CHAPTER 11
HUCK
I’ve only been half present at the office all day.
Knowing that Oaklynn is at home, even though she’s safe there, has been pulling my attention.
If it were up to me, I’d be at home with her.
Preferably in bed and naked.
I barely give Betty a glance as I stride towards Kirill’s office.
She’s pouting and no one is giving her the attention she’s craving.
If she knew how unattractive her attitude is, I wonder if she would keep it up.
The moment I step inside, Maxim slides his laptop to the side and Kirill sits up a little straighter in his chair.
Baker doesn’t look up from his tablet, but I know that’s because he’s monitoring everything at the house right now since that’s where our woman is.
We didn’t want to leave her home alone today, but if Chambers has anyone with eyes on us, we need to keep things normal and to the routine we’re used to having.
Even if it kills us.
“I’ve been digging on the dark web,” I throw the words out there, needing to get out what I’ve just learned, “and Chambers has been putting feelers out there about selling Oaklynn. He’s set up an auction for two weeks from now.”
Kirill stands up and the crystal paperweight, something that has always looked out of place on his desk, flies across the room until it shatters as it hits the wall.
Yeah, I know exactly how he feels.
“When did he start putting this out there?” Maxim’s question is growled before he sits up even straighter as if a thought just occurred to him.
“Are there pictures?”
I rub my hand down my face and nod.
“There are a lot of pictures. Some of them are clearly stills from her bedroom.”
“What the fuck?” Kirill roars out the question and I have no doubt he’s looking for something else to throw.
“He’s a dead man,” Maxim’s words are a promise, one I can only nod in agreement to.
“I should have never walked away without telling him that I was accepting his proposal. I wanted him to be eager, not for him to try and sell is daughter.”
The grimace on my face tells it all.
I didn’t even have to tell him that Chambers only posted after our dinner meeting the other night.
“The man is desperate,” I offer as if that makes it okay.
It’s not.
“He’s broke. Whatever money he earned from Morozov is gone. He’s been living beyond his means for a long fucking time. Even the trust that was left by his deceased wife, one that was for Oaklynn, has been depleted.”
“So not only did the man want to sell her, but he stole from her?”
I look at Kirill at his growled question and see the way he’s visibly trying to calm himself down.
When something flickers on the television screen, we all turn toward it to find Oaklynn in the kitchen at our home with a smile on her face.
It works to soothe part of me, being able to have eyes on her.
Baker knew exactly what we needed without any of saying a damn thing.
This is why we’re as close as brothers, the family we need and have chosen.
We don’t need words.
And now that we have our woman, even if she’s not completely safe, we’re even stronger.
There is nothing we won’t do to ensure our woman’s happiness.
The future we will have with her is so close we can almost touch it.
The only thing standing in the way is Chambers, who is going to be more of a problem than I realized at first and taking care of Mikhail when he finally makes his move.
“Can you see who has shown interest?” Baker doesn’t look up as he asks, but I know that’s because he’s watching our woman to keep his emotions under control.
“Mostly people in the middle east,” I grimace as I answer him knowing exactly what that means.
I have no doubt that whoever were to buy our woman would turn around and sell her again at some point.
She would lose everything and be traumatized on a daily basis.
We won’t let that happen but knowing that Chambers has even considered this route means his death is even more imminent.
I doubt he even knows how little time he has left on this earth.
“All for money,” Maxim scoffs.
“Of course, all for money,” Kirill seethes.
“Men like Chambers only care about money and power. I embarrassed him. That’s clear since he beat his own daughter for something she had no control over. He thinks far too highly of himself, but that will change.”
“I found more dirt on the man on the dark web. It’s nothing current except for the auction, but you know nothing is really gone on the internet.”
“What did you find?”
I glance at Baker and then Kirill.
“He was more than just the money man when it comes to Morozov’s dealings. I found pictures. It seems he liked to check on the women they were holding before being shipped out at the port.”
“Tell me that he didn’t abuse those girls and women to then go home to his daughter. I would say he would pretend to be a good father, but I don’t think he did. He was shit in terms of our woman for years and never tried to be anything different.”
I sigh, feeling the need to go and put eyes on our woman even though I can look up and see her mixing something in a bowl.
I watch as she finishes up and then pulls the baking sheets out and starts to portion out cookies.
“Some of the images,” I cringe, my mind wandering to them.
“They were very explicit. He’s clearly a cruel man who took pleasure from inflicting pain.”
I look toward Baker who must feel my eyes on him because he looks up from the tablet.
“While he wasn’t there the night that Wolfe and his team rescued those women over ten years ago, he was there earlier that same day.”
The rage on Baker’s face is instant.
I’m not surprised because Wolfe, Dominic, and Hendrix have recently claimed a woman that they rescued all those years ago.
They felt a pull to her that night, but it wasn’t the right time for them.
Now they’re happy and putting down roots in Seattle even though I have no doubt they’ll keep working all over the world after their job with ferreting out the rest of the Morozov scum who keep popping up.
To know Chambers was there, that he helped to abuse those women, along with so many more, has me wanting to go and track the man down right now.
My fists are clenched, and I zone out, unaware of the conversation around me.
“Huck,” Kirill growls in my face and my eyes focus on him.
“Go home. Get to know our woman.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
The images in my head have made me feel lightheaded while my stomach churns.
They were disgusting.
Certain things just stick with you, and it doesn’t matter the amount of violence and death I’ve seen.
With a nod, I stand up and stride out of the room without looking back.
The need to see our woman burns inside of me.
Betty’s smile is wide when she turns slightly and sees me heading toward the elevator.
“Mr. Cardenas,” she coos as if I’m not aware that she was a huge bitch yesterday to our woman.
“Can I bring you a cup of coffee to your office?”
“I’m not going to my office,” I grit out through my teeth.
“I’m heading home to spend time with our woman.”
“O-our o-o-our woman?”
I smirk at Betty knowing it looks sinister as fuck.
Even though her question is filled with shock and jealousy she’s smart enough to pull back from where she had started to position herself in my path.
I don’t answer her because I don’t owe her a fucking thing.
She’s been throwing herself at all of us, hoping to hook a man who will take care of her.
She sees the power we wield, if only in business, and the money we have and those are the only things that matter to her.
It feels like it takes me forever to get home, but the moment I do and step inside, some of the tension falls off my shoulders.
I can smell vanilla and chocolate in the air and my mouth waters.
When I step into the kitchen, Oaklynn is just pulling the first baking sheet out of the oven.
She twists to grab the one ready to go in.
Her movements are fluid and graceful.
My eyes eat her up, the need to pull her against my chest is almost too much to ignore.
But being able to watch her is enough.
For now.
Once she sets a timer, she turns to move the cookies to a rack that I’ve never seen in our kitchen before.
Granted, I don’t spend too much time in the kitchen.
I’ve never been a great cook.
If I didn’t have the other guys, who are much more competent in the kitchen than I am, I would have to rely on delivery.
If I’m not cooking, you better believe I don’t spend time baking.
It’s not something even the cooks in this house do.
Seeing Oaklynn baking in our kitchen has me thinking about kids sitting at the island and dipping their mom’s cookies in milk with homework laid out in front of them.
The image has the rest of my anger and anxiety dropping away.
She’s right where she’s supposed to be.
Now, we just have to keep her here.
The good thing is it doesn’t seem like she has any desire to run from us or leave.
It wouldn’t end well for her if she tried.
We would chase her to the other side of the world if she decided to run.
“Oh,” she exclaims when she sees me, a blush pinking her cheeks, “I didn’t see you there, Huck.” Her eyebrows pull together as she glances at the clock.
“Are you home early?”
“Home,” I echo her and close the distance between us.
“You called this home.”
The smile that lights up her face has me hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her even closer.
“It feels like home,” she admits softly as if speaking too loudly or with too much force will pop her bubble.
I press my lips against her forehead and breathe out, “I’m glad.” I look over to where the cookies are cooling and nod in their direction.
“You’re baking cookies?”
“Chocolate chip,” she winces slightly with her words.
She bites her bottom lip, a look of concern crossing her face.
“Is that okay?”
“Of course,” I assure her, eyeing the cookies.
“They’re fresh out of the oven. You can have one in a few minutes,” there’s a tease in her voice.
Even though I know she’s talking about the cookies, my mouth waters.
I make a humming sound as my hand runs up her spine and she shivers in my arms.
“You were done with work?”
I look down at the woman in my arms and I give her a small grin.
“I needed to see you, Sweet Girl.”
Oaklynn blushes the prettiest pink.
The way she looks up at me from underneath her lashes has my cock thickening behind the fly of my slacks.
Down boy.
Now is not the time for that.
Before I can stop myself—maybe even because my dick takes over—I gently press my lips against hers.
When she gasps, I don’t take advantage of the opening.
As much as I want to taste her, I savor this sweet moment between us.
Her arms twine around my neck and it causes our bodies to become flush against each other.
I groan, the feeling of her soft curves making it hard to remember to take this slow.
I’m very aware that Baker got to taste her last night, but I’m going to ensure that we’re not moving too fast for our woman.
There are four of us.
Even though she took it all in stride when Kirill laid out our intentions, I saw the shock in her eyes.
I have no doubt our woman will be able to handle us though when the time comes.
When I pull back, Oaklynn’s eyes are glazed over.
She blinks up at me a few times before giving me a shy smile.
“I’m not sure what to make of you Huck Cardenas,” she breathes out, vulnerability shining in her eyes.
“What do you mean, Sweet Girl?”
I can see the questions she wants to ask written all over her face.
How do I fit in with the guys?
What is my role here?
What do I expect from her?
I chuckle and kiss her forehead.
“I’m the tech guy around here, Oaklynn. I find information that needs to be found. Sometimes it’s skeletons we need to know exist to blackmail those who deserve it. Sometimes it’s the demons who lurk in the darkness. Information is power these days. We all grew up together and we all use each other’s strengths to achieve our goals.” My voice drops an octave, “I don’t expect anything from you other than a chance to get to know you and for you to fall for me.”
“I didn’t ask,” she whispers, her eyes wide and round.
“It’s written all over your face,” I tell her while reaching up and running the tip of my finger from her temple down to her jaw.
Her breathing picks up as I touch her and I desperately want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her up to my room.
Before I can act on the impulse, the timer goes off and she jumps in surprise.
“It’s time to take the cookies out,” she informs me but doesn’t move out of my hold.
I lean forward and brush my lips across hers one more time before I step back and allow my hands to fall away from her body.
The disappointment I see in her eyes matches what I’m feeling right now.
“I’m going to make you some tea,” I tell her.
I narrow my eyes at her and ask, “You do like tea, right?”
She giggles, the sound washing over me as she heads toward the oven, pulling a mitt over her hand as she does.
“I like tea,” she confirms.
But I already know.
Not only have I been digging deeper about her father, but I’ve done more research on what Oaklynn likes.
Maybe it’s unfair because I’m not giving her the chance to tell me herself, but I don’t really care.
I’m going to show this woman that she’s ours.
There’s no way I won’t use every advantage.