Storm (Sex and Bullets 1)

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. She doesn’t have to be there. It’ll be safer—”

“They want her there,” Hawk says quietly. “You, too. They want to see you.”

Jesus Christ. “What? What do they care where the money comes from?”

Raylin lifts her head. “It’s personal. I told you.”

“But you didn’t kill anyone.”

“Maybe I didn’t kill anyone, but I did shoot at them, and my dad and brother did wash their hands of it.”

Fuck. “This has to be a trap.” Two millionaires and the girl they’re after. What could go wrong, right?

Hawk reads my mind. Not hard to. “I’ll have back-up. My bodyguards will be following us. And my men in the police force have been tipped off. We’ll be fine.”

He has men in the police force. Of course he has.

I ran away from this shit. Hawk has embraced it. This is starting to feel like a surreal dream.

“Fine. We’re all going.” I throw my hands up. “It’s gonna be a blast.”

This finally gets Hawk to grin. “You’re drunk.”

“Not possible,” Raylin says. “You drank all the wine.”

“Did I?” His grin widens. “Well, then.” He lifts his glass. “Let’s end this shit once and for all.

And then…” He drains his glass, stares at it thoughtfully. “And then we’ll deal with the family clusterfuck.”

***

Hawk gives us one of the guest rooms. I crawl into the king-size bed, still dressed, no energy left to take them off. Raylin turns off the light and burrows into my uninjured side, puffing a small, warm sigh on my shoulder.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she whispers. “All of this.”

“The mafia thing?”

“Mafia and secret organization detective work. Champagne in the car, helicopter rides, hotel suites.” She swallows. “Me, being here with you.”

“You’ll always be here with me,” I say. “Until you get fed up with me.”

“I’ll never get fed up with you.”

I can almost hear the pout and it makes me laugh. I feel so light with her. “Wait until I start leaving my dirty clothes around the room.”

“Wait until I start leaving my gun parts around the room.”

“Holy shit.” I shift until I manage to put my good arm around her. “I was rather hoping you’d leave your lacy bras and panties lying around. So I could steal them and live out my fantasies.”

“With my underwear? Why, if you can have me?”

“Good point. Then, I guess, you’d better stay with me.”

The giggle or sigh I expect never comes. She’s quiet. A quiet Raylin worries me.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I kiss the top of her head. “What did I say?”

“You say…” Her breath hitches, and my worry goes up a notch. “… all the right things. It’s just…”