10
Seven Enemies
Ace
I’d already been diggin’ in her file to know more about the name highlightin’ bandit. To start watchin’ her. See what makes her tick, what she likes and what she doesn’t. Subtle ways for Gabe to get under her skin without effort. There wasn’t much, and with so little time, I couldn’t give him much more than a single sheet of paper and a scowl.
I figured I knew what was comin’. Another woman ready to suck up to a man they think can take care of them. They can’t help it. Money equals comfort to normal people and soul-suckin’ greed to others. The men around me have seen the negative side of it too much to see the difference. I simply don’t give a fuck.
I assumed she would be fawnin’ all over Gabe and makin’ Mikael contemplate throwin’ her out the window.
But the bland file didn’t prepare me for the shock of seein’ her. The carefully twisted red hair and wide velvety brown eyes. The sweet figure I could hold all night hidden behind a loose skirt suit. The high heels that had her wobbling as she shifted in discomfort. The nervous twist of her hands as she waited for Gabe’s attention.
The whole time, she couldn’t sit still. Lookin’ around as if the obvious wealth made her as uncomfortable as her shoes. No greed there. Just a look filled with surprising disappointment. Money did this woman wrong at some point.
Mikael looked just as stunned to see her as I was. It lasted a split second, but I saw. Then he was back to scowlin’ intimidation, and I was relaxin’ against the wall to pretend I was bored.
The progression from discomfort to irritation and then flat cut the bullshit sass was fascinatin’. And her complete lack of respect for Gabe’s passive manipulation was hilarious. He had no idea how to handle the Molotov cocktail he called upstairs himself.
Cade and Jake sure as hell did not mention this little firebomb bein’ in their friendly gym class antics. As a matter of fact, they haven’t talked about their forays into friendship with Shade’s crew for at least a month now. Is that how long they been hidin’ her from us?
Every harsh, unfiltered response she had for Gabe gave me fuckin’ chills. This is a woman who would chew up and spit out weaker men without hesitation or mercy. She could chew on me all day, and I wouldn’t mind it. Damn, her tongue is sharp as a razor.
Now all I need is to hear her bein’ sweet. That’s a challenge I want to ace with flyin’ colors. She’s a fuckin’ goddess that needs a few worshipers.
I couldn’t resist followin’ her and listenin’ to her muttered complaints about her shoes, stairs, and men. The stress was practically pourin’ out of her. I didn’t like it one bit. But she ain’t a woman you pick up and cuddle unless you want to get bit. She’s feral and needs a little affection to warm up first.
Every time she flagged a little promptin’ got her goin’ again. She ain’t the give-up type.
The dazed look on her face when I pampered her for just a split second almost broke my heart. There wasn’t any bitin’. She let me handle her as long as I was gentle with it. That’s all it took. A bit of care.
Whoever hurt her is fuckin’ dead.
Walkin’ away from her was hard but I comforted myself with the fact I would see her in the office again. I had to deal with whatever bullshit Cade and Jake put her through in the form of a torturous run up the stairs for those fuckers. Whatever they’ve been doin’ to her stops now.
Then she didn’t show.
I’m pissed. More than that, I’m practically frothin’ at the mouth pissed.
Where the fuck is my girl?
She didn’t show up. Ok. Fine. She’s showin’ Gabe that she won’t put up with his shit. I can get behind that, and watchin’ him try not to blow up in anger is nice to see. The bastard is too controlled all the time. His reactions to her are out of the ordinary, just like mine.
I want that for him. I want that for myself. For Mik. Someone who can shake our foundations with a look and some sass.
I lit into Jake and Cade, questionin’ them about what they know of her, which is basically nothin’. They didn’t take me seriously until Gabe got involved with Mikael backin’ him up. They both had less patience than I did and she’d only been late an hour by then.
The twerps are so closed-mouthed and defensive about it that I’m suspicious. From how she reacted to them, it ain’t a good sign. Goddamn, you’d think they were dick-dumb teens with the way they act sometimes.
They mention her friends that act like she’s scum, and that’s about it.
When Gabe sent me out to find her and drag her into work, I was happy to do it.
But the address on her paperwork leads to a fancy ass house. I can’t see her livin’ here. Especially when some yuppie piece of shit escorts a woman to her car with a kiss and a tight grip on her ass.
A man livin’ there, too. If this is the right address, he’s gonna disappear fast. I don’t give a fuck if he’s with someone else. I’m not havin’ him near my girl unless she tells me no.
I checked the tag on the second car and got more info.
Fucker’s name is Justin Blake. One of the names my girl’s been highlightin’.
Things are addin’ up now. Manda’s address is here, but he’s mouth fuckin’ some woman by her car.
Maybe she’s a jilted lover. Tryin’ to get one over on him with her knowledge? The thought makes my gut hurt. I don’t want to picture him touchin’ Manda. He’s dirty, and he doesn’t belong anywhere near her. I can tell it from a look.
I gotta dig more. I ain’t goin’ to Gabe with this until I can prove she’s not usin’ him for a little side revenge. He won’t take that well on his best day, and she’s left him in a piss-poor mood already.
Some of the comments Jake and Cade made about her friends had me diggin’ deeper with a bad feelin’ in my gut. They claimed her friends were flirty and ready to get some action. That smells like a single lady group to me. But Manda was baffled at my attention, almost embarrassed. That ain’t ready for action. My dick is gettin’ more reasons to be depressed by the minute. So I kept lookin’.
Amanda Jefferson is actually Amanda Blake . That piece of shit is her husband. I want to kill him slowly for it already. The woman he walked out with was not my Manda. It soothes some of the rage in me, but his death is gonna be agonizin’.
I waited until he left, broke into the house, and had a look around. A lot of artsy shit spread everywhere to cover up the stench of a cheatin’ fuck. A closet that had a fuck ton of fancy women’s clothes. Nothin’ like what Manda was wearin’ even though they’re all in her size. All pushed to the very front of the rack leaving a lot of hangers barren in the back. Some of them littered the floor, too. She was pissed when she took them down. Several pairs of shoes are missin’ from the little nook where they’re stored. My girl likes shoes with low heels and plenty of cushion. No wonder her feet were hurtin’ in those heels. Her ass looks amazin’ enough without them.
None of this looks good for her in Gabe’s eyes, though. I put off tellin’ him all day, ignorin’ all the phone calls to dig as deep as I can. I can’t keep puttin’ it off.
Gabe went cold as ice as soon as I told him about it all. We got info all right, but it all leads to more questions than answers. She’s a wild card.
She brought attention to some shady shit that got missed. Maybe some revenge against the fucker, which we all agree he likely deserves. If he’s connected to Fullerton and they’re aware we’ve been lookin’ at her, she might be a spy.
I shoot that shit down quick. She ain’t a spy. She wasn’t butterin’ Gabe up and bein’ sweet to get close. Or cuddlin’ up to Cade and Jake in class. It’s well-known that they’re close to Gabe. She doesn’t know them or even care about them, which seems to piss them off to no end. If anythin’ she was spooked to be up in Gabe’s office and then too pissed to give a damn what any of us thought.
Cade’s quick to point out his concern. Maybe she’s after money instead. Fuckin’ asshole. It’s his go-to when it comes to women. Whoever burned him did it good.
Sign two of guilt gets nixed when I casually mention all the fancy shit she left behind when she bailed on Blake. The woman Blake was with that mornin’ and Manda’s lack of flash when we saw her. She left him with barely anythin’, and it’s obvious she gives zero fucks about it.
She ain’t the guilty party in that scenario.
Jake agrees, pointin’ out that she’s always in old sweats when they’re in class. Baggy things that don’t show her body, unlike her friends. A sign of bein’ self-conscious and maybe broke as well.
Once Jake mentions it, Cade gets quiet and grumpy. Then he admits they’ve been givin’ her a hard time to get her out of the class. Somethin’ about her friends tryin’ to prove to her she’s not hot enough for a man to want her. Gettin’ her away from them and workin’ out without worryin’ about her health.
Neither motive makes my temper cool.
They poked her where she was hurtin’ and didn’t let up. No wonder she barely looked at them.
Mikael had to haul me off Cade before I could beat the shit out of him. I do like seein’ his new black eye, though. I hope Manda approves.
Jake watched it happen without a change in his smile. He seemed to relish the beatdown as if Cade did him wrong with the bullying. Yet, he participated. Who knows what goes through that man’s head? I’ll get the tricksy fucker later.
The key takeaway is that she’s out of Fullerton’s influence and pointin’ out random shit that we missed. It relaxes Gabe quite a bit but not enough to keep his mind from goin’ to darker motives. These old money fucks and their gold. I may have cash now, but it sure as fuck ain’t jaded me like him and Cade.
Gabe thinks that she might be havin’ second thoughts about movin’ out. He figures if he offers her more money, she’ll come back. Money does fucked up shit to people. We all know it. But I know in my bones that she’s fightin’ .
She ain’t lookin’ for money. She had it and walked away with very little to show for it. Her unease in the office was the fear of bein’ fired and the fancy setup Gabe has. She didn’t like the wealth bein’ thrown in her face, which is why she blew a gasket and quit. She sees us as her ex. All money and flirtin’ with no substance, thanks to fuckin’ Cade and Jake, I’m sure.
Blake hurt her with the cheatin’. Her friends belittle her behind her back to force her into returnin’ to him. She thinks she’s less when she’s so fuckin’ far above them all I can’t reach her without climbin’.
I know it without bein’ told. The conflicting emotions splashed all over her face at my reaction to her said enough. She’s never had a man worship her like the goddess she is, and she doesn’t know how to handle it.
She’ll learn how if it’s the last thin’ I ever do.
I just gotta find her first.
It’s been a day’s worth of dead ends, and I’m ready to kill over it. Now I’m walkin’ into the damn gym class on Saturday, and she’s nowhere to be found. Again .
Gabe and Mikael follow me like I’m a bloodhound with her scent in my nose because I am . I pace around the edge of the mats as they work with partners. Cade and Jake are paired up. I see the women they were talkin’ about before. They’re watching us come in like fresh meat. There’s Max and Shade. Asher.
No Manda.
“ Where the fuck is my girl, Cade? ” I yell, the muscles in my neck straining as fury tries to take over. It stops everything as people look my way in surprise.
“Hey, Ace,” Max says in a wary tone. He doesn’t like me. Hasn’t ever since our first two in the mornin’ meetin’ with his sweet girl smilin’ in our faces and pamperin’ us like we’re worth somethin’ after we woke them all up. He’s a lucky fucker to have her, and he knows it.
“Keep it down,” Asher says in his no-bullshit tone. He hasn’t warmed up to us either.
Cade spins to face me, and his scowl gets deep as he yells back. “I don’t fucking know, ok? We looked all over for her. Hopefully, she’s just late.”
Asher rubs a hand over his face in exasperation while the rest take in the drama.
“You!” I stab a finger at one of the women as she gawps at me like a fish. “Where is Manda?”
“Uh,” she glances at her friend who’s eyein’ me like a side of beef. “You mean Amanda?”
No shit, girl.
“She did tell you she’s married, right?” The friend asks with a pitying look. “She can’t be your girl .”
I’ll deal with her ex problem after I have her stuck to me like glue. That fucker will disappear into an ocean and never be found.
“Do I look like I give a fuck?” I snap back. “Call her.”
“Ace,” Shade’s unemotional tone matches Gabe’s so well I automatically turn to him. He approaches me with his deadly, quiet walk and steps off the mat.
This man, I get. He has his own obsession to look after in the form of a psycho that showers him with affection. He’ll understand better than any of these other fuckers. Everyone else can see him as the danger he is, but I feel like he’s a kindred spirit. A calmer kindred, but it counts.
“I want my girl, Shade. I can’t find her, and I’m gettin’ worried.”
“How do you know her?”
“She works in my office,” Gabe answers for me. They sound so much alike that it’s hard to tell them apart. How none of us realized they’re related is anyone’s guess.
Gabe shouldn’t have piped up, though. He hasn’t made any effort to talk to Shade and vice versa. Things have kinda gone stale between them.
“And?” Shade raises a brow, unimpressed.
“I met her, and I want her, ain’t that enough?” I snap at him. I need him focused on me, not his family issues.
He eyes me for a second and then looks over my shoulder with a hint of surprise. The first real emotion he’s given since I got here.
“She isn’t here today, Ace.” A feminine, breathy monotone says from behind me.
“Baby? When did you get here?” Shade asks, his tone going from black ice to warmth in a split second.
My shoulders stiffen at the sound of South’s voice. Mikael does a double-take in surprise, and Gabe goes still. There’s nowhere she could fuckin’ hide in the room. How did I miss her?
I slowly turn to her with a frown. “You know Manda?”
“No,” her head tilts thoughtfully, but her dead eyes don’t leave mine. “But she interests me. She isn’t like them.”
I take in the women as she gestures around. The tight clothes and stick-thin bodies. All dolled up and hardly sweatin’. It’s clear they’re here for a different type of exercise. No wonder South is lurkin’. She’s as obsessed with Shade as he is with her. These women are on borrowed time and look like it’s the first time they’ve seen her. They’re too stupid to be afraid based on their judgmental side eyes.
“She always sees me, even when I don’t want her to. Her instincts are warped and utterly fascinating. She can only sense physical threats, not mental ones. She’s well-skilled in it without any practice. She hasn’t spoken to me yet, though.”
I look at South in confusion, an expression mimicked through Shade. This seems to be news to him, too. She smirks at the look on my face and glances over my shoulder to Shade.
“You want me to find her, baby?” Shade asks casually. I can tell that he doesn’t like how interested she is. I can’t say I like it much either.
Cade and Jake have moved to join us and keep an eye on South and Shade.
“I’m not sure,” her eyebrows dip down as she thinks. “He may have a right to be worried. She’s not here to fuck. She’s here to learn how to fight. There might be a reason for it. I want to see why.”
“Did I just hear you say someone is fascinating? And it wasn’t about Shade?” Max doesn’t hesitate to poke his nose in. “Tera is going to freak out.”
“Why?” South asks blankly as he moves to her side. The turnaround from angry thug to smug friend is new to me. I don’t know any of these people and it shows. I thought Max was a grump, not a shit-stirrer.
“Because you’re making friends ,” Shade smirks but his eyes are narrowed on her.
“Am I?” She sounds like she doesn’t care about this news flash.
“Duh,” Max says with a roll of his eyes and turns to call Asher over to witness whatever is goin’ down.
“Where is she?” Gabe interrupts the craziness like a cold knife in the side.
“I’ll get her number from the front desk and find out, ok?” Asher says with a sneer. His movements are smooth when he joins us, but he’s irritated as fuck with our distractions. “Now get the fuck out of my class.”
“Do it now ,” I step up to him without hesitation.
“Max said she was in Asher’s office begging for private tutoring,” Jake calls with a malicious grin. “Where’s his black eye?”
My hand goes to the front of Asher’s shirt to pull him to his toes before I think about moving. The guy is completely relaxed at the motion while Max bristles up.
“Because she wants to fight well,” South cuts the tension easily as we look over. “You assumed it was for sex. You’re wrong. She thinks you’re all egotistical pigs. Except Shade. She thinks he’s loyal to me alone, and she approves.”
“What?” Cade says with a dropped jaw. I let Asher go with a smirk. Shade looks confused at South’s assurance of his obsession being acceptable to a stranger. It certainly improves my mood. If she wants loyalty, she can look at us.
“She talks to herself when she’s frustrated. She doesn’t get the help she needs to understand the moves because they have all of the attention,” South points casually to the friends currently huddled up whispering together. “She needed help, and you turned it into something it wasn’t, Max. Shame, shame. But I can’t let you hurt them, Ace. Tera will be upset.”
So if I punch Max or Asher, I’ll get my throat slit. Noted.
“I get it,” I jerk my chin with a frown. Manda ain’t comin’ back to this class if I have anythin’ to say about it.
“Good choice,” she commends me absently. “I know where she lives.”
I blink at her stupidly as she drops that bomb. I’ve been huntin’ for days, and she just has the info? I thought they hadn’t talked. I’m not passin’ up the opportunity either way.
“Where?”
“The same complex I lived in. I saw her there several times. And she saw me. I didn’t realize it at first. Not until she came here.”
“That shit hole?” Shade sneers.
“I’ve heard it’s under new management,” she smiles slyly at him. “Something about the old one vanishing?”
Shade gives her a smile that makes me cringe. They’re both fucked up. Comin’ from me, that’s sayin’ a lot.
“I’m goin’.” I grit out.
“If we find her-” Gabe starts thoughtfully.
“Ain’t no if now, Gabe. I’m findin’ my girl,” I interrupt him with a snarl and march away. I know the complex South was talkin’ about. I’ll find her.
“South says the fourth floor,” Max calls after me helpfully, and I wave a hand to acknowledge him.
It doesn’t matter what floor she’s on. I’ll break down every door to find her if I have to.