Chapter 21 I Shield You

Magnum

I drank in my girl from head to toe. Heart and soul, her beauty knocked me out. That red dress wrapped around her killer body, big hair cascading down her shoulders, lush lips begging to be bitten.

That woman belonged to me. Mine. I'd claimed her. She wore my ring. Not Gavin's. All this was mine alone. The last thing I wanted to do was drag her over to Kenny Zhao's or parade her in front of the guys.

I wanted to lock the door and take her here, hard, deep, and now. Mess up her hair, smear the lipstick, wipe that worried look off her face and replace it with the kind of blissful exhaustion that only a solid railing could evoke.

"You look gorgeous." My voice cracked like a teenage boy picking up his prom date, and I had to clear my throat to keep talking.

"Thank you," she said shyly and crossed her hands in front of her, her fingers fiddling with her new ring. Her arms looked clear of marks.

Of course I knew she wasn't truly mine. That this was an act just for Kenny's benefit. I knew that and I accepted it. I did. I just liked pretending way too much.

"You ready?" I offered my hand.

"Yes."

Her fingers reached out, and I drew her closer. Reluctantly, I led her out into the living room. Her arm stiffened when she saw most of the team was here. Since we were in work mode, no one catcalled her, but I didn't miss the greedy eyes scanning her look. "We good to go?" I asked to bring the attention back to me.

Vander nodded. "Prepare to move."

After a final check of the gear, we loaded up the vehicles. We'd done many missions much more dangerous than this, but Wren's involvement had me on edge. If anything happened to her, I could not promise I'd keep my cool. I felt naked without my beard and weapon, but we couldn't risk anything more than the listening device planted in my tuxedo jacket.

We climbed into the back of an armored car, Vander took his position as the driver, and the convoy headed out to Brentwood.

She sat ramrod straight in the backseat, her breathing rapid and uneven. "You nervous about seeing Tommy?"

"A little."

"I'll be by your side all night. Won't leave no matter what."

"Thank you." She crossed her leg, and her foot bounced quickly as she fidgeted with her jade bracelet. Those new claws she was wearing were a little too close to her skin.

"Something else bothering you?" I took her hand in mine and rested our joined hands on her leg, which was exposed because of the full-length slit in her dress.

She chewed on her lip and peered up at me.

"Obviously something's up."

"I wasn't going to say anything." She glanced down at our hands resting on her leg.

"Well, you're saying it now. "

She breathed in deeply and let it all out in a heavy sigh. "I'm not legally married to Gavin."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The marriage ceremony wasn't binding. Legally, he needs to be there. That's what Brandy said."

I didn't know that specifically, but I also hadn't thought about it. I'd just assumed she was legally married to Gavin because I signed his name. "So who is going to tell the government he wasn't there?"

"I don't know. I shouldn't have brought it up. It's silly." She tried to pull her hand out of my grip, but I held it fast. "It's just that if I didn't want to be married to Gavin, I could just tell them it wasn't him who signed it, and the marriage would be null and void."

I made eye contact with Vander in the rearview. He looked away, a sign that he wasn't going to interfere.

With a quick twist of my hand, I gave her thigh a gentle squeeze as her hand landed on top of mine. I didn't know what to say. If she was making a point of telling me she wasn't married to Gavin, she was trying to tell me something else.

That I could kiss her.

And I wanted to.

Fuck. I wanted it more than anything.

"Wren." I let my hand drift higher on her thigh, my pinky almost touching her panties. Her chest heaved, and goosebumps rose on her skin. "You're still his girl." My words came out thick and strained.

She stared out the window, watching the palm trees and sidewalks of Los Angeles go by. "Am I?" she said softly as she turned to look at me .

The street lights cast a fleeting, diffused glow over her profile making her look like an ethereal angel.

I squeezed her thigh harder, digging my thumb into her supple skin.

Her breath hitched, and her fingers tightened over my hand.

We were almost at the event where we had to pretend to be married and I thought I'd have to hold back because she was really married to my brother, but now I knew this. She was giving me this.

I leaned in close to her ear and released the pressure on her leg. "We get through tonight first. Then we're gonna have a little talk."

She swallowed loudly and nodded curtly. Fear flashed in her pupils but also heat.

"Right now, we gotta face Kenny and Tommy, and I need to focus on keeping you safe."

"Okay," she choked out. Totally turned on and scared. Hot as fuck.

"Holy hell."

"I know. Me too."

Oh yeah, I knew. I could read her every breath after several days of sleeping next to her without touching her. I was tuned to her like a divining rod to water. And with that, we pulled up behind a row of cars at the turnabout drive in front of the mansion.

"It's a go," Vander said to the team through the comms, and adrenaline pumped harder through my veins. If no one else had been here, we wouldn't have risked going in unarmed, but with the crowd, it should be safe enough for Wren.

Vander stopped at the curb and waited. The valet approached, but I exited first and waved him off. He bowed and moved to the next car.

I offered her a hand to help her out. The black heels came first, followed by the unending thigh—which now held my fingerprints—and then the rest of her ensemble. She looked absolutely stunning and graceful, my Asian goddess.

I smiled at her and closed the door. Vander drove out of the lot. He would take up position with the rest of the team around the perimeter. Shadow and Locke would launch a video drone overhead.

"Here we go." I hooked her arm in my elbow and guided her to the covered entrance portico.

The place was more obnoxious than the photos I'd seen. Gilded curly crap everywhere, complete with castle turrets and conical roofs. It reminded me of the abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans with its fake stone and gaudy paper maché statues. The strobe lights up to the sky were total overkill, but it appeared Kenny wanted to be noticed. Congratulations, man. You're on my radar now, and you ain't gonna like it.

An older Chinese man in a tuxedo took our invitations—that were not blank because the stupid ink did not disappear as promised—and welcomed us inside. "Take a seat. The show will start in a few minutes," he said with a gentle smile. It reminded me not to overreact. It was a magic show. The magician was a creep, but there would be no action with all these people around. Tonight was about the mind game with Kenny.

Wren moved woodenly as we walked into the place, her wide eyes frantically searching. The men in the room turned to look her over with predatory gazes, and I wanted to growl at them to back off. Tonight, I was playing a predator myself so I masked my reaction.

I kept my hand on her lower back to anchor her. "You're good. Take it easy."

I picked two seats near the back edge which placed us closest to the fastest exit route. She leaned forward in her seat, arching to see every corner of the stage. "Remember, you feel it inside, don't show it outside."

"Why? Am I not doing a good job?"

"Maybe I can read you better than most, but it's pretty obvious what you're thinking. You were scanning for Tommy when we walked in. Now you're terrified of seeing Kenny up there."

"All true."

"Keep your cards closer to your chest."

She sat up straighter and pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Right. Got it. Poker face." She was fucking beautiful but a terrible liar.

The lights dimmed, and cheesy music boomed from speakers in the ceiling. I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. Those extra long talons Stella put on her hand wrapped around and dug into my skin instead of hers. That was fine. I could take it.

Several men that looked like guards appeared in the small arches around the outside of the room. Kenny emerged from backstage with a grand flourish. His silver suit glimmered in the lights, and his red velvet cape flowed behind him. What a dufus.

His hair was longer than in the pictures I'd seen. He looked too tall and skinny to be a gang leader, but looks could be very deceiving.

"Welcome, one and all. I am your magic master, the Great Kenny Zhao. Happy Valentine's Day." He twirled his arm and bowed dramatically, when he straightened, he held a bouquet of roses in his hand that he tossed into the crowd. They dissolved into twinkling glitter before they landed. The audience eagerly applauded their leader. He proceeded to do card tricks and make corny jokes. He made solid rings click together with the help of sleight of hand and mirrors. The crowd continued to ooh and ahh over him.

Wren's eyes were huge, her mouth open in amazement.

"It's not real," I whispered to her. Was she really falling for this horse shit?

"But how does he do it?"

"Nothing is what it seems. Ever."

A stage hand wheeled out a large wooden cube to the center of the stage. Cyan lights shined down on it like it was glowing. He turned his attention to the audience and made a big deal of searching for someone. "I need a volunteer."

A spotlight blinded us, and I reached for my weapon, which I didn't have. Fuck, I hated this. I blocked Wren with my body instead.

"How about you, young lady? Come on up and I'll show you some magic." Audience members all around us were craning their necks to stare at her, but all they got was my ugly face. "Don't be shy now. Come play along."

"She said no," I said.

"Well, how about you? Come on up."

"No."

His mouth was open like he was going to try again, but I let him know with my eyes and my tone I was not shitting with him.

He wiggled his fingers and the spotlight moved somewhere else. He wrangled a more eager volunteer from the crowd.

Once she was clear, I moved my body back into my seat and checked her expression. She looked surprised but not freaking out. She mouthed "Oh my God," to me.

My arm returned to her shoulders. "Poker face."

We started watching the show again, but she kept squirming up next to me. Her breasts rubbed my jacket and her scent pulled my attention back to her. "What?"

She smiled, her eyes lazy.

"Pay attention," I scolded her, trying to pretend she wasn't bewitching me with her antics.

"That was awesome," she whispered, her lips pursed in a shy smile.

I leaned in close to her ear. "Your poker face is shit." She smelled good as her hair brushed my nose.

She crossed her leg toward me and rubbed her thighs together. Heat was coming off her again like it did in the car. She was playing with me. "You liked that, huh? "

She smiled. "It was like the light was there shining on me, and I didn't want it, and you just swooped in like a shadow and made it go away."

"I shielded you."

"And the way you said no to him. Just shut him down like that. I loved it."

I pulled her in closer so my lips were on her cheek, her legs almost on my lap, her knee tight in my other hand. "I will always shield you, baby. A spotlight comes at you, I'll shield you. Shattered glass, I shield you. A bullet, I shield you."

"No one has ever shielded me from anything," she whispered.

"That's over now. I got your back, your front. Nothing will touch you."

"My dad tried to shield my mom before..."

"I know, babe."

We watched the rest of the show in a daze. She was still hot for me, clinging on me, tilting her head back trying to get me to kiss her. She was irresistible with her sweet sighs, and I wanted to lay one on her badly. I wasn't normally into kissing, but this girl was begging to be smooched.

"Fuck it." I arched my neck and planted one on her. Slow at first until the shock wore off and she opened for me. Hot and wet inside. She clawed at my jacket and sucked me in with her mouth as I licked her up. She had been safely hiding in the do-not-fuck category since I'd met her, but she was climbing over that wall and threatening to jump over. It was getting too heated for our surroundings, so I pulled away and let go of her knee.

She wiped at her lips, which were smeared with red, and crossed her legs again the other way. And now I was hard and didn't give a shit about Kenny or his show.

"You look stunning tonight. Goddamn gorgeous."

She fidgeted with her dress, but I caught her smiling. "Thank you."

"You don't need all that makeup and stuff, but damn, you wear it like you were born to do it."

She took my hand and pretended to pay attention to Kenny's act.

The disastrous magic show finally ended with an elaborate illusion where he escaped from being chained in the box when really all he'd done was crawl out under the stage, remove the chains, and reappear.

He came out for his curtain call, and the crowd rose to their feet. Wren and I stood too since we were supposed to be getting on his good side tonight.

"Thank you all for coming. Please enjoy the food, drinks, and dancing in the grand ballroom. Have a magical evening." He tossed a puff of glitter in an arch indicating we should head in that direction.

We followed the crowd into the ballroom but avoided the food table. I would never eat anything prepared by this conman.

A band in the corner began playing smooth jazz. Giant red hearts hung from the ceiling against a backdrop of celestial moons and stars. Two exits and a grand staircase led off the room. Dark lighting made it hard to see the guards and the security setup, but I'd get a closer look at it later .

We held hands and waited for the illusionist wannabe to reappear. I wanted to get some alone time with Kenny, and hopefully he wanted that with me too. He'd invited me to this extravaganza, and I was sure it wasn't just to show off his subpar magic skills. We needed to get this done quickly, so I could get Wren out of here and proceed with my Valentine's Day plans with my wife.

My fake wife, but still, my wife. Wearing my ring, so mine.