Naomi
TWO WEEKS LATER
She was going to murder him. Slowly. Painfully. Or maybe she’d shoot him and just be done with it. Then again, she was smart, she could figure out a way to do it and make it look like an accident.
Or even just natural if she could find the right supplies …
What was that stuff Diego used one time against one of his rivals? She could probably find the memory, but that would make her suspect number one if they ever found out.
Damn it. Where was Taz when you needed him?
Now she had Vulture—or Viking Daddy, as the twins have been calling him since he arrived—and he’s not as fun as Taz. And definitely not as willing and wild.
Unfortunately for her, he was up on the roof on lookout, and Glitch was the one in the apartment with her. She was also the one trying her best not to laugh her ass off watching this scene unfold.
Ink had allowed Asher to “explore his creative side” and cover his entire body, hair, clothes, and carpet in paint. Then, in a panic, he attempted to get it all cleaned up and wash him in the sink, getting paint everywhere and water all over the floor.
Asher was laughing hysterically, enjoying himself.
Ink—stupidly, because he clearly wasn’t using his brain today—was trying to brush it off, saying it would all wash out and be fine, giving her a big charming smile, like that made it all better.
He’d clearly forgotten she was already fuming because he left the toilet seat up again and she’d fallen in. She was sure the screech that ripped from her had been heard across the grounds.
On top of all that, she started her period today.
The perfect trifecta to plan a murder. She was starting to see why women became old cat ladies.
“Don’t worry, baby, I’m going to get this all cleaned up,” he rushed out, trying to reassure her. His gaze flicked to her jaw, where a tic was forming. His eyes widened slightly and his smile froze. “Babe, you good?”
“Good?” she repeated, voice strangled. “Good?”
“Idiot.” Glitch scoffed. “Naomi, don’t kill him. Yet. Murdering a man in front of your son probably isn’t a good plan. How about you come with me, and we leave the boys to get everything cleaned up? I think you need some girl time.”
“Wait, you’re going to leave me to clean everything up?
Alone?” Ink demanded, shocked. He took one more look at her face and retreated a step.
“Right, never mind. I got this. I’ll call in the prospects to help me if I need them.
And, uh, yeah, I got Asher too. You go have fun.
” He shooed her away, his paint-covered hands dripping onto the carpet again.
Naomi just walked out the door.
She and Glitch were silent as they headed toward the clubhouse, until they were halfway there and Glitch started laughing.
Naomi glared at her. “Sorry, sorry,” Glitch gasped out.
“But that was fucking funny. I thought you were going to blow your top, and I’d have paid to see it.
I bet you’d be a tornado if you exploded. ”
Naomi didn’t deny it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually been angry over something small and mundane. Being on edge and so careful when she was under Diego’s thumb, she never allowed herself to show emotion. He always used it against her.
It felt strange to be normal. To not worry that anything she did was going to be used against her. Of that, she was sure. Her and Ink living together was showing her it was okay to be upset or annoyed over things, and Ink wouldn’t hold it over her head.
A part of her was giddy that she was having a normal relationship again.
The other part of her wondered what the hell was wrong with her. Men were a pain in the ass on a good day. Let alone living with you all the time.
“Yeah, definite tornado. Don’t worry, if they screwed it all up, you’ll be moving into the new apartment in a couple of days, and in the meantime, we can figure out a solution at the clubhouse or at another spot on the grounds.
” Glitch linked their arms and steered her toward the clubhouse doors.
“Want me to come up with a way to get back at him. I have lots of experience.”
“Kitten, that is never a good statement for her man to hear,” Code drawled as he came around the side of the clubhouse carrying a camera in his hand.
Glitch flashed him a coy smile. “My man loves it when I do that shit to others, but we both know that you’re just itching to find a way to get back at me for the prank I pulled on you this morning.”
“You put a fucking sex doll in the bed,” Code griped, exasperated. “And where the fuck did you find that strap-on? I thought I hid that away.”
Naomi blinked. Wait, what?
“As if you could ever truly hide something away. I have a nose like a bloodhound. Now, stop scaring Naomi. We’re plotting to get back at Ink.” She gave a brief rundown of the scene, and Code let out a sharp burst of laughter.
“Prospects are going to hate him before long. He’ll have them in there scrubbing everything down within minutes, if they aren’t there already.
” He leaned down to kiss Glitch. “I’ll leave you to your plotting then and work on fixing these cameras.
One of them was down this morning. Looks like the battery in it finally died. ”
“I thought the cameras had another couple of weeks,” Glitch said, frowning.
“We’ve been doing a lot of stuff with the cameras in the last few weeks, so I’m not surprised that some of them are running low. None of them are the ones you placed, so these are some of our older ones. They lose battery faster.”
Naomi glanced between them. “Are you sure that’s what it is? It’s not someone tampering?”
Had Diego found her? How? She’d been so careful. If she needed anything, Glitch ordered it or Ink did, but even then, no one would think to look for her here.
“There’s no sign of tampering,” Code assured her.
“We probably just miscalculated how much life they had in them like I said. I promise, you’re good.
Glitch has some state-of-the-art sensors around, along with every kind of camera you can get.
And probably some we can’t.” He gave Glitch a sideways glance.
Glitch didn’t acknowledge that, but Naomi saw the twitch of her lips. “No one is getting on the grounds without us knowing about it. And Vulture has been following us on the roof, and there’s no better sniper than him. Well, he and Warg because the two of them trained together.”
“If he’s watching me, then who’s watching Asher?”
“Karissa is on her way. And with Ink and the prospects there, no one’s getting close. I promise, Naomi, everyone is covered, and we’re taking this very seriously.”
They were right, but it didn’t erase the unease in her gut. Finally, she nodded. “Alright.” If she was going to be living here until the trial, she had to start trusting them. Because if shit hit the fan, it was them keeping her and Asher safe.
And they were right that Ink wouldn’t let anything happen to Asher.
Over the last two weeks—this morning aside—Ink’d been incredible with him. He spent as much time with him as he did with her. Teaching him and working on his speech. And even just taking him outside to play when she needed a break.
“Good,” Code said, with a reassuring smile. “I’m going to get these back up and running, and within ten minutes, everything will be back online.” He gave Glitch another kiss before hurrying inside.
Glitch sighed. “I love the way that man moves.” Her grin was downright smug. “In and out of bed.”
Naomi flushed but smiled. She still wasn’t fully comfortable discussing sex lives as openly as the others, but it did make her feel like she was part of something with them being comfortable sharing it with her.
“Speaking of, how are you and Ink doing?” she asked as they headed inside. She winked. “Any more hot sessions on the desk at the garage?”
Her face flamed. Everyone’d been teasing her for the last couple of weeks over that, and she wondered if she’d ever get over being so embarrassed.
“No, nothing like that.” Though, she’d definitely been reliving it in her head.
“We’ve, ah …” She wasn’t sure how to explain it without sounding like an idiot.
“With Asher around, we have to get creative.”
Like wait until he went to bed so Ink could show her every available surface in the apartment before they went to bed. The floor, the kitchen counter, the table, and over the back of the couch. Hell, even in the shower a few days ago.
Not that they would be doing that for a week. She was disappointed, but her vagina was going to thank her. This much sex was great, but she needed a break.
Glitch led her into the kitchen, which was thankfully empty. “That’s half the fun, but yeah, having a kid around would make it challenging. Especially with only having one bedroom.”
That was another adjustment. “We made him a temporary bed on the floor by my side of the bed and he’s much happier.”
After the first night of Ink sleeping in the bed with Asher between them, Asher had been so cranky from lack of sleep that the next night he crawled out of the bed and slept on the floor. She’d nearly stepped on him in the morning in her panic to figure out where he’d gone.
“I heard Scarlett say that they’ll be out of the garage apartment by tomorrow, which means he’ll have his own room and you two can get freaky in a bed,” Glitch reminded her, wiggling her eyebrows. “And if you need some ideas, I’m sure I can give you a few ideas.”
Naomi let out a small laugh. “I … I don’t think we need help with that. Ink’s … creative all on his own.”
“Get it, girl. You deserve this. And other than the great sex, which can’t be underrated, by the way, how are things? How are you feeling? I got the details you gave me sent off to the prosecutor’s office. Raids are scheduled for next week.”
It was like an ice-cold shower, a reminder of why she was here. She’d been so wrapped up in Ink the last couple of weeks and finding a new normal routine, she’d barely thought about the trial. It was still so far away, but it was getting closer.
Damn it, she needed to get her head back in the game. Asher relied on her.
“I’m all right,” she stated. “Have you heard if they’ve been successful with anything?”
“As far as I know, most of it has gone well, and they’ve taken out large chunks of Diego’s territory, but he’s gone underground. The locations you gave have been cleaned out.”
Fear slithered down her spine. “He probably has a few places he was careful to never write down or mention. What if he’s never found?”
“He’ll be found. Don’t panic, babe. I don’t have a lot of faith in the Feds, or any law enforcement, actually, but I have feelers out everywhere to see if I can find him. He’s going to surface eventually.”
“He’s probably gone to Mexico. He won’t want to risk being arrested.”
“Even if he has, we can still find him. There are agents in every country, including Mexico, that will bring him back. More people are looking for him than you and Asher, Naomi.”
That didn’t make her feel any better. All it took was one. “What about my father? Has he been found?”
“No, but we suspect he’s with Diego. He’s also being hunted, but not as hard as Diego. They want the big dog.”
Naomi gave a wry smile. “That’s always the mistake. They want the figurehead, but they forget the ones under him that run the show. That runs the nitty-gritty stuff. My father knows Diego better than I ever will. And that’s if Diego hasn’t killed him for letting me and Asher get away.”
She didn’t have a single shred of remorse if he was dead. She’d stopped thinking of him as her father long ago. It was a title only.
“Do you know anything else you want me to send through?”
She hesitated. There was so much; how could she pick through it all? “I’ll think on it and write more down for you.”
Glitch nodded. “I’ve also been keeping tabs on the trial prep. They’re methodical, and a few others who have turned on Diego are on their side. They want to take him down and have no mistakes.”
“Diego isn’t going to risk going to prison.
Or the death penalty, depending on where they do the trial.
” She knew that. It was something he’d said plenty over the years.
He’d kill himself before he ever ended up in a cage.
“What about any of the other cartel groups? Even the ones in Mexico? Are they looking for me too?”
“They’ve put out feelers, but most of them are too busy with wars among themselves and other groups to give it much attention right now. Mexico is a battleground of who can take over what and how much.”
That didn’t make her feel any better. The crushing reality of what was coming had fear slicing her gut.
Thick and sharp. “Don’t underestimate them, Glitch.
They might not appear to be looking, but they are very good at using smoke and mirrors.
Diego took out groups with little effort because he was good at distracting them with something else.
He was good at finding the weak points.”
“We’ve dealt with many like him, and we don’t allow ourselves to get distracted.
My team is the best out there. I don’t say that lightly.
We’ve worked together long enough, seen enough that we’ve honed our skills to expect everything.
And we’ve taken down cartels before. We can’t stop the cycle, but we can break it just long enough to make an impact. ”
She wanted to believe her, but something was niggling at the back of her mind. Everyone was so confident no one would find her. Find them. But she’d been in this life for long enough that she knew things weren’t always as they seemed.
Diego was coming for her and Asher, but he wouldn’t do it in a way they would prepare for. No big explosion. Quiet and methodical.
Which meant it was time for her to get her head back in the game. She knew Diego better than anyone. Knew his habits, his routines. It was time to put her talents to use and stop avoiding them.
She hoped Ink would have the apartment cleaned soon, because it was time for her to get back to work.