Fuck, he didn’t like this. He didn’t like having to rely on Ray to play interference tonight, but it would work if there were more than one IA agent watching him. It had to work. He couldn’t back out of these deals. Things were set. He thought to himself and rubbed his hands together. His mind was going in a thousand directions and then leading him back to the same place. The same woman and what he built her up to be for the past year. Afina. Wouldn’t that be the icing on the cake, especially if that dick Armos thought he could move in on her? Hell, maybe that fucking dick wanted to use her to get to him. Gains might need to play that angle with Afina. Make her see that Armos was out of his mind. She did know Gordon, so perhaps she dabbed in a little intimacy with some men not on the straight and narrow. Maybe he needed to find out a little more about Afina.

  First things first, he was going to switch things up a bit. He needed someone else to grab the drugs, but he couldn’t do that. The more people involved, the higher the risk they would get busted. No, he had to lose that tail and trick them entirely. He could grab the shit, deliver it, and then head back undetected. He wasn’t a detective for shits and giggles. He knew how to do disguises, and that was exactly what he would do. He had to get Ray to drop off a different vehicle in the parking lot of one of the clubs. Gains would show up, go inside, change into his disguise and makeup in the bathroom, then sneak out one of the employee doors. He would take the vehicle Ray left, do the job, deliver the shit, come back, sneak into the club again, and take off the disguise. They wouldn’t know what hit them. He smiled. He could do this. He stole the drugs and guns months ago from Modara. Still no word, no indication anything was missing. He took the extra time to organize this exchange with Gordon, and once it was done and he was paid, he should be in the clear of any jobs and work on his retirement plan. Maybe take a stray bullet during an investigation. Afina could console him and be his bedside nurse. He smiled. He would sell the drugs to one of the assholes he knew in Sussex who ran a decent business, and then his hands would be clean. He wouldn’t even let Ray in on that exchange. That way, Gains could keep all the money to himself. Yeah, it was a good plan, and within the week it would be accomplished.

  He pulled out his cell phone and called Ray. Everything would be done tonight. Then he called Afina.

  * * * *

  Afina was sitting at a table by the pier looking out at the water, having breakfast with Melina, Jo, and Amber. Frankie and London didn’t make it and were still hungover from last night.

  “So you didn’t tell your cousins where you snuck off to last night for three hours?” Melina asked for the third time.

  “I didn’t sneak off. I was around.”

  “You are so full of shit,” Melina replied.

  “You were with someone you shouldn’t have been with,” Amber said.

  “There isn’t anyone I shouldn’t be with,” Afina said and took a sip from her sweet tea.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Last I saw you, some sexy, tall, hunk of a man with jet-black hair and a great ass was talking to you. Then you were both gone,” Jo said.

  “What? You hooked up with the Internal Affairs guy and then came back to Corporal’s? Are you out of your mind? You should have stayed with him all night. What a hottie he is,” Amber said to her.

  “I was not having sex with Avery.”

  “Ohhh, that’s his name, huh?” Jo asked.

  “Where did you go?” Melina asked her.

  “Listen, we’re friends, and we were talking outside.”

  “For three hours? No one saw you in the parking lot,” Jo teased.

  “Well, we went for a ride.”

  “Alone?” Melina questioned. Afina exhaled and looked away.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Oh my God, were his brothers with him? Were you with all four of them alone?” Amber asked.

  Before she could reply, her friends were carrying on about how hot they were and how dangerous, mysterious, and hardcore the men appeared to be. Afina was so nervous because she knew she had to talk to her cousins and her brother. She was also still trying to process the fact that she made out with the four men, allowed them to touch her intimately, and basically she was attracted to them big time. It was scary. Throw in how they interrogated her, and thought she was some criminal who may have had information or been involved with men who killed Coast, and holy shit, she felt sick, angry, and scared. Last night she could hardly sleep and kept thinking about her months dating Jake and trying to remember anything that could help Avery and his partner, Roman, with the case.

  “Hello, Afina. Earth to Afina,” Jo teased, and the ladies laughed.

  Afina leaned back and exhaled. “My cousins are going to flip out. I don’t even know if I should entertain this attraction. I mean, it could just be lust, you know? Melina, you remember what I was like after breaking things off with Jake.”

  “Oh yeah, I sure do, and you absorbed yourself in your work and only went out when Mike, Zayn, Selasi, and Thermo when they were home.”

  “Exactly. I’m scared of even giving this a try. It’s complicated already,” she added.

  “It doesn’t have to be. I mean, I know your cousins are protective, but they are also involved in a ménage with Kai. So is Mike with North. They know how these things happen. How the emotions, the attraction comes on quickly and forcefully, and there’s no fighting it,” Jo said to her.

  “I don’t think that will fly. There’s more going on that I can’t discuss with you completely.”

  “That’s bullshit. If there’s more, then you need to tell us. Our friends have been placed in danger too many times over the last year or so, so if you’re in danger, or if there is trouble, we need to know so we can help, not just be there afterwards to console,” Jo added with attitude.

  “You tell her, girl. I for one am tired of finding out about shit long after the danger happens,” Amber said.

  “Listen to you two. We get along so well because we’re all alike in so many ways. We’ve been hurt by men in other relationships, or have had things happen in our lives to make us not open up our hearts, so we understand where Afina stands right now. The thing I’ve noticed is that when it comes to a ménage, to having a shared attraction between multiple people, it’s impossible to ignore or to predict the outcome. You need to take a chance, if the attraction is fully there and the trust. So, Afina, what is the danger? What else is holding you back from this besides your brother and your cousins’ hatred of these men because of one incident over a year ago?” Melina asked her.

  She looked around them to make sure no one could hear. They gave her their full attention. “Whatever I tell you stays between us. Got it?”

  “Oh boy,” Jo said.

  “Shoot,” Amber added, and Afina explained exactly what took place last week, then over the weekend.

  “Do you think you may be able to help Avery and Roman find out who killed Ghost’s nephew?” Melina asked.

  Afina sighed. “I was racking my brain last night, but then I kept losing focus thinking about Avery, Beck, Saber, and Brick and my cousins and Mike’s reaction to this. Those men are a force, let me tell you.”

  “Oh, I believe it. Do Beck and Brick even smile?” Jo asked.

  “Not that I noticed. They’ve been through a lot. They are a lot older than I am. I know they’ve been with many women, too, and maybe that is what also has me holding back, questioning giving this a try. They got game and then some, let me tell you. I nearly had sex with them in the boatyard. Jake was my first and only,” Afina said.

  “That sounds so hot. In the boatyard? Damn, Afina, they must be good,” Jo said.

  “Two years, no sex, and those four take you for a ride, you make out with them and didn’t sleep with them? You must be out of your mind,” Amber asked.

  “I know, right, but what if it was a play on me? What if it was a revenge thing against my cousins? Or what if they just wanted information and thought I was easy, like I slept with a man like Jake and then his brother is flirting with me and now a potentially dirty cop?”

  “Definitely was wise not to have sex with them. Yet,” Amber said and smiled softly. Afina worried her bottom lip.

  “It was incredible. The way their hands felt on me, and their mouths, and how they kissed me, held me with one arm, and even the sensation of a palm over my ass had my body up in flames. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t like anything I ever felt before, but I’m so scared. Plus I feel guilty,” Afina confessed.

  “Guilty why?” Melina asked.

  “Because you dated a criminal? A man you trusted with your body and soul and somehow he’s connected to killing Avery’s partner? Plus you accepted hanging out with Gains, and he could be a dirty cop, a criminal, too,” Amber said to her.

  “Exactly, and throw in Mike and my cousins when they find out about all of this and jeesh!” She placed her hands over her face and exhaled.

  “What is your plan of action right now?” Melina asked her very seriously.

  “I have to talk to Mike and them. I have to. When they returned from a mission after Jake assaulted me, and found out about the illegal activities and that I was caught in the raid, it was like they distrusted me, or felt like I was a different person. Not a good person, but one with bad judgment of character. It’s why I haven’t dated any men. I’ve flirted a little, but that was it.”

  Amber covered her hand with hers. “Honey, Jake was an asshole. He manipulated you, lied to you, and things could have turned out a lot worse for you. You got out and you suffered enough. No need to live in guilt over it. You learned from that, and guaranteed, the Armos brothers are not bad men.”

  “They’re not commitment types. They could be after the lust, the sex, and nothing more. I can’t take that risk no matter how good it might be.”

  “Then don’t,” Jo said. She squinted at her.

  “Talk to Mike and your cousins. Explain the whole thing like you did with us. Even tell them about the attraction you have to the Armos brothers, and then wait and see what happens,” Jo added.

  “I called them earlier. I’m meeting them at their house in an hour.”

  “We can go with you,” Melina said and smiled. Afina laughed.

  “That won’t be necessary. I have to face this.”

  “And the Armos brothers? When do they want to see you again?”

  “Today, but I haven’t responded to their texts.” She looked at her cell phone and saw the messages.

  “You have to respond or they could get worried. They don’t seem like the kind of men to just walk away from something they want,” Amber said to her.

  “No, they aren’t. I’m heading back to the condo to change, and then meeting Mike and my cousins with Kai at their house. Then I’ll decide if I’m meeting up with Avery and them or not. I get the feeling once I speak with Mike and them, my decision will be made for me.”

  Afina sighed, and then the waitress came over with their check to pay the bill.

  * * * *

  “No response,” Avery said to his brothers.

  “Did you think she would? She’s scared, and now we have a better understanding as of why. That dick, Jake, she dated was a scum bag. Glad he is in prison though,” Saber said as he typed on the laptop.

  “Afina is more than likely going to talk to her cousins about everything. She doesn’t trust us. You could see it in her eyes last night despite the intimacy we all shared with her,” Beck stated next.

  “She can talk to them, and when they come looking to talk with us, how are we going to handle it?” Saber asked.

  “We fucking handle it fine. We aren’t intimidated by them. Mike acted like an asshole to Avery that night,” Brick added.

  “In his defense, he didn’t give me the opportunity to let him know it was our cousin Shay. It was a misunderstanding, and because I didn’t back down and he didn’t back down, we became enemies. It will be resolved,” Avery replied.

  “Not when they know you want Afina in your bed,” Beck said.

  “In our beds. We all want her,” Saber added.

  “We don’t do commitments. We still don’t know what might come of her connections to Gordon and even Gains. I’m not proposing marriage, and never considered a fully committed relationship with any woman ever in my life. I’m fucking forty-one years old, she’s twenty-five. Let’s think seriously here instead of just with our dicks,” Brick stated.

  “Don’t be a pussy, and don’t pretend that she didn’t affect you last night. You were about to fuck her right there against the boat, and it was hot, and we were all turned on. She isn’t some whore, and you knew that. We all know that, so we pulled back and slowed things down. Any other woman and things would have gone down differently. She was hurt by Jake. We realize that was her only lover,” Beck said to him.

  “If she’s telling the truth,” Brick added.

  “What the fuck, Brick? Are you insecure? Is it just her age? Maybe the depth of the attraction you feel to her that has you being such a prick? What the fuck is it? We all felt the attraction, and we all want more of her. She could wind up in danger because of this shit,” Avery said.

  “Maybe it’s better to wait until this case is resolved on your end? We’ll help do any intel you need, or background necessary,” Beck said to him.

  Avery’s phone rang. He looked down and exhaled. He answered it. “Yeah.”

  “Gains is in a club. Has been in there for several hours. Couldn’t send anyone in or he could identify them. It’s a small place and about a dozen people inside. One of Cortone’s guys, West, is in there, but I don’t know if they’re together. I’m sending in Jimmy. He shouldn’t be identified,” Roman told him.

  “Okay, hang tight, and keep that tail going. Let me know if Jimmy sees Gains and West together. That would be huge. He has to screw up sooner or later.”

  “What about Gordon? Should Sheridan keep watch?”

  “Yes, but tell him to watch his ass. Gordon isn’t stupid.”

  He ended the call and then placed his hands on his hips.

  “What’s up?” Saber asked.

  “Doing surveillance on Gains and Gordon. Hoping that Gains screws up and leads us to a connection we’re hoping for. Either way, knowing that West, one of Cortone’s guys, is in the same club is positive information,” Avery told them.

  “Could be coincidence?” Beck said.

  “A dirty cop in a criminal-infested club, just so happens to be seen with a man like West? Hopeful it’s a step in the right direction. My team and I need to catch these assholes in the act. Figure out where Gains is getting his money from. We need a break in this case and fast.”

  * * * *

  Beck drove past Afina’s place and saw her getting out of her car. Beck pulled up behind her in another parking spot, taking in the sight of her sexy body. She wore a flair beige skirt, heeled wedges, and a sleeveless tank top in light green. Her long brown hair was bouncing on the wind. As she turned to look at him getting out of the truck, he saw the blouse pull open just slightly. The deep cleavage of her breasts had him licking his lips and praying for patience he didn’t seem to have around her. He approached.

  “Beck, what are you doing here?”

  He closed the space between them, slid his arm around her waist, and pulled her close. He was in plain clothes, on duty for the anti-drug task force. He lowered down and kissed her cheek hello. She smelled so good.

  “I’m checking in on you. Something wrong with your phone?” he asked, eyes narrowed at her. She swallowed hard. She was definitely intimidated by him, and he was sure the badge and gun on his hip added to that intimidation.

  “No, why do you ask?” she replied.

  “Because we’ve been texting and calling and got no answer or reply.”

  “Oh, I was having lunch with my friends, down by the pier.”

  He raised his eyebrows up at her as if that was a lame excuse and if there was more she had to say. She looked away and exhaled.

  “I think it’s better we don’t see one another during this case.” She started to walk toward the doorway to go to her place. He followed.

  “Are you kidding me? After last night, and what we all discussed with you?” he asked and followed her. They got inside, and he closed the door, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and stared down at her. She was so fucking sexy and sweet. It was torture to not just carry her off to bed and make love to her. He never wanted a woman so badly, and the fact that she could be in danger with criminals interested in her, too, made him more than just uneasy.

  “Beck, please, I explained about my relationship with Jake and what it did to me. I’m meeting my brother and cousins in a little bit to talk to them about everything, as well. I don’t want to make the wrong decisions here.” She turned as he uncrossed his arms and took a step toward her. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her neck. She tilted to the left to give him better access to her skin. He knew she felt the attraction and wanted him and his brothers, but she was scared.

  “Baby, how can we protect you if you push us away? If you keep us at such a distance?” He nipped her earlobe and then slid his palm along her hip and then to her breast. She exhaled.

  “It’s a smart thing to do. It has to be the right thing. I mean, it would be stupid and naive again for me to jump into some kind of thing with you and your brothers that is only based on lust.”

  “On lust, huh? Is that what these feelings are to you? The attraction and desire we give you from our touches, our caresses, and our lips?” He cupped her breast, pinched her nipple. As she moaned and turned, he covered her mouth to kiss her, then lifted her up because she was so light, so petite and feminine, and he was a big, strong, capable man. A man capable and willing to protect her with all he had, plus the force of his brothers, too. How could he ease her mind and make her let go with them?

  He placed her softly onto the kitchen island where she straddled his hips as he lowered her down to the granite countertop. He trailed his mouth from her mouth to the neck, into the collar of her blouse, and then pushed the material up so he could lick along her cleavage and then over her belly button.