Page 322 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

One of the first tasks Fariq had assigned Reid when he came to work for him had been to put trackers on every one of the Wild Mustang vehicles, both business and personal. It was an ongoing surveillance process. That group was hard on vehicles. They didn’t seem to be happy unless they were blowing something up, and that went double for their feisty little firecracker pilot, Avery Jackson. So naturally, the one night it would have served him best to find Thom all on his geeky lonesomeness, he was making happy with the unpredictable Mustang girl.

Tracking Thom’s truck to her place, guns drawn, they silently infiltrated the house. While Phil moved deeper into the house, past the kitchen, and down the hall toward the bedrooms, Reid hung back, sweeping the unfamiliar house for a place where his tiny microchip might be quickly found. Son of a bitch. A soft whistle from the backroom told him Phil had Thom. That was a lot quicker than he’d expected, and a stab of frustration bit into his chest. He had one chance at this. Aliya depended on his doing this right, but everywhere he looked, he kept second-guessing himself.

He could stick it in the middle of the big screen tv. Though smaller than a fly in size, the microchip would stick out like a dot against whatever movie was playing behind it. Unless, of course, Avery didn’t watch TV, and how likely would she be to pull up a movie and popcorn after discovering they’d taken her boyfriend? Same for her laptop screen. Shit. He should have put more time into planning this, except there was no time.

Voices from down the hall, where he presumed the bedrooms were, told him he really was out of time. One of those voices was Phil, the other a woman’s.

Avery, the firecracker herself.

Alone with Phil, who was an idiot. An opinion that only deepened as Reid made his way down the long hallway, listening while Phil laughingly said, “I bet he paddled your butt before he fucked you raw. That’s what I would have done.”

Avery wasn’t even his, yet the stab of fury that comment set off was almost blinding. All he could see was Aliya lost in her brother’s fortress, surrounded by men just like Phil. Men who’d take her innocence and twist it for their own desire.

“Holy shit! You let him fuck your ass?” Phil said, and the depth of lust he could hear in that man’s voice was sickening.

“I always do what Daddy tells me,” Avery said in the softest, baby doll voice Reid was pretty sure she’d never used andprobably never use again once she’d sidled in close enough to idiot Phil to disarm him.

Sure enough, finally reaching the doorway, Reid found himself staring at a scene he never would have expected. Phil had Thom on his hands and knees, gun pointed at the back of Thom’s head, but all of Phil’s attention was locked on Avery, naked, blonde Avery Jackson, her flaming red backside showing how she and—Reid snorted—‘Daddy’ obviously liked to play their bedroom games.

Obviously, he didn’t spank her anywhere near long or hard enough if she was willing to put herself in this kind of danger the minute Thom was on his knees.

Her attempts at innocence were laughable. Avery was not Aliya. She was dangerous. She was also smart enough to know the jig was up the minute he stepped into the bedroom, taking stock of the situation.

Phil only noticed him when he looked up from her tits long enough to notice her focus had shifted beyond him.

“Get Lyndon up and ready for travel,” he ordered, glaring at Phil. “And you,” he said, turning to the Mustang’s female pilot, “drop the act, Avery.” He tossed her a dressing gown, which she scrambled to put on, covering herself from view.

Reid could tell Thom’s protectiveness was rising by the fury darkening in his eyes as Phil bound him in zip ties, forcing him to watch while Reid did the same to his baby girl. It wasn’t until he had her completely fastened down, he knew where to leave the microchip. Somewhere Phil couldn’t see it. Somewhere she couldn’t help but find it once she got her hands free.

His gaze fell on her breasts, barely covered by the loose terrycloth folds of her dressing gown.

Actions have consequences. He knew that, even as he fell back on his best asshole routine. He needed this to be obvious without being obvious. He needed her to remember this.

He needed to get Aliya out. What kind of man was he if he didn’t do everything in his power to achieve that most important goal? Everything didn’t mean only the nice things.

“You’re a tasty piece of tail,” he told her. With his censuring gaze, he let his stare tell her something else entirely.Play with fire, and you’ll get burned, baby girl. You know better.

She glared at him, seething through tightly pressed lips as he turned her around in her chair, forcing her and Thom to see one another.

“If we had more time and circumstances were different,” he continued, turning his smirk on Thom next, “maybe we could have taken turns.”

This is what happens when a man fails to protect the ones he loves.

Thom’s face darkened, his body straining against the zip ties that held him, but Reid suspected he got the silent message. Especially when he put his hand down the front of Avery’s dressing gown, planting the microchip—Aliya’s best chance for escape—on her breast before giving her nipple a tweak.

Be glad it’s me and not someone else doing this.

Disgusted with himself, he tied her to the chair before pulling out the sedative he’d taken from the armory. Kidnappings went so much easier when the victim couldn’t struggle.

“This will only hurt for a minute and will wear off in a few hours with no lasting side effects. Once you wake up and get free, don’t call the cops. We just need Thom’s help for a day or two. Call in sick or whatever you have to do to keep the Wild Mustang boys off our back. As long as Thom cooperates, we’ll return him to you unharmed, and everyone can get back to their spank-happy lives.” He stuck her arm, feeding her less than half the dose. He needed her out only long enough for them to get away. After that, he really needed her awake and alert enough to findthat microchip. He cupped her chin, watching as the sedative began to take effect in her eyes.

“If you hurt him,” she seethed, already fighting the drowsing effects, “I will hunt you down and kill you. I’ll never stop. I will destroy you, Fariq, and anyone else who helps you.”

“I’m sure you will.” In fact, he was banking on it. One baby girl unwittingly coming to the aid of another.

Save my Aliya.

The thought resonated in its rightness. She wasn’t just an innocent, not just a girl who needed protecting, not just a sub he would enjoy training. She was his Aliya—his—and nothing and nobody was going to deny him.

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