Chapter 16

Attemptingto stop himself from whistling as he walked into the office was damn near impossible for Angelo. He’d had the best night of his life—and morning, too.

Teresa’s mouth around his cock was the best way to wake up, and he wanted that every morning. Although waking her up like the way she woke him up had a certain appeal.

He licked his lips as if he could still taste her.

“Will you stop doing that?” she grumbled beside him.

“Doing what?” He needed her to say it.

“Licking your lips as if you’ve just had the most delicious feast ever. We’re at your workplace.”

The temptation to lick her neck was strong, something Angelo had never felt toward a woman he’d slept with before. This sense of ownership was new to him.

Was this how Growler and Ox felt when they found their women?

He mentally shook his head to dislodge the thought. One night didn’t mean he’d found his forever.

Although the thought of anyone else having Teresa the way he’d had her the night before curdled the delicious pancakes she’d made for breakfast.

“I don’t care what anyone thinks,” he said as he directed her into the conference room they’d been in the previous day.

“What exactly am I supposed to be doing here today?” Teresa asked as she found a seat.

Angelo headed over to the coffee machine. Leaving her alone at his place wasn’t an option. The situation was too risky. Her going back to her apartment was still out of the question.

Which reminded him, he needed to get Eveline or Cass to look into Phillip.

“You can put your feet up and relax.” Angelo placed a steaming mug in front of her, not at all bothered by the dirty look Teresa threw at him.

“That’s not how I work. I need to do something, Angelo. We can’t let the cartel get away with what they’re doing.”

“And we won’t, but I won’t put you in danger. We have the information you’ve given us. I don’t doubt Cass will probably have questions for you, and you’ll be able to help her.” Angelo fully expected that to be the case. There was a ton of information Teresa had uncovered, and it all needed to be sorted into what was cartel related and what wasn’t.

“Fine, but I’m not going to sit around and do nothing. Now that I emailed Arturo Associates this morning telling them I quit—effective immediately, I’m going to need to find another job. Even if Monte calls me today and says he needs me back, I’m going to tell him to take a hike. He can’t expect me to go back after he basically pushed me out the door and told me to fend for myself.” Tears glistened in Teresa’s eyes. Underneath the bravado of her words, she was hurt by the lack of support her boss had given her.

Angelo lifted her from her seat and wrapped her up in a hug, breathing deeply, noting the fresh lemony scent from her shampoo. “It’s their loss, Tre. And it won’t be long before they realize that.” He pressed his lips to hers, and in seconds, they were both devouring each other.

If they were anywhere but in the office, he’d bend her over the conference table and take her. Have her screaming out his name so loudly there was no mistake who she belonged to. However, they were at his job so he couldn’t do that, but he would later.

Reluctantly, Angelo broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve got to see Ox. I’ll let Cass know you’re here so you can help her.”

Teresa nodded, her gray eyes smoky with lust. “Okay.”

He smiled and held out her chair for her. “Just so you know. When we get home, I’m going to have you screaming my name within minutes of us walking through the door.”

He took pleasure in seeing her body shudder in response to his words. As he walked out, he adjusted his pants, but he was so hard it was impossible to hide it.

Angelo stopped outside of Cass’s office and reached for the one thing that would guarantee his cock to deflate—his mother walking in on him when he was fifteen and he’d been jacking off. The shock on her face and the horror at being caught with his dick in his hand had sat with him for a long time, and like that day, he instantly deflated and felt comfortable walking in.

Giving the door a swift knock, Angelo waited a moment, then entered when he heard her call to come in. “Morning, Cass. You good? We missed you last night at Astrid and Growler’s,” he said as he sauntered in.

She looked up. Dark shadows beneath the dark rims of her glasses were visible as she rubbed her temples. “Yeah, just tired.”

A tendril of worry wove its way around him.

Cass had been suffering from bad headaches recently, and even though she’d been medically cleared, there was still something going on with her.

She was like a sister to him. He teased her, and she gave it back to him.

“You got another headache?” he asked as he came closer to her.

“No, just didn’t sleep well. I keep—doesn’t matter. What do you need?”

Angelo had been foolish to think Cass would open up—she never had before. He wanted to question her. Find out what she’d been about to say, but the more anyone pushed Cass, the more she shut down.

The only one who could probably get her to open up was Irish, and he wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity. Which was probably a good thing because if Irish thought Angelo was pressuring Cass, he wouldn’t be afraid to show his displeasure.

“I’m here if you need me,” Angelo said, deliberately ignoring her question.

“I know.” A soft smile curved her lips. “I’m trying to process a few things.”

Cass opening up a little was unexpected, and again he wasn’t going to push her to do more than what she was comfortable with.

“You do what you need to do. As for your question of what I need, I wanted to let you know Teresa’s in the conference room, ready to help.”

Even as he spoke, he could feel his lips stretching into a goofy grin. Angelo couldn’t help it. Talking, even thinking about Teresa, made him happy.

“Got it. You like her, don’t you?” Cass asked.

If the shoe was on the other foot, he’d be asking her the same thing if she got a goofy grin on her face.

“I do.” What was the point in denying it?

“Not you, too. What is in the water around here lately? I’m going to get my drinks from anywhere but here,” Cass joked.

The tease wasn’t a shocker. As much as he tried to stop himself, Angelo was doing exactly what he said he wouldn’t do—get involved with the person he was protecting, just like Ox and Growler had.

The difference was, he and Teresa had known each other for more than a few weeks before getting tangled up with each other.

“Just having some fun, Cass.” The second Angelo uttered the words, he wished he could snatch them back.

What he said disrespected not only Teresa, but what they shared.

“Uh-huh, you keep on telling yourself that. Anyway, I’ve got work to do, and you’ve got a meeting to go to, so scram and let me do my job.” She turned attention back to the screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard, effectively shutting him out and closing down the conversation.

Some people might get offended by Cass’s actions, but he didn’t. This was how Cass operated.

After watching her for a few more seconds to make sure she was okay, he quietly left the office and headed down to the other conference room where he was meeting Ox and the others.

The buzz of conversation reached him, and he remembered that today was the day the new guys were starting.

It was good to see the business expanding, and the odd jobs they did for the FBI, where they got to rid the world of sick fuckers, were always a good thing.

“Angel, glad you could make it,” Ox said drily when Angelo took a seat next to Growler.

Ox was seated at the head of the table, where he usually sat. To his right was Irish, and to his left was Growler. The rest of the seats were taken by four men, all sharing the same edge of danger that surrounded him.

The edge of a special forces soldier.

Angelo could tell that they were all recently retired or discharged by the way they still held themselves stiff, as if waiting to salute whoever walked into the room.

Angelo remembered that all too well. It’d taken him a good three months before his hand didn’t automatically raise to salute Ox whenever he walked into his office.

He gave them a chin lift and received four in return. “Sorry I had to check in with Cass about something concerning the case we’re working on.” As much as he trusted Ox to have employed the right men, he still didn’t want to say too much about Teresa and the Ramirez cartel. That could come later.

“Everything good?” his boss asked.

“Yep.”

Ox nodded. “Right, let’s get started. I want to welcome Brighton “Fox” Chambers, Dalton “Jag” Jaeger, Kayce “Deal” Simmonds, and Porter “Hound” Hammond to Alliez.”

A round of nods accompanied the introduction. Angelo might’ve only just met them, but the guys would fit in well with him and the others.

There was no way Ox would do anything that would upset the balance of camaraderie that existed in the group.

“Let me give you a rundown of what we do and why we needed to bring on basically a new team of guys,” Ox addressed the room.

Angelo listened with one ear as Ox explained their new venture with the FBI along with the other core business that had been the backbone of Alliez—personal security.

As much as he wanted to get to know the guys, he also wanted to get back to Teresa to see how she was doing. To make sure that she wasn’t overwhelmed or hadn’t found something and decided to go off by herself to investigate.

No, she wouldn’t do that, would she?

At least he hoped she wouldn’t do something as risky as that. No, if she had, Eveline or Cass would’ve interrupted the meeting and told him.

Unease settled in his belly, and it wouldn’t go away until Angelo saw for himself she was okay. He was about to stand when Ox’s next words kept his butt firmly in his seat.

“We’ve got a new assignment from Julian.”

Dammit, was this what Growler and Ox had felt when jobs had come up from Julian which would entail them to leave the country for days, effectively leaving Astrid and Eveline to fend for themselves when they were still in danger?

“What is it?” Angelo asked, needing to get the information and process it.

“Julian’s found an offshoot of the cult he grew up in.” Ox pressed a button, and the doors of the wall cabinet behind him slid open, revealing a large television which showed the image of a man in his late fifties. His dark hair was graying at the temples, and his blue eyes appeared dead. “One of the former members started this cult up a few months after Freedom and Love were brought down by the Feds. Only this time, it’s worse than what the former cult did. This time, the guy is targeting women and children who are staying at shelters. He’s been hitting them up all over the state of California, Washington, and Oregon. Never staying long enough for the shelter workers to realize what he was doing.”

“Is he the only one who goes out and gets these women and children, or are there more of these fuckers around?” Irish growled, his hand clenched into a tight fist on top of the table.

“From the intel Julian has gathered, he managed to lure two men who’d left Freedom and Love, and they take turns going out. Always making sure someone stays behind with the women and children so that they don’t escape.”

“What the fuck is wrong with people?” the guy who’d been introduced as Porter—and if Angelo remembered correctly the guy’s nickname was Hound, asked.

“If we knew the answer to that, Hound, we’d all be living in a better place,” Ox said.

“What does Julian want us to do?” Angelo asked, eager to know what was happening, whether he would be leaving, or Ox would get the new guys to take on this mission.

“At the moment, the FBI and Julian are still gathering intel. Julian wants to go in and take this fucker down but knows we can’t move until they have all the information they need. There’s no way the Feds want anything to happen to the innocent women and children. They’re not going to act until they have everything in place.” His boss tapped a button, and the screen went black. “I’m thinking it’ll be at least another ten days before we’ll be called in to go and take this fucker down.”

“How many of us will be required for this mission?” Angelo looked around at the new men in the room. They all looked eager and ready to go. A few days ago, that would’ve been him. While part of him was still eager to get into the thick of things, he had a reason to hang back and let others go and do the job.

If Teresa wasn’t in danger, he’d be first to put up his hand, knowing that she would be okay with him going on a mission.

How quickly his life had changed, and he didn’t hate it as much as he once might’ve.