Yup. He heard that. Serves him right.
He knew Kacey would respect her more for having some spunk to her. He still hadn’t figured out why that was important right now, but he’d worry about it later.
Dalton bypassed the turn-off for the hotel and kept going. “Boss, Bravo Five, can I have confirmation on our target location?”
“Bravo Five, Nemesis, the wolf’s den.”
“Copy that.” He checked his rearview mirrors, but all he could see was the team truck behind him and what appeared to be normal traffic. Wolf’s house worked for him. He chewed on the corner of his lip. As long as the trouble Rose was running from didn’t follow him to Wolf’s house and put his wife in danger, that is.
“I don’t understand,” Rose said. “Where are we going?”
“Some of the men who came with my boss are local. We’re going to one of their houses.”
“Boss, Charlie Five,” Kacey said behind him. “Going where we have innocents may not be a good idea until we figure out what the hell is going on. We don’t want to lead?—”
“Charlie Five,” Dalton interrupted with a growl, “While I appreciate the fact you seem to have received some brains in the damn post, do you think I’m stupid enough not to make a pitstop first?”
Caleb bit back a grin and winked at Rose when his brother got an earful for questioning their boss. Dalton had way too many years of Special Forces and running multiple mercenary teams not to be on the ball when it came to safety.
“Sorry, Boss.” Kacey winced. “Just making sure. The woman seems important to my brother. Just making sure we’re covering all angles.”
“Fuck you, Hunt. Just fuck you.”
“I’m totally lost,” Rose told him.
“We’re,” he glanced at a street sign, “umm…”
“No. I mean, I have no idea what’s going on. Charlies, Bravos, or who is talking to who.”
“I’ll make sure to introduce them all to you when we get to where we are going.” He hit the flicker when Dalton did and followed him into the parking lot of Aces Bar and Grill, then parked up in the spot next to him as the other truck did the same.
She peered up at him. He fucking hated the wariness in her eyes. “What happens now? Why are we at work?”
“Wait a sec before you get out, baby.” He made a mental note that she worked here. That was information he’d need later when he wanted to bring her on a date when all this shit was cleared up. He jerked his chin toward his brother, who nodded, got out of the truck, and slammed the door after him, making her jump. Caleb made a mental note to add that to the list he had running in his head for shit to beat his brother up for the next time they sparred. He pressed the button to release her seatbelt and tugged her toward him, brushing the whisps of hair that had fallen out of her messy bun back from her face. “How are you doing?”
“I don’t know.” She shuddered. “I’m not even sure where to start.” She looked over his shoulder, and her eyes widened. “Um, I think they are waiting for us.” She gestured toward the outside.
“Let them wait,” he murmured. “A couple of minutes either way isn’t going to kill them. It might actually teach them that not everyone asks ‘how high’ when they bark ‘jump.’ They are impatient at the best of times.”
“I feel bad?—”
“Don’t.” He grinned at her. “Blame me if it makes you feel better.” If it made him a sap to think he could get lost in the pools which were her eyes, then sign him up. He’d wear that label proudly. He curled one hand around the back of her neck and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll keep you safe,” he promised her. It was important that she believed that. He wanted her to believe it. Craved it. Because her feeling safe was suddenly at the top of his ‘most important shit on the planet’ list.
Rose jerked in his arms when someone knocked on the glass behind him. He scowled over his shoulder at the fucker who turned out to be his boss.
Yeah, I get it. We are on a time crunch if she’s being tracked. But give her a second to fucking breathe. Not every woman is a Lina.
He silently admitted to himself that he was kind of relieved that Rose wasn’t a kick ass and take names kind of woman like Dalton’s wife was, because that hint of vulnerability Rose had going on was driving his inner caveman insane with the need to fix all that was wrong in her world. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ll come around and get your door,” he told her as he opened his door.
“I can get it.”
He paused half in and half out of the truck. “I know. But I want to.” He waited for her to nod in agreement before he got all the way out. Thankfully, the guys knew what he was up to and didn’t ask questions as he jogged around the front of his truck and opened the door to help Rose out.
“Thank you.”
