Page 38 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

She must have thought that’s what the call was. “Not yet, but we have the best of the best looking.” I didn’t want to tell her about the lead until we looked into it. Found out for ourselves if this Peter guy had been involved.

She cocked her head. “Who’s the best of the best? What best?”

I grinned. “An old friend from the CIA. She’s one of their best analysts. She’s going to figure out who was working with Salazar.”

She blinked at me in confusion. “You mean he wasn’t acting alone?”

I swore inwardly at myself. Jas and Kip’s response wasn’t to themselves however and curse words flew around the room.

Way to tell her that she still has someone to fear. Someone who might still come after her.

“Sorry, Little Bunny,” I told her, reaching forward with my free hand and tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Zinnia found multiple payments that had been made to Salazar. So it looks like he was doing this for someone else.”

She nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything else.

“We’ll find out who,” Kip promised her, “and we won’t let anything happen to you. We weren’t prepared the first time because someone helped that asshole get past every security measure that was in place in order to get to you. We’ll be ready for anything this time, though in your own home, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

I hadn’t had a chance to tell them about my conversation with Zinnia. I would, though. Soon.

Her eyes swept over the room and a sad look settled on her face. It was killing me, seeing her look so lost. Since she wasn’t going to sleep and I needed to take her mind off of everything, I figured this might be the best time for that talk.

It was always a bit nerve wracking having this conversation with women. There were usually three responses. Some women lost their shit and thought we were sadistic assholes. They were the largest category. Some got a maniacal look in their eye as they began thinking about having three men and all the fun times in bed that brings. Those women usually tried to bring more men into the situation later—not something we were cool with doing—so we’d started avoiding that kind of woman.

I was hoping Bailey would be in the third group. Maybe a little shocked, a little curious, cautiously on-board and optimistic. They encompassed the sweet spot we looked for in a girlfriend. Squeezing her hand, I drew her eyes to mine. I wanted to have the first part of this conversation before the others had to leave. That way she could hear from all of us that we were on the same page. “We have something we need to speak with you about.”

CHAPTER18

Bailey

Nerves fluttered in my belly. They all looked so serious and I wondered if I’d done something wrong. They’d been so sweet and attentive since they’d found me—even Jasper, in his own way—and I sort of wanted to keep that going now that I knew they’d be continuing to provide security for us.

That made me feel so much safer than Dad bringing in a new team. I didn’t want these three going anywhere, for more reasons than one. But now Wolfe’s brows were drawn down and low as he stared into my eyes.

“What is it?” I finally asked, my nerves racking up higher with each passing moment. What was he going to tell me?

“I’ve learned that the easiest way to do this is just to say it flat out. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

My eyes widened. If he told me they weren’t attracted to me or something I was going to die of embarrassment…and regret.

“Jas, Kip, and I…we share a girlfriend.”

I blinked at him as I tried to absorb his words. My heart sank. Then anger flared within me. “Are you kidding me?” I growled, glaring at Jasper.

Jas’s eyebrows shot up as I aimed all my hostility at him. A confused look flashed over his face. “What are you pissed at me for?”

Dropping Wolfe’s hand, I ignored their orders to stay in bed and flung the blankets back. I was on my feet and standing in front of Jasper before they could stop me.

I drilled my finger into his chest. There was zero give in his rock hard pecs, but at the risk of breaking my finger, I shoved harder. “You mean to tell me that you have a girlfriend?”

His jaw dropped and he seemed at a loss for words. I left him to flounder while I continued on, accenting each word with a hard poke. “You didthatto me! And you have a girlfriend?” I couldn’t bring myself to say what he’d done out loud, not in front of the others. Even though they’d known what’d happened.

“I-”

Glaring at him, I poked him again, shutting him up. “At least with Wolfe it wasn’t his fault. I kissed him. But you- you were the one who started that…” I gestured to my nether region, “whole thing.”

Kip’s laughter was spilling out past the knuckles he’d shoved into his mouth to try to contain his mirth. Even Wolfe had folded his lips between his teeth and bit down. Neither was coming to Jasper’s aid.

“You don’t do that to another woman,” I chided him. “You shouldn’t cheat!” My heart was broken because that meant I couldn’t have him and that I’d broken a woman’s trust. It just wasn’t right.

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