Operation 26 New Orders
Xander Vale
They were escorted into the hotel by the men Xander appreciated but never wanted to see again.
They entered through the service corridor.
The four of them were positioned between the men in black, brown and white.
Meridian led the way.
No one stopped him.
Not the hotel security near the loading dock, the fidgety kitchen manager, nor the early morning shift who damn near tripped over their own polished shoes to get out of their way.
Xander rubbed his still burning wrists. His mouth tasted as if he’d been chewing aluminum foil. And his body was coming down from the adrenaline in ugly waves, turning weak and cold. Free walked at his side with Tech on the other.
Curtis was ahead of them, full of energy, bouncing with plenty of pep in his step.
Well he did have a pretty decent nap.
Xander didn’t understand that guy and suspected he never would.
The private elevator opened for them. They stepped in. Meridian stood facing the doors. The rest of his men all filled the small space behind them, and the ride up passed in the strangest, closest silence Xander had ever experienced. The elevator slowed. The doors opened.
Cassidy was there.
Xander didn’t remember shoving the man in black out of his way.
One second, he was inside the elevator, and the next he’d slammed into Cassidy’s arms hard enough to drive the breath from both of them.
Cassidy caught him, one arm clamping around his back, the other hand going to the back of his head. His big body surrounded him, warm, solid and shaking in a way Cassidy probably thought he was hiding.
“Lane.”
Xander buried his face in his throat.
“Lane, look at me.”
“No.”
Cassidy’s hand slid over his hair, down his back, over his shoulders. Checking. Always checking. His touch moved to his arms, wrists, ribs, face. He tipped Xander’s chin up and looked at him with eyes that made the hallway tilt.
“Did they hurt you?”
He shook his head.
Cassidy’s mouth tightened.
“Not, physically,” Xander corrected, because lying to Cassidy wasn’t necessary. “Mentally, I think I’ll be in trauma therapy until I’m ninety.”
A sound that was meant to be a laugh thinned and cracked into a low whimper. Cassidy’s hand stilled against his cheek, before he pulled him back into his chest.
He wrapped both arms around Cassidy’s waist and held on as his knees started to weaken. Cassidy helped him into the suite and sat him on the couch, kneeling in front of him. Inside the suite was an explosion of movement.
Genesis reached Curtis first. Curtis made a muffled sound as the huge man folded him almost in half. Ruxs and Green were right there too, touching him everywhere, checking his lip, his shoulders, his wrists, his ribs, cursing under their breath.
“I’m good,” Curtis kept saying. “I’m good. I swear. I’m great, actually.”
“‘Great’?” Green snapped.
Across the room, Tech went to Steele. It wasn’t dramatic. Tech didn’t rush, and Steele didn’t make a sound. But the second Tech was close enough, Steele unfolded from the wall as Tech gripped the front of his jacked and pulled him into him.
Steele glared into Tech’s eyes behind the glasses that’d helped save their lives. Steele tipped Tech’s face up and kissed him once, controlled and brutal in its tenderness, pressed his mouth to Tech’s temple and kept him there.
Curtis grinned through the split in his lip. “I got kidnapped with Xander Vale and held for a ten-million-dollar ransom. Then Ex and Meridian saved us. Do you understand how insane that is? No one at work is gonna believe this.”
Genesis pulled back just enough to look at him. “You can’t tell anyone, babe.”
Curtis groaned. “Uggh, come on.”
Ruxs dragged a hand down his face. “No, never.”
Curtis touched his busted lip and frowned. “Fine.”
Genesis pulled Curtis back against him. “This is what comes from being raised by two insane men.”
Curtis beamed up at him. “Do you still want me?”
“Absolutely.”
Curtis smiled, pushing up for a kiss. Genesis kissed the side of his mouth that wasn’t swollen.
“I don’t wanna wait another week to do it. I wanna marry you right-fucking-now.”
The room stilled in a strange, stunned ripple.
Curtis blinked.
Then blinked again.
“Seriously?”
Genesis’s expression didn’t change. “Seriously.”
“Like now, now?”
“Right now. Everyone we love is right here.”
Curtis gestured at his clothes. “But I don’t wanna get married in a Los Angeles courthouse wearing jeans and a Van Halen T-shirt.”
“You know we host weddings on the ranch all the time,” a man said from Free’s computer screen.
Everyone turned.
“That’s Fox. Another member of God’s team,” Cassidy answered Xander’s silent question. “He’s in Atlanta. He’s the one who helped us find you.”
Fox had messy-ish silver hair, tired but amused light grey eyes, and a killer, almost cunning smile. “It’ll be the experience of your life,” he said.
Genesis glanced back at the screen. “Um.”
Fox leaned back in his chair. “Imagine a ten-foot-tall arch, covered in roses, in a wide-open field of wildflowers, and arriving at the altar in a carriage pulled by the most majestic Clydesdales you’ll ever see.”
Curtis gasped.
“Yes. Yes.” Curtis turned fully toward the screen. “Yes, Fox. I want that.”
Fox nodded and stood, stretching his back. “Well, I got shit to do then. Get your asses back over here. I think you’ve done enough on the West Coast.”
“Fox,” Xander said quickly, lifting his head from Cassidy’s chest.
Fox’s eyes flicked to him on the screen.
“Thank you,” he said, wishing he could say something far deeper, but he was wrung out.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Fox said and hung up.
Cassidy took his wrist and examined the red marks from the zip ties. “Let me look.”
“Cassie.”
“Let me look, Lane.”
Xander stopped fighting.
Cassidy checked him again with careful hands. His wrists. His jaw. His shoulders. His ribs where one kidnapper had grabbed him too hard climbing out of the van. Xander watched the fury move behind Cassidy’s eyes, but that never reached his touch.
When Cassidy’s hands reached his face, Xander caught one and held it to his cheek.
“I love you, too.”
Cassidy went still, as the room continued moving around them, but for Xander, every sound dropped away.
He hadn’t meant to say it there. Not in front of everyone. Not with assassins nearby and Curtis planning a ranch wedding. Not with his body still buzzing from fatigue and terror.
But Cassidy had said it through Free on a warehouse floor.
“I love you,” he said again, voice steadier. “I think I loved you before I understood what was happening. Maybe the first night you stayed with me, and I realized I couldn’t breathe without you in the room.”
Cassidy stared at him with those whiskey-brown eyes that were bright in a way he’d never seen.
“And I know this is a terrible place to say it, but I don’t want another terrible thing to happen before you hear it.”
Cassidy slid his warm hand around the back of Xander’s neck and pulled him forward until their foreheads touched.
“I love you,” Cassidy said, rough and deep. “I love you so much I haven’t known what to do with myself for the last seven hours.”
Cassidy kissed him, sealing the confession between them.
God clasped Free’s shoulder. “You did good.”
Free sagged into Day’s side. “I was terrified.”
“I know,” he said. “You still did good.”
Day hugged him for a long moment, then whispered, “I was scared too.”
Near the door, Meridian cleared his throat.
“All of this is nauseatingly touching,” he said, voice smooth as aged brandy, “but I have a human trafficker in Montenegro I’d like dead before lunch.”
Everyone turned toward him.
The Ravens stood grouped near the entrance, looking out of place and uncomfortable by all the emotion.
God went to Meridian. “Thank you.”
Meridian’s expression didn’t change. “Don’t make a habit of needing my kind of help.”
God’s mouth pulled tight. “Don’t plan to.”
“I heard about your task force. Damn shame.” Meridian paused. “So what now?”
God glanced at Day, then Ruxs and Green, then Cassidy.
“Private security,” God said.
Meridian studied him for a moment. “Honest work.”
Day smiled faintly. “We try.”
Free lifted one hand from where he still leaned against Day. “I can’t stay on the West Coast.”
Everyone stared at him.
“I have to go back to Atlanta. To Hart. I’m not leaving my man behind.”
Tech released a small breath and went to him.
Free looked down at the tablet in his hands, then sighed. “Oh man. I’m gonna end up teaching The Evils of AI 101 at Georgia State while you lot schmooze with Xander Vale and all of Hollywood.”
Tech rubbed Free’s back. “We’ll figure out something, babe.”
Free tried to smile but failed.
“You two ever thought about being Ravens?” Meridian said casually.
Silence fell like a curtain.
Free blinked. “I’m sorry. What?”
Meridian stared at him with the same mild expression he’d worn while shoving a sword through a man’s mouth and into his intestines. “A Raven. It’s far more entertaining than Hollywood. And I can use men of your abilities.”
Steele’s posture changed.
“That is, if you still wanna do some real good in the world.” Ex said.
Free’s mouth opened. “But…”
“You can work remotely,” Meridian added. “Most of the time. But our headquarters is only a forty-five-minute commute on a private jet from Atlanta, if I need you there. And if I call…you come.”
Free was silent and Xander could tell the idea was growing on him.
Meridian nodded at Free. “Think about it.”
“What’s the catch?” Steele gritted.
Meridian’s black gaze moved to him. “The work…oh…and dealing with me.”
Meridian extended his hand. God shook it.
Whatever passed between them, Xander didn’t fully understand.
Meridian narrowed his eyes at him in a way that made him recoil behind Cassidy. “I expect tickets to your next premiere, Xander Vale,” he said. “One of my assistants is a big fan.”
Xander blinked. “Uhh, of course.”
I’ll mail ’em to your house, next door to Satan’s lair.
Meridian gave the smallest incline of his head before he turned to leave with his men.
When the door shut behind them, the suite seemed to exhale. For a few moments, no one moved. Then Curtis broke away from Genesis and came straight toward Xander, taking both of his hands in his.
“Please come to my wedding,” Curtis begged. “We’re comrades now, brothers in arms.”
Xander shook his head, Curtis was too damn much. How could he refuse him and dim the sparkle in those pretty eyes? “I’d love to.”
Curtis beamed. “I want you in every picture, just move Gen to the side. I want you right by me.”
Xander laughed. It came out tired and rough, but real. He touched Cassidy’s jaw. “You gonna be my date?”
Cassidy stayed on one knee in front of him. He brought his wrists to his mouth and kissed them softly over the angry marks the zip ties left behind.
“I really am okay,” he whispered.
Cassidy’s eyes lifted to his. “Let’s go home.”