I pull my taser gun and take chase, waving Ry to try to cut him off from the other side of the house. This dude isn’t going to outrun us. He’s about five packs a day out of shape.
I stop at the back of the house and flatten against the washed-out siding. The sound of grunting sends me into action. Apparently, Ryan moved faster than I expected.
When I peek around the corner with the taser aimed, the mix of emotions that runs through me almost makes my head explode.
“Roni, what the fuck?”
“Not now,” she snaps back at me.
Roni takes this dude, twice her size, down so fast I think my head spins. She sends a hand into Baron’s throat before she spins and kicks him in the gut. He stumbles back but shakes it off and tries to charge her.
Roni fucking runs up his chest, locks her legs around his neck and spins so they both rotate as she takes him to the ground. I don’t get to blink as she pulls cuffs and slips them on his wrist. She then sits on his back, looking up at me expectantly.
“Really, Roni?”
“You know her?” Ryan says as he comes around the corner.
“Yeah.”
Baron grunts. “Get this bitch off me.”
Roni pops him upside his head. “Watch your mouth.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose as she stands, moving out of the way for Ry to lift Baron to his feet as he eyes her suspiciously. Roni, on the other hand, completely ignores Ryan and the prick that’s hurling curses at us all. Her attention is fixed on me.
“What are you doing here?”
“The kid has gotten good at tracking.” She shrugs.
I throw my hands up. “That’s not even what I meant. Wait, Torque tracked me?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
I point a finger at her. “Don’t even. Is he here with you?”
“No, he made this cool shit. It’s like the ear comms from the Toy Cop academy, but better. I think he’s found his calling—”
“Roni,” I drag out.
She tilts her head to the side. “I thought you’d be happier to see me.”
I close the gap between us. “You just show up on a dangerous bounty out of the blue. You cuff a guy twice your size. Hold on… where did you get the cuffs.”
She pats my cheek. “Always be prepared.” She winks at me.
I narrow my eyes at her. I don’t know whether I want to kiss her or spank her. As my anger starts to wane, I’m leaning more toward kissing her senseless.
“By the way, I’d like my cuffs back, dude,” she calls over her shoulder to Ry.
“Who are you?”
Roni turns to look Ry over before she turns back to me. She has a little pout on her lips as she looks up at me. I go to reach for her, but stop, remembering her PDA rule.
“What?” I say gently.
“He looks like you. Your brother, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, the youngest.”
“And he doesn’t know about me.” She nods and moves to walk around me.
I reach to stop her, but Ry’s words halt me. “Excuse me, but we’re still on a job here. Thanks, by the way.” He looks between the two of us and gives me a shit-eating grin.
“Yeah, whatever,” Roni says as she keeps moving.
“Roni,” I call after her.
“Handle your business. I know where you live.”
I stare after shaking my head. What the hell just happened? Rubbing the back of my neck, I mutter to myself.
“Damn, she has some guns on her. Nice ass too,” Ry quips.
I turn to him slowly and glare. Yeah, Roni has a tight chiseled body. Not overly done, but you can see her dedication to her training. Her arms are one of her assets that draw the eyes, and that ass and those thighs are another, but I can’t help feeling possessive as Ryan’s words ring through the air. He’s my little brother, probably closer to Roni’s age than I am.
He lifts a hand up in surrender. “You ready to get out of here before someone comes out of that house or something?” Ryan says.
“Shit, yeah. Let’s go.”
Roni
I have this feeling in my gut that tells me I never should have come here. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have popped up on John the way I did, but I’m tired of him canceling on me. I wanted to come in person to see if maybe things have changed.
“Did you break into my home? How did you disarm the alarm?”