Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Andrew

Andrew

“ K eep your elbow up,” I barked at Beth and jabbed out to her left. She ducked and swiped her leg at me. I bounced over it and tapped her side. “You’re leaving yourself open, Bug.”

She put her hands up and took a couple steps back. “I’m tired.”

“Wes keep you up too late last night?” I teased her, and she swiped for my head before leaning over, huffing in air with her hands on her knees.

“No. Emily, actually. We were busy moving more of the Vaux money around. I only got about two hours of sleep before I had to be up for the day’s job meeting.” She stood back up, put her hands on her hips, and sighed. “Who was the idiot who said I’d be able to pull off two full-time jobs?”

I smirked at her because we both knew that she was that idiot.

“Shut up, Skeet!”

“What? I didn’t say nuttin’. In fact, Wes has also made it clear you don’t have to work if you don’t want to. ”

“What, and just sit on my ass all day like you do?” She smiled brightly, and I was going to retort, but I heard Jensen’s voice coming down the stairs outside of the gym. It was firm but held a note of concern. Turning toward the door, I noticed a few members of Beta looked out to see what the commotion was about. I narrowed my eyes as he passed the open, glass double doors, trying to figure out who he was talking to, but his body obstructed my ability to see. All I saw was a flash of bright red hair and dark skin. Jensen’s voice carried through the gym as he said, “Well, I will feel better after Doc has a chance to check you over. Then we will meet with him.”

Him? Who would he be bringing to the compound to meet? If it were with Emmett, he would have used his name and title.

“What was that about?” I turned and gave Beth an even look, making her roll her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you can’t tell me because it’s business .” She glanced at the door again and narrowed her eyes. “Though, I’m impressed with his ability to go out today. Wes mentioned he and Dezi were up all night with the twins. I feel so bad for them. Sick infants are never fun.”

“Very true. I think Raquel is watching them now so Desiree can get a few hours. As for Jensen, well, I don’t know much other than he had to extract one of his informants.” My thoughts were distracted by the unknown identity of the person he’d brought in. “Are you done sparring for today, Bug?”

She took a deep breath. “Yeah, my arms are dead. I’ll do my three miles on the treadmill before heading up.”

I nodded and started unwrapping the tape from my hands. “I need to get some weights in, anyway. These pecs aren’t going to reform on their own.”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t get shot and almost die on us, you wouldn’t still be rebuilding all that strength back.”

Laughing, I grabbed her in a huge hug. “Yeah, I’ll remember that next time I’m trying to keep you alive.”

She pushed me off her. Chuckling, I lifted the ropes and helped her out of the ring. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me every time we spar, Bug. I’ll always help you out. Well, unless something major happens.”

She twisted and kicked me in the butt. “Let’s never have something like that happen again, okay? Between us, the San Augustines, and the Agostis, I think we’ve had enough drama to last a lifetime. Three wars in less than two years, Skeet. I’ve done the research. There hasn’t been that kind of upheaval in Chicago in generations.”

I nodded as she grabbed her headphones and started unwrapping her hands. I did the same, put on one of my playlists, and went to the rack. After setting my weight, I laid on the bench and lifted the bar. Slowly, I brought the bar down and pressed back up, feeling the muscles engage slowly.

It was my third set of ten, and the muscles in my chest were starting to burn, when there was a tap on my knee. I finished the press and racked the bar before looking down to see Wes standing at the end of the bench. I pulled off my headphones. “What’s up?”

“Emmett wants to see you.”

I nodded and wiped my face down. “I’ll get cleaned up and be right there.”

“No, he wants you now.”

I gave him a confused look, and he pressed his lips into a thin line, not saying a thing. He held my gaze with a hard stare, like he was trying to put together a puzzle, before I let out a sigh and nodded. Only then did he finally turn and head for Beth. After wiping down the equipment, I slipped on a T-shirt, grabbed my bag, and hooked the strap over my shoulder. Bug’s laughter caught my attention, and I looked over just as Wes pulled the emergency chain, reached over, threw her over his shoulder, and rushed past me and up the stairs from the basement level, Bug playfully fighting him off the entire way.

My heart swelled with love for them. They had both endured terrible losses, and to see them find happiness again gave me hope for my future.

One day, I’ll have that.

They say it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. But the pain of loving someone so completely, only to have them ripped from you is not something I would wish on my worst enemy. Wes and Beth had endured that kind of loss and had still found love in each other. They had told me they didn’t love each other the same way they had loved their previous spouses, but it was all-consuming all the same.

I want that.

I took a deep breath when I got upstairs to the main entryway and smiled at the sound of Bug’s playful shriek in the upstairs hall before a door slammed shut, cutting off all sound. Tossing my gym bag at the base of the stairs, I turned to the shut door of Emmett’s office and knocked.

It was just a moment before I heard Emmett’s, “Come in.”

I opened the door, and he was standing behind his desk, leaning on the back of the chair in front of him, while Jensen was leaning against the front of the new, carved, wooden desk, arms and ankles crossed. There was a woman in the leather chair facing Emmett’s desk with bright red hair, cut blunt and short, and dark skin. Her long legs were visible, and I didn’t miss how they were scraped and bleeding. There were more scratches down the one arm on this side of her, and I noted a scar that ran from mid-bicep through the back of the elbow and disappeared into the forearm. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t see her face. She had turned her head just enough that it was impossible to determine if it was someone I knew. Looking back to Emmett, I shut the door behind me. “You wanted to see me?”

His attention went to Jensen, who was looking at the woman. “Do you want to tell him?” She shook her head, and as the hair moved, I saw a tattoo on her neck, but with the dim lighting in Emmett’s office, I couldn’t clearly make it out from this distance. There was blood matting the ends of her hair, but they’d given her a clean white tank top while Doc had worked on her at least.

When she didn’t say anything, Jensen continued, “I got a call earlier today from a particular informant of mine.” He jerked his head to the woman. “She had some information that was crucial but was being held hostage by Ivanov.”

I took a step forward as her shoulders tightened and she winced. “Which is why you ran out of here like a bat out of hell earlier.” He nodded. “So, what do you need from me?”

“While she is apparently very thankful that we pulled her out of the hellhole that they were keeping her in, she is holding the information hostage from us now.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together. “So, make her tell you. Do your job.”

The woman flinched, and Jensen gave me an even look. “Believe it or not, if there is a way to get the information without bloodshed, I at least try to go that route first. Hence why you are here. She won’t tell us anything until she sees you. Part of the deal we had made. She’s demanding payment.”

“Okay. Well, while I don’t appreciate being payment , I’m here.” I took a couple steps forward as she stood. I was just out of reach when she turned to face me, freezing me in place, including my heart.

There was no way the woman in front of me could be sitting there.

“Hi, Shadow.”