothing. Arms that have no trouble pinning me down while Luke… breaks me from my daydream.
He’s staring at me from across the room, taking in my outfit as he slowly makes his way through the crowd and over to Sebastian, leaving a very disappointed group of women staring after him.
He places a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, but our eyes stay locked for what feels like minutes. His mouth twitches in the most adorable way, trying to hold back his smile. Trying to hide his unsteady breathing. In those eyes, I feel nothing less than… loved. I always do. It’s plastered all over his face, and I feel myself blush as if this were the first time we’ve seen each other in ages. And it’s only been a few hours.
He likes the dress. I’m feeling a little breathless.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” I hear Sebastian’s voice in my ear and my eyes snap to his. The deep blue is striking, even from here. And he looks pissed.
It’s fucking hilarious.
“It’s just a dress,” I say into my comm piece, before doing a slow little turn with my drink so that he can appreciate the open back.
“Fuck, sweetheart. We’re going to have a conversation about this when we get home. A very long, very thorough conversation,” he growls out through clenched teeth. His tone immediately hits me in places it shouldn’t when we’re in public. I’m trying desperately to hold back my arousal for this man, mostly due to the fact that I’m not wearing any underwear. The dress may hide my weapon, but it didn’t hide my thong line. So, off it went.
“Hey lovebirds, you’re not the only ones on this channel. Don’t make me throw up all over the shrimp cocktail,” I hear Colton say and quickly find him across the room, leaning casually against the ballroom doorway, that teasing grin plastered all over his face.
The comm line crackles again, and I hear Jace chime in, “Hey Fisher, if that made you want to throw up, then how was it that just last week you managed to–”
“Hey, hey, hey. Open line, remember? And if I recall, you were there for that too,” Colton stares pointedly at the younger man, shutting him up immediately. Everyone knows those two frequent some club back at home. I can only imagine what they must get up to.
Actually, scratch that. I don’t think I want to imagine it.
“Oh, what happened, Fisher? You finally lose your virginity?” Luke teases.
“Not possible, someone would have to put up with his chattering long enough for that to happen,” Sebastian snarks out, chuckling into his drink.
“Laugh it up, old man. You’ll go gray before I do, in all the places that matter,” Colton retorts, casually striding through the room, doing his job while they’re having this ridiculous conversation. Colton is only three years younger than my guys, but for some reason, this always finds its way into the conversation.
“You keep that man-bun so it’s easier for someone to grab from behind? Or do you just like spending more time alone in the shower to wash it?” Jace contributes, his eyes scanning the room and exits.
“I don’t know, which one do you want to help me with tonight so I can decide?” Colton quips back.
My god.
I’ve often thought that we should probably work on our professionalism, but with this group? These aren’t just our employees, not anymore. After all the jobs we’ve done together, all the stakeouts, the trips across the country staying in places ranging anywhere from roach motels to presidential suites, they’re more than that.
They feel more like an extended family. One I never had as a kid. I love every second of it and every single one of them.
We’ve gotten to know the other teams as well, either from working with them this past week, or on ops we’ve done together in the past. I take a sip of champagne to hide my chuckle, looking around at the lot of them. They’re used to our bullshit, and most of them are either laughing into their jacket sleeves, rolling their eyes, or trying their best to be stoically professional.
Then I think about poor, twenty-two year old Ava Jones, listening to all this from the van. She’s probably wondering what in the fuck she’s gotten herself into.
Welcome to my life. I shake my head as the guys continue their constant slew of inappropriate, testosterone-fueled insults.
We generally behave better back in the office, but there’s just something about being in the field that makes everyone… hyper.
Ava has been pretty quiet since she started working with us, most likely trying her best to be professional and studious at her new job. But tonight, the op is over. Which means it’s Bar Night. I’m sure one evening out with all the guys will break her out of that shell and destroy any lingering insecurities. If there’s anything these men are good at, it’s being so absurd that it can make anyone feel welcome. Let’s just hope they don’t scare her off.
It’s nice to finally have another woman around.
“Sorry to break up whatever the heck this was,” Ryan says, his voice breaking through the chaos going on in all our comms. “But we’ve got someone in the ballroom who’s not on the guestlist.”