Page 41 of Alex

Chapter Twenty

Alex had sentLiam with Pax to pick up some dresses for her and Evelyn to wear. Liam had grumbled but obeyed the order following the redhead as she sashayed out to the car as if Liam was her chauffeur. They had made it back within two hours and he had helped carry the outfits and an assortment of other things upstairs and to Pax’s room where she and Evelyn were getting ready.

He watched as Reid walked into the office that had been turned into a war room decked in black fatigues. A knife was strapped to his thigh, one in a holster on his shoulder, and Alex knew he had one in his boot.

“We all set?” Reid’s voice was voice calm, his southern accent barely there. Reid was always calm in a situation which was why he was running point on this from the outside. As an ex-member of the FBI hostage rescue team he was cool under pressure and a fantastic shot. He and Blake were like chocolate dipped churros as far as the other sex was concerned.

Being from North Carolina, Reid had that sleepy drawl going on that women couldn’t get enough of. Add to that his impeccable manners, his ma’am this and ma’am that, it was a sure thing that boy would get his rocks off. Unlike Blake who was the resident slut, Reid kept his conquests close to his chest.

“Nearly. Just waiting for the others and then we’ll go over the plan one last time before we roll out.”

Reid was leaning against the door jamb his posture relaxed as he folded his arms over his chest. He lifted his chin in assent not bothering with words when none were necessary. Alex felt the uncomfortable niggle in his gut—could Reid be the traitor? He didn’t think so as it didn’t fit his personality. Alex let the thought go. He couldn’t think about that now he just had to do his job and pray he could trust his men. As soon as he got back to Hereford though he and Jack were going to figure this shit out.

Gunner and Liam moved in next also wearing black fatigues. Liam was needed for the explosives on the boat and Gunner had secured them a small aircraft in case they needed to get away quickly. Blake was posing as Pax’s date for the night which enabled him to use his close protection skills to monitor the room around him while staying close to Pax and Evelyn.

“We’re just waiting for the ladies and Blake,” Alex said as he watched Liam move to the couch and settle in.

“You hear from Ambrose’s fiancée at all these days?” Gunner directed his question to Liam.

Alex saw Liam stiffen just a tiny bit before he relaxed. He didn’t think anybody else saw it, but he had, and it made him wonder. It could be completely innocent as Liam and Ambrose had been like brothers, growing up in the same area as kids. Losing Ambrose to a head wound which caused a brain bleed had been a blow to them all, but most especially Liam.

He had gone to work for Fortis for a while after not coping with the death of his best friend and needing to be close to home to help Ambrose’s fiancée deal with losing the man she loved while having a young child to raise.

Eidolon had missed him and after a few months he had come back but he wasn’t quite the joker he had been before his friend’s death. He was still the best explosives expert on the team, or any team for that matter, and still a solid operator, but he had a slightly wilder streak now. Almost as if he was playing with fire and didn’t care if he got burned.

“Na, haven’t been up to see her for a few months, been busy.”

Alex immediately knew Liam was lying. Why lie about it? It made no sense to him. His thoughts were stopped from further speculation when Pax walked in the room followed by Evelyn.

Alex felt every hair on his body respond to the vision in front of him. Dressed in a dark burgundy gown that was covered in tiny sequins and beads, it was slashed to the thigh and dipped low at the front to flash her amazing cleavage. Spaghetti straps held the moulded cups which barely covered her magnificent tits. A band of flesh coloured see-through net fit under her breasts showing off an inch of skin all the way around from the edge of her armpit across her ribs and upper abdomen to the other armpit. Alex went totally silent as she walked to him on champagne coloured stiletto satin sandals with tiny ankle straps. Dangling crystal earrings containing a tiny tracker hung from her ears.

“Do I pass muster?” Her soft laugh made his dick twitch. Her arms outstretched she gave him a slow spin to show the extremely low back on the dress before facing him again. Her dark, sultry hair was down and curled over one shoulder the end sitting over her left breast.

He pulled her to him so that her body was flush to his from hip to toe. The fingers of his right hand skimming the soft skin of her back as he kept the other in the front pocket of his tux, fearing if he put both hands on her they would not be leaving this house for many hours to come and that could not happen.

“You are so fucking beautiful that I can hardly think straight,” he said barely growling the words into her ear lobe before his teeth bit down on the soft flesh. He felt her shiver in his arms and fought the grin.

“You’re pretty handsome yourself in that tux, Mr Martinez.” She looked up at him and touched her tongue to her bottom lip to moisten it. He loved that he could do that to her but the way she affected him was fucking criminal.

“You going to call me Mr Martinez when I fuck you while you’re wearing those sandals and nothing else later?” He didn’t care that the others were listening in to their conversation while they waited.

“Oh, most definitely.” Her words ended on a purr, and he chuckled at the sexy eager sound.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road so I can get to the part of the evening where I get to fuck you.” He turned her around, patted her ass, and moved away. Again, he didn’t trust himself having her close while his libido was going nuts. “Right, let’s go over the plan one last time. I don’t want any fuck ups. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, boss,” they all chorused although Pax and Evelyn said it with a smirk.

“Evelyn and I will arrive first using a taxi-boat that Gunner will be driving. Fifteen minutes later, Pax and Blake will arrive. Liam, you will be in the boat with us hidden from sight. You will then exit the boat and slip onto the bottom deck as it’s docked with The Kratos. The proximity to the boat will give you some cover from the guards patrolling the top decks but you’ll only have a short window while we distract them for you to get on the bottom deck. You’ll then set the charges in case we need them later.”

Alex turned to Reid. “Reid, you’ll follow in the same way with Pax and Blake.” He turned to Pax. “You’ll need to make sure the distraction is enough to make the guards look the other way.”

Pax tipped her head. Her hair was in a fancy updo that he had no idea how to describe. The long black gown with white lace detail at the top fitted her like a glove and he could see why men got distracted by her. She was stunningly beautiful but did nothing for him. Hopefully the guards wouldn’t feel the same way.

“You just worry about you and I’ll do my job.” The eye roll that accompanied her words seemed to be her go-to communication.

“Fine. Evelyn, you and I will look for the file. Pax and Blake, you stay close to Simon. If he moves, I want to know. After the charges are set Liam and Reid will take out the guards below deck. We’ll sweep Simon’s private quarters. It must be somewhere on board. My best guess is he’ll have it on him, that’s what I would do. If we have no luck, Pax, you lure him back to his room and we’ll take him there and get what we need from him. We know some of the players but not all of them, so be on your guard. Our covers are in place and as far as we know nobody knows us or should recognise us. Evelyn, did you ever meet Petra in person?”

“Yes, but I was using a disguise. She didn’t know what I looked like. She thought I was a blonde, and I went by Siren,” with her.”