Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
B oone shook his head as Tildi flounced back toward the stairs. The thought of her wearing one of those first two dresses to a mafia dinner party hosted by Sev and his men made him want to punch something. He’d be punching someone before the night was over if anyone looked at her twice. That wouldn’t be good. He had too much bad news to deliver to start his visit with a fight.
Come to think of it, he should probably have a talk with his brothers. They’d never make a play for his girl, so long as they understood she was his and would be forever.
He should probably include the men at Wilder Security in that, too. They weren’t related to him by blood, but they were still his brothers. Their bond had been forged in fire, but it was just as strong. He’d hate to have to beat the shit out of one of them.
Hell, he might as well put posters up all over the town of Wilder making sure all the men knew she’d been claimed. Yeah, overprotective possessive asshole much? He couldn’t help but wince at the reaction his bluebell would have if she caught sight of a poster like that.
Did he even have the right to keep her from dating other men? The very thought gutted him. She was his. But she was so young. She’d never really dated. Her life had been completely controlled by her father. Dating like a normal teenager hadn’t fit into her plans. She’d hated that man so much she’d run away at eighteen, and that only made her life worse.
He loved her with all his heart. Yes, it was fast. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t real. He knew because he’d been through many relationships that weren’t. Tildi never had that chance. Would she resent him one day if he didn’t give her the chance to explore her feelings?
Not to mention she’d just been through a year of torture and pure hell. To be kidnapped by a man old enough to be her father—hell, Nico Midnight could be her grandfather—and held prisoner for a year? Never knowing when he’d show up to force her into his bed? At least that had never happened. She’d been through enough abuse as it was, but at least she was spared that.
“Um, Boone?” Tildi’s timid voice pulled him from his thoughts.
She stood in the hatch of the stairs leading to the cabins below, shading her eyes with her hand. His teeth clenched as the wind caught her skirt and exposed light pink panties with red hearts. Instead of going below as he’d instructed, she stared into the vast blue sky.
What the hell was she looking at when she ought to be hightailing it below to change out of that dress before he gave into his cock and bent her over the closest bench seat to fuck her senseless? She had no idea how beautiful and sexy she was.
He was about to tell her to get below before he turned her ass the color of those adorable hearts when she twisted around to look at him. She raised a pointed finger to the area she’d been watching. “What’s that? It doesn’t look like a bird.”
Boone’s gaze followed the direction of her finger, and his body went on full alert. That was no bird. Was it a plane? No, the way it bobbed, it flew more like a helicopter.
Oh, fuck!
“What is it?” she asked again.
Boone was already on the move. “Tildi, get below right now and stay there until I come and get you.” Lifting a seat cushion, he pulled out the first weapon he could reach. “Dutch! Grif! Get out here!”
“But—”
He didn’t have time for questions. He needed her safe so he could focus on the threat. “I said get below! Now!”
Eyes wide, she nodded and raced down the stairs.
The next thing Boone knew, bullets from the helicopter riddled the side of the yacht. The extremely expensive, borrowed from the Cosa Nostra, yacht. Pings and thuds riddled the air with every puncture as he returned fire. Within seconds, Grif and Dutch joined in the firefight from the flybridge and the swim platform.
Even though he hadn’t seen the man yet, there was no doubt the helicopter belonged to Nico Midnight. It wasn’t enough Midnight had murdered a member of the elite Pararescue Jumpers team Boone had led. No, now the man wanted to kill his babygirl. That or kidnap her again and make her wish she was dead. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen while Boone still had breath in his body.
Was Midnight on that chopper, or had he just sent some of his soldiers? Boone prayed he’d come to see to the job personally. Nothing would be better than downing this chopper and sending Nico and his men straight to hell.
Boone caught movement to his left and turned just in time to see Tildi’s head pop back up from the stairwell holding the pistol he’d been teaching her to use for the past few weeks. Cold dread wrapped an icy fist around his heart.
She was nowhere near ready to take part in a gunfight. Not that it would matter if she were. Doing his best to keep his head down, he ran to the stairwell and put his body between her and the helicopter.
“Matilda Jayne. Get your ass back down those stairs right now.”
“I can help!” she said, aiming her Glock in the vague direction of the chopper now headed back toward them.
She got off one shot, lowering her gun when Dutch cried out in pain.
She threw her gun down. “I shot him! Oh my god, I shot Dutch!”
Dutch dropped to his ass, back to the wall. Blood ran through his fingers as he tried to cover the wound on his arm. For a second, Boone thought Tildi was right about shooting him, but that was all the time he got because Tildi tried to scramble past him to get to Dutch.
Pinning her as gently as he could to the wall, he held her in place and twisted to call, “Dutch, you all right?”
Dutch pulled his bloody hand away from his arm and inspected the wound. “Yes, it’s just a graze. That asshole with the scope got off a lucky shot.” He picked his rifle back up and resumed firing at the chopper.
Tildi still fought to get away from Boone’s hold. “I need to help him. I shot him. Will he live? Is he still breathing?”
“You didn’t shoot him, babygirl. He’s okay. Now you need to get?—”
He broke off and covered her as bullets flew again, this time hitting the yacht not five feet in front of them. Tildi screamed, covering her head and dropping to the floor. The helicopter buzzed the ship but swung back around for another pass.
This time, the door on the side of the helicopter slid open as they flew past. Nico stood in the open doorway, staring straight at Boone and Tildi as they passed. Damn it! Boone had his hands on Tildi instead of his rifle, so he missed the chance to shoot.
As the copter arced around for another pass, Dutch and Grif continued to fire while Tildi continued to scream. He had to get her to safety so he could kill her later himself. What the hell had she been thinking?
“Bluebell!” Boone lifted her to her feet. He yelled over the gunfire and her screams, shaking her shoulders to break through her hysteria. “I’m gonna need you to stop screaming. I got this.”
She was scared. He got that. Getting shot at wasn’t his favorite part of the job, either. But he needed to be able to communicate with his men. He couldn’t do that with Tildi going all banshee in his ear.
Before the copter could complete the return pass, Boone grabbed Tildi’s arm, spun her around, and swatted her ass. Then he marched her down the stairs all the way to the marble tub in their bathroom. “Get in the bathtub and wait for me to come down when this is over. You do not want me to see you before that, do you understand?”
Tears streaming down her face, she nodded. “Y-yes, Daddy. I’m sorry.”
“Not yet, you’re not, but you will be.” He glared down at her. Then, planting a hard kiss on her lips, he headed back up to help Dutch and Grif.
Dutch and Grif were doing their part to take the chopper down, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Their submachine guns didn’t have the power to penetrate the hull of the cockpit. They needed to shift their target.
“Target the shooters, not the chopper,” Boone yelled.
“This ain’t our first rodeo, Bossman,” someone called back from the ship.
“Shut up and shoot, Dutch,” Boone yelled again.
“On it,” Dutch answered.
True to his word, Dutch opened fire. A second later, one of the men leaning from the open door of the chopper jerked before plummeting to the icy water below. Boone spared the time to look up at Dutch and give him a chin lift.
Grifter leaned on the seating stretched across the back of the flybridge up top, shooting at Midnight’s men as well. They all wanted to be the one who fired the kill shot that sent Midnight back to hell.
If he’d known how the mission to take the mafia boss out would go, he’d have included Ryker. He was their best marksman.
“Dutch, I need heavier cover fire,” he shouted.
“You got it,” Dutch said.
Rapid bursts of gunfire ripped through the early morning skies. Thankfully, Dutch’s aim was true, causing the helicopter to swing out in evasive maneuvers.
Boone fought back the need to go check on his Little girl and make sure she was safe. He’d always been overprotective of those in his care, but somehow, in a matter of weeks, he’d grown incredibly possessive as well. That hadn’t happened in a long time.
Yet this Little girl, with her pink hair, spunk, and sass, had reached a place in his heart he’d thought was damaged beyond repair. Hard times revealed true friends, or so the saying went. Maybe that was it. Whatever the reason, as a Daddy, he’d never felt drawn to a Little so fast.
The helicopter pulled back, but not before Boone spotted Midnight again, still standing in the open sliding door, staring down at him. He stepped back, and seconds later, his voice came over the helicopter’s loudspeaker. “That makes the second thing you’ve stolen from me, Boone. The woman I could forgive, women are a dime a dozen. The same with my men. If they can’t keep themselves alive, I don’t need them. But then you stole my ship. That was a serious mistake.”
Boone cursed under his breath. He’d gotten lax with their security. It never crossed his mind that Nico would attack them this close to United States waters. He should have had someone watching. Now Dutch was injured, and they were lucky he was the only one.
He wanted to let loose his rage and empty his magazine into the helicopter. But that would be a waste of ammunition. And there was no way Boone was letting Nico know he’d gotten to him. He’d wait. Nico’s death would come soon, and it would be at his hands.
Taking advantage of their attention, Midnight continued his rant. “Tell that bastard son of mine I’ll be having words with him about this latest betrayal soon. And when I get the woman back, I’m going to fuck her until she bleeds. Then I’ll pass her around to my men. If she isn’t dead when they finish with her, I’ll put a bullet in her head. It’s what I should have done to your last woman.” Finished with his threats, Midnight’s copter backed away.
The only one getting a bullet to the head would be Nico Midnight. Even though he knew he couldn’t make the shot, Boone raised his rifle and fired. The shot went wide, but he kept firing until he emptied the chamber.
Midnight ducked back inside the chopper amid the hail of bullets before stepping back into the doorway wearing a smirk. Still, one look at the man’s face as the copter turned back for land told Boone he hadn’t seen the last of the man.
“Until we meet again, my friend,” Midnight yelled over the roar of the blades. After he disappeared back inside his helicopter, it turned back toward wherever they’d come from.
After he checked on Dutch and Grif, Boone headed below deck to check on Tildi. He found her curled up on the floor of the tub, her knees tucked into her chest.
He had to give it to Sev. The man did nothing by half measures. It had shocked the shit out of him when Sev had offered to let him use the Midnight’s Mistress , even after learning Nico was Boone’s target.
It shouldn’t have. There was no love lost between Sev and Nico. There hadn’t been for a long time. Nico hated Sev’s mother. Sev had never shared why, but as the oldest of Nico’s four sons, Sev would inherit the Midnight throne whether the old man liked Sev’s mother or not.
That was good news for everyone. Nico used his organization to traffic everything possible, including guns, drugs, and women. He had connections throughout the Northwest, making him a powerful threat. Though he was no boy scout, Sevin wanted to take the family in a different direction. It might not be exactly legitimate or even legal, but it would be a far cry from the shit his father was doing. Sev realized his father was a threat to everyone, including the Cosa Nostra itself.
That was between the two of them, though. Boone knew better than to get mixed up in Cosa Nostra business. But with that look on the senior Midnight’s face as his chopper had turned back, Boone might not have a choice. He’d have to warn Sev that his father knew about the yacht. He’d need to be prepared for whatever retribution his father threw his way.
But that was a worry for tomorrow. Right now, he needed to have a discussion with one naughty little girl. She’d turned her body so her back was to him. “We need to have a chat, don’t we, Little girl?”