He presses his hips into me, the underside of his shaft rubs up and down on my still-sensitive clit. I gasp for a second time and he lets go, his body tensing when he comes. When he rolls me to my side so he doesn’t give me his weight, he holds me close, gluing our bodies together in a sticky, wonderful mess.
“That was—”
His lips stop my words and he takes my mouth. When he finally breaks for air, he finishes my thought. “That was fucking magnificent and you’re getting on birth control as soon as possible. Do you know how hard it’s going to be for me to wrap up after having you like that?”
I press my lips to his jaw because he’s right.
“Love you, sweetness.” He doesn’t let me go. I’m so worn out from Cole’s surprise and now this, I’m sated and exhausted. I have no desire to move away from him.
“Cole—” I can’t seem to put two words together and am interrupted by the ringing of the only cell phone we have left between the two of us.
He reaches over me without breaking our connection. “This better be a four-alarm fire, Hollingsworth.”
I press into him and drag my hand down to his ass and squeeze. His gaze shifts to mine and his cocky smile he shoots me too often starts to form.
Then, it freezes.
He frowns.
“What is it?” I whisper.
“How the fuck did that happen?” he bites.
“Cole,” I demand.
He looks at me and shakes his head. “Shit. Okay. Keep me updated.” He pauses. “Yeah. We take off first thing in the morning. I’ll meet you at Vega’s.”
He disconnects his call and tosses the cell to the bed behind me.
“Dammit, Cole. Tell me.”
“Marie Kasey.”
My brows pinch. “The irritable reporter. What about her?”
“She was shot tonight.”
Chapter 23
Welcome to Crew’s Fucked-Up Family
Bella
What’s the saying?
Two steps forward…
Three million steps back.
Fine. That’s not the saying. But I’ve gone from treading water in the middle of the deepest oceans to drowning in a hurricane.
Despite Crew’s men putting a tail on Kasey, someone got to her when she was in a crowded bar in Georgetown. The result is not the one Randolph wanted, but that doesn’t mean it’s good, either.
Cole and I are in the backseat of Grady’s enormous SUV after he picked us up at the small airport in Virginia. I haven’t bothered with pleasantries, demanding updates on every damn storm swirling over our heads at the moment. “Any word on Marie Kasey?”
Grady glances back as he changes lanes. “ICU and it doesn’t look good.”
“Shit.”
“Shit is right,” he echoes. “Ozzy’s beating himself up over it. He was following as close as he could, she slipped into a crowded bar in Georgetown when he lost her. The next thing you know, screams came from the back near the restrooms. She was found on the floor bleeding out—GSW to the chest. Whoever Randolph hired is a piss-poor shot because it’s not hard to kill someone at that range and she’s still alive.”
That hits a little too close to home and a chill runs down my spine. Cole reaches over and grabs my hand, gritting, “Yeah, we know all too well.”
Grady’s eyes shoot to the rearview mirror, wincing. “Damn. Sorry, Bella.”
I shake my head. “No worries. Thank goodness for piss-poor-shooting bad guys, right?”
“We need to decide what to do with the recordings of Randolph ordering the hit. It’s not exactly like it was a judge-approved wiretap but it also wasn’t on U.S. soil, either. Everyone is ready to meet and discuss when we get back. This is not our usual MO. We don’t play by your rules, Carson. I’m not gonna lie, Crew is on edge about this—especially with you being involved.”
Cole shakes his head. “I’m the one coordinating your work. If Crew thinks I have an issue with any of this, he’s wrong. I have two goals in life right now—to clear Bella’s name and figure out why my boss wants me dead. There aren’t many boundaries I won’t cross on a normal day and I’ll fucking bulldoze through the rest of them to meet those two goals. I should be the least of his worries.”
“I’ll take care of Crew,” I add.
Cole’s eyes narrow on me. “It’s my working relationship, sweetness. I can handle it.”
I hike a brow and hope he can translate my glare for what it means. Just because we look different upon returning to the States than we did before we left, does not mean he