He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “I don’t want to be single.”
I curled my fingers around the nape of his neck and jerked him forward until our lips met. The kiss was rough and possessive, just like me. I thrust my tongue past his lips and into the recesses of his mouth, dominating him as I always did.
One of the things I truly loved about Lany was his acceptance of all facets of my personality, including my overwhelming need to dominate him. It had started the first time our eyes met in that bar bathroom all those years ago and continued in bright livid color to this very day.
But there was a soft side, too.
As I let our lips slowly part, I stared into his amber-green eyes. “I love you, Lany.”
Tears instantly flooded his eyes, making them luminous. “I know,” he whispered. “I love you, too.”
“Listen to Marcus until I come for you.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I simply stepped away from him and then glanced at Marcus. “Keep him safe.”
Marcus gave me a single nod before moving to stand in the doorway of the vehicle. He’d been guarding Lany long enough to know how to keep him safe, and I knew he’d do his level best to do just that.
I prayed it was enough.
“Let’s go.”
I started moving toward the warehouse, my steps confident and sure. This was what I excelled at. It had been the same in the Marines and now as the commander of SWAT Team One. I knew what I was doing, how to save the people I was rescuing, and how to keep myself and my team safe.
Lany was the unknown factor. If he stayed where I had left him until I came for him, then everything would be okay. If he didn’t—and I had doubts that he would—then the rescue would go to hell and I’d have to change the plan on the fly.
I pushed my worry to the back of my mind and went into rescue mode.
It was the only thing I could do.
I knew that Cynthia was supposed to be inside that warehouse. I needed to get to it, confirm that that was where she was being held, and then go in and get her, preferably without anyone getting hurt…or Lany breaking his promise to me.
At the end of the day, if we were all breathing, Cynthia was rescued, and Lany wasn’t in the emergency room, I’d call it a win.
We were about halfway down the block when I saw a figure step out of the shadows. I pulled my gun out of my holster and aimed before heading in that direction. I breathed a sigh of relief and reholstered my gun when the shadow became Vinnie. His bodyguard Barak stood right behind him, always guarding him.
“Carlos has twenty men surrounding the warehouse,” Vinnie told me. “Once you rescue Cynthia, they will fade into the darkness for obvious reasons.”
While we all knew they were there, the police could not. It wouldn’t do any of us any good if Internal Affairs learned I’d taken thugs from the Gambino crime family on a rescue mission.
“Just make sure they incapacitate if they can, not shoot to kill.”
“They know,” Vinnie replied. “They are simply here to assist you in case you need them. We all want Cynthia returned safely.”
It was amazing to me that a woman no taller than my husband could garner so much adoration from men from all walks of life so easily. Cynthia smiled and we all smiled. Cynthia got kidnapped and people from both sides of the law were ready to throw down their lives to get her back.
I lived a very weird life.
Vinnie gestured to a building a little farther down the block. “Patty and his guys are over that way watching the warehouse.”
I gestured back the way I’d come. “Lany, Marcus, and Dmitri are back there in the car. You can wait with them.”
Vinnie’s eyes widened. “You brought Lany?”
My sigh was heavy. “He refused to stay home.”
Vinnie grunted and started walking. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“I’d appreciate it, Vinnie.” He might be one of the few people on the face of the planet that could talk sense into Lany. God knew Lany didn’t listen to most people.
