Operation 28 Cops and Cowboys
God
God pulled his truck to a stop in front of Bull’s house and shut off the engine.
For a second, he just sat there.
Not because he needed to gather himself. He didn’t do sentimental pauses, but he couldn’t help but remember the last time he’d stormed up Bull’s driveway.
He’d come angry, and annoyed, to take Fox away from the man he loved, back to the city for an emergency raid, and to the life he no longer wanted.
This time, he came to correct.
Day leaned across the console. “Are you smiling?”
God cut his eyes toward him. “No.”
“You are.”
God opened his door. “Get out of my truck.”
Day laughed, and that sound alone made the long flight, the legal meetings, the hotel rooms, and the last two brutal weeks worth surviving.
Ruxs and Green climbed down out of the back seat. Hart was parked in front of them, swinging his leg off his Harley,
Behind them, Genesis pulled in with Curtis in their BMW.
Curtis was practically vibrating before the car even stopped.
God watched his little brother reach over and catch Curtis by his cheek and pull him in for a quick kiss before Curtis could launched himself out of the passenger seat like a firework.
Genesis looked happier than God had ever seen him.
He hugged his brother. “How you feeling?”
“Ready.” Gen smiled.
Fox and Bull stood on the porch, talking with Furi, Syn, Michaels, Ro, and Johnson. The sight of them put a real smile on God’s face this time, and he didn’t bother hiding it.
He hadn’t seen his brothers since they’d gotten back from the West Coast two days ago. He and Day had stayed behind with Cassidy, working through contracts, equity numbers, licensing structures, liability coverage, and enough paperwork to make God miss having a personal assistant.
But the partnership with West Protective Solutions was finalized at last.
Fox came off the porch first, grin wide. “Well look at this. Hollywood officials already kicked you motherfuckers out.”
Ruxs opened his arms. “Shut the fuck up and get your country ass down here.”
Green hugged him next, thumping his back hard enough to make Fox grunt.
Ro followed. “Look at these superstars.”
Day let Ro pull him into a hug.
Ro clasped God’s shoulder and pulled him in. “Superstar.”
God hugged him hard. “Go on with that shit. I’ll always bleed Atlanta-red.”
Bull walked over and gave him a strong handshake. “Good to see you, Godfrey.”
“You too.” God tilted his head toward Fox. “I see you’re still slumin’ it with this guy.”
Bull shoved his hat lower on his brow. “Hey, my pop always told me, you don't let the horse out to pasture when he ain't lame.”
Fox punched Bull in his chest before shoving him out the way so he could hug Day.
Michaels stepped in next, giving God a brotherly hug, then Day. “Good to see you boys back in one piece.”
“You can say that again,” Day said. “LA has the worst drivers anywhere in the world. And I’ve been to Manhattan.”
“Where’s Judge?” God asked.
“He’ll be here tomorrow. The job is jobbing. He and Duke got caught up with a case, so he can’t make the rehearsal dinner tonight.”
Syn moved slower than the others but with an ease God hadn’t seen in him for a while.
Furi stood close to him, his long hair braided back, face relaxed in a way that gave God relief.
Syn clasped God’s hand, then pulled him into him. “You good?”
God held his shoulder. “I’m good, Bro.”
Syn looked toward Day, then back to God. “Yeah. Me too.”
Furi hugged Day first, then God, smelling faintly of leather and expensive soap. “Glad you’re back.”
God patted his back. “Glad you two are upright.”
Furi’s mouth curved. “That makes two of us.”
Curtis didn’t walk up to Furi.
He ran.
“Furi!”
Furi barely turned in time before Curtis launched himself at him. He caught him clean, arms closing around him while Curtis wrapped both legs around his waist as if he had no sense of grown-man dignity.
“I missed you,” Curtis said, squeezing him.
Furi laughed, real and warm. “I missed you too, gorgeous.”
Curtis slid down from Furi’s arms but kept one hand locked around his wrist. “I’m getting married tomorrow.”
“Everyone knows that,” Ruxs muttered. “It’s why all of us are here, and all of my savings are depleted.”
“Shut up, Dad.” Curtis waved him off. “You work for Xander Vale. You’ll make it back.”
Genesis came up behind him and wrapped an arm around his waist.
Bull shook Genesis’s hand, smiling under his black Stetson hat. “That boy’s gonna wear himself out before the ceremony.”
Curtis leaned back into Gen. “No I’m not. I’m powered by love.”
“As long as he still has enough energy for the honeymoon.”
Ruxs made a disgusted sound. “What the hell?”
“For fuck’s sake, man,” Green scoffed.
The banter moved around them easy and loud.
Ro and Johnson greeted Hart with a clap on the shoulder before they both went to God and Day and hugged them for a long time.
The four of them had history…amazing, hot history.
Day kissed Ro’s temple “How’s the private investigation life?”
Ro chuckled. “Quiet and simple. Just like I hoped it’d be. Leaves me plenty of time to work on my handicap.”
“Trust me, he needs it,” Micheals added.
The laughter began to slow when the sound of hooves came from the side path. God turned. Two riders were coming towards the house. God remembered Rid, one of Bull’s ranch managers.
He was sitting on a brown speckled horse with a pretty-boy ease, blond-brown hair peaking beneath his backwards ballcap.
It was the rider trailing behind Rid that made God’s mood curdle instantly.
“Not this fucking guy,” he grumbled.
Day tracked God’s attention across the property, then laughed quietly. “Well, well, well.”
The last time God had come to the ranch to drag Fox back to his SWAT duties, Dale Garrett—Bull’s best friend—hadn’t taken that well.
He had used the hindquarters of his horse like a damn battering ram and slammed it into God’s chest hard enough to send him flying ten feet into the grill of his truck.
God hadn’t forgotten or forgiven, neither had his ribs.
Dale had been an asshole then, sitting high and mighty on his horse like a fucking renegade in Billy the Kid’s gang, and from the looks of it…he still was.
Only this time, he didn’t come barreling in.
He strutted.
The horse beneath him moved with slow, insulting grace, every step deliberate.
Dale sat loose in the saddle, one hand easy on the reins, the other resting on his thigh. His cowboy hat was pulled low, shadowing his face. Aviator shades caught the late afternoon sun and gave nothing back. A short, neatly trimmed beard sharpened his jaw.
Dust clung to his boots, and the man’s shoulders looked broad enough to carry fence posts…
and years-long grudges. His thighs were toned from a lifetime in the saddle, denim worn at the seams, shirt stretched tight across his chest. He had the audacity to keep his face turned toward him as he approached.
He stopped a short distance away from the group and let the horse settle beneath him.
“Look what the polluted city dragged in,” Dale drawled.
God pushed his sunglasses up into his hair and glared back. “Dale.”
Dale scoffed. “Still ain’t learned no manners, I see. Where I’m from, when you come to another man’s house, you greet him with a proper how-do.”
God stepped forward. “You get down off that horse, and I’ll greet you real fuckin’ proper.”
Day caught his bicep as the rest of the guys broke into laughter.
Dale shook his head slowly. “Nah. I like the view from up here just fine. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to get all that pretty hair tangled around my fist.”
“Fuck, you are a fuckin’ asshole,” God snarled.
Fox was grinning like a sly bastard. “Y’all gonna do this all weekend?”
“Yes,” God and Dale said together.
Dale’s attention shifted.
To Curtis.
God saw it happen and immediately hated it.
Dale tipped his head, assessing a bright, flushed, ridiculously happy Curtis tucked beneath Genesis’s arm. “You must be the one getting married.”
Curtis beamed. “I am.”
Dale’s lips curved slow enough to be criminal. “Well, ain’t that something. They told me the groom was pretty, but nobody warned me I needed to take my hat off and show respect.”
Curtis went pink so fast, God was embarrassed for him.
Genesis’s brows rose.
Ruxs went still.
Green frowned.
“This fucking guy.” God groaned.
Dale urged his horse a couple of steps closer, enough to make Curtis tilt his face up. “How would you like a tour of your venue? Crew’s got it set up real nice.”
Curtis’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Dale leaned over the saddle horn, charm pouring off him like whiskey over fire. “Really. But I’ll be honest with you, sweetheart. No matter what they did out there, you’re still gonna be the prettiest thing on the property.”
Curtis melted into a damn puddle.
Rid shook his head at Dale. “Is this supposed to be payback?”
Dale’s head snapped up to his boyfriend. “You’re damn right it is.”
God glared at Genesis, waiting for his brother to speak up. Instead he was fucking smiling.
Smiling.
Dale held out one hand. “Come on. You wanna ride with me?”
“No,” God said.
“Hell no,” Ruxs snapped.
“Absolutely not,” Green said.
Fox barked, “Dale.”
Curtis nodded quickly. “I’d love to.”
Day, Ro, Johnson, Micheals, and Hart were failing badly at not laughing.
Curtis stepped forward and took Dale’s offered hand. God expected Dale to help him climb onto the back of the horse.
Instead, Dale leaned down, hooked one arm around Curtis with disgusting ease, and lifted his lithe body right off the ground. In one smooth motion, he spun Curtis up and settled him in front of him across the saddle.
Right on his fucking lap.
Curtis gasped, then laughed, legs spreading naturally on either side of the horse while Dale wrapped one arm around him to take the reins.
Dale dipped his head low near Curtis’s neck and drawled, “Hold on, pretty.”
Curtis grabbed the saddle horn with one hand and Dale’s forearm with the other, grinning as if he’d just been chosen from the crowd by a performer in Thunder Down Under.
Ruxs spun on Genesis. “Are you seriously gonna let him ride off with that Brokeback Mountain stud?”