Keep the Faith (Bulletproof #1.5) (9 page)

Chapter 17

Anna

I am never fucking sleeping in again! The drive to the newspaper was horrid. Traffic set me back at least a half hour so instead of my usual fifteen minute drive to work, it took me forty-five minutes. By the time the newspaper comes into view, I’m madder than a wet hen. Yeah, I went there.

A text comes through when I pull into the parking lot and I scrunch my nose before glancing at the screen to see its Andy.

“Hey, babe, just checking to see how you’re doing. I haven’t talked to you in a few days. I miss my girl, you know.”

And this is why he is one of my most favorite people on this planet. I swear, he is psychic. He just gets me when nobody else does. Also, he knows when I need comfort food so he brings it to me in the form of an Oreo Cheesequake Blizzard from Dairy Queen. If Andy wasn’t gay, he would be the perfect boyfriend for me. Mack is a pretty lucky guy to have a catch like Andy. Always so caring and kind to everyone around him. I don’t believe Andy has a hateful bone in his body.

I wait until I’m at a complete stop before texting back.
“Hey, Andy. Thanks for checking up on me. Aside from being late for work, I’m peachy.”
Total lie.
“Please don’t worry so much, you’ll get wrinkles.”
I giggle at my comment. Like that would ever happen. Andy is too well kept to get wrinkles. He replies back instantaneously.

“First off, your pants just caught on fire and second, it’s my job to worry about you.”

“Funny, I don’t remember hiring you for that job. And I’m not wearing pants.”
Well, I’m not. It’s a skort. I know, they went out of style but damn it, it’s hot today and I was feeling almost – girly, so sue me.

“Too much information and it was in the contract of our friendship, Miss Lawyer.”
Like that dream will ever be a reality. I scrunch my nose up at his mention of my becoming a lawyer. It isn’t too far-fetched, but with everything going on, taking the LSAT’s then actually taking the painstakingly long time to wait for the results is not in the cards right now.

“Ass. I have to get inside the office, so want to meet me at the café after work and you can do your whole psychoanalysis bullshit you usually do?”
Before I’m in the door, his reply with the middle finger emoji makes me laugh out loud. Leave it to Andy to make me laugh when I’m feeling shitty. Gwen greets me at the door in a panic and I almost knock her to the ground.

“Whoa, where’s the fire?” I ask quickly.

“It’s the wicked bitch of the south. She’s back and she’s pissed,” she says in a hurry. God fucking damn it. I thought we told her not to come back until Jayde was found safe and sound. The last thing we need in here is some fake ass plastic Barbie taking up our valuable time.

“I’ll take care of this. In case you haven’t noticed, I have authority around here. I got you, babe.” I wink then trudge on inside to take care of this soon to be resolved issue. As soon as I’m to our floor, Brooke is standing over by Henry, barking orders it seems.

“And another thing! This shit is all wrong, you’re supposed to format it with this font, not this one. And the size is one point off. I can see that, you halfwit. Fix this shit.” God, screeching hyenas are more tolerable than she is.

“Brooke, what the fuck is going on? Why are you here? I thought we told you not to come back to work until Jayde came back!” I look over at Henry and he’s smirking. As long as he’s been working with me, he knows I don’t tolerate any bullshit. 

“Well, I was bored at home and so I decided to come in and check on things and it’s a good fucking thing I did because all this shit is wrong. No wonder we’re losing readership and revenue. According to my files, we lost five subscribers last month. This place needs to be whipped into shape and according to my contract, I am just the person to do it.” She pulls out her phone to punch something up then slips it back into her pocket. Is it acceptable to throat punch somebody in an office setting? Would that be professional? At this point, I don’t really care.

“You are way out of line, Brooke. You better shut your mouth before you regret it right the fuck now.” I get up in her face and I see red. I’m that pissed off. My dad was from Spain so let’s just say I have his temper, his short fuse, hot-blooded temper.

“Or what? You’re going to fire me? You have no authority over that, you’re just filling in. And, I’m under contract until October” She sneers her last sentence and it breaks the last bit of resolve I have. Drawing back my arm, my fist connects with her face then a loud crunch fills the space around us and Brooke collapses to the floor.

Chapter 18

Anna

Brooke attempts to pick herself up off the floor but before she can, two men rush in and all the air leaves my lungs. Ryder and Ronan come busting through the door at an alarming speed. They’re both here? At the same time? Just my fucking luck.

“What the hell is going on in here? We heard screaming and yelling then a loud thump,” Ryder says as he pulls Brooke up to her feet. Ronan is on top of her, assessing the damage my fist caused to her face.

“She fucking punched me for no reason whatsoever!” Brooke screeches to Ryder who jumps, actually jumps at the tone of her voice. For a tough guy like Ryder, that’s odd.

“Like hell I did. You were way out of line!” I yell back causing her to come back at me and I don’t back down. Stepping up to the plate once again, I lean back to give it to her once more but Ronan pulls her away from me, making me lose that golden opportunity.

“From looking at you, seems like you have a broken nose. We’ll get that patched up and you’ll be just fine,” Ronan says as he sits Brooke down in the chair then gets to work fixing her ugly ass face up.

“No, I won’t be fine! Aren’t there charges going to be brought upon her or something?! She punched me in my face!” Ronan laughs a little at her whining which earns him daggers shot from Brooke.

“From the sounds of it, you deserved it in more ways than just this,” Ryder says in a gruff voice that sends shivers down my spine. His voice could make angels weep it’s so sexy. Ronan has the same tone of voice, but my best guess is Ronan hasn’t seen as much action like Ryder has outside of an ambulance or hospital. Ronan’s voice still has that sweet sound to it where Ryder’s is just rough.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Who is your boss? I’m going to report you for failing to do your job, asshole!” she screams. Brooke is yelling and thrashing about so much, Ronan can barely work on her nose.

“Keep fucking still or I’m going to knock you out myself. Jesus,” Ronan says in a frustrated tone. I glance over at Ryder whose whole body has stiffened. That predatory stare is back in his eyes and his daggers are being shot at Brooke.

“Go ahead and try it, sweetheart. I’m with Homeland Security. Let’s just see you try and report me.” Brooke retreats quickly at his admittance of his job. Her eyes widen in shock then her face contorts into fear from Ryder’s threat.

“Y…you are?” she says, sounding dumbfounded.

Ryder nods. “I am and you would do well to show a little fucking respect to my…friend.” Ryder emphasizes the word friend in such a way I couldn’t miss his meaning. “Friend” had an underlying message attached to it that made my insides turn to jelly.

Brooke glances over to me then back to Ryder who is staring her down, waiting for the so called apology I am not holding my breath for. “Sorry,” she mumbles so quietly I almost don’t hear her.

“Oh, and while I was coming up here, I heard the word contract. You’ll be happy to know I will be getting my lawyers in on that immediately, so your time here is limited,” Ryder says before turning to me with a smirk. My cheeks redden brightly. Brooke is fuming mad out of the corner of my eye which only adds to my satisfaction.

Ronan finishes bandaging up Brooke’s nose before handing her a roll of gauze. “Change the gauze in a couple hours and do so every six hours for the next few weeks. It’s just a simple break, so it should heal quickly.” Ronan packs up his bag and sets it aside.

“Not that I’m not happy y’all showed up, but what are you doing here?” I ask. Ronan and Ryder exchange looks before looking back to me. Damn, both of their glares have me weak in the knees. Pull yourself together, woman!

“Might as well tell her, man, she’s your client.” Client. The instant death as far as relationships go. Client ranks right up there with the forbidden friend zone.

Ryder sighs then grabs some files out of his briefcase. I watch carefully as he pulls out this huge manila folder filled to the hilt with papers.

“We have a hunch, but we can’t be sure. This was all the information I found on Finn. It’s not a lot but hopefully it’s something.” He hands me the folder and I flip through it briefly. All this information is not new.

“Didn’t Zac fill you in on what was going on?” I ask him. Surely he had to know all the information prior to meeting me.

Ryder looks to Ronan for confirmation but Ronan just smiles with a shake of his head.

“Looks like I’m busted,” Ryder says and for the first time since meeting him, he flashes a cheesy, yet wolfish grin, something I never in a million years expected. “Yes, all that information is what Zac already found. I just needed an excuse to come see you,” he says causing all the air to leave my lungs. Wait, what?

“S…see me? Why? What for?” I stammer over my words. Oh, Jayde would be so proud of me right now. Gwen strolls up to us at the wrong damn moment.

“Boys, stop bothering Anna. Can’t you see she’s all flustered from y’all?” Gwen says, handing each of them a cup of coffee and saunters back to her desk. I can totally see Ronan and Ryder playing the protective big brothers their whole lives when it comes to Gwen. She’s a spitfire but sensitive at heart, and has most likely had her fair share of boyfriends which from the looks of things, doesn’t make Ronan and Ryder any less lenient.

“We are not bothering her, are we Ryder?” Ronan side glances Ryder who is still staring me down with an intense stare. “Fuck no we aren’t. In fact, we just stopped by to ask you something, Anna.”

My head whips around so fast I thought I pulled something. “Wait, you did? What would you like to ask me?” I ask in disbelief. What could they ask me that couldn’t be asked over the phone?

Ryder looks around the office and nobody is paying us any attention. Stepping closer, he wraps his large hand around my tiny wrist and pulls me closer to his body to whisper in my ear.

“I don’t give a fuck if this is out of line but my brother and I have been thinking about you ever since we first saw you in here. Normally, we don’t mix business with pleasure but for you, we’re willing to make an exception. We both know you have a lot going on with looking for Jayde but know this, sweetheart. We want you in the dirtiest ways. And you will be ours. We know you want us just as much as we want you. I can smell it. So remember that.” Ronan winks my way then without another word, he picks up his medical bag and strolls out the door. Ryder nips my ear gently before pulling back and follows Ronan out the door without another word.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! That was so hot I can’t even fathom. My heart is practically beating out of my chest. Gwen must have noticed because she is standing in front of me in an instant, waving her hands in front of my face but it’s no use. I’m frozen in place. I can’t move.

I have come completely undone and it’s all thanks to two super sexy, impossibly intoxicating people. Ronan and Ryder. Holy shit, I’m in so much trouble.

Chapter 19

Sarah

Everything is so jumbled right now. Leo left me high and dry, well not literally because dry is the last thing I am right now. But after he dropped me from the wall, he took one look at me before running like the wind out of the café and making me more confused than ever before. He wants me. I can feel it. Literally, I could feel his erection when he had me pinned up against the doorway. So why is he acting cold and shy all of a sudden? He totally pulled a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act and to be quite frank, it pisses me off. There’s only one person who would be able to help me with this dilemma and she isn’t here, so I try the next best person.

“I need help, and yes the emotional kind.”
I shoot out a quick text to Anna. The message flips to read immediately so she must have her phone out ready to text me.

“Funny, I was about to text you the same thing.”
She replies. Another message pops through.

“The Falcon brothers are giving me a migraine. And guys think we’re complicated?! Please.”
I smile from that. Anna isn’t used to having two guys after her like those two are. I don’t think she can handle the attention. As long as I’ve known Anna, which is just as long as Jayde has known her, I am convinced she intimidated every boy who came within spitting distance of her. Anna puts off that aura that she doesn’t take anything without it having it go her way. Maybe she is onto something. Seems to me Jayde was always the one getting the guys despite how much confidence she lacked. That all changed once she met Zac and for the first time in a very long time, she glowed. He brought light back into her eyes that I hadn’t seen in such a long time. Another message comes through my phone.
“I told Gwen I needed a break so I’m headed down there. Actually, I’m close so I’ll see you in two minutes.”
And two minutes was all it took because before I could reply, she was barreling through the door.

“Well hello, stranger,” I say jokingly.

“This is no time for jokes. We need to talk. I have no idea what to do about Ronan and Ryder. Or if I even should be thinking about those two with everything else going on. Jayde should be our top priority right now, not these guys,” Anna says in a rush. She rambles when she is nervous or excited. It’s cute to see her this flustered over guys.

“Well, I have my own problems with my own guy here. This is not going as planned,” I tell her, flopping down into one of the café chairs completely spent.

“Why, what happened?” Anna looks around the café. “I thought Leo was meeting you here to count inventory or something.”

“He is, or was. He just left not long ago. After practically air fucking me against the door jamb,” Anna snaps her head up in surprise with her eyes bulging out. “What? Are you fucking kidding me right now?! Tell me more you slut!”

Laughing out loud, I try to not let it be too obvious I have dirty details but that is quickly fading.

“There’s nothing really to tell. He came on to me...a lot. I mean a whole lot. Phew, I’m still warm from it.” Anna has scooted to the end of her chair, zoned in on my story.

“It was one of those kisses that you read about in your mother’s romance novels. The one where the hunky alpha male sweeps you up into his arms and presses you firmly against the wall and kisses you so roughly, the breath you didn’t even realize you were holding, is let out then you know without a shadow of a doubt everything is alright in the world.” Anna is staring with a stargazed look in her eyes and it makes me blush. “That sounds so amazing. I want a kiss like that. No, I need a kiss like that. From both of the Falcon brothers. Fuck, we need help.” Anna chuckles softly before grabbing a pastry out from beneath the display case and taking a huge bite out of it.

“Umm, who’s going to pay for that?” I ask in mock shock.

“Put it on my tab,” Anna says with a wink. “It was either this or a cold shower. A cold shower might actually be more useful right now.” Anna smiles brightly which is contagious because I start smiling too.

“You’re such a hot mess,” I say gently nudging her.

“Takes one to know one. We should get tramp stamps that say “hot mess” on our lower backs, you know just to give us the proper label.” Anna retorts, which only makes me laugh. That would be something she would do during one of her drunken adventures. She reaches over into her bag and pulling out a six pack of Corona and handing one to me. “But instead, I picked us up a little emotion killer.”

Looking at her wide-eyed, I shake my head. “We aren’t licensed for these types of beverages.” I say in a stern tone before popping the cap and taking a long swig of the amber liquid. It slightly burns and tastes horrible but I don’t care. Our grandmother used to say beer tasted like horse piss and she was right. This shit is nasty. But, we have limited resources until we get back home and get into the good stuff.

“So what do we do about these men in our lives now? We have got to remain focused on looking for Jayde and can’t stray away from that,” Anna says while finishing up her pastry. She is right. Our focus has to be on Jayde and nothing else can deter that focus.

“You’re absolutely right. Which is why we aren’t going to let these men distract us from finding Jayde,” I say with a finality in my voice. We make a silent pact that from that point forward, nothing is going to stop us from finding our sister and best friend. Nothing. Not even hunky alpha males with movie star good looks.