My head swam as I was dragged backward.
I dug my heels into the concrete, but the man hauling me away was too strong.
I tried to scratch and claw at him, but the only thing in reach—his arm—was covered in a thick leather coat.
“Let me go.” I reached back, intent on digging my nails into his eyes.
“Stop, Noelle.” Ash’s voice filled my ear.
The shock of it froze me in place, giving him time to haul me over to Rafe and Bishop.
He let go, and I fell backward onto my ass.
“We have a snoop.”
I scrambled backward until my back hit a crate, and I used it to find leverage and stand.
Rafe growled low and deep, the sound menacing enough to weaken my knees.
Bishop stared at me, betrayal taking over his features.
“I had to know what you were doing.” I pointed at the crates. “There was no reason to be so secretive about it. You get stolen goods and give them to kids for Christmas.”
I spoke loud and clear, hoping like hell the guys listening through my wire would relay the information to my captain. “You’re not thieves. You’re ambassadors of goodwill.”
Suck that, Captain Delaney.
I’d been right.
They were good men operating under the guise of bad men.
Rafe took a step toward me, and that was all it took for my own anger to spark.
“You could have told me.” I spoke before he found his voice. “How could you keep this from me?”
I pointed at the crates, then at each of them. “I get that you don’t trust me, but damn it, this makes you look so much sweeter than anything I could ever write.”
My words seemed to shock him, all of them.
A thick kind of silence wrapped around us.
We might as well be the only four people in the world.
I even forgot about the wire strapped beneath my clothes.
I’d put it back on after my talk with Captain Delaney, and I’d been grateful when I overheard Rafe.
But now, all I could think about was how they looked at me and what I’d just admitted to everyone on the other side of the wire.
If they hadn’t known I was in love before, they did now.
Even if I hadn’t said the words out loud.
Rafe tore a hand through his hair with such violence, he ripped several strands free.
He littered the air with a string of curses and spun away from me. An instant later, he whirled back. “Fuck it. You already know too much. Might as well give you the rest of it.”
He motioned at the walls around us. “The guys and I do a toy drive every year. We take toys that have been removed from big box stores and shipping trucks and give them to kids in need.”
