Page 7 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 1

She gifted me with the first genuine smile we’d seen today. “Yeah, I do. It’s one of my favorite things.”

“We’re not picky.” We spent years eating MREs and would eat whatever was put in front of us. “Surprise us.”

Pleasure washed over her. A pinkish blush stole into her cheeks, and she dipped her head in a submissive gesture. “All right, I will.”

“We’ll be back soon.” At her small sign of submission, I had the startling urge to gather her in my arms and swear everything would be all right. Which was ridiculous. I was all about the collar and closing a case down, not comforting the widow of a Mafia goon.

It’s why we tended to share women between us. Because one, it was hot as fuck. And two, it helped me maintain an emotional distance. The last thing I wanted was to be tied down.

I headed toward the front door with my crew in tow. On the front porch, I spoke quietly to Axel. “Keep your eyes out for anything suspicious.”

“Are you sure we won’t need to bring more agents in on this?” he whispered urgently.

“Not yet. This is our case. If we need to bring others in when we have more solid evidence, we will. But between the four of us, we can protect her.”

“She’s a pretty little thing. Wouldn’t mind having her dance on my magic stick.” Chase chuckled with a lewd grin.

I leveled him with a glare. Sometimes his inability to take dangerous situations seriously got on my nerves. “It’s not that kind of operation.”

“I wouldn’t turn her down either.” Mateo grinned, opening the van door with White Security on the side. The paint for the logo had been applied yesterday and dried overnight.

“Focus on the mission now, your dicks later.” Why couldn’t Carlos Vega’s widow have been an ugly hag instead of this vision of quintessential female beauty.

“Hey, if she comes on to me, I’m not kicking her out of my bed,” Chase stated with his hands up in anI surrendergesture, while wiggling his brows in a suggestive fashion.

Axel shook his head in disbelief at Chase’s antics. “I’m going to get back inside.” He was a man of few words and tended to brood more than any man I’d ever known.

“Look after the Phoenix while we’re gone.”

Axel gave me a sharp nod of ascent.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have drawn straws to see who stays behind?” Chase asked, glancing at the front door as if he could see through it to the woman inside.

“Why would we do that?” But I knew. I wasn’t the only one affected by Carlos Vega’s widow.

“Because Axel will get a head start before the rest of us. She might decide she wants to screw him instead.”

“Nah, Axel’s become a monk this past year. You don’t have to worry about him.” Mateo grinned. “But I’d be up for a friendly wager to see who gets there first.”

“Agents. At least try to act fucking professional.” I snorted and climbed into the driver’s seat. Axel strode back inside the house, closing the door with a hard thud. The other bozos climbed into the van, tossing digs back and forth on each other’s prowess and who might score with Kylie first.

We had two objectives with this case. One, gather enough evidence to finally pin charges that will stick on Luka Santos and take his entire organization down. And two, protect Kylie Vega from certain demise at Luka Santos’s hands. Unfortunately, neither of them was fucking Kylie Vega.

Although, if I was honest, I wouldn’t turn her down either. In fact, a part of me would relish the opportunity to take her to bed if it arose.

Chapter six

Surveillance

Mateo

AfterallI’dseenin the Marines and CIA, Kylie Vega managed the impossible. She had stunned me speechless with her beauty. If I could compose prose other than lines of code, I would write sonnets in her name.

When she had answered the front door, I had been dazed like I’d taken a beating. Now, I was not much of a talker most days, but I came close to swallowing my tongue at the young, sexy widow.

Kylie stood a few inches above five feet, with soft, golden skin stretched over delicate features. But it was her heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and plump lips that were made for sucking a man’s cock that stole the show for me.

And don’t even get me started about her tight little body or the plump outline of her tits.

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