Page 21 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 1

We discovered three panic rooms in the house. One of them Kylie had known about since it was an offshoot from the master bedroom. But there was one on the first floor with access through her deceased husband’s office. And the other was in the basement, between the fitness room and movie room.

“Okay. I’ll be good and stay in the yoga studio until one of you come get me.”

“And?” Gideon could be a real stickler sometimes.

Kylie huffed. “And if something happens, I’m to head into the basement panic room and stay there until you come for me.”

“Exactly.” Gideon glanced at the three of us. “Be in the surveillance room in fifteen.”

“Will do.” I nodded, studying Axel’s expression as Kylie left the kitchen. His buddy looked like a man besotted.

I shook my head. I knew better than to allow my emotions to hamper a mission. No matter how good the pussy was, it was no excuse. Emotions interfered when critical decisions came into play.

I left the kitchen cleanup to the maid that had just arrived. Sandra was an older woman with kind brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. I had run a thorough background check on her, and it had come back clean enough. She had a driving under the influence charge in her twenties and a few traffic tickets, but nothing that sent up any red flags. She had good credit. Paid her bills. Had a small retirement nest egg. Her children were grown. One was serving in the Navy and was on active deployment somewhere in the South Pacific. Her other kid worked as a manager at a restaurant. So, she was in the clear.

I watched Axel fall into step beside Kylie. That dude couldn’t help himself around small, dainty women like Kylie. He had to be their protector, even if he never had sex with them.

I shook my head and headed up to my domain. I was totally going to give him shit about it.

In the surveillance room, I watched Axel drop Kylie off at the yoga studio. Gideon waltzed into the room. He strode up and glanced at the monitor with Axel and Kylie in the frame.

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, I was going to bring it up.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll handle it when he gets here,” Gideon snapped with a furious scowl.

Chase strode in. “Why are you all pissed? Did something happen?” And then he spied the same thing Gideon had moments ago. “Well, hell. Axel got there first. I don’t know whether to toast him or feel jealous I couldn’t convince her to bounce on my balls.”

Gideon’s gaze snapped to Chase. “He could have put the entire operation at risk.”

“Ah, there’s the man of the hour now.” I tsked Axel over sleeping with her as he entered the room. Chase started clapping as if Axel had conquered a mythic feat.

Gideon whirled on Axel, looking like he would pummel the larger man into the ground. “What the fuck, Axel? Did you even think for two seconds what sleeping with her could do to this case?”

Axel scowled and glared at me. “I guess you caught the show and told them.”

“Mateo didn’t have to do a damn thing. We all saw you kiss her on the screen moments ago. It was far too intimate a kiss for it to be the first time,” Gideon snarled, getting in Axel’s face.

“Why shouldn’t we all fuck her? We’ve shared women before. She’s hot as hell, and I wouldn’t mind having her bouncing on my balls. It might create enough of a bond for her to trust us and divulge the intel we need to nab Santos,” Chase said with a Cheshire grin and casual shrug.

“Before you decide to make it a free for all with Kylie, I didn’t intend to fuck her last night. She started screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night. I rushed in, thinking something was wrong. Poor thing was having nightmares. I comforted her, and one thing led to another.” Axel might be bigger, but he always bowed to Gideon’s leadership. Then again, he’d gotten us through Iraq and Afghanistan, so our faith in him was well deserved.

“So, you took advantage of her. That’s even better.” Gideon rolled his eyes heavenward like he was praying for strength.

With his fists clenched, Axel argued, “No. It wasn’t like that at all. I tried to stop her. But she wanted me. And maybe you can turn down a gorgeous woman like Kylie, but I couldn’t. I’m not sorry for it, either. Because I got to see her scars.”

“Yeah, yeah, we all have emotional scarring. Boo fucking hoo.” Chase snorted.

“Not those types of scars, idiot. She has physical scars all over her torso. Kylie said that her husband liked to heat knives and burn her skin. He would cut her with them. And I’ve seen the proof. We all knew her husband was a douchebag. But I think he was even worse than suspected, given the scarring on her body. So yeah, I fucked her last night. A couple of times. And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

“You think he beat her?” Chase asked contemplatively, because it was an angle none of us considered.

Axel nodded in the affirmative. “There’s no doubt after witnessing her wounds. It would align with his image, his personality. If the fucker wasn’t already dead. I would kill him myself for what he did to her.”

Chase pressed his palms over his heart. “Aww, you’re sweet on her.”

Axel wasn’t wrong. I butted into the conversation finally. “I’m still reviewing the feed from the security cameras before we arrived. There’s a shit ton to go through. But I don’t think Axel’s wrong, nor is she making up a story. Check this video out.”

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