“No,” Angelo’s fingers went to the tag on the chain around his neck. His fingers stroked over the metal. “We have talked about this many times, my friend, and have decided it is better that I don’t know.”
“If you say so,” Cade shrugged as if he wasn’t worried about the brooding his teammate slipped into when nobody was looking, “But I think you are a dumbass to not at least be curious.”
“You are going to visit your man?” Angelo waggled his eyebrows, effectively changing the subject. Angelo’s mind was made up, what was back there was shit, and he had no intention of revisiting the past. His heart told him it wasn’t worth the heartache it would bring.
“Yeah.” Cade resisted the urge to bounce on his heels and forced himself to stay in place. No matter how much he wanted to bolt across the room and open the door, he refused to be one of those people who had no time for others once a relationship or a new squeeze was in the picture. “The bosses told me he had some freedoms.”
“Good.” Angelo stood out of his chair and started gathering his shit. If Rio was no longer considered a hostile guest then he could get his ass back to his own room and get back to his brooding. “Have fun.”
“Later.”Fun? I fucking hope so!Cade felt his phone buzz in his ass pocket; pulling it out he swiped through the screens to read the email Grif had sent him. He probably would have ignored it, except that the subject line of ‘Rio’ was too freaking important to ignore. He scrolled down the page,that can’t possibly be true…his brain struggled to make sense of what he was reading. His teeth grinding together to keep silent. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to shout or sigh, or maybe punching something would be better, but he knew that a whisper of a sound would make his nosey ass friend too curious to leave. He did not want a freaking audience for this.
“I’m off,” Angelo told him. Cade waved over his shoulder, pulled up his proverbial big boy pants, and went to knock at the door of Victor One.
“Come in.”
“Hey,” Cade pushed in the door, pausing for a second to appreciate the smile that grew across Rio’s face. That slow one that made him want to kiss it right off those amazing lips. For about three seconds, he just stood there like a doofus; gone was all the stuff they needed to discuss. His brain refused to kick in; his dick and own wants taking over, he moved to pull Rio roughly against his broad chest. His hands snaked up Rio’s back, tangled in his hair, and Cade held him in place, held him just where he wanted him, as he took control of the damn situation.
His mouth was slow and gentle on Rio’s, at least at first. He took his time, really luxuriating in his firm lips, in exploring him and tasting him. This—all of this, the draw to Rio, the wanting to be near him, the urge to defend and protect him. This was uncharted waters. Did it matter? Nope, not right now it didn’t, definitely not when Rio moaned and gave as good as he got.
Still kissing him, Rio reached between their bodies and stroked Cade’s dick through his jeans. Discovering that he was huge and hard, he twisted his hand to cup him, to press and tease.
Idiot, you shouldn’t be doing this, engage the brain cells, not the fuck me stupid cells, Romeo.
Cade gripped his hand and pulled him away from his dick with a growl of, “No. That ain’t happenin’.”
“What?”
“I do not need you to fuck me to let you stay here or keep you alive.”
“Asshole.” Rio jerked out of Cade’s grip. “What the fuck are you talking about? Why do I need help staying alive?”
“Because the CIA agent you were meant to meet in Brazil was killed.” Cade said. “His phone was taken. You. Were. Compromised.”
“Fuck.” Rio was freaking surprised his brain didn’t explode with all the possibilities. Did his father know? Was this why he was sent to Mexico, for El’ Mencho to keep an eye on him? If so, where were the guards? Had he missed them? “Fuck.” Repeating the curse wasn’t necessary, but in that moment in time, it kept him from screaming his frustration so loudly he brought every agent in this fucking bat cave running with weapons at ready position.
“Come with me.” Cade made the decision on the fly. Grabbing Rio by the arm, he dragged him toward the door.
“Where are we going?” Damn it, he should have known better than to stay here. Not that he’d had much choice once Cade had brought him here to their hideaway, or maybe it was their base. They had to keep him, probably would by force if he had refused to stay. “I’ll tell you and your bosses all you need to know.”
“Yup,” Cade led the way through the room with the cages to a door, there he entered a code into the keypad and led Rio farther into Dreamland. Every step they took through the tunnel, lights illuminated the way, turning off behind them once they had passed. Cade entered another password into a keypad next to yet another door and waved Rio on ahead of him.
“I told you this was a bat cave.” Rio stared at the three helicopters, the missiles attached on each making them appear ready for war.
“Blackhawks.” Cade told him, “And this is Dreamland, not a bat cave.” They moved straight through the hangar to the door on the other side.
Rio followed as Cade led him through the rabbit warren of tunnels. It was a genius idea to build their base into this mountain. Who would ever think to look in a long dead volcano for the enemy? El’ Mencho or his cartels certainly hadn’t. “Why do you call it Dreamland?”
“Rock wanted to build his dream base,” Cade walked next to Rio. “Wanted to have the latest equipment, satellite access, the ability to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice. Wanted his own team, where he could train them, decide how and where they worked.” He snorted out a laugh, “The brass told him he was living in Dreamland. He was military and subject to their rules and regulations.”
“So how did he end up here, with all of you?”
“The DOD came calling with a specific request to embed with the Taliban, they wanted information. Needed it. Rock’s price for walking away from Delta was his own team. They agreed. Although when he built this place and called it Dreamland, he raised a few eyebrows.” Pausing to punch in a code to yet another locked door, he waved Rio on ahead of him, before closing the door behind them. “Fucker answers the phone to the DOD as, ‘You have reached Dreamland, how may I direct your call?’ every damn time since.”
“Your boss has a weird sense of humor.”
“Yup.” Cade waved his arm, drawing Rio’s attention to the room they were now in, “I shoulda asked, but you work out right?”
Rio scanned the room, taking in all the exercise equipment. Thank fuck, something to do that would allow him to burn off some of this restlessness that kept him slightly on edge. He had never been the most confrontational of people, preferring to keep his opinions to himself. But being here, in this place, in Dreamland aka the bat cave as he preferred to call it, was freaking hard. Who knew if it was because he trusted Cade and his team not to shoot him for having a difference of opinion, or if it was because when he had gone to the CIA with his fears of something huge coming from the collaboration between his father and El’ Mencho, that he already knew he had picked his side. His family—they hadn’t paid much attention to his opinions or his thoughts. They expected him to follow the family line. They should have remembered that old proverb,revenge is a dish best served cold.
