Page 20 of Temptress

“Sounds good. There’s a great Mexican restaurant called El Toro between the two of us. I’ll text you the address. Say, half an hour?”

“Perfect.” We hung up, and a second later, his text came through. I plugged it into the map on my phone, seeing it was only about a twenty-minute drive from where I was, then grabbed my wallet and keys from the top desk drawer. I closed down my computers and locked the door to my office on the way out, heading down the long hall that took me past the large studio and out to the staff parking lot behind the building.

I was halfway to the exit when I spotted two security guards slipping out of the break room at the exact moment the door to the rehearsal studio opened and the dancers started filtering out, almost as if they’d been timing their departure.

My brows lowered as annoyance set in. I wasn’t at all surprised by who it was. Matthew Hosa and Brad Lang were the two I was keeping the closest eye on, the two who pinged my radar from my very first day then continued to catch my attention for reasons that didn’t make me happy.

As I got closer, I couldn’t miss the way Matthew jabbed Brad in the side with his elbow and jerked his chin toward one of the girls before making a lewd gesture about her ass.

I was just about to call them out on it when I let my gaze carry to the woman they were talking inappropriately about, and when I caught her profile, I went from annoyed to downright pissed.

I saw red as they continued with their obscenities toward Sloane. I wouldn’t have tolerated it regarding any woman, but the fact that it was her made my reaction to their behavior so much worse. What was initially going to be a private reprimand changed in an instant when I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth and let out a sharp whistle that blasted down the hall and echoed off the walls, catching the attention of not only my men, but Sloane and her girls too.

“Do I pay you two to stand around with your thumbs up your asses or to do your jobs, huh?”

Brad’s mouth gaped open while Matthew’s clamped shut, the muscle in his jaw working as he ground his back molars together.

I stopped right in front of them, fully taking the lazy bastards in for the first time. Both of them were in decent shape, seeing as it was a job requirement that they take care of themselves, but Matthew was the type of guy to take his visits to the gym to the extreme. He was also stupid enough to think he looked good, despite his head looking too small for his body.

The cocky son of a bitch over-gelled his hair, making it look crispy and wet at the same time, and if I had to guess, the stink coming off him was courtesy of half a bottle of Axe body spray. Everything about him, from his looks to his overabundance of self-confidence, made him a grade A douchebag.

Brad was the first to speak while his buddy stood there, staring me down as though I didn’t have two inches on him and all the training to take him to his knees in a goddamn second, bulging show muscles or not. “We were just—”

I cut him off. “I’m well aware of what you werejust.” You’re here to do a job, and that job doesn’t include timing it so you can stand here and gawk like you’ve never seen a pair of legs in your pathetic lives. Haven’t asked them personally, but I’m sure the ladies could do without you two idiots drooling like you’re no better than pre-pubescent boys who can’t control their boners.”

I turned my attention to Matthew, whose face had grown a shade of red so deep it was nearly purple. “Now, if you two have a problem with how I run things around here, you’re more than welcome to walk the hell out. Won’t bother me one damn bit. But if you plan on staying employed, this’ll be the last warning you get from me. Understood?”

“Yeah,” Brad answered instantly. But his buddy remained tight-lipped, grinding his teeth so hard I could hear them creaking.

“Asked you a question,” I pushed when he didn’t reply. “Either you understand, or you can walk out the door right now. Choice is yours.”

He curled his lips back, gnashing his teeth before finally grinding out, “Understood.”

The smile I gave him was vicious and told him that despite what he thought, I was the big dick around here. “Good. Now get your asses back to work.”

I twisted my neck as they moved past me, watching until they disappeared around the corner. When I turned back, Sloane was standing in the middle of the hall with a few of the other girls, watching me with an expression that looked a whole hell of a lot like awe on her face.

Christ, just looking at her was like a blow to the chest. There wasn’t a man out there who wouldn’t want to drown in those golden honey eyes.

But I couldn’t be one of them. No matter how fucking much I might have wanted to.

I resumed my trek down the hall, jerking my chin upward in a silent hello as I stepped past her, then I got the hell out of there.

* * *

I got to the last picture on Marco’s phone, and with a grin, passed it back to him across the table. Years ago, if you would have told me that Marco Castillo would turn into the type of man who’d spend the better part of ten minutes showing you picture after picture of his family on his phone, I would have laughed my ass off. It wasn’t that the man was a player or anything like that. In fact, he took his relationships very seriously, but back when I’d known him best, he’d been just like me, putting the service and our brothers in arms first.

Seeing this side of him, the family man, was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. To say he was head over heels for his wife would have been a laughable understatement. To him, the sun rose and set with Gypsy. I’d met her a few times, the first being their wedding day. I knew her well enough to know she was a good woman and perfect for my friend. She’d been taking care of her brothers and sisters—ranging from toddler to teen—for most of their lives thanks to her waste-of-space parents, and to her and Marco, they were more like their own kids than siblings.

“They’re all getting so big. I can’t believe it.”

He pocketed the phone, pride shining in his eyes. “Christ, I know, man. Don’t remind me.” He held his hand out, rolling his wrist in my direction. “Well, you get it. What with Darcy starting high school and all.”

I groaned and lifted the beer I’d ordered, taking a much-needed pull. I wasn’t going back to the office after all, and given the morning I’d had, I figured I deserved it. “Fucking hell. When did we get old?”

He shook his head in commiseration. “Don’t know. It feels like I just woke up and it happened overnight. Used to be, Holly and Raylan looked at me like I could do no wrong,” he said, speaking of two of Gypsy’s younger siblings. “Now every word out of my mouth has them rolling their eyes and muttering under their breath about me. I’m tellin’ you, brother, there’s nothin’ that strikes at a man’s pride like the kids who once worshipped him thinkin’ he’s lame. Holly won’t even give me a kiss when I drop her off at school in the mornings. Says it’s embarrassing.”

I knew he meant it to come off like we were in the same boat, but as he talked about raising Gypsy’s siblings, the burn in my chest only got worse. He’d been there for most of the important milestones in those kids’ lives, while I’d failed my own flesh and blood. Truthfully, I’d beluckyto be half the man Marco Castillo was.

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