Page 22 of Darling Wildfire
While Graham and I weren’t romantically involved, I couldn’t ignore how hot things got in the bedroom between the three of us and with that intimacy, a mutual trust and friendship was growing along with a fierce need to protect what we had. I’d said I was going to invite Graham to join my personalNorTacteam, but that would involve telling him everything and it was a very long and very dark story. We all had skeletons in our closet, but mine were very much still alive and dangerous.
Before I could answer, my phone lit up on the counter showing a call from Nyx. I hit accept and put it on speaker, looking over the island at Graham.
“Yeah.”
“Fish just received a suspicious package at the docks. It’s addressed to you,” Nyx said.
“Tell him to stay away from it—how far out are you?”
“Thirty at least,” Nyx said.
“Alright—meet me there.” I disconnected the call and stared at Graham, debating for a moment. “You’re right—something is coming,” I said.
If I didn’t have time to tell him, maybe I could just show him. It was a stupid evasion of the inevitable but it was all I could do right now. I grabbed the keys to one of theNorthern Tacticalblacked out SUVs and tossed them to Graham.
“The only ones who know are the guys on my team.”
“Is this your way of inviting me to join the inner circle?” He asked with an amused smile. “Cause it’s about damn time.”
We walked out to the vehicle and climbed in.
“Had to know you were serious about things—I know Cal has been hounding you to join him.”
“I hope you know where I stand now,” Graham said.
“I do,” I nodded. “My personal team is not involved in the everydayNorTacops. They work for me in a different capacity.”
Before I could go on, my phone rang again. I watched Graham’s eyebrows raise at the name that appeared but he didn’t comment as I hit accept, pushing the call through the car speakers.
“Demetrius,” I greeted.
“Theron—remember when we first met, and you told me there may come a time in our relationship where you’d need to call in your favor?”
“I’m listening,” I said.
“I think this might be it,” Demetrius said cryptically.
“What happened, D?” I demanded, not liking the man’s tone.
“Come see me at the club as soon as you can,” he said. “We need to talk.”
The call disconnected, and Graham glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
“Russian mob?”
I gave him a quick grin. “We go way back.”
Fish was standing in the doorway of his mobile office as we pulled into the docks.
Fish was the dockmaster and privy to allNorthern Tactical’simports and exports that went through this city. To the public,NorTacwas a legal private military company specializing in security and protection details. It was a global enterprise with teams all over the world. On the other side, I dealt in the illegal arms business selling military grade weapons to the black market, and some governments, all over the world. Fish played a big part in making sure customs didn’t discover anything they weren’t supposed to see and ensured the products were received and stored in the appropriate containers to await pickup and distribution by my staff.
Graham parked the SUV, and we climbed out to see Fish currently staring with apprehension at a package that sat out in the open in front of the office building. I stopped a comfortable distance from the package, tilting my aviators slightly to look at Fish.
“Fish.”
“North—Is it a bomb?” He asked immediately.
“Unlikely,” I said. “Go inside.”
