He flashed his Triad brothers a look she couldn’t discern, then glanced at Shawn.They didn’t lock horns, and there was no tension, but there was a certain ‘measuring’ going on.She didn’t have to understand it to know what was happening, and she figured that was only fair.
Marc, Trip, and Ryan were powerful men in their own right.They owned a very large restaurant chain, most with more awards than she could count and even a handful of Michelin stars thrown in for good merit.They were independently wealthy, and were the creators of that wealth.Then, there was their position in the Pride to take into consideration.Ryan was a leader of a huge population in one of the country’s largest states.
Shawn, she was sorry to say, might have a hard time fitting in.
Sure, he was affluent.The salary he earned was half a million a year, and as he didn’t have much of a life outside of what he had with her, she couldn’t imagine him having spent that.In fact, she’d always imagined he’d be saving up a nest egg so that when he could retire, he could buy a boat and spend his days fishing in some Louisiana bayou.Well, that is if you could catch fish in bayous.She’d never been, even though he’d always promised half-heartedly to take her to his home town.
He’d been an officer in the Armed Forces, though he never told her which unit.And as she knew him, she could imagine it was one of those secretive branches that were in and out of the action before the press got hold of the news a week later.He was that kind of guy.Not a hammer blow to the solar plexus, but a swift, sharp jab to the nose that had the assailant down on the ground before he could do little more than blink.
Amused at the notion, she turned to the cops when Santiago, the tall dark guy, cleared his throat.
“We’ve spent the past forty-eight hours trying to figure out exactly why Ms.Forsythe-Drew could have been targeted by the Pantera, and most of the leads we have aren’t going anywhere.I’ll be honest, sirs, it’s a tangle.”
Erickson handled his tablet and passed it over to El.She looked down at the picture of Jamie, and gulped.Around him there were around two dozen men.“Who are they?”she asked softly.“I know he was in the Army.Are they a part of his battalion or something?”
“No.That’s his graduating year at high school.Do you recognize any of them?”
She peered at the faces, then zoomed in on the screen.She didn’t just glance over the men, instead, she took care to really look and see if she recognized them from any sphere of her life.That that sphere was relatively small made it easier.
As she made it to the end of the row of smiling, proud faces, she closed her eyes.Blindly, she passed it to Shawn.“Enrique,” she choked off.
Shawn swore under his breath as he grabbed the tablet from her hold.“Fucking hell,” he bit off, confirming what she’d known but had hoped to be untrue.“They were in it together.That’s why I can’t get a hold of him and why he never checked in with me.”
Her bottom lip trembled and before she knew what was happening, Trip sidled up closer to her on the sofa where she was seated, and Marc got up from his armchair and huddled next to her on the other side.
Before she’d had chance to take little more than a dozen breaths, they’d surrounded her.Protected her in their bubble of love.
Gratitude filled her, and she placed her hands on their knees, squeezing gently in thanks.
“They’ve been with us a long time,” Shawn said gruffly, apparently taking note of Trip and Marc’s behavior.She could tell he didn’t know whether to be thankful or jealous.
The other three didn’t seem to have any jealousy between them, but then, as they’d all said to her at some point, they’d been raised to be accepting of this.Raised to know that without the Triad, a mate bond wasn’t possible, and therefore, they had no reason to be jealous.
But Shawn was from another culture.A culture where men didn’t share their women.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d flounder in the face of their easy acceptance and the gentle cosseting.It was in the nature of the beast, even if that beast was of the human persuasion, to be possessive.
That wasn’t going to be possible when she was going to have to divide her time between four men.
Jesus, talk about a full-time job, she thought ruefully.
She’d have been overwhelmed at the prospect if another more pressing need didn’t overwhelm her instead… the deep-seated to spend every single moment she had with them.
Was that the bond at play?
It had to be.She’d always appreciated her solitude.Was a loner at heart…
Just not when it came to these guys, it seemed.
“How long?”Erickson demanded.
It took a second for her to remember what they’d been discussing, her thoughts inexplicably on the day to day minute of life with four men.
“Jamie was with me for eight years,” El said softly.“Enrique for four.All that time, were they plotting something?”
“I doubt it, El,” Ryan argued.“That’s a long time to infiltrate a household.Especially when that household has no links to their brotherhood.”
She frowned.“Then why?”
