Page 36 of Caught By Menace

“Sorry.” He caught sight of two familiar faces lingering near his front door. Vicious and Hallie waited in the hallway. Knowing Hallie, she’d probably pestered Vicious to bring her down to see Naya.

Menace knew the second Naya spotted them. Her step faltered. He glanced down at her and winked. Drawing close to the couple who had inspired him to take this step in life, Menace grinned. “Vee.”

Vicious flashed the briefest smile. “Menace.”

Menace made the introductions. “Naya, this is General Vicious and his wife, Hallie.”

“Ma’am.” Vicious nodded in Naya’s direction. “Welcome to the land corps family.”

Hallie rolled her eyes and stepped forward. She grasped Naya’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Naya. How did you like your first evacuation drill?”

Naya returned the handshake. “Not so much. The alarm almost gave me a heart attack.”

Hallie shot her a knowing smile. “I nearly fainted the first time I experienced one. Plus I was all alone in our quarters and I’d just gotten out of the infirmary. Someone,” she glared at her husband, “forgot to tell me about the drills. Talk about a nightmare.”

Vicious narrowed his eyes at Hallie but she just smiled. He turned his attention back to Menace. His expression became grim. “Menace, we need to talk. In headquarters,” he added. “You’ll need your uniform.”

A chill raced down his back. “Am I being deployed?”

“No.” Vicious’ instant reply calmed him, but when his friend’s gaze skipped to Naya, the worry returned. “It’s about the Grab.”

Menace slid an arm in front of Naya and pushed her behind him. He squared his shoulders. “You’re not taking her from me.”

Vicious clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Orion and his men will have to go through me before they take a bride away from one of my soldiers.”

Menace frowned in confusion. “Admiral Orion? What does he have to do with the Grab?”

Vicious let his hand fall. “It seems your woman caused an injury on the field. A bad injury,” he clarified. “Career-ending, possibly.”

Menace turned to face Naya who looked shocked by that piece of news. He remembered the way she’d tackled him. She’d caught him unawares and taken him down, but she hadn’t hurt him. It would take more than her small body weight to hurt a Harcos warrior. “Did you take a weapon into the forest?”

She reeled back, aghast. “No!”

There was no deception in her voice or on her face. “Did something happen to one of the men chasing you?”

“One of them fell,” she said. “I ran across this tricky little spot in a dry creek bed. He followed me like a dumb-ass and slipped on a loose log. I saw him go down but I kept running because I didn’t want to be caught.” Her panicked gaze tore at him. “Menace, I didn’t think he’d get badly injured. I only wanted to slow him down.”

He brushed his fingertips down her face. “I believe you.”

Voice lowered, she moved closer and raised fear-stricken eyes to his face. “Don’t let them take me away from you.”

Her pleading tone pained him. It must have taken a lot for Naya to ask that. “I won’t. You’re mine. That’s not going to change.”

“Naya,” Hallie said gently, “would you like to come back to our quarters while the men sort this out? We could talk. It would be nice.”

Menace was grateful for Hallie’s kindness. He didn’t want to leave Naya alone in their apartment while he was fighting for her. She was just nervous enough to rabbit on him. Hallie would keep her busy and secure.

Naya glanced at him and he communicated his approval with a nod. She smiled at Hallie. “Sure. Thanks.”

Hallie pointed toward the end of the hallway and the elevator bank. “We’re two floors up. I’ll add your chip ID to our guestlist so you can come up to see me whenever you feel like it.” Her gaze fell to Naya’s bare feet. “Let me guess? Shoes on backorder?”

Naya managed a laugh. “Apparently.”

“We’ll raid my closet and find something that fits.”

Menace watched Naya until she entered the elevator. When the doors closed, he steeled his jaw. “They aren’t taking her from me, Vee. We’ve already spent a night together. Our laws are very clear on that account.”

“I meant what I said, Menace. Even if you weren’t one of my oldest friends, I would still fight for you. No whining little puke of a flyboy is going to order one of my men to give up his woman just because he tripped and fell.” Vicious slashed his hand through the air. “It’s not happening. Not on my watch.”

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