“Put me on speaker.”
Scout didn’t hesitate. “You’re on.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m good.”
“That’s my boy.” Clay smirked. Beau continued while Scout couldn’t look away from Clay. “You know where to put him. I’m on my way.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can our new guest hear me?”
Clay’s gaze flickered toward Jay, as if checking to see if he was still conscious—like the guy wasn’t still struggling. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. When I get there, you’ll wish my boy had killed you. No one fucks with one of mine. Think on it while you wait for me. I bet you can’t even dream of what I’ll do to you. Your people know not to touch the Bosi family. It looks like they need reminding.”
The phone disconnected, and Jay went limp, as if the fire bled from him. “No one mentioned anything about the Bosi family. I was instructed only to retrieve a defector.”
Clay made a low humming sound. “Well, let this be lesson number one. Not asking questions gets you killed. Come on.” He repositioned their bodies to hide the gun between them as he marched Jay to his car.
Scout hopped in the back. He wouldn’t risk anything happening to Clay on the drive. “We’ll come back for the other car tomorrow.”
Clay tossed him a wink, and everything inside Scout sang. He would be absolute fire in bed. Jay should die twice just for that interruption alone. Scout had never been more primed.
Chapter Four
Thenightturnedoutto be a hell of a lot longer than Clay expected. A week of preparations had to be slashed to only hours. With their unwilling guest locked away, Scout and he rushed through the house doing all the last-minute inspections. They had scheduled the maid service for tomorrow. That left Scout and him with the job of tossing bedding on top of beds as quickly as possible. By the time they were done, Scout looked exhausted. Clay couldn’t stop tossing looks his way, checking for any signs of his earlier ordeal. On his part, Clay was still enraged. That fucking piece of shit had held a knife on Scout. Clay was ready to tear him apart. But orders were orders, and Beau—with the help of Henry, no doubt—wanted him alive. In the smallest of ways, Clay felt slightly bad for the guy. If Jay spoke the truth about only following orders, and Scout seemed to think that was the case, then Jay hadn’t known how massive of a mistake he had made. His shitty leaders had sent him in blind to a situation he couldn’t win. Jobs like these weren’t personal. Clay would know. He had been there.
“What are you thinking so hard about? You have a very intense look going on over there.”
Clay smiled at Scout’s observation. “It’s just been a hell of a night, and it’s not over. Beau will be here soon.”
“I’m sure he won’t expect you to stay awake when he gets here.”
Clay shrugged. “Honestly, I have no clue what will happen. It’s been a while since I’ve heard Beau that angry.”
They stood in the center of the main family room and held each other’s stare. It was obvious neither of them knew what to say.
Scout stepped closer and rubbed Clay’s arms, as if trying to warm him. “Don’t stress too much about this. Beau is one calculating motherfucker. I doubt he’ll actually walk into anything with nothing but blind rage.”
Clay lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I don’t even know why I’m worried about what he’ll do.”
The comforting expression Scout wore soothed Clay’s frayed nerves. “Because you’re a good person and you know that guy is just a puppet. But whoa, dude. That hold was impressive as hell. Jay isn’t just some guy with a knife. He’s a trained assassin. You acted as if he was nothing.”
The complementary speech confused Clay a little. “I’m on Beau’s security team.”
A smile stretched Scout’s lips. “You say that as if I should’ve realized you’re a badass. In retrospect, I guess I should’ve. Not just anyone has what it takes to guard such a huge target. Of course, this has a thousand other questions running through my mind. Like how exactly were you trained? Is the entire army of guards trained the same?”
“They learn from me.”
Scout jumped at Henry’s appearance. Then he was shoved out of the way by Beau’s massive right-hand man. “Are you okay?” He patted Clay as if searching for injuries.
“I’m o—”
Henry was shoved aside. Beau looked panicked. “Tell me what happened. Are you sure you’re all right?”
A nervous chuckle escaped Clay. He wasn’t used to being fussed over.
