Page 90 of Whatever It Takes

My eyes migrate to Easton as he works the buttons on his suit coat.

He tosses it on the dresser and scoffs. “Don’t remind me. Dealing with them would be a step up from my afternoon after the three of you left the office.”

“What happened?” I ask.

Easton tugs out his dress shirt, and I will my hormones to allow me to stay focused. This sounds serious. “Leo, Shaw, and Ridge are going to be inaccessible for who knows how long. One of our clients decided it was better to try to deal with a hostage negotiation on his own. He sat on the kidnapping for three days, waiting for their call, rather than bringing us in immediately. That fucking fool.”

“Who?” Keir asks.

Easton rolls his eyes, moving to undo the buttons on his sleeves. “Logan Callahan.”

“The senator?” I gasp.

“The one and only.” East nods. “They snatched his daughter from an international trip with some college friends. They’ve got athree fucking dayhead start.”

“Weren’t Leo and Shaw originally on Callahan’s security team?” Keir asks.

Easton strips out of his button-down and moves to work on his belt and dress pants. “Indeed, they asked for a transfer when Saylor perfumed. I’ll leave that up to your deductive reasoning skills, but despite taking Callahan’s money, I don’t have high hopes.”

I frown.

That sounds terrible for that poor woman. If she’s in college, she’s probably my age or a few years younger than me.

“It’s been kept out of the press this long, but if they have no luck, this could turn into an international incident,” Easton growls, shaking his head. “I need clients to have more brain cells. The man keeps us on retainer for kidnapping retrieval services and waitsthree goddamn daysto bring us in? My mind can’t even comprehend that level of stupidity.”

Keir shoves himself off the mattress. “I’ll go see if I can find anything worth cooking or order something.”

Pulling the blanket back, I follow him up and aim for my grouchy alpha. He’s still in his plain cotton undershirt, and I bury my face in it as I wrap my arms around his back. “I know it’s been a crappy day, but if anyone can save that woman, it’s your team.”

He circles my back, resting his forehead against mine. “I do love being able to feel your confidence in the bond. I suppose it helps that they have a preexisting relationship with the woman. They hopped on the first flight without so much as a mission briefing, which, incidentally, I need to get Calder working on before they land.”

“I love you, Easton,” I assure him, giving him a quick peck. “Now give me a job, so I can help.”

He chuckles. “Watch over the rodents. That way Calder can actually focus on his job.”

I laugh.

Thoserodentsare going to win him over eventually—I can feel it.

When I walked into Shadow Security that first day, I never expected to end up here, but I’m so fucking thankful I did.

All it took was offing my shitty ex and psychopathic brother, but with our pack?

That’s the beginning of a perfect happily ever after, and now we get to work on saving that Saylor woman, so she gets hers too.

Epilogue

Easton

A Year Later

“Briar,” I growl, carefully sidestepping the ever-growing herd of rodents. “Collect your creatures before I dropkick them out of my office one by one!”

She snorts from somewhere outside my door.

“I’ve told you before, just find a plastic bag and crinkle it. They’ll follow you out. Then close the door and sneak back in once they’re distracted.” She laughs.

God, I love that woman.

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