Page 35 of Fury

Great.Twerp was back, and he’d brought the man-eater with him.

Leaning against the kitchen counter the next morning, Davis took a long sip of coffee. Was it possible for the stuff to grow on you after two days? He eyed Leila and Twerp, following Hollyn into the open-concept living-room-kitchen area.

While Twerp had the decency to hang back by the couches, arms crossed, Leila made no effort to hide the thoughts running through her mind as she detoured in Davis’s direction. “Morning, soldier.”

Davis hoped the look on his face matched the disgust in his head. She was barking up the wrong tree. “What are you two doing back here?” He added a heavy layer of annoyance to his words.

Posted up at his side, tac vest on because they had somewhere to go today, Fury growled.

Only then did the vixen halt her advance.

“Davis,” Hollyn said softly. Came up next to her friend.

“Tsk, tsk, soldier boy.” Leila grinned wide. “I don’t bite.”

“That makes one of us.”

“Promise?” She quirked an eyebrow.

Davis’s frown deepened. True, she was beautiful—knew it too—but she was an IED waiting to go off the second a wrong move was made. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he slid it out. Checked the ID. The call he’d been waiting for. “I need to take this.” He tapped his leg, and Fury heeled as they walked to the back door.

Why Hollyn was friends with that woman . . .

“Chapel.” He answered the call when they stepped outside. A breeze swirled the scents of cypress and cardamom that infused the air around him.

Deciding he needed a little help, he’d texted a former Army buddy who ran private security and was currently in the area. Hadn’t known if he’d get a response, but he needed someone to run things by and trusted the guy more than most.

“To what do I owe theneed to talktext?” Chapel asked.

From his position, Davis kept an eye on Hollyn and her friends through the windows. “I’ve got a situation.”

“You’re in luck, then. Situations are what I do best. What’s up?”

“Not over the phone.” Davis roughed a hand down his neck. “Last I heard, team was in the Dhabi area. That still the case?”

“Might be.”

“Able to meet in about an hour?”

“Sure do ask for some steep favors.”

Davis chuckled. “Feel free to call them in at the most inconvenient time.”

“Don’t you worry about that.” The line went silent for a minute. “All right, sure. Send me the location. I’ll make it work.”

They ended the call, and Davis shot off a text with coordinates for a place he’d picked out ahead of time. A place that couldn’t be bugged if the conversation were being monitored. Which he doubted, but why take the chance?

Fury looked up at him expectantly. Pranced. Ready for action.

“Always could tell when we were about to head out.” Davis grinned at the RMWD. “Let’s go.”

At the sound of the G-word, Fury barked and flung his solid body into heel position. They went back inside. The room fell suspiciously quiet as three sets of eyes swiveled to them.

“Everything okay?” Hollyn asked.

“Yeah. Gotta step out for a bit.” The only reason he was even considering not taking her with him was that he knew she wouldn’t come. He could drag her outside, but the neighbors would have the cops on him faster than he could say “get in.” He still thought of Leila and Twerp as suspects, but he didn’t have any evidence to support that. So—for now—he’d have to take a chance that Hollyn was right and he was wrong.

Still. It felt like gambling with the thing he cherished the most. He’d been dangerously close to giving in and kissing her the other day. But this wasn’t the time for it. Not in the middle of grieving, when she might regret things later. He’d have to man up and make sure they didn’t have another close call. Even if that was the last thing he wanted to do.

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