Chapter 2

Two

Mac

I stepped into our brand new Kratos Securities offices and couldn't fight back a grin. Sawyer's mate had worked wonders. When she found the warehouse space a couple of months ago, it was dank and musty. I'd thought Sawyer was being led around by his dick when she convinced him to put an offer in on it.

But Trinity, who made it clear she didn't appreciate the implication that she led Sawyer around by his dick, was happy to make me eat my words. Almost single-handedly she'd transformed the space, hiring contractors to clean, put up walls, and upgrade the plumbing and electrical.

The dirty place now held a spectacular reception area, more than enough offices for each of us, a bathroom, and a conference space. She'd also added a gym, a kitchen, a locker room with two showers, a small armory, and an intelligence center, all in an employees-only section in the back half of the building. I was beginning to see the reason for Sawyer's devotion.

The woman was an angel and genius all in one.

As I stepped into the reception area, another obvious reason presented itself. Trinity bent at the waist, ass in the air, as she sorted through a stack of files piled on the floor in front of a low filing cabinet.

Scanning the rest of the room, I found I wasn't the only one appreciating the view. Sawyer stood in the open doorway of his office, his eyes glued to his woman. His need for her clear as the crystal blue sky.

I shook my head and couldn't help but smirk at him. "Soldier, lock it down."

Sawyer's gaze shot to me and he scowled. His obvious annoyance only made me grin more.

Trinity stood and turned to us, her movement drawing our attention. "Hey, Mac."

"Looks good in here, Trinity. You did an amazing job."

She beamed at me, and I smiled. Hard not to in the face of her pleasure at my words.

I'd always liked her, though our interactions growing up were few and far between. But seeing her transform under Sawyer's devotion the last few months was something else.

A sharp pain stung me in the middle of my chest. I put my hand there, as if that would alleviate the ache.

But I knew it wasn't an ache that would go away. It hit me at odd moments lately. Like something was out of place and I knew what it was. More who it was.

Gabriella.

I couldn't seem to get her out of my head.

One of the reasons I'd been so easily convinced to leave the military, aside from being sick and tired of some of the shit we'd seen and done, was this restlessness inside me. Only Gabriella calmed that burning feeling.

Standing in the reception area watching Sawyer prowl toward his woman, seeing her stepping forward like some force I couldn't see was driving them together, a wave of jealousy hit me so hard I'm surprised I stayed on my feet.

At the same moment, a vision assaulted me—a curvy girl with wild blonde curls sitting astride me, both of us naked in a bed with rumpled sheets. Her husky voice had called out my name in her light southern accent as her body bowed with her pleasure.

Gabriella.

Her image had come to me more and more the last few months. And each time it came, my restlessness grew. The idea I'd ever find the woman meant for me kept teasing the back of my mind. I wanted what Sawyer had. What my other buddies Dyson and Eeli had with Clara.

The more I craved that kind of connection the more my mind wandered back to Gabriella.

"Yo, Mac!"

Sawyer's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I tried to shake off the image of Gabriella that seemed to be haunting me, but that was easier said than done.

"What's wrong with you?" Sawyer asked, and for the first time, I realized he'd moved back to his office door. He stood there now holding his phone.

Way to be aware of your surroundings, soldier.

I ran a hand over my hair. "Nothing, man. Why?"

Sawyer gave me a long hard stare, but I gave him nothing. As much shit as I've given him about Trinity, no way would I share that a woman I'd spent one night with months ago had literally driven me to distraction.

Sawyer stared at me a few long beats before he responded to my question. "Call from PD. Chief from Hardwood said she has an interesting situation she could use some help with. She asked for you specifically."

I drew my brows together. Most of the time the Hardwood's police department kept busy with tourist shit. Here in Wild Ridge, too. Both mountainside towns asked us for help from time to time, but not sure why the Chief would ask for me by name.

"She give you any clues as to what's up?" I asked.

Sawyer shrugged. "Just that the sooner you could stop by, the better."

"Our meeting isn't for a few more hours, right?" I'd stopped in early to work on the pile of papers sitting on the edge of my desk, but I should have some time before Sawyer, Dyson, Eeli and I sat down to talk shop.

Sawyer checked his watch. "Two hours."

I nodded in return and headed toward the door. I could get to the other side of the mountain and back before then. "I'll be back."

As soon as I stepped into the drizzly, overcast day, I inhaled deeply. The scent of the pine hit my nostrils and I couldn't help but miss the scent of Lover's Cove, the small beach town where I met Gabriella. The sea air there had a different kind of tang to it. One I could get used to.

My mind drifted back to Gabriella's scent which came to me as clearly as the fresh mountain air surrounding me—caramel and powdered sugar and coffee mixed with a fragrance that was all her. The combination of strong and sweet burst into my memory and left me with a craving so powerful, it forced a decision from me before I even knew there was a question.

As soon as I could manage it, I was going to find Gabriella Cole. Something told me I'd made a mistake in leaving her after our night of passion.

Gabriella

I sat in the chair next to a cluttered desk and fought the urge to toss out the empty coffee cup and straighten the files piled over the top of it. The only way I managed to control the compulsion was to clasp my hands together in my lap.

My gaze scanned the busy room for what felt like the millionth time. Several desks were pushed together in the area where I sat. The messy desktops triggered my cleaning compulsion even harder than the one next to me. A couple of plainclothes police officers sat at those desks. As I looked, one of them caught my eye. I offered him a smile and he turned away quickly to examine a file.

I was beginning to feel like a bug under a microscope that had only a small hint he was being studied. I was also beginning to think maybe the instincts that led me here had steered me completely wrong.

I sighed as I could almost hear Amber's voice in my ear telling me she told me so. But it was the only lead I had to find Mac. My first thought had been to hire a private investigator. But after a little research, I found the cost of hiring one was not in my budget.

So I decided to play detective myself. I started with a phone call to the Hardwood police department. We hadn't shared much during our time together, but interludes led to a few details being exchanged. Like names and where he lived.

Not typical one-night stand behavior but it worked for us.

When I phoned, I explained I was looking for someone who lived in the area. The officer I spoke with told me a new security firm opened over in Wilde Ridge that offered some private investigation services. But again. Money.

He seemed to think that was my best bet.

In the two weeks since I discovered my pregnancy, I felt a driving need to be here doing what I was doing—finding my baby's daddy. No third party needed.

After the call to the Hardwood PD, my frustration had grown to such heights, I felt like something was caged inside me and nothing could calm the wildness inside me but Mac. The feeling of needing someone so strongly left me off balance. Hell, it scared me.

Yet here I stood.

Over the next two weeks, I quit my job as a tattoo artist at Inked Forever, packed up my meager belongings, and despite Amber's warnings, and my own misgivings, I'd gotten on a bus and started the journey to Hardwood.

Traveling from Lover's Cove to Hardwood by bus would have been harrowing enough on the winding roads, but add morning sickness that struck at all times of the day and night and weird reactions to strange smells and I'd be happy to never, ever, ever see the inside of a bus again.

I huffed out a breath and scanned the room one more time. The woman I spoke to had introduced herself as Chief Marion. She'd listened as I explained I wanted to reconnect with an old friend from the area. The minute I'd shared that the person I was looking for was Captain Mac Becker, her eyes had changed from slight suspicion to flat-out distrust.

I could understand the feeling. Trust wasn't something I gave out easily myself. But since talking to the local police was the only idea I'd come up with, I had to hope her sense of duty would move her to help me despite her suspicion.

She'd told me she might be able to help. But that was a good twenty minutes ago when she'd found this seat for me and told me she'd be back as soon as she could. She'd stepped into an office and closed the door and hadn't shown her face since.

Maybe she hoped if she left me long enough, I'd wander off. I sighed and pressed my clasped hands into my belly. Under any other circumstances, I'd do just that.

Hell, I didn't want to count on strangers any more than she wanted to help one. And that included counting on Mac. He might be the father of my unborn baby, but that didn't mean full-blown trust came with the title.

Which is why I concocted a story in all those hours I spent with my cheek pressed against the cold glass windows of a bus. I'd decided to keep the news of my pregnancy to myself. I'd come up with an excuse for looking him up, and hopefully, I'd get the chance to spend some time with him or at least talk to some people who knew him better than I did, before I shared my secret.

He'd seemed like a good guy when I met him. Troubled, but decent. He'd been protective of me when we walked from the club where we met to his hotel room. He'd given me the option of walking me to my own front door instead of the hotel. But the bulk of the night had been spent with the two of us naked and entwined in the sheets on his hotel bed.

And I'd be damned if I'd decide to include him in not just my life, but the life of my unborn baby, based on what I learned about him in one night where very little talking had taken place.

Instead, I made up my mind to find him, get to know him, and then make a decision on how much I shared with him. If he was a decent guy, I could tell him the truth. If he was a dickhead, well, I didn't want to keep the baby a secret from his father, but I'd do it if it meant protecting the little soul growing inside me.

Thank goodness I wasn't showing yet.

"Miss Cole?"

I shot up from my seat at the sound of my name.

"Yes? Do you think you'll be able to help me?"

Chief Marion's only response was a nod toward the front of the room. I glanced to the spot she indicated and my breath left my lungs on one big whoosh of air.

As if conjured by my thoughts, Captain Mac Becker stood there.